RDWC against DWC

BobThe420Builder

Well-Known Member
Rdwc has on big rezz that feeds everyone the same nutes

Dwc is individual rezz that can be tailored to each plant strain, pheno and needs
 

sativuuh

Member
Growth, greater nute water volume and stability, significant automation capability where it can easily be left for a week on it's own self filling if needed. Control res out of tent so you are only messing with one res instead of having to be filling a few in a tight tent and pulling lids on all of them once or twice a day to check ph and top off. Can do it at any time too since it's not in the tent so light cycles are easier to not be a slave to. Can run a chiller that keeps the res temps for all ideal all the time. Also if you want to scrog, you don't have to get into the individual res lids so you aren't moving the plants within the net to check/adjust water. Complexity and cost comes with it, as is dealing with a lot more water and wastewater at any given time. Leaks are bad, don't cheap out on those fittings and such and plan carefully.
 

myke

Well-Known Member
Rdwc is what I’ve always done. I remember when coming to this forum I saw how many ran dwc. I couldn’t figure out why do all that work. So much easier running a res outside the room. Even if just one plant still run a res outside.
the Scrogg thing would be a lot of work in just dwc.
 

Pacoson71

Well-Known Member
When I started my learning about DWC VS RDWC the thought of one plant having root issues was scary.

Compound that spreading to all in a shared recirculating reservoir. DWC lose one !

2nd grow and well...... could have gone either route. No issues as of yet.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
When I started my learning about DWC VS RDWC the thought of one plant having root issues was scary.

Compound that spreading to all in a shared recirculating reservoir. DWC lose one !

2nd grow and well...... could have gone either route. No issues as of yet.
Haven't tried it myself yet, buuut I'm about to mid-grow! I've MacGyvered a sound way to do so and it will allow me to remotely monitor my PH, EC and water temp while on vacation without buying TWO BlueLab monitors that connect to my phone through wifi!

Outside of that, in my personal opinion, DWC is great but more of a pain due to the multiple checking of reservoirs and the fluctuations happening sooner and seem to range wider than what RDWC users experience. I'll know for myself here shortly!
 
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firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
I do RDWC for simplicity. I can have 8 plants all connected together and have a pH doser automatically correcting the pH versus checking 8 plants and adjusting.

Also the larger volume of water per plant means less pH and EC swings.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
I do RDWC for simplicity. I can have 8 plants all connected together and have a pH doser automatically correcting the pH versus checking 8 plants and adjusting.

Also the larger volume of water per plant means less pH and EC swings.
What PH doser do you use and do you recommend it? Anything for nutrient doser as well worth getting? Highly interested in automating my grow and I just got the BlueLab MONGUACON Guardian today!
 

myke

Well-Known Member
yup More water,2 totes with a hose between and a feeder hose done.So simple.1 1/4 flex hose and bulkheads are easily available.Air stone pushes roots away from bulkheads.
 

myke

Well-Known Member
I ran 3 plants last time,so 3 feed hoses manifold in res.Leaks drip into res.Hoses are 3/8ID ran under a wall and into ea pail.Thats dunks floating in res and yes I have hard water.

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I run rdwc... Ease of feeding, ph, ppm, maintenance is a huge bonus.

Not being able to move plants, more nutes are required, all or nothing root issues, different strains needing different feeding requirements/tolerance, leaks.

Pros and cons to each but a dialed in rdwc will grow monsters with little required from the grower other than plant maintenance.
 

OrgrO

Well-Known Member
I'm two weeks into flower on my first RDWC run and loving it. I mix 51 gallons of nutrients. 36 gallons go into my system and 15 gallons into a top off reservoir. My TDS and PH run very stable. I have four girls drinking about 3 gallons a day so the top off reservoir keeps feeding them, at a constant level, for five days.
A friend of mine runs DWC and puts a lot more work and time into his grows then I do. He also has a hard time getting away from his DWC buckets where I'd feel comfortable leaving my system for a few days.
 
I'm two weeks into flower on my first RDWC run and loving it. I mix 51 gallons of nutrients. 36 gallons go into my system and 15 gallons into a top off reservoir. My TDS and PH run very stable. I have four girls drinking about 3 gallons a day so the top off reservoir keeps feeding them, at a constant level, for five days.
A friend of mine runs DWC and puts a lot more work and time into his grows then I do. He also has a hard time getting away from his DWC buckets where I'd feel comfortable leaving my system for a few days.
Sounds awesome! Got any pics of your girls or setup? :)
 

GrowTime38

Well-Known Member
I have a 2 bucket simple system. I also added pipe from the bucket into a larger pipe so it creates a small NFT grow before dumping into the reservoir. This helps to create flow, air to the water and since I keep less buckets on one reservoir, I can control it easier. Make a RDWC but don't max out on pots.
 

OrgrO

Well-Known Member
Sounds awesome! Got any pics of your girls or setup? :)
20210609_115357.jpg
The control bucket, lower left side, is a 17 gallon tote. The nutrient level in the control bucket is kept at a constant level with a float valve which is feed from a top off reservoir, upper right side, which can hold 15 gallons of nutrients. The nutrient solution is then drawn from the back of the control bucket with a Hygger 1065 GPH variable speed DC pump feeding a .25HP chiller. The nutrient tubing then leaves the chiller and runs through the top off reservoir keeping the solution in the yop off reservoir at 68 degrees, then feeds into the system.
20210421_125033.jpg
The system is four 17 gallon totes. Each tote has two spray bars for waterfalls, two air stones feed from a 1 1/2 in air manifold on the back of the totes, 3/4 in drain line on the bottom and 2 in gravity return lines back to the control bucket. Nutrients are pumped through the spray bars and the drain lines to prevent the solution in the drain lines from going stagnant.
20210519_185332.jpg
I had no idea of the explosive growth rate you can get with a RDWC system. The girls went 38 days from seeds sprouting to flip. The photo below is 7 days into flower. Will definitely have to pay a lot more attention to canopy management next run.
20210607_150426.jpg
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
Sounds awesome! Got any pics of your girls or setup? :)
View attachment 4919622
The control bucket, lower left side, is a 17 gallon tote. The nutrient level in the control bucket is kept at a constant level with a float valve which is feed from a top off reservoir, upper right side, which can hold 15 gallons of nutrients. The nutrient solution is then drawn from the back of the control bucket with a Hygger 1065 GPH variable speed DC pump feeding a .25HP chiller. The nutrient tubing then leaves the chiller and runs through the top off reservoir keeping the solution in the yop off reservoir at 68 degrees, then feeds into the system.
View attachment 4919636
The system is four 17 gallon totes. Each tote has two spray bars for waterfalls, two air stones feed from a 1 1/2 in air manifold on the back of the totes, 3/4 in drain line on the bottom and 2 in gravity return lines back to the control bucket. Nutrients are pumped through the spray bars and the drain lines to prevent the solution in the drain lines from going stagnant.
View attachment 4919641
I had no idea of the explosive growth rate you can get with a RDWC system. The girls went 38 days from seeds sprouting to flip. The photo below is 7 days into flower. Will definitely have to pay a lot more attention to canopy management next run.
View attachment 4919643
This looks awesome and I will have follow up questions when I'm not at work! Nice job man!!
 
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