possible setup?

me and my brother are planning our next grow. it will be a proper rig. we are looking at a 600W HPS w/ digital ballast and cool tube. we want a perpetual harvest type thing going on. would a DWC setup work in this situation? in the clone/mother room we will have a DIY bubble cloner and the mothers under some t-5's probably. if the DWC will work we will be going with some homemade boxes in a cabinet in his closet. any help with the plans will be greatly appreciated. this is still in a rough draft stage. we are trying to have everything inplace in ~ 1 month. so come on guys and gals, help me out!

-shake

I think, yes yes yes and yes. Let's do it. You will also need a fan blowing over tops of plants with fresh air intake.

you need good nutrients and good meters. PH and PPM or EC.
A 600 wil do a 4x4 area.

sorry, let me elaborate a little more. we were gonna go with a perpetual style harvst. 12 plants total in flower, and harvest 3 plants every 2 weeks hoping to get ~37.3 grams per. not sure about the strains yet, but would definitely like some vairety. we were looking at a 1000W HPS. would that be overkill or hard tl keep cool, or both? what would be the benifts/risk ratio?

we have found several possible cabinets. something that locks is a must! i figure that you can get about 6 plants in each DIY DWC (if this method is viable) box. plus a smaller version for the cloner with more available openings up top, obviously.

stinky, would you go recommend something more like foxysox has going in her latest log you reffered us to in another post? which exact method is that? thanks for all your help, you really are wonderful.

and everyone else around here rocks too!

going to look into some details!

-shake

until i "came back" to the "farm" i had never heard of dwc before...i always made some elaborate drip runoff system. nothing wrong with a drip system being i have many years of irrigation background, but i decided to try this dwc method. although very partictular with nutes and ph, i must say i LOVE the dwc system...virtually no maintnence except to keep an eye on the water levels and ph. no pumps and hoses neccessary, no emitters, no extra timer...i have 3 dollar store bins that hold like 1.25 gallons each and my plants seem to be doing spectacular so far. i am about 15 days into flower using the lucas nute method, about to switch to 3000k lights (FL shoplights) and lucas style bloom nutes. seeing treetops folgers cans made me realize there is no need for a huge resivoir (easier water changes and whatnot). hope i have helped you a little bit, im still learning myself...i think we all are.

Good Luck,
B

Oh and as for nutes i use general hydroponic...have for years and am not dissappointed...if your are growing in a small space i would look into the lucas method, good stuff. :rasta:

For 12 plants you need each set of 3 to have it's own rez. They have to have different nute schedual and flush at the end. If you have the space and can cooltube and vent and A/C the room I would go 1000 HPS hortilux or sunmaster bulb with digi ballast.

They came and took my sea of green. 12 plants 6 to a 10 gallon tub, Harvest each month was 3/4 to a pound depends on the strain.

Look up locnar1958 and see my grow.

thanks loc nar! that changes things up a bit. i'm off to look at that log now!

-shake

lol, looks like your guys poted at the same time as me...yea i wouldnt mix diff strains in the same container like loc nar said, diff schedules, requirements, etc. but as for amount of solution per plant...one gallon per works for me, altho i know some strains really suck up the water. but i also grow small plants (3 feet tops) i have a small cab in the attic so height is an issue for me. that is the main reason i use the lucas method...it keeps the a lil stunted. heat is also an issue to me which is why i grow with fluro...which reminds me i have to make a post about that...happy growing :pimp:

ok. i found a 56" x 56" x 78.5" grow tent. i was gonna use that for flower running a 1000W HPS with digital ballast and cool tube. then i was gonna use a 48 " x 20" x 48" grow tent, with a 4', 4 bulb HO T-5 running at 6500k. you get the tent, 4" fan, therm/hyg., the light w/bulbs and a 6" clamp on fan for $300. there will be a bubble cloner in there and the mothers in soil.

as far as with the flower tent, i'm now considering ebb & flow as well as DWC. what's everyones take on this? which would be easier? stinky said she can get 30-40 plants on a 2' x 4' tray using 6" and some 3" pots. this is ebb & flow i'm assuming. where you at stinky? i'm not opposed to DIY or purchasing pre-fabbed.

as far as testing goes, do you guys and gals prefer the hand held pen type meter or say a 3 part, ec, ppm, ph type stationary meter? or both?

i also found a co2 system that is ~135. you can find it here. i have found a can filter, but how about something like this Ozn Jr..

i guess that's where i'm at as of right now. now keep the comments/feedback/opinion/ideas coming!

-shake

That's an awsome layout, wish I had the bucks. Trays must be ebb and flow.

Don't get the hanna combo meter it may work but can be a bitch if things go wrong. Calibration is an ongoing thing with them. Bluelab is what I wanted and should of gotten.

Remember c02 must be at high levels unless you use it for control of something like bugs. Get the meters don't guess. It would go great with a 1000 HPS. It is very dangerous if used in people living areas. It is heavier than air and will displace the air and drowned you.

good lookin loc nar. i appreciate all the feedback. it's nice to be able to pick someones brain. i mean i've read and read and read but that only takes you so far.

so would you recommend the DWC and bigger plants of the sea of green? i don't really mind either way. i think i would get a lot more use of the ebb & flow system. like a 3 x 3 tray or something, with the 5" square pots. are trays better than the single bucket systems? i've found some prety good prices on setups but once again i don't mind buying some stuff and building it myself.

is there much differenct between drip feed and ebb & flow? this system will probably be located in a closet right now. as long as exhaust is good would co2 work, or should i just wait?

yeah, i've heard to stay away from the hanna meters. back to research.

-shake

All the hydro systems are good and have ups and downs to each. You need to decide. You can make each work for you. E/B would be hard for me to make work in a SOG since they need different things as they go through the room. E/B is a system of a rez on bottom, tray on top gavity feed back to rez. Small water pump to fill the tray 1, 2, 3 inches deep so your pots sit down in it and then slowly drain to rez.

Drip is a water pump in the rez going to your dripper at plants. I don't use emmiters just 1/4 inch tube. That's me more on that. This system can be a small tub or buckets almost anything.

Bubblers, tub with net pots cut in top. air stone for bubbles the more the better. Keep the water to the bottom of the pots till roots hang in water then lower water level a bit.

Drip and bubbler is what I use or used for the time. When I put my drip hose in I put it down to the bottom of the netpot. 15 minutes every 4 hours untill roots hang in the water then the drip is taken out or just turned off and the bubbler takes over. they can be any container that blocks light.

Thats why I say each age in the flower room needs it's own rez. I would go with 10 gallon tubs with four 5 inch netpots in the top, hydrotron to fill them. One or two airstones in each and a drip but you can hand water young plants till roots hang down. My bro does that. If you put in drip you can use the pump to empty rez for change but you still need a hloe to fill. My bro made a hole in his to allow a hand bilge pump from a boat shop. Only take a minute to empty. You have 56 by 56 that will hold 4 tubs with 4 each, 16 plants. Under 1000 even at 8 foot ceiling they will get about 4 foot plus the tub. Depending on how long you veg them about 2 foot for me. They will double in size. Every two weeks, Man that's a full time job.

Changing the rez is the hardest to me the mixing and that is easy it's the weight of the water and where to get rid of it. Get your self a good R/O filter, you will need lots of clean water.

wow loc, ur just dripping with experience....and time. thank you!