Cannabis 1's DIY DWC & RDWC

[Cannabis 1]

Hey guys, I'm back!!!

Over the past month, I have been super busy building my new Recirculating Deep Water Culture and also modifying my old system into a DWC.

I plan to raise my ladies in the DWC until they have a nice amount of roots. Then I will transplant them into the Monster RDWC.

Here is a little on the new system:

--I used 2 Brute 20 gallon containers with a 13 gallon Hefty reservoir. The total gallons used in the system is right around 38-40 gallons.

-- I have 2 inch pvc piping connecting all the containers, and used 2 inch Uni Seals to seal the containers.

--I also installed 2 unions so I can tear the system down with out having to remove all the pvc and uni seals.

-- I am using the Mag Drive 7 (700GPH) pump to recirculate the water. Also connected to the reservoir and feeding back into all 3 containers is the chiller lines.

-- Feeding air to the containers is the General Hydroponics Dual Diaphragm Pump

Here are a few pics I took. Im still waiting on the air pump to get delivered. Should be here today, but this will give you an idea of what the system looks like.

The empty spot between the pvc and res is where the mag drive goes....

 

[Cannabis 1]

Here is my old system that I modified to fit the 6 inch net cups with 3 inch lips. Ill get the ladies to a decent size and transplant them. Ill do it as soon as I see their roots coming close together.....

The 2 ladies in the DWC are Liberty Haze, and the two in the pots with rock wool are Sour Diesel

Here is the monster, minus the pumps, air, and chiller lines. Ill get some better pics up tonight after I hook it back up and have all the parts on it.

And last, here are a few of the ladies from my last grow journal. They are getting close to harvest now....

Hawaiian Skunk Haze

Unknown bag seed. Its pistils were actually bright red a few weeks ago. Looks beautiful!!

And here are the 2 clones I took from the chronic. They are looking ok. Im not sure what I will do with them. But for now, Ill just leave them be.

 

[toker69]

Cool dude! Subscribed!!

 

[Tropical Thai]

Nice

 

[Greenthumb J]

i'll all over this like flies on shit!!


looking spectacular buddy.. i'm going to start building my RDWC system this week coming up!! i just need a saw to cut the 2" pvc.. or i'll get home deport to do it for me!!

Then i'll have a Monster RDWC in the tent along side my 4x4 flood tray, and then whatever space is left over to stuff in some other system of some sort!!

you're adding ball valves to it too right?

 

[Greenthumb J]

how'd you cut the holes for the net pot? jig saw?

 

[Cannabis 1]

Thanks guys!

I used a jig saw to cut the holes. Not perfect, but it worked fine!! And used a miter saw to cut the 2 inch pvc piping.

Have Home deport cut it for ya. Just make sure to measure twice!

I dont plan on adding any ball valves. I figure if the pump goes, im going to be screwed with the water not circulating anyway. To leave the water stagnate in the the system is not a good idea. I'd be inviting all kinds of problems. Thats how I see it at least.

And GT, I dont thnik your gonna have much room left in that tent!!

 

[Light Addict]

Subbed

 

[MikeTbob]

Sign me up.

 

[Greenthumb J]

Hey C1.. i was asking about the ball valves incase you only needed to work on say the control res, or one of the RDWC containers. you can leave the water in the RDWC containers by having ball valves close off the water, then remove whatever piece that needs fixing. And if you are using the GH dual diaphragm pump like i have, its got 4 valves that you can have additional airstones in each RDWC container allowing your roots to be aerated if you have to do repairs

The valves were only like $5 at Rona (probably the same at the Home Deportation!! lol)

I picked up everything except my 2 inch PVC for the mainlines, the ball valves, the unions, the 2" elbows and the 2"-1/2" T. Basically all the plumbing because i am going to put the totes down in my tent and see how i'm going to work this shit out!!

Got to remember my friend, by the time i have something ready for this system (i'm thinking my Girl Scout Cookies) whatever i decide it will be, wont be for at least another 6-8 weeks, unless i pop new beans for it, then add another 2 weeks.

And in 7-8 weeks, the Widow is done in there and i should have space for this system.

I'm also going to have the totes in the other direction. This way the system wont be so wide, and i can possible put a scrog over top if needed, and have some space to move around in the tent, as well as i can fit it into the 4x4 tent when my LED journal is over! The 2" pvc will go in one end and come out the other end, not out the side like yours, i want the water flow to be straight into the root mass and have the exit pipe draw it through the roots, rather than pull it to the side and out.

