Pyro's Vertical rdwc

[iPurpleSticky]

Welcome!


I went with the corrugated pipe. It works great. It's rigid enough to support a plant, so I'm happy. Plus, the stuff bends super easy and was only $35 for 50'.

Right now I've got 3 and a half levels to this system. I'm hoping I'll be able to run Lucas formula until I run out of GH nutrients, so I can run a perpetual for now.

The first top two rows are Pizzurp, it's a purple bagseed that I came upon. I'll throw a picture in at the end. I've grown it before and I'm growing it now, and I like it. The lowest row is another row of Chemdog. Once my seedlings become mothers, I'll have Eva Jamaican Dream, CH9 Jack, and CH9 Cluster. I've got a bunch of others I'll run in the future too.

 

[drolove]

nice! got pics of the whole setup from the inside?

 

[Stonetech]

That is pretty cool, I never would've thought to use that kinda pipe. I hope it holds up for you, I know its pretty thin. How much water are you pumping thru that thing?

 

[iPurpleSticky]

Drolove, I'll grab some later today if I get a chance. It's all symmetrical. The frame is simply four 20'' diameter, side-to-side not corner-to-corner, octagons that have 2 legs on 4 of the sides. I used 2x3's for it. I did have a problem with the system leaning, but that's what the bungees in the photos are for.

Stonetech, I tried starting with 4'' pvc and bending it into a circle with heat, but it didn't work. Even with a heat blanket and plugs designed for PVC, it just kept caving in on itself. I haven't seen anybody use corrugated pipe either, so I was a bit skeptical. Although, this stuff is way more rigid than I thought it was. I was under the impression that the rigidity of the pipe wouldn't be enough to support the plants, but I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it's strong enough. If you get a chance, hit up the big-box DIY store and feel some corrugated pipe. Plus, this pipe is designed to be underground, so it's designed to be fairly rigid.

Here's a video. Don't mind the music, it didn't even get to the good part. But that's your's truly on vocals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmdDLOUYUaU

 

[Whatstrain]

Looks good and really interesting use of that type of pipe. Might want to wrap those tubes in some type of reflective material to keep temps down though.

 

[iPurpleSticky]

In the basement I'm constantly running a reservoir temp of 68 and the air temp is around then too. The black doesn't heat up like you'd probably think, plus it's got cool water running through it 24/7. I did think about it though, but I can't figure any way to neatly wrap the corrugated pipe. It's not straight, and it's corrugated.... it'd be a mess. I even thought about buying a reflective spray paint but decided it's not worth the hassle.

I hope everything goes well for me and the corrugated pipe, it may be a cost effective way for people on a budget. Plus, if it's available in 6''..... expect vertical TREES.

 

[Stonetech]

Wow talk about doin alot on a low budget, good job!

Yeah I use that pipe alot with the work i do so I know it can take alot of pressure when its buried, when its not tho it can be cut and torn pretty easily. Thats the only reason I asked, the more I think about tho I'm sure it will be fine. It sure would be easy to work with. The reflective spray paint sounds like a good idea to me, my friend used some that was made for plastics to spray his buckets with, worked like a charm. I guess if your not having issues tho...

So are you gonna flower those clones as soon as they root?

 

[iPurpleSticky]

I plan on flowering when they are hopefully around 6 inches. The Purple plant stretches like crazy. I flowered one that was roughly 8-10 inches and it's over 30 inches now. Crazy amount of stretch. I'm hoping I don't have any issues with that. I can always throw them all on the bottom rack.

For what it's worth, the corrugated pipe was 35, the wood was 35, and the pump was 40. I figured this would be the most cost effective way. Everyone else seemed to use fittings. Fittings are incredibly expensive!

 

[iPurpleSticky]

[video=youtube;tB6S798qH4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB6S798qH4k&feature=youtu.be[/video]


Try that out. That'll give everyone an idea of what I'm working with. It's photo's always looks confusing because of my room setup. Plus now, you can be soothed by my smooth voice!

Enjoy.

 

[tokeintuckz]

wont let me see the vid

 

[iPurpleSticky]

Try that. I had it set to private.

 

[FilthyFletch]

So your tubes are completely flooded drowing the plants do you have it set on intevals to give the plants roots time to get some Oxygen as you cant keep them submerged all dayy evryday. Maybe like 15 minutes on 30 off?

