Drain to waste deep water culture

[GrowerGoneWild]

when I was running sterile I had what I thought was big healthy roots but it wasn't until I switched to bennies that I realised what I had before were puny lol. That's cool bro, why u prefer drip hydro over dwc for flower? Any particular reason? Im sure there is.

Well its more like a top flood in hydroton.

Its just more workable than DWC all plumbed together, I'll run a perpetual SOG with plants in a 2gal smart pots sitting on a flood table. It just works for me, easy to put stakes in, etc, the garden is constantly moving around, nice little lolly pops.

I guess it kinda depends on the client, they wanted a constant supply that was easy to maintain. I setup their garden to meet those needs.

Ive done RDWC/DWC it works fine from a performance standpoint, however it needs a heavy aeration strategy, temp control and circulation for it work at optimum levels. And i'm of the opinion that the roots need a bigger container, alot of DWC/RDWC systems use 5 gallon buckets I think this isnt enough room. at least twice that size if you ask me.

Just some thoughts anyways.

 

[Blue brother]

Well its more like a top flood in hydroton.

Its just more workable than DWC all plumbed together, I'll run a perpetual SOG with plants in a 2gal smart pots sitting on a flood table. It just works for me, easy to put stakes in, etc, the garden is constantly moving around, nice little lolly pops.

I guess it kinda depends on the client, they wanted a constant supply that was easy to maintain. I setup their garden to meet those needs.

Ive done RDWC/DWC it works fine from a performance standpoint, however it needs a heavy aeration strategy, temp control and circulation for it work at optimum levels. And i'm of the opinion that the roots need a bigger container, alot of DWC/RDWC systems use 5 gallon buckets I think this isnt enough room. at least twice that size if you ask me.

Just some thoughts anyways.

Aw man that's good to hear I love sog set ups, I learned so much as a newbie reading from Al b fuct's threads. Plant numbers are a big issue over here though it's sad, maybe one day they'll wake up who knows. How do you manage the individual nutrient needs of plants in different stages? Or do they all just get the same ?

Are you some sort of professionak grow room consultant? U certainly know your stuff.

Jesus that's a lot of volume what's that around 50l ? Big roots big fruits and all that. What size plant would these buckets be used for ? 16 square foot ?

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

Aw man that's good to hear I love sog set ups, I learned so much as a newbie reading from Al b fuct's threads. Plant numbers are a big issue over here though it's sad, maybe one day they'll wake up who knows. How do you manage the individual nutrient needs of plants in different stages? Or do they all just get the same ?

Are you some sort of professionak grow room consultant? U certainly know your stuff.

Jesus that's a lot of volume what's that around 50l ? Big roots big fruits and all that. What size plant would these buckets be used for ? 16 square foot ?

I go with a medium strength feed, and at the end of the flower cycle the ones that are ready to go have the hose pulled from them and are hand top fed with plain water for a week, Solves the addback problem, rinses the medium from salts.

Well, not really a pro, I have friends that tell friends what I can do, and I help them out, and I get a share of the crop.
As soon as the regulations are set, I might have consulting as part of my services.

 

[Budley Doright]

That's super cool that bro. How much did that controlly majiggy cost you to build? I remember asking the question as a newbie if it would be possible to build one myself with no prior knowledge of electronics. Al b. Fuct laughed at me lol.

You ever thought of running a perpetual grow? You could heat your flower room at night time with your veg room air. I use a lung room and heat my house with it but also use it to raise the flower room temp. Stil removing radiant heat from the bulbs with my cooltubes but using that to heat up the air feels like elegant engineering.

I would run perpetual but need make a bigger shed lol. Its 8x8x8 so no huge. Without any electrical knowledge I would not recommend building much as the risk of fire would be high and thats a bad thing. I just used a bunch of relays and a used furnace board, couple of transformers and a digital thermostat. The CO2 is only allowed to come on when lights are on and falls below 1500 ppm. Its a linear valve and adds more as spread gets bigger. I havent hooked the bottle up due to no mechanical cooling yet (no power lol), so extraction is on when lights are on. The control part is more just cool stuff I like to fuck with lol.

