Dirt bagger switching to DWC

BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I’ve been growing for a few years now and have done pretty good with dirt but with the new baby and going back to school I don’t have the time it takes to grow killer weed in the quantities I desire using dirt. So I’m making the switch to RDWC. This wasn’t a planned switch I saw some thread on here about how cheap it was and said what the hell. Enough about me on to the garden.

The room’s a about 20’x6’x8’ and it’s divided in half. One side for veg one side for flower. Clones go under small t5s from lowes, vegging plant’s go under a t5 and some floros, which I need to buy one more t5. Flower room has a 600 watt hps with a cooled hood so the plants can get close and a regulated CO2 tank.

I’ve decided to flower all my dirt plants so I can have more room to work on the hydro set up. So I will not be talking much about my dirt grow this is all about the hydro. I have no idea what I’m doing so I thought a journal would be the best way to get help.

Right now I’ve got 4 dwc buckets set up and need to make one more today. They are 2 gallon buckets painted black with an indicator hose. I plan on making it a recirculating system over the next week or so. I’ll stop rambling and post pics later today. Oh yea I’ve got Ak47, Northern Lights and Satori. bongsmilie
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I changed the nutes out on Sunday. When I checked them today the ph was way high so I knocked it back down to around 5.8 in all 5. The temps are between 70 and 72.5. I went out today and bought some lumber to build a better shelving system than what I currently have. Right now it’s just an old desk which worked great for dirt but it’s getting a nice upgrade this weekend.
Here’s a quick shot of all my clones.



Here’s about the size of all of them.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
So far I love it Nonhater. Hopefully when I get my res hooked up it will be even easier to maintain.
I had a little extra time the past 2 afternoons so I got my shelves built. I don’t know what I was thinking I built them outside the room and I made sure to measure the door. During the build my shelf got a little bigger and I had to practically kick it through the door. I had to take the door off the hinges. Oh what a nightmare. But now it’s in.


I put plastic on the middle shelf so if one of my buckets springs a leak it won’t get the lower light wet. I don’t know why I wasted it on the bottom. Anyway over the week end I hope to get my reservoir set up and all the lines ran and organized. For the time being I just got them back under the lights.
Ph 5.7 - 6.07 Temps 67 – 71
I’ve noticed a little new growth on most of them and one of the AK47’s has a root popping out of the bucket. I haven’t had to top them off yet but I probably will tomorrow.


Pic inside the flower room. Got about 2 weeks left on some AK.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
One plant died so far, I think I put them all in a little early to be honest. The only one that was had roots growing out of the plug is doing great but the others are kind of just hanging out. Oh well I’ve got some more clones almost ready to go so I won’t be set to far back.

My res temps are really high so I’m between 77 and 79. I’m hope to get the buckets tied together so hopefully that’ll go a long way to lower the temps. The ph has holding good all week around 5.9. The roots on the only one showing them has some discoloration, I hope it’s not root rot but the water’s not slimy or anything.





Finally after years of fucking with this shitty plastic door I put up a real one.


I had so left over wood from some other projects. It looks like hell but is as smooth as butter.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I finally got my RDWC system done, well the first part any way. It gave me a hell of a time getting the stuff together. I drilled the holes for the 3/4 drain hose to dam big:wall: and had to get creative to fix it. A couple a pieces of threaded pvc and some o rings and it’s as good as new.

I’m using 4 2 gallon buckets with the worst paint job I’ve personally ever done. I slapped brown paint on them then threw on a coat of killz in hopes that the white might help with temps. If they get to high I’ve got an idea that will hopefully keep them down.



So the system holds 7 gallons with the 3 gallon res. I mixed up a batch of fox farm nutes @ 1/4 strength. Ph was 5.9.

Only one plant has grown and it is growing pretty quick. Faster than any plant I’ve ever grown. The other 3 were not quite ready when I put them in. My northern lights has a root or to starting to stick out of the basket so hopefully soon it’ll take off.

Couple of the only one growing. AK47


 
NONHater

NONHater

Well-Known Member
Wow bro looking real good. I need to look into the difference of RDWC and DWC lol. Hydro Newbie here.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
RDWC just means re circulate deep water culture. You take a dwc system hook the buckets together add a reservoir and fluid pump. It keeps seems to be keeping the nutes mixed a lot better and the temps are about 8 degrees cooler than before.
 
