Few water questions

[gr0w]

hey guys,
quick question for you more experienced growers.

currently I am using R/O water filter system in my 20 gallon undercurrent RDWC system and using CaMg+ in the water before adding nutrients. My Ph level likes to drift from 5.5 to 6.8 (ish) and it's rather annoying at times

so my question is:

Question 1:
Would it be a good idea/ beneficial to use half R/O water and half tap water? I have relatively soft water in the area I am in.
(17—20 GPG which is around 290-345 PPM)
or should I just stick with using R/O water?

Question 2:
In a top off reservoir, do you just add water or do you add some nutrients to replace the ones the plants eat up? and do you PH the water in the top off or just PH the epicenter as you go?
I plan on flush and filling the system every 7-10 days if I can.

Question 3:
On a rdwc undercurrent system, do you guys run a drip system? and what do you recommend if so, a drip ring, or two drip stakes?
and do you put your dripper on a timer? or just let it drip all the time?


thanks for your help. much appreciated

 

[Old TimingMan]

hey guys,
quick question for you more experienced growers.

currently I am using R/O water filter system in my 20 gallon undercurrent RDWC system and using CaMg+ in the water before adding nutrients. My Ph level likes to drift from 5.5 to 6.8 (ish) and it's rather annoying at times

so my question is:

Question 1:
Would it be a good idea/ beneficial to use half R/O water and half tap water? I have relatively soft water in the area I am in.
(17–20 GPG which is around 290-345 PPM)
or should I just stick with using R/O water?

Question 2:
In a top off reservoir, do you just add water or do you add some nutrients to replace the ones the plants eat up? and do you PH the water in the top off or just PH the epicenter as you go?
I plan on flush and filling the system every 7-10 days if I can.

Question 3:
On a rdwc undercurrent system, do you guys run a drip system? and what do you recommend if so, a drip ring, or two drip stakes?
and do you put your dripper on a timer? or just let it drip all the time?


thanks for your help. much appreciated

PH drift is normal on a RDWC, when I do a nute change I start at 5.6 and by the time the next change is due it will be 6.0-6-1. As your PH rises, your PPM's should drop if your system is dialed in. Your water temp in the system is very important, keep it under 70 degrees or you will have problems, and a fixed PH PPM Temp monitor is a valuable tool to have if you can afford one, otherwise check them at least twice a day (morning/evening) because a RDWC grow can go south in a hurry!:surrender:

Q1 Stick with RO water if you have the system already, all nute manufacturer's that I looked at base their schedule on RO water.

Q2 I have a (4) 5 gal bucket DIY system with a 30 gal reservoir, my 4 buckets each hold 3 gallons and 1 quart so 13 gallons. I was also mixing up a 20 gal batch when changing and have not had to add in a 7 day veg change but I flipped to flower so I did a 25 gal batch and and feel this will do ok for the first 4-5 weeks of flower, after that I may have to add and plan on mixing nutes in the additional water. I fill mine with 5 gal buckets, each dosed with the correct amount of nutes and PH'd to 5.6, after the system is drained, I pour in 10 gals, start the pumps and add the other buckets.

Q3 My system is a bottom feed top drain with a large 5" stone silicone'd to the bottom of the bucket, the only time I top watered was when I first put them in, and that was to keep the rapid rooter moist on top, the bubbles kept the clay pebbles wet which transferred to the rooter

Hope this helps you out some

 

[gr0w]

hey, how does this style work? do you have any more pictures of the set up?
I was thinking about changing my system to something similar to this so i don't need to bother with top drip.
this is my current set up but having issues with water flowing back into the reservoir.

based on this blueprint

 

[Old TimingMan]

hey, how does this style work? do you have any more pictures of the set up?
I was thinking about changing my system to something similar to this so i don't need to bother with top drip.
this is my current set up but having issues with water flowing back into the reservoir.

This system uses a pondmaster 500 GPH pump outside the reservoir bringing the water to the center of the system and feeding it from the bottom. The top of the drain bulkhead is located 2" below the net pot, the feed line is 1/2" ID and the drain line is 1"ID.

Each bucket has a 5" round flat airstone attached with silicone at the bottom center and is fed air with a 794 GPH air pump. The reservoir is a 30 gal heavy grade tote with another 5" airstone and is located outside the grow room setting on the concrete basement floor to help keep the water 65-70 degrees.

The idea behind this is to make sure you get complete circulation of your water and eliminate the possibility if roots getting sucked in the drain causing blockage/flooding/problems.

It is basically a gravity drain re-circulation system that so far has been working well

I can try to take a few more photos as it is set up now, I won't be able to get any inside the buckets because the scrog screen is on and the plants are already through it.

 

[Old TimingMan]

Here are a few pictures..

30 gal Reservoir tote showing the system drain valves;

Inside of reservoir;

Air & water pumps;

GrowBoss monitor;

Plumbing system inside the grow room;

The grow room;

Happy plants;

I will be changing a couple things when this grow is finished, I want to move the feed shut-off valves perpendicular to the buckets from the way I have them now, all this will require a "T" at each bucket and a little different routing of the feed lines. By doing this I will be able to bring my buckets 8" closer together and a little more centered in the room.

The only other thing I plan to do is rather than use thread tape on the fittings I will use silicon, as you can see I have a slight drip st one of the valves...nothing major, just more of an annoyance.

I do recommend spending a few $$ for a good system monitor, it is a time saver and peace of mind tool.

Hope this gives you a idea how I did mine, The center plants are in coco coir, I did not plan this when I designed my RDWC, I planted 6 fem beans with expectations of only 4 popping...got to give Crop King Seeds Kudo's, all 6 popped so coco is much like hydro and I could still use the Skunk Labs nute line I purchased for the coco...Win-Win!

 

[gr0w]

awesome set up.
thank you for taking the time to snap some pictures. helps me visualize some things

 

[Old TimingMan]

awesome set up.
thank you for taking the time to snap some pictures. helps me visualize some things

Thanks for the complement, I spent hours looking at other set-ups and the pros & cons of each type. My biggest fear on the bottom re-circulation style was the root mass blocking the return and having a mess on my hands when flower time is in full swing.

I was able to find screens (more like grills) for both the inlets and outlets that fit the bulkheads to help keep the roots out of the lines, and with the flow pushing through the bottom it seems to push the roots away.

Good luck on your system modifications!

 

[gr0w]

Good luck on your system modifications!

Thank you.

did some modifications today and did a New Res Change with the knowledge I have now.

new taller reservoir to help achieve the proper water height in my 5 gal buckets

added some new piping and rearranged how the RDWC tubes were run and added a shut off valve so I can add tube and do reservoir changes easier.

some ugly venting for now

and the plants. (they are very far behind for how old they are as we started in crap soil before switching to hydro. first ever grow so let's see if i can save them

 

[Old TimingMan]

Looks like you are on the right track and love how you have things organized, many think that you need a visible flow through the buckets, it is really not necessary as long as you have O2 in the buckets and re circulation, your plants can only absorb so many nutes in a given hour, what the really like is O2 to help the absorb.