 

[iPurpleSticky]

Yeah, you've pretty much got it!

It seems as though water that's moving rapidly is already oxygenated enough to support plant life. RDWC follows the same concept, and it seems to be working.

 

[FilthyFletch]

Just curious as I have run aero and NFT type grows along with basica flood drain systems and over the years worked out the time needed for roots to be out of the solution and have seen first hand roots stuck in water even if moving. I was just curious as your plants shoulded over water signs so wanted to hear more on you on off settings.

 

[Wogtaz Ryder]

NIIICEE and simple ! awesome job , subbed .

 

[iPurpleSticky]

Just curious as I have run aero and NFT type grows along with basica flood drain systems and over the years worked out the time needed for roots to be out of the solution and have seen first hand roots stuck in water even if moving. I was just curious as your plants shoulded over water signs so wanted to hear more on you on off settings.

Well, this is a first for me also, so I'm learning as I go. I'm running a 600 GPH pump 24/7. The return water from the end of the tube falls into a 5 gallon bucket.

Me 'theory' on how it'll aerate itself was through the pump constantly pumping water from the bucket. I figure the water pouring into the bucket will cause plenty of aeration in that water. Also, where the corrugated pipe falls down to the next level, the water goes over the corrugation and turns into mini rapids. I'm pretty sure that contributes to the total dissolved oxygen content. Each loop of mine only holds a few gallons. Each one of the loops also has a way to put dissolved oxygen into the water (where the loops drop). I'm hoping this waterfall effect is enough DO for at least the loop after the drop.

I do see your concern though. I'm taking a leap of faith. It seems as though most of the 'Heath Robinson' inspired builds work on the same concepts. Keeping the water moving quick enough keeps air dissolved fairly well.

I haven't seen any overwatering signs, but it's very early in the process. If it becomes a problem, I've got enough air pumps to rig up some air stones. If it made it into the video, I actually have one pumping into my lower level about where the bucket is. No air stone, just the tube bubbling in the water.

I haven't had any issues with roots furthest away from where the oxygen is being dissolved either. All the clones on all parts of the 'loop' have rooted just about the same day. The ones that are doing the best are the ones in that are furthest from the drops in the loops. Once again, I didn't attribute this to anything other than they were the biggest healthiest clones. The ones that rooted last were actually mostly towards the drop.


Have any of you guys heard of the 12/1 lighting schedule?

In short, for veg you do 12 hours on, 5.5 off, 1 hour on, 5.5 off. Flowering is something like 11 on 13 off then slowly change to 9-15 in the last few weeks.

I'm debating trying it. It is a little odd. But the power savings means I could totally move up to a 600 or 1000 watt light in flowering since I'd save a ton in veg. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience. I haven't done a ton of research, but I think I may start.

 

[dirty1]

looks like a sweet setup, but wouldnt running that veg lighting schedule just stress ur plants possibly causing them to hermie?

 

[cowell]

I like the choices you made in materials- for whatever reason when I was building my set up I thought of using the corrugated pipe, but thought it wouldn't stand up to the weight - nice to see it works, and you're set up is great - I'll be following along.

 

[iPurpleSticky]

Dirty1, I'm not sure what your talking about. I have a metal halide in the room with the vertical setup. Right now I'm using it as a cloner. In the future I will constantly run a flowering light in there and have a cloner setup out of that room under the veg light.

Cowell, in my head I thought it'd be too thin and collapse also. If that was the case, I was just going to build a set of collars that would hold the plant up. I was just going to use some thinwall 4'' PVC with a slice down the bottom so it'd slip over the corrugated pipe. From there, I'd drill the 2'' hole into the collar and I'd have something rigid for the plant to sit on. Luckily, the stuff is more rigid than I had anticipated!

All my clones are rooted as of today. I bumped the EC to .6 ish.

 

[Stonetech]

Hey Pyro, in heath's tube he flooded constantly but he was also able to adjust the level of the flood on each level. I think this was one of the keys to his success. Even in my ebb/flo I adjust the flood heights to make sure the roots get adequate O2.

Do you have a way to adjust this in your setup? I think you said somethin bout it in the vid but I can't figure out how.