A Modest Attempt At DWC From Scratch

KCCO 77 said:
Ya I had a kinked airline and it was very easy to spot as the one plant was slow and lacked vigour compared to the rest.
Sure enough 24 hrs after unlinking the line the plant looked amazing.
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And that right there is what i love about a hydro grow. The problems show themselves almost immediately and can be fixed almost as fast as they came :meditate:
 
Modest grower said:
@KCCO 77 thanks for stopping by! Please make yourself at home. Amazing set up! To my untrained eye it has aspects of what I am going for on this setup but my plan is much smaller scale.

I am looking to have two 5 gallon buckets and an additional reservoir. I want to run the undercurrent style set up so I am curious what diameter pvc on the bottom you recommend. And then I want to have the pump feed water back eventually to the buckets. For a while I was thinking the waterfall effect would create enough aeration but It looks as though you also run airstones and I am thinking I should as well.

My last wish list item is a pvc tube between the reservoir and the plants on the feed side for little herbs. Not sure if that will be reasonable or wise.


Finally, I am making a little chiller out of a mini fridge hopefully it is beneficial.

Longshore short, I have no clue what I am doing. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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Hey there I hope all is well.

Modest grower said:
What do you guys use (if anything) to keep the water temps in good range?
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I use the same chiller as mentioned above 1/10 hp. @Michael Hunt is absolutely correct set it and forget it because temps too high will reduce your D/O saturation as well as inviting nasty bacteria.

I run this pump
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A few ways to build a system off the top of my head you can go uniseals
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or bulkheads
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The difference is cost and longevity. I run uniseals now and I’ve been 2 + years non stop with no problems. However I will build a new system with the bulkheads and square buckets probably next winter.

Maybe something like this for you plumbed into that tote with the blue lid you posted earlier. That tote with the blue lid is food grade and only sold at CT I use the same one for my res. You won’t get food grade at HD or Lowe’s
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If I unclamped the black coupler on the bottom that pipe could be run straight to a res.
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I can’t comment on a true UC setup as I don’t run that way.

I can tell you why I build the centre trunk style.
The system itself, buy running centre trunk you only have to drill 50% of the holes in your buckets. Two bucket setup needs 4 holes UC style. Centre trunk only needs 2. 50% less chance of leaks and cheaper.
I also run my res like this with pumps in the water in the res instead of external and inline.
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  • Media owner KCCO 77
  • Date added
Big pump is feed line and small pump feeds the chiller. Buy putting the pumps in the res of the pumps ever leak it doesn’t matter. They don’t warm my res because the chiller keeps everything in check. Set it and forget it.
I also run a top feed circulation and added D/O.

Not sure exactly what you have in mind but probably a good idea to keep the herbs separate.

Could easily do a small cheap aero or bubble set up for growing herbs.

Anyways just throwing stuff out there for you to look at and think about and I don’t want to bury you with info

Play safe and enjoy
 
Thanks for the info on return line size @Michael Hunt . I really appreciate this info.

I agree on herbs separate too @KCCO 77 I'll have that off to the side somewhere on its own. I was planning on doing the bulkhead connectors but I'll read your post again and ponder. A bit too stoned to fully reflect.


I will definitely be buying a chiller the next go around but for this first swing, I got my $85 CAD mini fridge for a diy. Hindsight I wish I just went for the chiller but this should do the trick and looks decent albeit larger.
20210316_172933.jpg
 
Modest grower said:
Thanks for the info on return line size @Michael Hunt . I really appreciate this info.

I agree on herbs separate too @KCCO 77 I'll have that off to the side somewhere on its own. I was planning on doing the bulkhead connectors but I'll read your post again and ponder. A bit too stoned to fully reflect.


I will definitely be buying a chiller the next go around but for this first swing, I got my $85 CAD mini fridge for a diy. Hindsight I wish I just went for the chiller but this should do the trick and looks decent albeit larger.
20210316_172933.jpg
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All good my friend ponder away my friend. A well planned system is always best and will serve you well for many years.
My first system was a dud. Second didn’t drain properly because of layout and rootball size. Third is flawless but the fourth will be bulletproof lmao.

Love the pup brother :thumb:

Play safe and enjoy
 
Woooee, now that's a nice setup kcco.

MG, this is just the guy you need in here to learn about dwc. I know I could use the schooling as well so I'm still here :laughtwo:

I just got my babies into the buckets last night, so far so good. Been top.feeding twice a day til the roots get down to the res.

