rdwc question

[Mal420xl]

im considering setting up a small rdwc grow to see if it makes things easier for me since soil is being problematic. I understand the idea behind it, but i need to be able to see it in my mind to be able to build it.
I have quik and crappy drawing i made that should explain what i want it to do and that is maybe just how it works in the first place but im not sure.
on rdwc systems do they just constantly drip or spray the roots drawing from a pool at the bottom of their bucket or do you use another bucket as a controller?
i was thinking of something like that. the controller would drain from the pool from each bucket and refill it from the controller while it spays the roots? that way it could run for 4 or 5 minutes every half hour or hour rather than run continuously?
something likle this that i could expand with tee fittings if it works

[Shovelhandle]

off topic, but have you tried a Hempy bucket grow?

[Mal420xl]

nah shov never done any hydro or any of that yet... ok i see what that is now. thats like waterfarms.

[low_rdr]

My RDWC Setup: (Current setup, its expanding soon)
(5) 5 gallon buckets
(1) 6 port air pump (40L per minute)
(1) 250 gallon per hour water pump
Various 1/2 water lines, return lines, fittings
(5) 6" airstones
(4) 8" deep well bucket net pots
(2) 10q bags of hydroton


Ok, first and foremost, what most places don't show you is that the drain holes all have to be level (the same distance from the ground) as your controller bucket. Otherwise you'll have improper drainage issues. Best place to put the drain hole is about 1/4" from the bottom of the bucket. Now, I've drilled 1/4" holes in the top portion (just below the lip) of all my buckets and ran air stones into it, the reason for this is to maximize air exposure to the roots in the water - This is the best way to insure good (and fast) growth.

Water doesn't spray onto my roots at any stage, my roots are 95% submerged 95% of the time. The air stones provide the needed oxygen to the roots, so I'm covered there. Now my controller bucket also has an airstone, this is more for helping me with nute exchanges than you might think, I just use the airstone in the controller bucket to help me mix in all the goodness I add. My water pump is set to go on every hour (on the hour) for 15 minutes, considering I only have about 20 gallons of water, this 15 minutes allows me to recirculate the goodness about 4 times per hour (plenty) I have my control bucket setup so that every time the pump kicks on, my hydroton is visibly wet looking at the top down (this way I know if I need to add water just by looking at my hydroton)

All this being said - If you want to constantly run your water pump (I don't) you CAN use less water, only 1 airstone, and spray the water onto the roots, however, for less money, time, and effort into parts, you can have a more rigid system.

The problems with my setup - Honestly, aside from constraint of my grow space, there isn't really any problems, it does smell like an aquarium in there, but I'm building a new carbon filter this week and that should cut the smell. I harvested my first pineapple express from this system about two weeks ago, and it was the sweetest tasting bud I've ever grown. I've got a C99 about a week or two from chop (nutes on the strains vary vastly, this is best setup for 1 strain) and the smell is just amazing (like spun sugar)

Now, traditional RDWC is setup just as I've described above. Using less water, and nozzles to spray roots is airoponics, basically your roots are always suspended in air, and then get a douse of water. I prefer it the other way, roots suspended in water, and doused in air.

Some people suggest when you setup your RDWC system that the water is 1" below your netpots, I think the water should touch your netpots, and then fill the top when it cycles (it will return to normal level after the pump is off for a few minutes) The reason I like this (as stated above) I like knowing when I need to be topped off just by looking at the hydroton, you can use a line in your controller bucket for this, but I'm actually putting a plant in my controller bucket soon :D

[Shovelhandle]

nah shov never done any hydro or any of that yet... ok i see what that is now. thats like waterfarms.


I don't grow hydro but I've seen very good results with Hempy and some connoisseur growers are making big yields using this very simple system.

[Mal420xl]

ok cool that gives me something to go on. im not in a huge rush since its still cold so i can play around with something. if i do go with it tho i will eventually need a way to control my water temps, cool will never be a real issue my basement never gets much warmer than the 60s but warm will. anyone know about those sonic aerators ive heard the heat up the water some?

[low_rdr]

Wont be needed - I thought I'd need one too since I installed on a concrete floor up north

water temps stay in the high 60's and low 70's

floor is in the 40's

If you do happen to need one (water below 50) I've got 4 spares never been opened.

Oh, and why.... the air pump pulls room temp air, and blends it in with the water

[Mal420xl]

ahhh i hadnt thought about that aspect, good to know thanks!

[low_rdr]

NP bro.