As soon as i upload the pics i just took, i will show you how i'm going to set it up.

 

[Greenthumb J]

I also bought a 6" hole cutting bit for my drill, so i'm cutting nice even cuts, although i think i wanted something like 5 7/8 so that the net pots fits more snug. I can always put a neoprene fitting around the net pot if it isn't snug.

I will defs take my measurements twice so the Home Deport dont cut things wrong!

 

[Greenthumb J]

Hey C1, heres the pics of my rough set up.. no PVC or uni seals in yet as i have the uniseals on order (found a Canadian site that does the 2" seals for $5 each, i think thats a good deal since the uniseal authorized seller is charging $20 for a 2" seal!!!)

this is basically to start getting some measurements to go back and cut my PVC with

I also used a higher capacity container for the RDWC containers.. 27gals not 20 gals.

Thats what its going to look like. i will have most of it built tomorrow, just have to wait on the uniseals!!

 

[Cannabis 1]

Actually Gt. With my pipes coming g into the side of my containers, I am getting 2 whirl pools spinning in opposite directions before it gets drawn back out to the pump. I like this better than just a straight shot from one pipe to another.

And instead of the ball valves, I have 2 inch rubber caps. I can put them on any container to stop the water flow

 

[Cannabis 1]

That looks awesome Gt. Go to Scamazon and you can get 2 inch uni seals for 5 bucks and free shipping

 

[Cannabis 1]

Ok here is a few better pics

Here you can see where my air lines and chiller line come into the container. This also shows the height I will keep the water at.

This is all the stuff minus the air pump. For the second trial run, I am letting the system run for 24 hours until I get home tonight. So far there have not been any leaks.

 

[Light Addict]

This is some great info

 

[Cannabis 1]

Thanks LA! I learned from last grow that the bigger and more healthy the roots, the better the plants are up top. I really hope to pull 2 lbs per plant per light off this new system. The only other thing I have to do is get another tent and dedicate it to vegging. Then I will have a perpetual harvest. 2 lbs per plant every 2 months. I'm just dreaming now, but it will happen sooner or later!

 

[Light Addict]

I may have to pick your brain some via PM as I have a little build project planned myself soon

 

[Cannabis 1]

I'm always here to help. Still a novice, but I'll help where I can!!

Also, another reason I used the 2 inch unions was so that if I decide to add another light to the tent, I can expand the system to 3 containers. It's always nice being able to modify at any time

 

[Greenthumb J]

A dry run might produce you 2 whirlpools buddy, but put a huge root mass in the way and you've created a huge wall of roots to disrupt your water flow. Might not produce the same effect you know?

And whats the second 1" uni seal on the back of the control res for? i saw the holes for the air lines and your water chiller, but whats the random 1" hole at the back for?

Also.. Scamazon dot COM doesn't ship to canada man.. that site sucks my dick.. everything i have tried to order says they cant ship it to my desired destination. Method 7 glasses.. 200x USB microscopes.. inline fans and carbon filters.. NOTHING!!! So i have to use Canadian amazon which doesn't have fuckin Uniseals in stock.. (they have three 2".. i need 6 2" ones and a 1" for the return) But no.. so i ordered 5 2" seals off this canadian site (they only had five 2" left) with expedited shipping so i can get that shit on this wednesday coming rather than next monday after that. Now i just need one more 2" seal and a 1" seal for my return, and my 700gph mag drive pump that i'm picking up today from the hydro store (they have them in stock! Whoo!) and my measurements for the 2" PVC and i'm set!

Fuck.. i just looked again at Scamazon dot CA again and the 2" uniseals that they have only 3 left in stock are $9.99 CAD.. get this... plus $9.54 CAD shipping!!!! thats almost the same as the damn seal costs. Glad i got my 5 seals at $5.95 a seal!!!

And adding another light to a 5x10 tent? going to be really tight in there no? i know my 2 Cooltubes stretch at least 6ft across the tent.. more like 6.5 with ducting.

Now if you add an LED like we talked about for the cross spectrum, i thnk that would work great, you wont need to add in extra ducting and you can hang it for supplemental side lighting

I should be building this system either tomorrow or sunday.. Also i'm going to use 10" top hats instead of a 6" net pot. Unless the 10" top hat doesnt fit my design, i can go with a smaller top hat (these are bucket lids designed like net pots, i'm sure you know what i'm talking about now)