Design advice needed

I am wanting to build a flooded tube setup on a small budget with water drain pipe and glue everything together. I already have plenty of piping. My problem is figuring out a way to make the adjustable collars when I glue it. I know, I could get the good fittings, but again, this is a small budget plan. Also, will a 3x3 room be big enough or should I rebuild it bigger? I will be running 600w hid. Thanks.

not sure about the collars but I would encourage you to remake the room larger. I tried a small 600w vert in a 4x3' area and it was just too tight. Had to switch grow styles half way in because I ran out of room. I would say at least 4x4 if not 5x5 or larger.

Gastanker said:

not sure about the collars but I would encourage you to remake the room larger. I tried a small 600w vert in a 4x3' area and it was just too tight. Had to switch grow styles half way in because I ran out of room. I would say at least 4x4 if not 5x5 or larger.

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Ok, cool, thanks. That solves half my problem. LOL

C'mon ganjaneers, help me design an adjustable water level control for a non-adjustable setup.

Ever think about vertical aero? Personally this just seems simpler to me and should provide better oxygen to the roots.

https://www.rollitup.org/vertical-growing/511757-vertical-aero-racks.html

Thats a pretty cool setup. But that requires a lot of materials I dont already have. I do agree its more simple, but I have almost all the stuff for a flooded tube. I just have to figure out how to control the water level. If I cant, Ill see about building something like yours.

Oh that one isn't mine. Do you really need them adjustable? You could always just use some aquarium sealant to glue in acrylic/plexiglass gates.

I dont really know if they have to be adjustable or not. It would make draining the system easier though. The gates in the collars was what I was meaning to be adjustable.

I think Heath abandoned the gates because the roots caused a real logjam about half way through flowering creating a huge flood risk. I could be wrong, but it's probably worth some more research.
Without the dam/gate it becomes more of a simple NFT and on a small scale like yours it should work well.
Fred

I like 4x4 for straight vscrog or any 600w vert really. 3x3 is perfect for a 400w but too tight for the 600 for sure. It can be done, but not comfortably or as efficiently as you might like.

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate the advice. Im still a ways out from building anything yet, so Ill research all the flooded tube threads again to see what Ive missed about the gates/dams and roots. The tubes filling with roots has been a concern.

I had non-adjustable dams in my last setup, flooding was a big problem, ended up with a rotted floor and drywall. Everything worked fine until the roots got big. My new setup is more of a NFT style. Only concern with that is that the roots need to be long enough to touch the water. Not that hard to do, really.

ideit said:

I had non-adjustable dams in my last setup, flooding was a big problem, ended up with a rotted floor and drywall. Everything worked fine until the roots got big. My new setup is more of a NFT style. Only concern with that is that the roots need to be long enough to touch the water. Not that hard to do, really.

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Ok. But I cant visualize how an NFT tube would work over multiple levels without dams. I thought the flooded tube was NFT to begin with. Would you care to describe your new setup, please?