RacerX's recirculating 16 bucket dwc "Grow Log"

[Cyclonite]

Wow thats quite the investment...nice. I was looking at the 750 digital...that is the way to go. They are awesome, I will probley go with a 400 though since your grow dwarfs mine by far. Nice.:rasta:

[Racerx]

Wow thats quite the investment...nice. I was looking at the 750 digital...that is the way to go. They are awesome, I will probley go with a 400 though since your grow dwarfs mine by far. Nice.:rasta:

I would go with the 1000 digital or the 600 digital. Reason being, it gives you a shitload more choices of what type of bulb to run. You can also run metal halides in those lights. The problem with 750s is that there is only 1 bulb and 1 bulb only, a 750 watt Sylvania HPS. One of our bulbs went dead after 3 days, aparantly due to the igniter thingie being loose or something. Was warrantied but we had 4 days without light in one corner. However, as I somewhat suspected, those plants are catching up well and their difference is almost unnoticeable.

The 600 digital puts out nearly the lumens of a normal 1000 watt and they run incredibly cool (for an HPS).

[Cyclonite]

Hmmm didnt know that about the 750s...I guess the 600 would be a good choice....I know the 600 is the most efficient in the traditional ballast world. I already have a 400watt HPS and a 400 watt MH that work fine...but knowing what I could have just eats at me. I may just rip the ballast out of my 400 HPS and use the hood socket and everything.

[Racerx]

Update. 1.5 weeks into flowering. Going strong. 1600ppm with 1/2/3 of Grow, Micro, and Bloom and 150ppm of Big Bud. 500ml of Hygrozyme (stuff works beautifully at keeping things clean).

[JackdaWack]

dude!! how do u walk around the room! haha siiick set up man, it is really making me debate putting together a small 6 plant setup this same way, I always have been intreasted in the recirculating dwc, i have been thinking about getting a fogger setup too, but 300 bucks for a fogger.. eh might be worth it.
Your girls look a bit yellow in the pics is that just the camera and lighting?

[Racerx]

dude!! how do u walk around the room! haha siiick set up man, it is really making me debate putting together a small 6 plant setup this same way, I always have been intreasted in the recirculating dwc, i have been thinking about getting a fogger setup too, but 300 bucks for a fogger.. eh might be worth it.
Your girls look a bit yellow in the pics is that just the camera and lighting?

just the camera and the lighting. they are a vibrant wonderful green.

[doco]

Looks fantastic RacerX, but I would not have expected anything less from you. Your advice always has the tone of experience behind it but this is the first time Ive seen it in action.

btw, what size pump do you recommend for the recirculating bucket (that feeds back to the res)? I'm going to get a Waterfarm going and liked the way you did the recirculating waterfarm on that thread.

[Racerx]

Looks fantastic RacerX, but I would not have expected anything less from you. Your advice always has the tone of experience behind it but this is the first time Ive seen it in action.

btw, what size pump do you recommend for the recirculating bucket (that feeds back to the res)? I'm going to get a Waterfarm going and liked the way you did the recirculating waterfarm on that thread.

For 16 buckets we use a 350 GPH pump. This is plenty and the feed line into the buckets is pretty strong so it spatters against the netpot, keeping the Rockwool moist, and helps create that humid environment between the water and the top of the bucket. You could get away with smaller pump but it wouldn't be as effective. A larger pump would work as well, but the water might come out a little too fast. With the 350, it takes less then 10 minutes for everything to completely recirculate which makes pH balancing and nutrients a breeze; add stuff, wait a few minutes, double check, and your good to go.

One thing I will definitely say is absolutely necessary is the gravity reservoir. We thought we could get away without it and just add water/nutes on our own until we grew comfortable with the system. That was a mistake. The plants are so huge and hungry that they drink about 6-7 gallons of water a day...atleast!!! That means I am topping off with water and nutrients everyday which is sort of a pain. With a gravity fed reservoir that has a float valve, everytime the water gets low...more is let in. Luckily we already had the parts for it.

Last, if you are able to get a water chiller (something that is almost mandatory for DWC), remember that the chiller itself does not have a pump. You must pump water through the chiller so a larger pump is sometimes needed. This depends on the # of buckets, the amount of water you have, the elevation of the tubing, etc.

For DWC systems, the feed line can do whatever you want, but the return line must be COMPLETELY even and flat against the ground because it uses gravity to drain. This means that if one of the return hoses is an inch off the ground, it is not draining correctly and not getting the flow of water it should have.

To date, we have had absolutely no leaks whatsoever.

[JackdaWack]

This is 100% the best dwc thread.

[Da1KrayzieThug]

This is 100% the best dwc thread.

There was another really good one a while back. Can't remember the name at all, but I remember the grow was pretty sick.