 

[Blue brother]

I go with a medium strength feed, and at the end of the flower cycle the ones that are ready to go have the hose pulled from them and are hand top fed with plain water for a week, Solves the addback problem, rinses the medium from salts.

Well, not really a pro, I have friends that tell friends what I can do, and I help them out, and I get a share of the crop.
As soon as the regulations are set, I might have consulting as part of my services.

That's a clever idea, what I do is use a tub under my bucket that collects the water prior to being wasted (incase I need to check it), then when it's time to flush I just top feed with plain water until the tub fills and attach the waste pump to the top feed and recirculate. That's the only time i recirculate, I figured it doesn't really matter as my goal is to lock out the plant anyway.

Where youre sitting sounds pretty sweet. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be able to make a legitimate living doing what we do.

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

Where youre sitting sounds pretty sweet. I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be able to make a legitimate living doing what we do.

I'm looking forward to doing this as a pro. I'm not so focused on flowers at the moment.

 

[Budley Doright]

I would run perpetual but need make a bigger shed lol. Its 8x8x8 so no huge. Without any electrical knowledge I would not recommend building much as the risk of fire would be high and thats a bad thing. I just used a bunch of relays and a used furnace board, couple of transformers and a digital thermostat. The CO2 is only allowed to come on when lights are on and falls below 1500 ppm. Its a linear valve and adds more as spread gets bigger. I havent hooked the bottle up due to no mechanical cooling yet (no power lol), so extraction is on when lights are on. The control part is more just cool stuff I like to fuck with lol.

Opps should have said 1000 ppm's .

 

[hellmutt bones]

There is also a reason DWC has a very high failure rate and that is also due to lack of DO. I actually had shit luck with it lol. But yup I hear ya nothing wrong with trying new systems, good luck and keep updating!

What? Dwc failure rate? A kindergarten could run it no problem, and become a master grower!

 

[Budley Doright]

^^^ ok lol. The statement wasn't about a growers skill as much as getting things right. I find it very unforgiving. And yes it does have a higher failure rate IMO. Just look at all of the "whats wrong with my plants" threads that run DWC. The root mass is so big that trying to introduce DO to the middle poses huge problems if not set up right. Water temps are another issue that is pretty important in a DWC/flooded root system. Not saying its not a great way to grow but it does have pit falls. If you dont agree thats fine lol. This is only what I've noticed reading many plant problem threads. As for finding out myself I've ran many different systems and DWC posed the most problems for me but yup seen some epic grows.

 

[Blue brother]

I would run perpetual but need make a bigger shed lol. Its 8x8x8 so no huge. Without any electrical knowledge I would not recommend building much as the risk of fire would be high and thats a bad thing. I just used a bunch of relays and a used furnace board, couple of transformers and a digital thermostat. The CO2 is only allowed to come on when lights are on and falls below 1500 ppm. Its a linear valve and adds more as spread gets bigger. I havent hooked the bottle up due to no mechanical cooling yet (no power lol), so extraction is on when lights are on. The control part is more just cool stuff I like to fuck with lol.

Yeah I figured it was a bad idea lol. That's a cool setup that bro.

 

[Blue brother]

I'm looking forward to doing this as a pro. I'm not so focused on flowers at the moment.

Do you mean ur looking forward to doing set ups for people as a pro and ur not so focused on marijuana flowers OR you're looking forward to growing marihuana as a pro (with youre new found legitimacy) and you're not so focused on ornamental flowering plants?

 

[Blue brother]

^^^ ok lol. The statement wasn't about a growers skill as much as getting things right. I find it very unforgiving. And yes it does have a higher failure rate IMO. Just look at all of the "whats wrong with my plants" threads that run DWC. The root mass is so big that trying to introduce DO to the middle poses huge problems if not set up right. Water temps are another issue that is pretty important in a DWC/flooded root system. Not saying its not a great way to grow but it does have pit falls. If you dont agree thats fine lol. This is only what I've noticed reading many plant problem threads. As for finding out myself I've ran many different systems and DWC posed the most problems for me but yup seen some epic grows.

