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DIY rDWC system

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 3:12 pm
by rkymtnman
Well, got rid of the mother in law and was able to begin construction on my new system.

my last system was a rDWC in a 27 gal tote with 5 5" netpots. liked the results (except for overcrowding the plants) but wanted something with an external reservoir for 2 reasons: more capacity (less top-ups) and easier to access outside of the grow room.

Have got phase 1 complete which is 2 of the same 27 gal totes with a 2" shower drain in each feeding into a 2" pvc pipe to outside of my grow room.

i'll put some pix up in a bit.............

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:06 am
by rkymtnman
phase 1: 2 tubs plumbed
phase 1: 2 tubs plumbed
IMG_6715.JPG (1.04 MiB) Viewed 26893 times
2 inch shower drain
2 inch shower drain
IMG_6716.JPG (1.33 MiB) Viewed 26893 times
2 inch pipe from both tubs out to main res
2 inch pipe from both tubs out to main res
IMG_6718.JPG (1.03 MiB) Viewed 26893 times

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:14 am
by rkymtnman
for the main res, i have a 30 gal commercial trash can. because i had to put the totes on top of cinder blocks (to get clearance for the drain lines), the main res has to be taller than the tubs. the water level in the main res will control how much the level is in the totes.

i need to get a 2" bulkhead fitting for the main res and then attach the pvc.

i'm at the point now where i need to decide whether i'm going aero or dwc. since the totes have such a big drain, i thinking that aero would allow me to keep the roots out of the nute solution and eliminate root rot issues. but i have all the pumps and stuff to go the dwc route and not have to buy the aero stuff.

decisions, decisions...........

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:46 pm
by GrowTutor
rkymtnman ยป Wed Dec 04, 2013 8:14 am wrote:for the main res, i have a 30 gal commercial trash can. because i had to put the totes on top of cinder blocks (to get clearance for the drain lines), the main res has to be taller than the tubs. the water level in the main res will control how much the level is in the totes.

i'm at the point now where i need to decide whether i'm going aero or dwc. since the totes have such a big drain, i thinking that aero would allow me to keep the roots out of the nute solution and eliminate root rot issues. but i have all the pumps and stuff to go the dwc route and not have to buy the aero stuff.
I like the bottom drain, I have a ton of those totes too. You can wrap the outside with panda/orca film or even spray paint the outside white to keep them cooler, there are several plasticized paints that I use on those. ;)

You *can* get root rot in aero if you have pathogens or the temps are too high. Mycorrhizae and a chiller will help in both rDWC or aero. How many plants per tote are you planning? Still going to ScrOG?

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:50 pm
by rkymtnman
Hey GT,

that was one of the "problems" that most pre-built systems had: when you drain the system, there was still residual water left over because the pipes went thru the sides vs the bottom. with the bottom drain, i'll just have the slight bit where the channels are on the bottom of the tote

i like the idea of painting them white. what i did on the last grow (which i think accomplished the same) was to cut a piece of my panda film with about a 3" overhang around the whole top and then taped it to the lid. so what was below it would essentially be in the shade. but for 4 bucks for the paint wouldn't hurt either.

i'm planning on doing just 4 plants. i have a 6 "in flower" limit i want to stay under. i'd like them to be somewhere b/t a bush and a tree. maybe finish at 4 feet? flip to 12/12 around 18 to 24 inch?

i'd like to use the SS400 LED for all of veg. i think i'm going to run a 220V plug close to the grow room and if all goes well, buy a 1K HPS and put them on blast for bloom. add some 18" UV T8's for my UV dose. got a 6" inline fan with controller already for heat issues.

i know you are a big fan of the mychorrizae route. i'd like to try the sterile route. i have Zone by dutchmaster but haven't used it yet. i've even read that physan 20 when used lightly will do a good job keeping all the nasties out. i have a chiller so i'm covered there. any opinions on why i should choose benes vs sterile??

thanks for the input!
RKY

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:59 pm
by GrowTutor
I know what you mean, I've used a lot of side drain solutions but bottom draining makes more sense to me. Headroom was always an issue when I used to grow trees.

With 2 per tote you'll need to let them veg a while to fill your space so flowering under the larger HID might be your best bet. It'll take some fine tuning but you'll love the results.

Many reasons to go with mychorrizae/worm casting tea:
1) It works
2) Keyword "beneficials"
3) Overall root zone health
4) Pest resistance
5) Natural

Sterile works, I've used physan and even peroxide and bleach to sterilize but with the beneficials I don't have anything that needs to be sterilized until the scheduled cleanup. Whatever works for you is what you should use. :D

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:08 pm
by rkymtnman
have you used or what do you think about GH subculture M & B?

I think M is just used for transplants

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:23 pm
by GrowTutor
No, I never tried either of those but after looking at what in them, I would try some if it's cheap enough. Both B&M are full cycle for soil and hydro, it seems. Some duplicate benes but that's not always bad. ;)

I think that would make a *great* tea with some really pure worm castings or even vermicompost if you had to. Then add tea to your soil or reservoir and/or foliar feeding while vegging.

You can make basic myco/casting tea pretty cheap so how much are you willing to spend to try the GH stuff? As you know, I'm not convinced about most additives but that subculture line seems interesting. Can you figure out a cost benefit analysis based on projected water volume in gallons/per refill?

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 6:20 am
by rkymtnman
yikes! GH really loves the subculture

according to my calcs, using 6 res changes for the whole grow and a 40 gal res, the final costs are:

GH subculture M and B: approx $100 for the grow
dutchmaster zone: approx $5 for the grow

the prices i used was $35 per 200 g container of M & B and $21 for a 1L of Zone

i think i'll stick with the unopened liter of zone that I already have "in stock"

RKY

Re: DIY Aeroponics or rDWC system

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 11:53 am
by GrowTutor
I don't know what's in Zone, the website doesn't include pics of the product label so I don't get to see ingredients, usage and the guaranteed analysis. Try it. ;)

You might have more than a 40 gallon capacity too...