DIY Recirculating DWC PVC Tube

[PrairiePoet]

Looking good Mr Smith.

I had wondered about the angle you did with the pots. We learn as we grow.

Prairie

 

[Trunk5]

very nice sir. who cares how big they get, what counts is that all your hard work is paying off. and if i may say so thats pretty cool looking as i havent seen many colosseum builds.. tossing them right into bloom from clone is the way to go, if you do veg i wouldnt go more then a week. but yes +rep for sure and keep us updated, because im sure im not the only one who wants to see a wall of buds.

 

[Mr Smith]

Thanks for the props but I won't achieve my goal this grow. I see that the grow will go over a pnd but I won't reach 40 plus ounce this round. I do plan to veg 1 week after the grow test and the rebuild, this project is ongoing until I reach satisfaction.
Day 40 in flower.

 

[Silent Bob]

Nice. I like the pulleys... reminds me of something I did taken to the "nth" degree... 2011, a space full o' buds odyssey!

Perhaps the vertical movement is the key to extra vertical efficiency.

 

[Propa Gator]

Perhaps the vertical movement is the key to extra vertical efficiency.

Or split the watts and stack the bulbs ie two(or three) 400w, but...
They would be serving a smaller radius crop circle.

 

[Mr Smith]

Or split the watts and stack the bulbs ie two(or three) 400w, but...
They would be serving a smaller radius crop circle.

Its really good to see ya PG. If it wasn't for a few pms we shared I probally wouldn't be doing this test. The base tube on my vert is 24 inches making my octagon's inside diameter of 60 inches so the bulb is 30 inches from the plants When I rebuild and fix the problems I've been having I am making the base tube at 20 inches to make the light distance shorter. I do own 4 600w but they are being used on the aero 60 so next test will have the same light setup. I have another 1000w but I am trying to beat 1 gram per watt with this style growing and 2000grams might be asking too much for such a small area. The thought did cross my mind about a duel octagon system but until I beat the 1 gram per watt I won't be satified. Besides I like using the other 1000w for the ebb ngro or aero 36 depending on what mood or strain I am on.

 

[Silent Bob]

I wonder if a longer veg time would help the yield...

What's your opinion on trimming fans that block light to buds?

I like how you've used the weight to counter balance the bulb on the vert. mover... might have to steal that idea...

 

[Propa Gator]

Mr Smith, I'm delighted to see your flooded tube stack performing well, but...
Heaths' design is IMO, flawed. I wish that I could use & post graphics but
I still doodle with a pen. I will describe my ideas; the scheme behind my
ownership of two dozen sch 40 4" 45* elbows. I bought, then realized that
I can't build waterworks in the space I have ... I've downstairs neighbors.

Individual layers, water entering one end exits the other through a
short drain-pipe that adjusts for height of water in the upper tube, then pours
it into the next layer down. Each half-layer has four octagon segments;
Four half-circle flooded tubes stack for each side of the array. Each half
has its own pump from the common res. One side can pivot on HD castors
to allow inside access.
This tool has aided my dreams: Polygon Calculator

2" net-cups neatly mount RW starter cubes, why go bigger?
This system has 8 separable parts, so is portable.
The vertical drain-connector can be fitted with a grommet on top, loose below.
End caps can be coffee-can tops in 4" sch 40; silicon works here.

 

[Mr Smith]

I wonder if a longer veg time would help the yield...

What's your opinion on trimming fans that block light to buds?

I like how you've used the weight to counter balance the bulb on the vert. mover... might have to steal that idea...

I am pretty sure I could double the yeild with just one week veg, because I had to come up with such a large number of clones at once I was not able to pick and choose which clones to use and some of the clones had very well establish root systems while others only started with a small string of roots. Since my diy is a vertical system and the light source stays below the plant height my plants tend to bush instead of stretch and grows toward the light it will or would be necessary to remove certain fan leaves to promote better bud production. I did't veg at all with this grow test so lil to no trimming was needed this round.
I had to use counter weights with the light rail because without them the motor would spin and get stuck on the rail. It was simple trial and error. A better product might be the light mover that uses the motor and chaindrive assembly but I used what I already owned.

Mr Smith, I'm delighted to see your flooded tube stack performing well, but...
Heaths' design is IMO, flawed. I wish that I could use & post graphics but
I still doodle with a pen. I will describe my ideas; the scheme behind my
ownership of two dozen sch 40 4" 45* elbows. I bought, then realized that
I can't build waterworks in the space I have ... I've downstairs neighbors.

