So here I am again. Using DWC, I had issues with the last couple grows. Water temp issues. Coming into spring, too cold, all summer, too hot. Now I am making the jump to RDWC. I’ve been looking at if for a while. The undercurrent system is what I’m modeling mine after. It just looks simple and scalable.
So I looked all over and found my parts. Some 1 1/2" pvc, the big one, bulk heads, from menards. Every where they were about $14 each, menards, $7. They didn’t carry enough in store so I had to order some.
Now, the parts list.
1 10’ 1 1/2 pvc tube
6 90 degree elbows
2 T’s (1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2)
1 1 1/2 to 3/4 adapter for the water inlet hose
13 bulkheads
7 15 gallon tubs
10 feet of 3/4" black hose
700 GPH water pump
1750 GPH air pump (already had this)
That’s it. I’m just waiting on the rest of the bulkheads. I do not suggest cutting the plastic with a utility knife. It works, but you can Crack the plastic. I hope the superglue works lol. I had just a couple small cracks. With these bulkheads, if you put the nut inside the tub, you can glue everything together and still add or remove buckets. I might put in a valve to divert the water to drain everything later. That would be another 10 foot hose, 2 3/4" shut-off valves. With the air pump this probably cost me $400. An undercurrent system is $1200!! I think the only difference is they use 5 gallon buckets, and I’m using 15 gallon. They barely fit, but they are lower also. More headroom.
Nice bruv! Only thing I’d note is the returns look on the small side of things. I went with 3" pipe as so many builds I was reading through when putting it all together warned of the required root trims that may come with using smaller pipe to prevent any clogging.
Much like @Neb mentioned I also have a journal with my RDWC (different than Neb’s) where you can see the variations of the theme to help hone in yours!
Looking forward to seeing all this come together and work out to grow some awesome!
I’m hoping that the width of the buckets will help keep roots from clogging things up. If it still halogens, I can make the holes bigger. Just need to get new bulkheads.
Been running RDWC for a few runs now (Current Culture XL-13) absolutely love it. Will say imho chiller is a MUST, as well as a top up Rez , and I run extremely low ppm compared to all my friends/associates and get great results. Even with this system I ran into clogging issues with this run as I let them veg an extra two weeks. It’s mind boggling how far that tap root will travel. I added extra bulkhead filters this time and think they also added to the clog. When I stayed 3-4 week veg they were fine, went to 5&1/2-6wks and added the filters and ran into my first issue (although all it did was slow the undercurrent flow) I also add h2O2 29% to every fill in small amounts to stay sterile as well as UC ROOTS . The explosive, unstoppable growth is truly something to behold as I’ve grown NFT, soil, soilless and I am really loving this method and this system. Any questions just hmu
OK, so I went with a 25 gallon control tub. The pump started running dry. Now it works good, no leaks. I also needed new air stones. I bought the long ones from the pet store, but got almost no air from them. I ordered the 2" rounds and they work great. It’s all filled and ready to go. Here are some pics. First is the tub setup, then mothers and clones.
From front to back, right to left, the mothers are papaya, remedy x cherry berry. Good meds, herijuana, another good meds, dragonsblood x hashplant, silver Mt
I also wanted to add, the air pumps have a filter. The need to be cleaned once in a while. You take off the air inlet cover on the back, pull out the foam filter wipe the crud off, then put it back together. Mine quieted down quite a bit after.
I ran RDWC for a long time. You should add a top up Rez with a float valve. A chiller is a must, you don’t wanna be freezing bottles of water for rotation every couple hours… What ph levels are you running? Any biologicals for the root zone?
I’m finding out that a top up rez would be helpful lol. Just had to add 10 gallons. I have it set up in an insulated garage, and with winter coming I’ll need a heater first. I am looking at chillers for spring. It’s hard to justify his much they cost though.
I would constantly fight root rot by adding h2o2 due to high Rez temps. I would have to change out ice packs ever few hours to fight it before I gave in to the chiller. I was able to get things under control anyway.
It’s been hovering around 60-67. Although herijuana has not done well. Mother is doing good in dirt, only got 2 of 8 clones to get tiny roots. While the dbhp, papaya, and remedy had large roots. The roots don’t look near as nice as the rest. I think I’m going to flower the mom out and be done with it.
It strengthens cell walls, meaning thicker stalk, less woody stems - easier to train and makes the plant more environmentally resistant ie reduces stress accompanying hot,dry or cold conditions.
Reduces stress caused by ph and ppm swings.
Also makes it hard for fungus to germ and stick their root in the leaves.
Good stuff I tell ya.
A little goes a long way too.
If you really like herijuana, you can always tweak your cloning tech. One oldschool guy did a tutorial about rooting stubborn clones.
If you’re interested, I’ll look for it…
Look into diy water chillers, all you need is a non digital ac, a $12 thermostat from eBay/Amazon, a can of insulation foam and if you want to get real fancy a platinum distillery thing (wort?) $100
It takes a bit of manual work but I mean you built a beautiful rdwc system, you can do anything
I ran those for a good while, about 6-12 months a piece with the basic setup. I built a new one every now and then for peace of mind and simply because they’re so cheap
I am running about 6.0 ph. (5.8-6.4) I’m not checking ppm I just mix Greenleaf nutrients according to the directions. I’m looking into getting a combo ph ppm pen. The nice one I had broke. I never stored it right.
The herijuana, I only flowered a small plant to test it. I want impressed. But I thought I would try a hydro version.
I did find a way to make a dehumidifier into a chiller. I’m going to look into that this winter. I was going to buy a fish tank heater to keep it warm.
Also. I had not sexed the dragons blood yet. And I think it’s a male…darn it. Oh well. I’ll give it a couple more days to make sure.
It’s been a while since I last posted. I just cut everything down. It ended up being half the size they should have been. We started getting cold Temps, so I bought an aqueon pro 300 fish tank heater. It’s supposed to be for 300 gal tanks. First one shorted out right after I plugged it in. Same with the second. I have a third coming. They are being replaced for free, so it’s not that bad.
They are fully submersible, but I guess the o-ring for the temp dial gets dried out over time. Then you move it and deform it so it leaks…
Sigh, another round of clones will be ready when the new heater comes in.