NONHater

NONHater

Well-Known Member
Have you thought of using maybe AN or GH instead on the FF? Just heard the FF isnt so good for the hydro but again remember im only a newb at this hydro never done it just heard and read things..
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
My poor plants are not happy. It’s amazing how fast they grow when they start and it’s amazing how quick they go from healthy to sickly. It’s really only the largest one. The others finally have roots starting to reach the water.




My Fox Farm Grow Big wasn’t for hydro. I forgot they had 2 different GBs on for dirt and one for hydro. Well my local shop was out so I pick up some Advanced Nutrients Grow, and Micro. I didn’t realize I should have gotten the Bloom also but I’ll pick it up later.

I realized about 3 seconds after I filled the system up empting it would be a pain. I used the pump to get most of it out then had to lift it up to drain the rest through the indicator hose. I went a head and built version 2.0 of my system before I swapped everything out. I put a drain shut off valve after the last bucket. All I have to do now is turn a valve. Well I made a turn down to direct it toward a bucket on the floor but it sticks out to far so I can just slip it in and out. I’ll modify the old one and put it on the lower shelf.



Last time all I had to make holes for my bucket feeders was a razor knife so I ended up with a small leak. I bought this little jewel and it works like a champ.



Man my old system was a little dirty. I’m guessing it was the fox farm. The nute mix with it was cloudy when I mixed it but cleared up after a few days. I’m guessing the nutes settled down and that’s what I’m seeing. The AN looks clear just tints the water. Pic in my bucket



I mixed it at 1/4 strength Used AN Micro, and Grow. Some CalMag. I used a 1/8 dose of hygrozyme and fox farm open sesame (this one may be a mistake to use now but I’ll find out) and ¼ tsp of superthrive. Ph it to 5.67 and the temp was 64 degrees. I’ll check the ph tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll swing tonight.

Hopefully the sick lady will start to fill better and the others finally take off.
 
hughesresearch

hughesresearch

Well-Known Member
BudMcLovin said:
RDWC just means re circulate deep water culture. You take a dwc system hook the buckets together add a reservoir and fluid pump. It keeps seems to be keeping the nutes mixed a lot better and the temps are about 8 degrees cooler than before.
Click to expand...
wow. you really did some homework. i started with dwc and had a hell of a time changing the res out with plant still in it.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
Irollfatties said:
I just set up this exact rdwc system about 1 month ago. I always used bubblers but never interlinked. Goodluck
Click to expand...
Bubblers? How do you like your setup?

I did the math last night because I was worried maybe the buket farthest away from the res might not be getting the same flow as the first one. I let the hose run into a measuring cup until it measure 10 oz. I used that time to calculate the time it took for each bucket to fill with its total volume. It takes the first one 4.8 mins and the last takes 5.06 mins for the last. I’m pleased with that. If the last one grows noticeably slower I’ll t it in the middle but hopefully it won’t make a difference
 
hughesresearch

hughesresearch

Well-Known Member
heres your problem: the bigger plant wants more nutes but if you add too much, youll burn the smaller ones. the only thing you can do is isolate that one plant.
 
BudMcLovin

BudMcLovin

Active Member
hughesresearch said:
wow. you really did some homework. i started with dwc and had a hell of a time changing the res out with plant still in it.
Click to expand...
I guess I’m starting to show my age. I used to dive in and come up with a plan half way through. I’ve been a hydro system for a while so I’ve given this one a lot of thought. I’m sure there will be more changes to come. At least I’ll have a good system plan for my flower room when the dirt grow finishes up.


hughesresearch said:
heres your problem: the bigger plant wants more nutes but if you add too much, youll burn the smaller ones. the only thing you can do is isolate that one plant.
Click to expand...
I’ll cut the top out of the one and let it suffer a little bit so the others can catch up. Worst thing that could happen is it dies but I’ve got more clones almost ready to go.

How do you like rdwc? Any tips? Do you grow bonsais as well? I used to try but I was too young and didn’t have the time to care for them properly so I just killed a bunch of trees.

On a side note John Bones Johns kick some ass tonight. He is a bad ass but Shogun might be too much for him.
 
NONHater

NONHater

Well-Known Member
BudMcLovin said:
RDWC just means re circulate deep water culture. You take a dwc system hook the buckets together add a reservoir and fluid pump. It keeps seems to be keeping the nutes mixed a lot better and the temps are about 8 degrees cooler than before.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the explanation.. Looking good happy ya got some AN!
 
hughesresearch

hughesresearch

Well-Known Member
i like rdwc. i have two tote under each 400w with a res tank hooked up to sprayers in the lid of the others. my issue with it is the sprayers getting clogged and if the power goes out, i have to convert it to reg dwc real quick.
 
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