I hear that, anyone can master their chosen method, that's just down to hard work. But no one is a master overnight, sure you may be successful overnight (which a lot of people are) but a lot of that is accidental. All systems have their down sides (mine included). And dwc does have some pretty dire consequences if you make a small mistake in planning or execution. But the growth rates do exceed MOST other forms of growing.

Im sure if I gave my 6 year old son a ph and ppm meter and sent him out in the garden to dwc some tomatoes up hed come back soaked. If I done the same with my 70 year old green thumbed organic growing grandfather he might even have some problems. And I too have had to iron out the creases in my system. You can allwAys plan your way around problems but it doesn't stop them from being problems in the first place and only when you have navigated every conceivable problem for your system can you call urself a master.

 

[ttystikk]

I would run perpetual but need make a bigger shed lol. Its 8x8x8 so no huge. Without any electrical knowledge I would not recommend building much as the risk of fire would be high and thats a bad thing. I just used a bunch of relays and a used furnace board, couple of transformers and a digital thermostat. The CO2 is only allowed to come on when lights are on and falls below 1500 ppm. Its a linear valve and adds more as spread gets bigger. I havent hooked the bottle up due to no mechanical cooling yet (no power lol), so extraction is on when lights are on. The control part is more just cool stuff I like to fuck with lol.

I'd like to get more in depth with you about these kinds of controls. I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump to cool my legal Colorado grow and use the heat for everything from domestic hot water to heating the house in winter. That's not the only application for such controls I have in mind...

 

[Budley Doright]

I'd like to get more in depth with you about these kinds of controls. I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump to cool my legal Colorado grow and use the heat for everything from domestic hot water to heating the house in winter. That's not the only application for such controls I have in mind...

I would be happy to help. When you say dual circuit do you mean it has a water to water, water to air, and desuper heater for domestic as well? PM me make and model if you have it. Let me know what your hoping to do with it. I have been installing geo's for 15 years, waterfurnace service tech .

 

[Budley Doright]

May be traveling to Estes Park in a few months if I get border thing fixed lol.

 

[ttystikk]

I would be happy to help. When you say dual circuit do you mean it has a water to water, water to air, and desuper heater for domestic as well? PM me make and model if you have it. Let me know what your hoping to do with it. I have been installing geo's for 15 years, waterfurnace service tech .

BAM!

I've been running a fully water chilled op for years now and it's given me an education...

I think this is going to be a good conversation. Any reason it needs to be private, as long as we aren't sharing billing info?

 

[Budley Doright]

No not at all just thought it'd be easier is all. Pricing is irelavent as I'm sure your state/feds are offering rebates, there is nothing offered here, and equipment just went way up in price due to our peso of the north. Just priced a re&re yesterday on a well, so easy job and it came to $14,000! Ask away and I'llhelp anyway I can. I am waiting till spring now to hook up a cold water loop into the lake for chilling the res and the shed at my place.

 

[Budley Doright]

I hear that, anyone can master their chosen method, that's just down to hard work. But no one is a master overnight, sure you may be successful overnight (which a lot of people are) but a lot of that is accidental. All systems have their down sides (mine included). And dwc does have some pretty dire consequences if you make a small mistake in planning or execution. But the growth rates do exceed MOST other forms of growing.

Im sure if I gave my 6 year old son a ph and ppm meter and sent him out in the garden to dwc some tomatoes up hed come back soaked. If I done the same with my 70 year old green thumbed organic growing grandfather he might even have some problems. And I too have had to iron out the creases in my system. You can allwAys plan your way around problems but it doesn't stop them from being problems in the first place and only when you have navigated every conceivable problem for your system can you call urself a master.

Its really about what works for the individual and the setup I guess. With what I have a flooded root zone system of any kind has more downfalls than other setups. Flooded root systems, as I said, produce some epic plants, just not for me, mainly due to temp control.