Any way to add mesh?

I’ve seen this asked many times with most answers being just get bigger piping but these buckets i can’t get any of the bulkheads or whatever they are out so id rather attempt to fix them remove them all.

A few have gotten roots stuck and caused some water overflow, which i don’t have the best preventive measure for as I am not in a basement and flodding is the worst thing that could happen lol.

But besides being diligent and catching them quickly id like to try to instal some mesh that could protect the the drain hole from getting clogged?

Get pipe screens and cut them to size, or use cheese cloth and an elastic band to hold it in place.

You could also surround the bucket with cat litter to absorb any potential overflow

I did just this with some old flood and drain buckets I built, I found something in the pound shop which was for keeping the sink from blocking and it came in a sheet ,cut it to size.

I think a nicer option would be a copper mesh because the copper does stop the roots growing through.

I used to have overflow pipes to for added safety, been it was on a top floor.
Shouldn't be too hard to fit overflows.

coreywebster said:

I did just this with some old flood and drain buckets I built, I found something in the pound shop which was for keeping the sink from blocking and it came in a sheet ,cut it to size.

I think a nicer option would be a copper mesh because the copper does stop the roots growing through.

I used to have overflow pipes to for added safety, been it was on a top floor.
Shouldn't be too hard to fit overflows.

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Overflows?

Cut the roots.

trapdevil said:

Overflows?

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Well I don't know the system your using. Mine was flood and drain pods and had a res below so I had overflow holes with the same pipes taking nutrients back to the res if anything clogged or pump timer failed.

This is what I based mine off, but bigger.

coreywebster said:

Well I don't know the system your using. Mine was flood and drain pods and had a res below so I had overflow holes with the same pipes taking nutrients back to the res if anything clogged or pump timer failed.

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5 gallon buckets connected to res.
Has a drip line and then lines on the bottom of buckets going to res which is gravity driven?
then the drip line has a pump.

trapdevil said:

5 gallon buckets connected to res.
Has a drip line and then lines on the bottom of buckets going to res which is gravity driven?
then the drip line has a pump.

Click to expand...

If those lines on the bottom are returning to the res then you could put overflows in an inch from top of buckets and feed them back into that same line, just a case of a few grommets and some extra tube and T fittings.

The first RDWC system I designed was similar to yours and I had exactly the same issue. Tried the screens, didn't help so just being vigilant till the end of the grow was the only option.
Ditched that system and went to 17 gal totes plumbed with 2" bulkheads and never looked back.

Anything you do will only make it clog quicker. Larger pipe is the only real solution.

Anything you put over the hole will just make it clog up faster.
Been there and tried it. Theres nothing you can put over the hole that will stop roots, they will grow through any type of mesh or fabric you put there.
I also started with 1/2" lines and ended up with 17 gal totes with 2" pipe.

fragileassassin said:

Anything you put over the hole will just make it clog up faster.
Been there and tried it. Theres nothing you can put over the hole that will stop roots, they will grow through any type of mesh or fabric you put there.
I also started with 1/2" lines and ended up with 17 gal totes with 2" pipe.

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Right on... How any plants are you guys putting per tote? If i were to change over trying to see the set up .

or just build new set up essentially?

Could have these as like a veg set when roots arnt as developed..?

You need to up your pipe to AT LEAST 1 1/2" ABS pipe to avoid clogging. 2-3" is even safer.

trapdevil said:

Right on... How any plants are you guys putting per tote? If i were to change over trying to see the set up .

or just build new set up essentially?

Could have these as like a veg set when roots arnt as developed..?

Click to expand...

Yeah I'd probably do that if you have the room to run 2 setups. I have a much small veg setup made with 3 gal buckets.
I do 1 per 17 gallon. Friend has a setup 2 per 27 gal. Could probably get away with 2 per 17 gal if you're wanting to keep them small.
You can get away with 5gal buckets with bigger drains, but it's not as easy to hook them together because round.
Home depot totes come in smaller 7 gallon too.
Some people have had luck with uniseals, but totes with flat sides and real bulkheads will go much better. The bulkheads you'll have to order online but the rest can be picked up at home depot and lowes.

How many sites do you have and what size space do you have? We can toss some ideas around if you want.

Okay maybe it would be best to make a new set up for flower room? And bring these to veg since maybe it’s just inevitable to clog?

i like the over flow idea still, but.

Best DIY tutorial for something simple?

using airstones right now and like those, i’ve seen all the waterfall stuff.

Would like to keep it simple with drip line, same sort of gravity return on the bottom . Currently have 10 buckets in flower was going to add more anyway.

Flower room: Bedroom with closet . Slanted ceilings. 12x20?
Have a scrog net in there now that’s over my 10,5 gallons. Net is 9x5?

Have a good amount of room around my scrog and a part of the room that extends that can hold another 4 plants. Room can hold 20 id assume, depending how i fit them in.

Veg room is same set up. Currently re vamping my veg process to more of a aeroclone to bigger aeroclone. But now i may bring those 10 set up bucket to veg and have a rdwc veg in there plus what i was going to do before just less.

Square buckets like 7 gallon ones for flower?

trapdevil said:

Okay maybe it would be best to make a new set up for flower room? And bring these to veg since maybe it’s just inevitable to clog?

i like the over flow idea still, but.

Best DIY tutorial for something simple?

using airstones right now and like those, i’ve seen all the waterfall stuff.

Would like to keep it simple with drip line, same sort of gravity return on the bottom . Currently have 10 buckets in flower was going to add more anyway.

Click to expand...

That's what I do. 5x5 tent with a setup raised on a table for veg and a 10x10 tent for flower.
I have a few ideas depending on the dimensions of your space.

Shit you got all kinds of room.
The HDX totes come in all kinds of sizes. 7, 12, 17, 27. Id pick on of these sizes.
I was going to make my friends setup with a bunch of the 7s.
for your 12x20 space you could probably fit 18-20 12 or 17 gal sites no problem. I had 12 17s in a 10x10 and it was decent to work around, but id probably space it out a bit more.

Heres the 12 sites I did in the 10x10 for size reference, you could easily add 2 more rows of 3 for 18 site and still have room to spread them out more. This was when I had just airstones and more alone the lines of the dripper style feed like youre talking about. all the 1/4" blue lines fed into the bottoms of the net pots/

fragileassassin said:

Shit you got all kinds of room.
The HDX totes come in all kinds of sizes. 7, 12, 17, 27. Id pick on of these sizes.
I was going to make my friends setup with a bunch of the 7s.
for your 12x20 space you could probably fit 18-20 12 or 17 gal sites no problem. I had 12 17s in a 10x10 and it was decent to work around, but id probably space it out a bit more.

Heres the 12 sites I did in the 10x10 for size reference, you could easily add 2 more rows of 3 for 18 site and still have room to spread them out more. This was when I had just airstones and more alone the lines of the dripper style feed like youre talking about. all the 1/4" blue lines fed into the bottoms of the net pots/
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Then what size are you using for res? where is that in tour picture?

You have a build thread or like a parts list? yours looks pretty much what i would like to accomplish

What’s your guys most time efficient way of filling water to fill the systems? I don’t have a water source on the floor I use... I have a garden hose attached to the sink, that’s going upstairs. To buckets. then i fill those with water. Then nute them or whatever then carry those into flower room, then put pump in bucket into res.... time consuming