Individual layers, water entering one end exits the other through a
short drain-pipe that adjusts for height of water in the upper tube, then pours
it into the next layer down. Each half-layer has four octagon segments;
Four half-circle flooded tubes stack for each side of the array. Each half
has its own pump from the common res. One side can pivot on HD castors
to allow inside access.
This tool has aided my dreams: Polygon Calculator

2" net-cups neatly mount RW starter cubes, why go bigger?
This system has 8 separable parts, so is portable.
The vertical drain-connector can be fitted with a grommet on top, loose below.
End caps can be coffee-can tops in 4" sch 40; silicon works here.

Thankyou for the calculator, it should come in handy with my next big diy design if I ever get a chance to build it but for now I am going to recycle as many parts as I can and reach my goal before I resize the system. Running a naked bulb its best to keep plants 1.5 feet away and even tho I am 30 inches away next grow test will have bigger plants.There are many mods I can do to the diy like add drippers or spray nozzles but for now I wish to stay simple with the recirculating water system. I would love to see your design in action, I had a similar design in mind but decided to go the full octagon setup and sacraficing one eighth of the system for the drop to the next row. This system is extremely quiet and the resevoir sits on a stand and is insulated so it doesn't sound like your drawling water for a bath from downstairs. The whole room is carpeted and I have a pond liner laying on top of the carpet waterproofing the whole floor. I lipped the ends against the wall stuck strips of wood under the liner at door entries after the first time I had a overflow issue and dropped 14 gallons of water/nute mix on the floor. 3/8ths and 1/2 inch grommits can work on rounded surfaces but larger grommits don't work well and have to be used on flat surfaces. I mainly went with 3 inch cups because I use them on other systems I own and anything smaller might make cleaning a bitch.
When did you become the 420 poet?

 

[farmer.ed]

Pretty Bad Ass system there Mr Smith, I am wondering what your water temps are like with the wrap and are you using a chiller? I built a stadium terraced system very similar a few years ago and had the same objective, I got much better yields once I got the water temp to stabilize around 66f added cO2 and a 3 headed fogging system inside the grow chamber.

 

[Mr Smith]

The water temp was taken 4 hours after lights on and it was 68.3 f. The room temp goes down to 60f and at its hottest temp is recorded at 81f. Temp probes are measured inside the octagon, heater, humidifier and exhaust are outside the diy. Exhaust fan stays on 24/7 for odor control. The intake fan only comes on when temps go over 80f beside that its passive. (intake pulls cold air from another storage room or window depending on weather outside the house) Humidity was a problem because it would drop into the teens until I installed one of those big house humidiers that has 4 filters and I am now able to keep it in the 45 to 50% range as long as I refill it everyday (10 gallons a day lol) This room stays cold this time of year and I use a heater so temps don't drop into the 50s. I am unable to use this room during the summer months. Also at this point and time I am not using any recirculation fans just exhaust and intake.

 

[farmer.ed]

Those are very good temps, I had to add a chiller which I made from a chest freezer to keep my temps down in the mid 60's, I also use the same chiller to run Icebox heat exchangers and just keep recirculating the air with about 56% rh 74f. I really like your design, I am considering making one in 8" channel, I managed to find 8" 90's 45's and end connectors. My plan is to do inside a 20 ft container in a U shape covering 3 walls.

 

[White]

Amazin !! im in

how many site ??

 

[White]

. Sry Double post -.-

 

[Mr Smith]

There are 93 sites, I am using 85.

 

[White]

realy nice ! im still on the begeining of my frist grow and this system realy tracking my head for the next one !! i realy like the site per light ratio

Cant whait for more pics + Yeild !!

 

[Mr Smith]

These pics are of plants 3 days before harvest. Some of the plants are 4 to 5 inches tall. Most average 8 to 11 inches tall and a few are just over 12 inches. Buds are fairly filled out. There is some yellowing from the ripening stage using less nutes the last week and a flush will be done 2 days before harvest. I have 5 harvests worth of experience with this strain and even tho belladonna normally stays a short strain these plant heights are not normal. Its because of no veg time and where the bulb placement is.

 

[Keith Lake]

interesting action Mr Smith; it's the coliseum meets 420fied's 4" PVC project. 4inch PVC Aero/NFT 4x5 SCROG - 1200 Watts

I'll bet you'll be way ahead of 1 g/w when you get her tuned. I do worry about root mass though; 420fied's roots completely clogged the 4" and I think he was going to 6" on his next effort.

Outstanding work here, I love the creativity and doityerself grows.

+10

 

[farmer.ed]

They look tasty enough to take a bite out of, great job

 

[White]

on yeild !! look like a good one here !!