considering modding my dwc for better o2

NapalmZen said:

so many ideas...

my problem is i live in ca and am planning on growing the state legal of 6 plants. i wanted to grow 2 auto/fem in a 2'X4' tent and 4 large fems in a 5'x5'.i want the biggest yields i can from the larger system as in 4-5 month SCROG or trellis grows and the autos will be for FOG 2-3 month cycles.

this means as i understand, that clones are off the table unless i use cuttings from the bigger system and transplant into the smaller, but i can grow a wider variety of strains if i do 6 seed grows.

i just want my big beautiful plants. come late January, ill have the build complete. ill do a thorough build thread.

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I forgot to mention.. the 2 plants in the blue Rubbermaid bin ( I say 2 there actually 3 but the third was snuffed out by the other 2, it might as well be cut down) are auto flowering.
I'm not sure how they got so damn big, almost as big as the think different I grew last year.
Go for the strain think different if your going for some massive bushy autos in dwc

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Shroominnm said:

I forgot to mention.. the 2 plants in the blue Rubbermaid bin ( I say 2 there actually 3 but the third was snuffed out by the other 2, it might as well be cut down) are auto flowering.
I'm not sure how they got so damn big, almost as big as the think different I grew last year.
Go for the strain think different if your going for some massive bushy autos in dwc

Sent from my SM-N920V using Rollitup mobile app

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the 2'X4'X5' tent limits to 2 to 3 plants at about 2.5' tall. the 5'X5'X6.5' till let me grow 4-6 @ >3'.

all i have to do is figure my lighting. i want hanging lamps half way up between the plants for great light penetration with each plant having an overhead LED or some T5's going the length of the tent.

that is exactly why i plan on staying away from planting in totes.

NapalmZen said:

the 2'X4'X5' tent limits to 2 to 3 plants at about 2.5' tall. the 5'X5'X6.5' till let me grow 4-6 @ >3'.

all i have to do is figure my lighting. i want hanging lamps half way up between the plants for great light penetration with each plant having an overhead LED or some T5's going the length of the tent.

that is exactly why i plan on staying away from planting in totes.

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I don't think it was snuffed out lol. But yes if one plant is a runt then it does get left behind and below the others. There are many reasons not to grow in a tote and if your planning on large plants the I would say no to multi plant totes. Their great for quick run small plants if running multiples but for big, long veg plants I would choose seperate comtainers and big ones lol.

Budley Doright said:

I don't think it was snuffed out lol. But yes if one plant is a runt then it does get left behind and below the others. There are many reasons not to grow in a tote and if your planning on large plants the I would say no to multi plant totes. Their great for quick run small plants if running multiples but for big, long veg plants I would choose seperate comtainers and big ones lol.

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The exact reason my next build will use food grade 6.5 gallon fermentation buckets.

NapalmZen said:

The exact reason my next build will use food grade 6.5 gallon fermentation buckets.

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I've got a mother in a 10gl circle cooler and it seems to work great for dwc. Ive just got one air line going in.
The roots are massive already..I have to top off every 3 days or so. I would figure with a 6 gallon you would run out of room for water fairly quick? I figured the same would be true with a 5 gallon.. hence the reason i went with 10 gal..
Unless your using flood and drain.. then obviously you would have no problem!
My mother is only 1.5 months old and of course has been in veg the whole time.
I just like being able to go a few days without maintenence, full ups, what have you..

stay smokin'

NapalmZen said:

the 2'X4'X5' tent limits to 2 to 3 plants at about 2.5' tall. the 5'X5'X6.5' till let me grow 4-6 @ >3'.

all i have to do is figure my lighting. i want hanging lamps half way up between the plants for great light penetration with each plant having an overhead LED or some T5's going the length of the tent.

that is exactly why i plan on staying away from planting in totes.

Click to expand...

That's all I use in my room so far.
I have two 4 foot 8 bulb t5s
Two 4 foot 4 bulbs
3 Mars hydro 300s
1 "480" Mars hydro
And 2 600w galaxyhydros

My leds are cheap, but they do the job. Not as well as cobs, so I have been told many times, but they definately work. I'm hoping for 8+ ozs from those two auto flowering plants. Not forsure that I'll get it but I was real close last time same set up, different strain.

stay smokin'

Shroominnm said:

That's all I use in my room so far.
I have two 4 foot 8 bulb t5s
Two 4 foot 4 bulbs
3 Mars hydro 300s
1 "480" Mars hydro
And 2 600w galaxyhydros

My leds are cheap, but they do the job. Not as well as cobs, so I have been told many times, but they definately work. I'm hoping for 8+ ozs from those two auto flowering plants. Not forsure that I'll get it but I was real close last time same set up, different strain.

stay smokin'

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i started researching COB's and as i understand, they are simply a bad idea product. per price bracket, they are better because they are cheaper to manufacture but have drastically shorter lifespans due to tightly clustered led's.

this was stated in several articles i read on a google search. but it is simply a google search. i have little knowledge from experience.


i so far, have 1 viparspectra 600w. im planning on one more for in the 2X4 tent.

i wanted 5 100-150w hanging bulbs to spread the light by having one in each corner without shields and one in the center. i feel this would surround the plants with great light and 4 300w viparspectras with one directly over each plant. i want 100% led as i feel the HPS and HID lamps are simply too costly long term. but i want the hanging lamps for good light penetration.

though, 4' t5 lamps would be a great compromise if i put one in each corner vertically. if i got a 4 lamp ballast and wired them to run from each corner without shrouds it would be cost effective and produce tons of light. best part is that i used to be an electrician and a welder. i can build it into the frame so the lights can be quick changed like any commercial fixture but without the shrouds.

i may put 2 300w in the 2X4 and 4 600w in the 5X5 as the larger plants with light surrounding them may start growing sideways requiring stronger light on top to keep them growing vertically.

Any thoughts?

With the T5's one ballast will run two lamps and holy lites batman lol. Perhaps doing a few calculations will give you the max needed with anything more being over kill. Try looking up the formula for ppfd as it may help. I have never used it but I'm running 2-600's in a 4x5 area and T5's for veg. room.

Budley Doright said:

With the T5's one ballast will run two lamps and holy lites batman lol. Perhaps doing a few calculations will give you the max needed with anything more being over kill. Try looking up the formula for ppfd as it may help. I have never used it but I'm running 2-600's in a 4x5 area and T5's for veg. room.

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In that case, I should be fine with 2x600w in the large tent and 1x600w in the small. these lamps do veg and bloom.