Start to Finish - Recirculating DWC Grow - Haze x Widow

[karagrows]

Hi all. This is my second Journal, 6th grow. Here is how I do my thing...

WEEK 1 . These little ones are Moby Dick (Haze x Widow)... I like them alot, and the yield is great. I started them with the paper towel method. Works great every time for me. Damp paper towel, ziplock ( I don't seal it, I just fold it over) and I put them in my bedroom cloest under a few teeshirts on the shelf. THey all popped fine. I will be using a recirculating DWC system I made under a 400HPS.

, so most of the medium will be Hydro Stones. Hydroton Clay grow rocks but they were started in 8" pots with Foxfarm Ocean Forest Soil. I watered with PH 6.0 tap water.

[karagrows]

Here is a run down of the complete set up...

5x5 veg area
5x5 bud area
New Wave 96W 6500K 2FT-4 Lamp T5 Fluorescent Grow Light (Veg Light)
Sunburst 400W MH.HPS Convertible Enclosed grow Light
(Bud Light)
5"x5" Square Pots with:
3/4 -Ocean Forest® Potting Soil
1/4 - Vermiculite

Once ready for transplant, I will move them into straight Hydrostone. I leave them in the dirt for stability purposes, and to prevent any root shock.... When it is time, I just fill the bottom of the 10" net pot with stone, and then around the sides. The roots grow down thru the stone to the DWC water below....Once I move the plants to the 10" Net pots, I water only after the transplant. Never again.... I let the roots seek out the DWC water. From my experience with DWC, it tends to make the plant more thick stemed from strong root formations...

Ok, back to the 5" potted seedlings I have..... I place them on a crate 4" from the bulb under the 96w Veg light. This light works very well for vegging out smaller grows.

I will use the Foxfarm line of Fertilizers.

Liquid Nutrient Trio Soil Formula—Big Bloom®, Grow Big® and Tiger Bloom®

Soluble Tri-Pack:
Open Sesame® Soluble Fertilizer (5-45-19)
Beastie Bloomz® Soluble Fertilizer (0-50-30)
Cha Ching® Soluble Fertilizer (9-50-10)

I've grown to love this line of products. It is cheap, readily available, good schedule, and most important, grows a great crop..... I'm sure others out there swear by the GH line or Advanced Nu., but this works for me....I like it...And the bottles look cool.... ANy questions so far?

[ptg701]

I will be using a recirculating DWC system

By "recirculating DWC" do you mean that the pump is in a separate bucket and pumps to all the plants and flows back to the pump bucket?

I would love to see more details of your system.

[karagrows]

Yes, the pump is in a seperate container. I just noticed, the photo I posted doesn't show the modifications to the reservior I made.... I will post a diagram... Please Check back....

[karagrows]

Here is a rendering of the revised system I built.... As you can see, It uses gravity for the flow back.... To get the flow rate correct, you just raise or lower the reservior.

[ptg701]

...It uses gravity for the flow back.... To get the flow rate correct, you just raise or lower the reservior.

Is the height of the reservoir what determines the depth of the solution in the buckets?

[karagrows]

Yes sir, it also compensates for the Water pumping out a little slower or faster vs. gravity feeding it back.... I also use a 1/2" tube for flow, and 3/4" tube for return... This again prevents overflow. It takes a little tweaking, don't want the system to drain to fast and pump dry while trying to fill, and you don't want it to drain to slow so that the pumped water doesn't over flow the buckets.... If that makes any sense...

[basement grow]

Yes sir, it also compensates for the Water pumping out a little slower or faster vs. gravity feeding it back.... I also use a 1/2" tube for flow, and 3/4" tube for return... This again prevents overflow. It takes a little tweaking, don't want the system to drain to fast and pump dry while trying to fill, and you don't want it to drain to slow so that the pumped water doesn't over flow the buckets.... If that makes any sense...

This is very similar to the setup I am putting together with a friend. Except we are keeping all 5 buckets at the same level, and his pump is going to a chiller, then to feed lines in the hydroton itself. The outflow lines run from all 4 buckets to the final 5th bucket at the same level, right at the bottom of the bucket, this way all the buckets always have the same level of solution in them; drain the main res bucket, all the other buckets also drain.

I like your design, I am curious as to why you have the PVC, though. Can you fill me in? We are using heavy black tubing and manifold switches instead. Is the PVC just for stability?

[ptg701]

...drain the main res bucket, all the other buckets also drain.

How do you go about about filling the buckets and adding the nutes?
Do you just do each bucket individually?

I have been trying to come up with a design where I could drain, fill, and maintain the solution from the reservoir outside of the grow cabinet.

My idea is to have the same solution circulate through all the buckets so pH, PPM, and Temp can be checked at the reservoir and if anything is needed, it can be added to the reservoir and circulate throughout the whole body of nutrients.


Everything I have come up with so far gets too complicated and the whole idea is to make it simple and easy to maintain.

Anyone seen anything like this?

[basement grow]

How do you go about about filling the buckets and adding the nutes?
Do you just do each bucket individually?

I have been trying to come up with a design where I could drain, fill, and maintain the solution from the reservoir outside of the grow cabinet.

My idea is to have the same solution circulate through all the buckets so pH, PPM, and Temp can be checked at the reservoir and if anything is needed, it can be added to the reservoir and circulate throughout the whole body of nutrients.


Everything I have come up with so far gets too complicated and the whole idea is to make it simple and easy to maintain.

Anyone seen anything like this?

All 5 buckets sit at same level. The buckets are all connected by 1/2" tubing. The 4 plant buckets have a manifold style cutoff switch at the bucket. Fill the one res bucket, gravity will fill all the other 4 buckets to the same level. The water pump goes in the res bucket (for feed lines or a chiller, you could skip this step entirely if you decide not to use feed lines or a chiller), the air stones go into the plant buckets. You can drain all 5 buckets from the res bucket, you can refill all 5 buckets from just the res bucket. Get a male or some other issue? Switch off the valve at that bucket, and unhook the bucket.

You should be able to place the res bucket outside of the grow cabinet with no problem. You are limited only by how quickly the water goes through the tubing. If the res bucket is far away, you might want to consider a larger size tube.

Sorry for hijack, Kara, a good design sparks a lot of discussion, and your design is good.

[karagrows]

I agree, that you could have gravity from the reservior fill the other buckets, I've done this. I plan on going back to the gravity system. I chose this route just to see if the added oxygen and constant agitation of the nutrient solution makes a difference with root intake.

[ptg701]

How do you all add fresh nutes at drain time?

It seems like adding them all to the 3 or 4 gallons of water in the reservoir bucket would make a super concentrated solution.

My concern is getting that hot nute soup distributed and mixed quickly and evenly with the water in the buckets.

The only way I have found, so far, that really works is to premix the nute solution in a separate tank and add that to the empty reservoir bucket until all buckets are at the desired depth.

But, for a six bucket system, this pre-mixing tank needs to hold about 25 gallons, which adds another layer of complication to the system.

[karagrows]

You are correct. You have to premix everything. For 4 DWC buckets I use (2) 5 gallon buckets of Nutrient / water mix. Then top it off with just water.....(Usually 2-3 more gallons) this is my way of diluting the solution a bit so not to be to strong. I learned the FoxFarm line runs a little strong for marijuana... I then just pour it slowly into the reservoir until they level off.... This amount puts the water line 1" -2" from the net pots...

[SanibelGreen]

Pretty crazy, I think I get how it works but I guess seeing it in action would end my questions

SG

[karagrows]

Here is the the drawing of the expansion for my next grow.