Can't wait for your big move and setup
 
If i were to do ours over again, i’d add a way to pump fresh water into the buckets individually to push all the old water out of the system to the res through the drain lines. Completely bypassing the feed pump.

If you’re running in a tent and plan on using a screen you may want to keep this in mind. Pain in the ass to crack the bucket lids in the back of the tent to flush the system while its full of plants and roots all tied into the tent.

Just something i wish we had thought about when we were in the stages you’re in now.
 
Michael Hunt said:
If i were to do ours over again, i’d add a way to pump fresh water into the buckets individually to push all the old water out of the system to the res through the drain lines. Completely bypassing the feed pump.

If you’re running in a tent and plan on using a screen you may want to keep this in mind. Pain in the ass to crack the bucket lids in the back of the tent to flush the system while its full of plants and roots all tied into the tent.

Just something i wish we had thought about when we were in the stages you’re in now.
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Much appreciated this is not something I was thinking off to be honest
 
Michael Hunt said:
If i were to do ours over again, i’d add a way to pump fresh water into the buckets individually to push all the old water out of the system to the res through the drain lines. Completely bypassing the feed pump.

If you’re running in a tent and plan on using a screen you may want to keep this in mind. Pain in the ass to crack the bucket lids in the back of the tent to flush the system while its full of plants and roots all tied into the tent.

Just something i wish we had thought about when we were in the stages you’re in now.
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So true I toyed with a few ideas for this problem as well. After a long talk with my self lol and since I mix external then pump into my system I just end up dumping 2 to 4 L of fresh Ro through clay pebbles on top of every bucket. I leave my roofer pump/ puddle pump in my res and as the fresh water drains back to my res it gets pumped out.

I end up 1/2 inch of O ppm water left throughout the system. Then I pump my new mix in.

It is still a PIA crawling under my net but I train and clean my plants 18 inches up for this reason as well as air flow.

play safe and enjoy everyone
 
Modest grower said:
Much appreciated this is not something I was thinking off to be honest
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Definitely keep it in mind if you see the back of our tent being difficult to get to once she’s all filled up. You’ll obviously need a pressurized water source like a hose. Or just pour it in through the rocks like @KCCO 77 mentioned.
KCCO 77 said:
So true I toyed with a few ideas for this problem as well. After a long talk with my self lol and since I mix external then pump into my system I just end up dumping 2 to 4 L of fresh Ro through clay pebbles on top of every bucket. I leave my roofer pump/ puddle pump in my res and as the fresh water drains back to my res it gets pumped out.

I end up 1/2 inch of O ppm water left throughout the system. Then I pump my new mix in.

It is still a PIA crawling under my net but I train and clean my plants 18 inches up for this reason as well as air flow.

play safe and enjoy everyone
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I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind. Never really occurred to me to just dump it through the hydroton on top. Assuming your growing in a room? Oh what i would give to get out of this 3x3
 
Michael Hunt said:
Definitely keep it in mind if you see the back of our tent being difficult to get to once she’s all filled up. You’ll obviously need a pressurized water source like a hose. Or just pour it in through the rocks like @KCCO 77 mentioned.

I’ll definitely have to keep this in mind. Never really occurred to me to just dump it through the hydroton on top. Assuming your growing in a room? Oh what i would give to get out of this 3x3
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Hey everyone I hope all is good.
Tents have a time and place but a room with a system built for that space makes it easier.
I started in a tent as well and slowly just took over my whole basement lol.

Lots of plugs and dedicated lines as well as space and the rest will fall together perfectly over time to meet your needs
 
KCCO 77 said:
Hey everyone I hope all is good.
Tents have a time and place but a room with a system built for that space makes it easier.
I started in a tent as well and slowly just took over my whole basement lol.

Lots of plugs and dedicated lines as well as space and the rest will fall together perfectly over time to meet your needs
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Jealous wouldn't be the right word to express how I'm feeling reading that lol. :adore:
 
Long time no see mi amigos! I accidentally locked myself out of my account but 420 was super helpful! Anyway, I ordered a ton of stuff to finish my hydro set up! The people at the front desk at my building must think I build aquariums for a living.

In other news, I have entered the 420 girl scout cookies comparative grow sponsored by @Weed Seeds Express so the first two ladies to break in the set up will be some frosty GSC.
 
Looks like you're well on your way and getting stocked up. Glad to see the doggo could help!

I've seen a lot of people using mega crop lately, I hadn't heard much of it here a few years ago, or I just never noticed lol can't call you lazy at all unless I am as well with my 1 bottle for the whole grow :laughtwo:

Happy Friday bud!
 
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