My new RDWC setup

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Cultivation' started by toshin, Jun 25, 2017.

  1. toshin

    toshin Active Member

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  2. Justcheckingitout

    Justcheckingitout GK Old Timer

    Sweet set up, i love dwc. Whats you going to plant?
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2017
  3. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    It's a hybrid strain that I got from a neighbor that I've been cloning the last few grows. It is great for outdoors, but grows too thick indoor. I've got this last set of clones moving out before I am starting some Romulan seeds. Hoping to find a good female to start cloning again. I've also gone down from 6 buckets to 4 and with the reservoir I wont ever have to physically dump buckets again which is a huge gain.
     
  4. Justcheckingitout

    Justcheckingitout GK Old Timer

    I take its 5 gal buckets? What size res you use for the 4 buckets?
     
  5. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    Buckets are 6 gallon, a little taller than the other buckets. I have 3 gallon ones in the veg/cloning room. Reservoir is a 15 gallon tough tote. Currently waiting for the nutrients to equalize before I adjust the PH and move the plants in.

     
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  6. Justcheckingitout

    Justcheckingitout GK Old Timer

    I want to set up a 6-3gallon one for veg. Does it really matter how far apart the buckets are?
     
  7. Lvstickybud

    Lvstickybud Bongmaster

    No it doesn't matter how far the buckets are from each other but you want enough room that they don't touch each other.
     
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  8. Justcheckingitout

    Justcheckingitout GK Old Timer

    Cool info...I seen some 4 buckets set ups where they filled the buckets up and had one bucket for a res that was about 1/2 filled, i need to do one to play with it. I got the rdwc bug now. I will be going to lowes this week. Lol
     
  9. Lvstickybud

    Lvstickybud Bongmaster

    I ran a 6 bucket + reservoir. Plants can get huge.
     
  10. blazerwill420

    blazerwill420 Fuck AUMA

    What is the benefit of rdwc vs a flood table?
     
  11. SuperMoChombo

    SuperMoChombo Well-Known Member

    Constant feeding = witchcraft growth rates.
     
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  12. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    Other than that, difficulty. Only seen a few rdwc sets that consistently work well. Well beyond my personal patience level.
     
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  13. SuperMoChombo

    SuperMoChombo Well-Known Member

    Yep. Most guys get through a round or two. Then you have to take it all apart and clean it all. Some guys get through a few cleanings. But on top of cleaning, because the roots are constantly immersed in solution you have to keep ph, o2 levels, circulation, temp, ppms of the solution spot on. That takes a shit ton of work. Lots of expensive equipment. Hard to get consistent yields.
     
  14. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    Anybody here ever see a RDWC in a commercial setting? Just extrapolating here....and I'm about as small a commercial as a guy can get with a couple hundred plants in various stages... it'd add enough hours that I'd need another employee just to keep up with the systems and about another 20% more sq/footage to house the various reservoirs and pumps.

    Not saying it isn't being done, just that I question the returns vs the extra effort/costs. Methinks RDWC is something for guys who are trying to get the most out of a dozen or fewer flowering plants.
     
  15. SuperMoChombo

    SuperMoChombo Well-Known Member

    Heath Robinson, our very own Useless, CC in the early years, all ran RDWC and UnderCurrent RDWC type stuff. Prob everybody's tried it. I doubt many stick with it who go big time.
     
  16. ResinRubber

    ResinRubber Civilly disobedient/Mod

    HR and Use are in a class their own. :notworthy:

    Closest I ever got was building half of an undercurrent aquaponics system to support 30 plants then shit canned the idea and built another regular garden. (Hence the new hillbilly hot tub. Never waste materials as my grandpa used to say.) Once a guy gets so far along in what they know about how they garden, methinks we tend to disregard relearning another style simply because the knowledge gap gets so wide. That was my case anyway. Inertia can be a bitch and only gets worse the longer we do something one way.

    Overcoming inertia is my single biggest downfall as a grower. A lazy ass motherfucker at heart.
     
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  17. SuperMoChombo

    SuperMoChombo Well-Known Member

    I'm stuck in my own rut. I made a failed attempt at a gravity drip system to eliminate the enf reliance on pumps (which fail from time to time).

    But you find what works for you eventually. Sticking with it's just fine in my book.

    for me it was fun while it lasted. Just a lot of work for that fun. I got worn out having so much fun.

    Hey remember blah blah boy? He had some hella huge setups. Caregiver in Maine.
     
  18. toshin

    toshin Active Member

    My veg buckets are maybe an inch apart from each other. They aren't connected, just plain DWC buckets. I am using one "3oow" LED light in the veg room and 2 "600w" ones in the flowering room.

    It's taking some time to get running smoothly but I'm having fun with it. I'm trying to remove as much hands on as possible. Having to mix and measure one tub without having to check each bucket is a huge win for me. Trying to have some failure safety built in - if the pump dies it just reverts back to a DWC system and the level drops so that it equalizes in the tub. Plenty of time for me to notice and fix.

    Currently the pump has to be turned on by hand. Even with a restrictor on the output it is overflowing the buckets after several hours. I've got a much smaller pump I am going to try once I get a chance to work on this more. I'm not trying to grow commercially, this is all for my own consumption. After wrecking my motorcycle my consumption has increased to the point that it is just too expensive to buy from the local places.

    Will post more updates as this thing progresses. Long term I'm looking at creating something that monitors the nutrient and ph level in the main reservoir and adjusts automatically. Short term it has already saved me time and lifting so it has been a win.
     
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  19. SuperMoChombo

    SuperMoChombo Well-Known Member

    I set mine up with 1" returns and 3/8" supply to avoid overfilling the buckets, get good R and even some splash aeration.

    You following any particular model, or doing your own thing?
     
  20. Justcheckingitout

    Justcheckingitout GK Old Timer

    So was the 5th bucket i seen online just a controle bucket with a res needed or can you use the control bucket for res. My messed up thinking was mix one bucket at a time thru control bucket and let it run thru. That way you dont burn stuff up? I dont know. :dunce: Never done rdwc.
     

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