Scrogdawgs 400W RDWC White Widow Fem Scrog Grow

Thanks ScrogDawg, I'll read up on that in the morning and see if I have any questions. I am going to start in about 2 weeks, waiting on a contractor to finish some remodelling....can't have strangers seeing what I'm up to... :-D
 
Scrogdawg said:
Thanks for the kind comments adamblues, hope you enjoy the journal and hope you start your own when you're ready to go.

Check out this video, it explains the principle of RDWC better than I could. If you have any questions just ask away, I'll help if I can.
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Hey Scrogdawg, I studied that video you posted and researched more on google and the growers forums. It seems most systems use a controller bucket and a reservoir, but those are mostly large systems. Did you use a controller and reservoir bucket both? I'm thinking since I just want 2 or 3 buckets for my 4x3 tent, I should be ok with a controller bucket only as I can monitor water levels daily with no trouble.. What do you think?
 
I run 3 buckets total. 1 for my controller bucket and submersible pump and 2 that I have plants in.

I drilled holes as close to the bottom of all 3 buckets as I could and put 3/4" bulkheads in. I tied in all 3 lines together so they can free flow from the grow buckets back to the controller. I then measured the depth to where the bottom of the netpots would sit and drilled and placed 1/2" bulkheads in all 3 buckets. Again I tied all 3 buckets together. I put the submersible pump in the bottom of the controller bucket and tied it into the 1/2" bulkhead inside the controller bucket.
So basically I'm pumping out of the controller into the 2 grow buckets through the 1/2" lines near the top of the buckets and returning via gravity and hydrostatic pressure from the 2 grow buckets to the controller. And its just round and round she go.

A reservoir would be great if you needed to add 10 gallons of water automatically every day or so but in our cases with small systems we can just add water to the system as the plants use it.

Hope some of this makes sense for you...
 
My almost exact copy of your system is going together now. Bulkheads installed and hoses cut to length. Just need something to put in the net pots! I'm going to get it running and stable while I wait for the Gold Leaf to be ready to go into the system.


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Rider, cheers friend, excited for you,, get er done friend,, indeed

One q, just confused myself, pls, re the recirculated systems, the water level, in all the tubs, is the same? Is the water level in the plant tubs full, as in just below airpot level,,?

Or is the tubs with plants empty with water only falling over the roots and then emptying back to the main tub.

The more I type this the more I realize the obvious answer, I think

Full tubs indeed
 
Hey nivek. The water level in the buckets is "full" as you've described it. Generally just above the bottom of the net pots until you have established roots under the pots and then drop the level to about 1.5"-2" below the bottom of the net pot.
 
I've read so many different thoughts. Some say to run bubblers over the stones until the roots drop down. Some say to keep the water high enough that it's just under the net pots with the popping air bubbles keeping things moist and supplement with hand watering until the roots establish, and others suggest keeping the water high enough to hit the existing roots and drop it down as they grow. My gut feeling is that these buggers are hard to kill as long as the chemistry is right.


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Agreed Rider. Several ways to skin a cat. I think the main thing is root moisture/care and not so much the method in which it happens.
 
Thanks Scrawgdawg, that is exactly what I needed to know, and what I was thinking.
 
adamblues said:
Thanks Scrawgdawg, that is exactly what I needed to know, and what I was thinking.
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adamblues, your more than welcome. I should add that for the upper 1/2" holes you measure to the bottom of the net pots and drill the holes 1.5" above the bottom of the net pots so the water level is into the net pots for the early stages of root development.
 
Scrogdawgs, thanks for that extra info. Very useful. Thanks again. And just out of curiosity, what sized pump in GPH are you using?
 
adamblues said:
Scrogdawgs, thanks for that extra info. Very useful. Thanks again. And just out of curiosity, what sized pump in GPH are you using?
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320 gph but I'd go bigger if you haven't purchased one yet. (500 gph)ish would be better in my opinion.
 
Posted this in a different thread today but thought it might be useful here as part of my journal too.
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I have been mixing The flora Micro, Gro and Bloom at 30% of the GH website calculator for my size system. I'm due for a water change today and will be increasing to 35%. Heres my new recipe.
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The graphs below are color coded by water change and plotted daily. Week 1 was a write off so I did an early water change. You can kind of see the range I'm trying to stay within for TDS, Ph and EC since then. As shown, through each water cycle as the plants use up the nutrients both TDS and EC fall off and the PH rises slightly. Thats what I'm shooting for. This seems to be working well, the plants are both healthy.
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Scrogdawg said:
320 gph but I'd go bigger if you haven't purchased one yet. (500 gph)ish would be better in my opinion.
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Heya dawgy,, good dawgy,,

Geez, I have concerns about my itty bitty ten gallon aquarium pump,, actually,, i giggle a bit when I think how my poor plant might be starving for space, oxygen and a hundred other things soon,, haha

I actually tried to look the pump up to see thr gph,, but it had no info there,, haha, measured in gallons per month maybe, ha

I have decided to keep the experiment going with the exact equipment I have right now,, i have been planning to up pot a bit but have changed my mind. Mostly because my tiny pump is tiny. This will be a quick to flower plant, just to see how it goes,, i sure am enjoying this experiment so far,, and will have a root pic up soonish

Cheers friend,, karma sent
 
Yeah Nivek,i started with a 10gal rated pump. It got me through my first grow but it was one of the first things i upgraded. I have a 320gph now and it works really well for 2 buckets but if/when it dies i plan on going a little bigger.
 
Lazarus13 said:
Yeah Nivek,i started with a 10gal rated pump. It got me through my first grow but it was one of the first things i upgraded. I have a 320gph now and it works really well for 2 buckets but if/when it dies i plan on going a little bigger.
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Great to know it got you thru a grow,, i feel a bit better now,, cheers laz,,
 
Did me a water change today and a bit of tucking here and there. Cummin along pretty well I think. I ordered some Z7 off the ole interweb a while back and it showed up this morning so the girls got a squirt of that as well.
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Did a bit more tucking and trimming today, trying to keep the canopy evenly spread out and at the same height. The PH had fallen to 5.5 so I adjusted it back up to 5.8 this morning. Everything is looking pretty good right now, I counted 50 potential bud sites this morning with lots of room for more to come in. Today is day 53 of veg, I'm guessing I'm about 2 weeks away from flipping to flower but we'll see.
 
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