One aspect you may want to consider is a bigger carbon filter. My room STINKS like hell from the nutes, and it smells like an aquarium, I just got all the parts for mine (still missing the cap) I'm building a 30" x 10" cannon filter.

[Mal420xl]

hmm well i guess id have to see how bad it got for smell. odors are not a huge problem at least not yet. the plants i have now seem to really ramp up their stink when the lights are off(and they arent suffering from ph issues) and i can only smell it when i walk into the area where my tents are....for now. as soon as they really stink i will have the filters goin on both tents. they are already set up for them just havent had a need so far. the aquarium smell i guess i can live with or can just cover it up with something like a good candle or just hoot a fatty.

[LOC NAR on probation]

You may want to consider an ebb and gro type system. After floundering around from system to system we found it the easiest to use and have large results. You can start as small as you want and expand up to 48 pots. The water lines going in are the return lines. Very easy for beginners that want to expand.
I'm not saying it's better just worth checking out..

[polishpollack]

just be careful how m many buckets you put in a room. people will fill a room with buckets not realizing that if this method is done right, the plants become huge and overtake the room.

[Mal420xl]

yeah i kinda figured as much. i think when i get it going ill stick to 4 maybe 6 if it seems doable just growing fer me and maybe a friend or two in times of need.

[low_rdr]

I've got to agree with pollack, I didn't think that C99 would get much bigger than it usually does in a 5 gallon pot (they aren't super large plants unless you veg them for a long time) and my C99 which is just about ready, takes up 25% of a 3x10' grow space - I'm sure if she had more room to fan out and expand, she would. Looks like I stuffed a damn christmas tree in there.

Thank god my new space is 2 weeks from completion! (you should see the drainage I've got, leading into a nice, secure outdoor area) Gonna toss all my weak clones out there and see how they fair, MUHAHAHHAHHAHA

Anyway, the smell isn't from the plants, its from the water/nutes. It really does smell like an aquarium, I put the new carbon filter in today, I'll let you know tomorrow if the smell is gone. (did a nute change today as well)

[Mal420xl]

i worked with industrial solvents for a good while, not entirely sure i will even notice the nute smell. my olfactory took a pretty hard beating even with respirators sometimes. i can only hope my biggest problem will be not having enough room but i doubt it.
my veg times will be plant dependant i guess. the ones i have going now(that are actually growing well) ill veg at least another week or so they are around 2 feet or close to 2 months. that was usually how i have done it in the past. if i had to i could cut the top out of my flower tent to get extra height and put one of my other lights underneath to take care of the lower parts if it was urgent enough. i doubt i will get to that point tho. i think 4-6 plants will fit nicely in my 4x4x6 tent.. i will adapt and overcome and so will they.

[Mal420xl]

wanna see some pics of your new set up low_rdr sounds cool.

[low_rdr]

Okay - I'm relocating soon and actually have a 20x40 grow space, I'll be starting in a 10x15 room, might contain my entire grow there for quite awhile as I don't have any patients where I'm moving to. So here are pictures of the setup, you can't see the controller bucket but you can see the hoses leading to it. Ignore the yellow, I had a mag deficiency and its actually improved by about 80%, I figure by tomorrow they'll be green again. Didn't lose anything important during this yellowing, but I'm sure I might have stunted mrs super crop in the far right hand corner.

You can see the C99 flowering pretty good, looks to have 4 main tops, for reference they are about the size of a 20oz bottle, just not as thick yet.

290368290369290370

[Mal420xl]

looks so tasty

[low_rdr]

I took a sample last night, and I swear to god you can make viagra from C99. Rolled a 2.5g blunt around 7pm, high as hell and don't remember what I was doing (but I remembered the ravioli we had for dinner, was slow cooking from the time I rolled the blunt) I remember waking up at 3am with a hardon from hell, and I was still HIGH (the room was wobbly)

Woke up this morning, nice, fresh, best nights sleep I've had in awhile. So yeah, she's about done. Prepping a makeshift dry room now.

Makeshift dry room:

Since we're moving, I haven't been using my veg box, don't wanna mess with the transport, so I've placed a heater in there, and there is room to hang and I'm going to turn on the fan... So, instant dry room, don't wanna do a water cure right now, too much going on with the move.

[Mal420xl]

i hear ya about the move. thats always a pain. new place sounds ideal cant wait to see the grows you get out of that. as for the c99... maybe a lil more info than i needed but i will keep that in mind for later on down the road.