My 98 plants Floating raft system

[icaruus]

Hi just wanna share my home made, low budget DWC, "floating raft system". My own design, but snatched a lot of ideas from this forum.

Cost of the system, is

Plywood, timber:300 usd
Pump, hoses: 200 Usd
plastic foam boards: 40 USD
Plastic: 30 usd
water container: 50 usd
Ford focus radiator (lol) 50 usd (on sale)

Lamps and AC unit i had before


Basically, the foam boards float in a "tub", in the foam, holes is drilled and net pots inserted. A constant flow of cooled water is running under the boards, in a circulation system, via a pump.



The water is passing trough the tub, down in a water container;

And trough a car radiator, which is cooled by a AC unit.

Looks like the plants like the system and its very very easy to maintain.




ATM, running 800 ppm in the system, water temp is 68F.

Pros / cons

Pros:

Ezy to maintain. no problem go away a weekend and pop up on monday...
Good growth rate, this is the veg room, in the flower room they will have twice the space.

Cons:
well, takes some space
Noice, pump and so on
Takes a day or two to set up.

Well plz give me feedback, Cheers // Icaruus

 

[overachiever]

how deep is the water level?

 

[zem]

i worry that the floating plants will not grow to full potential because floating raft doesnt allow space between netpots and water level submerging the entire root mass. even if the water is rich in O2 it will not support MJ growth to full potential. roots need air O2 and not just dissolved O2.

 

[Guyute420]

Very cool. Good work

 

[ASMALLVOICE]

Awesome Setup, looks like things are rolling along.

Are the nutes flowing through the radiator, or is it a closed loop cooling system? If so, what material is the lines made of in the radiator?

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice

 

[Chronic Masterbator]

Doing great nice root mass. I would had a air stone in the root zone area. Back in the day they used Styrofoam chips floating in water to make clones. Some still do it that way today.

 

[HankDank]

yeah, id suggest adding a few air stones and a pump to the "tub" so you can oxygenate the water better

 

[machead]

Sweet looks very good.

Good luck with it.

 

[icaruus]

Cheers guys, try to answer the questions.

Water depth is about, 15cm - in total the system contains 750L of water.

The linings of the radiator - is aluminum. Yes i know the nuts is corrosive and at a PH lvl of 5.6, it doesn't hlp. But aluminum corrodes quite slow - so it shouldnt be a problem. I'm gonna order a external water cooler from china i a month or two, and change the system a bit. but they are DAMN expensive.. Even in china.

The method where you have air between the foam and water - is called the kranky method. Thinking of it, but not in this setup.

Yes O2 is the key. But instead of the air stones - Fexex will deliver a "venturi" injector from china in a few days. Injects a mist of micro air in into the system - rly rly effective. And the price of 4 injectors and shipping - 50 Usd (lol)

cheers lads

 

[icaruus]

Update on one of the rafts

Pics inc.View attachment 2852846

 

[supchaka]

At some point the raft probably isnt floating anymore, but sinking which you may have already addressed. With sites so close together a sog with clones straight into 12/12 would be what I would do in such a setup. Good luck with it thought.

 

[JonnyAppleSeed420]

As those girls get larger you may have to support them from above. Nice idea man, I've seen it before in a smaller set up. My concerns are not the set up but the plant count. Where I am the total plant count come into play when you get busted. If you are "not legal" then I would suggest dropping the count, you can get just as much product from 10 plants in a 4x8 table as 50 or 100. Its not the count its the space. Looks like your gonna have some nice product there...good luck. JAS

 

[reddiamond]

I like it, i'm subbed, and i think for a sog it would work very well, or for bigger plants then throw a screen across it to give them some support.

If you find that they do need an air space between the water and bottom of the pots you could always double up the foam sheets to lift the net pots to the new height. No worries about water levels either as if the water level drops then so do the plants

 

[JohnnySocko]

Wonder if you could put some fish under that thing? (I'm half way serious)

 

[icaruus]

Hi guys.
Well tbh where I live its all illegal unfortunately.
And no it won't sink atm it's 18 plants in one foam board, in veg mode. In bloom room they will have a lot more space - 8 on each foam board.

And yes. Much support on the plants is needed - I'll send you an update when the ladies have moved

Cheers icaruus

 

[icaruus]

Reddiamond correct. A catamaran style setup is called 'kranky' method. Then the roots got plenty of air, and lots of space. tests is on the way on this.

 

[icaruus]

Johnny nope unfortunately. To cramped with the roots.

This method is used in large greenhouses in Europe. Lettuce, herbs tomatoes is grown in floating raft systems. Chk utube dwc floating raft.

 

[PICOGRAV]

Question, why are you cooling the water so much? I thought ideal temps for roots would be a relatively ambient temperature?

I cant even imagine how you keep 750L of water clean, a flush would be a huge pain in the ass.

 

[reddiamond]

Reddiamond correct. A catamaran style setup is called 'kranky' method. Then the roots got plenty of air, and lots of space. tests is on the way on this.

Cool i'll look it up
I think this should be very similar results to an UC setup, just with all the plants in 1 big bucket instead of having them seperate.
I'd love to have the space to experiment with different growing mediums but it's just impossible for me at the moment, all i have is a small cupboard with room for 2 plants but thats probably a good thing as i'm in the UK and 2 plants would just get me a fine and all equipment confiscated where as a bigger grow means i'm going away for a few months/years.

 

[icaruus]

Well cooling the water is essential for this setup. 68 - 70 f is the recommend temperature. And block ALL light. Keeps the germs, fungus, and algiers away. So it says. And I read a paper from a guy on this. Wasn't based on weed, more to greenhouse produce and yeald. Constantly moving water, temp at low 70s and no light in the water suppose do the trick.