Im very interested in doing a hydro grow, I plan on having a 5x10 tent,
My friend already donated a 25 gallon 6 plant AutoPot AWFT0006 . Which ill have on one side of my grow room.
For the other part of my grow room i want to install a selfmade hydro system.
Some background. -
Intially the plan was to build a butch bucket system. I got the pvc pipes, pumpss and elbows, etc.
I stupudly spent 110 dollars on 10 pre made dutch buckets.
I then spoke to my mentor and his concern was since the buckets doesn’t drain all the way and the roots always being in the nutrient solution that may cause root rot.
His suggestion was to return the buckets and build a dwc system, since it will give me a bigger yield.
I need your help with building a good and cost effective system.
What should I do? I still need to buy lights for this tent.
I have no experience working with dutch buckets so I’m excited to heard peoples opinions who have
I do want to test them out as the simplicity of operating a large quantity would be ideal for a few situations
I can’t forsee the pooling water being an issue as otherwise the thousands of tomato plants grown in them would suffer the same fate
But this would also depend on your cycling rate and temperature mainly if the water remains cool and is replaced multiple times per day there should not be significant more risk then rdwc
I am interested in trialling coco chips running DTW with perhaps 6 or more feeds per day
Dutch buckets work well with coco or hydroton. They also have a tiny reservoir in case of dripper failure. They are like rockwool and can support large plants. The results with drain to waste versus recirculating are outstanding.
Up to you. I always build my own stuff, lately aeroflos, before that aeroponic tables. My concept of rdwc is a manifold above the reservoir spraying down into it for aeration. If you ever buy a system, you can use it enough to understand how it works, and then start building your own and making improvements.
Homemade rdwc. I will never look back. 1.5 hp chiller. 420 gallons of water. Sterile water and Athena nutes little agt 50 on the transition via foliar.
Damn second edit. First pic is not rdwc.
Yes I’m for rdwc. But I guess I should disclose 20 years in the cultivation business. I’ve ran all systems and this is just what I like now. Definitely do what you are comfortable with and don’t bite off more than you can chew. KISS.
Drain to waste is a fantastic system I would be mixing my own base nutrients from salts, you would have to total your projected costs if intending to purchase bottled fertiliser from a shop before deciding on a particular system DTW might not be cost efisent in your case
RWDC will have the fastest growth rate but you have to weight up the additional inputs of time and expenses as all ready stated by ag tonic
I haven’t tried dutch buckets but the reason I’m leaning towards them is the idea of having the system built quickly filling a res and being able to walk away for awhile is super appealing to me
There is no such best system only the best system for the individual at a particular time and place
I can tell you I have had great success with rdwc running a mag drive pump without airstones I have found the airstones for me anyway is the quickest way to raise your water temperature I do not use a water chiller I was first introduced to this idea by “heath Robinson” cycling the water thru the system at a high rate provides plenty of airation
Me too. Mag drive pumps are roughly 50% efficient, so about half the watts are put off as heat, but that is still better than an airstone. The larger the mass of water, the less consequential the heat from the pump. A larger res also heats up less, or at least much more slowly, when the lights are on, especially hps.
