first top feed buckets gravity system

loolagigi

loolagigi

Well-Known Member
hi everyone. i have been using dwc for a while now and am sick of root rot. i went to the hydro store yesterday and was told top feeding would help with that. i would like to utilize my 5 gallon buckets, my air pump, my hydroton, and 10" net pots. i know i will need to buy a water pump, a large resevior, drip tubes, drip lines....

i have a 5'x5'x8' high flower room. i usually grow 4 large plants in that space. i was thinking i need to build 2 tables. 2 buckets per table. tis way i can walk in between the tables to have acess to the plants. i would like to run only 1 resevior and 1 water pump. this creates a problem where i am not sure how to get the water back into the res using gravity. this would be easier if i had 1 table in a 3'x5' area. but i dont want to waste space. if anything i want as much yield if not more than my current dwc.

any advice is appreciated.

ps, i am a do it yourselfer and have a budget. thanks
 
Goku97

Goku97

Member
you need 2 to 3 holes in each table

1 - Water to get pumped into the tabels
2 - over flow hole
3 - you could have the over flow hose connected to the other table so that the water goes from the 1 table to the 2nd table if they aren't spread apart far

4 - if you do the over flow hose to the other table you need to have a nother over flow hose from teh 2nd table that goes to your res and a small draining hole on each of your tables going back to your res
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
loolagigi said:
hi everyone. i have been using dwc for a while now and am sick of root rot. i went to the hydro store yesterday and was told top feeding would help with that. i would like to utilize my 5 gallon buckets, my air pump, my hydroton, and 10" net pots. i know i will need to buy a water pump, a large resevior, drip tubes, drip lines....

i have a 5'x5'x8' high flower room. i usually grow 4 large plants in that space. i was thinking i need to build 2 tables. 2 buckets per table. tis way i can walk in between the tables to have acess to the plants. i would like to run only 1 resevior and 1 water pump. this creates a problem where i am not sure how to get the water back into the res using gravity. this would be easier if i had 1 table in a 3'x5' area. but i dont want to waste space. if anything i want as much yield if not more than my current dwc.

any advice is appreciated.

ps, i am a do it yourselfer and have a budget. thanks
Click to expand...
Hey bubblehead.. I rock that site too... I run a similar set up in a almost similar grow room dimension wise.. Go for the 5 gallon Sport cooler route I use them and even under a 1000W MH/HPS it keeps the temperature really cool whatever you set it at for a week at a time.. I used the lid and this helps with insulation.
 
loolagigi

loolagigi

Well-Known Member
Goku97 said:
you need 2 to 3 holes in each table

1 - Water to get pumped into the tabels
2 - over flow hole
3 - you could have the over flow hose connected to the other table so that the water goes from the 1 table to the 2nd table if they aren't spread apart far

4 - if you do the over flow hose to the other table you need to have a nother over flow hose from teh 2nd table that goes to your res and a small draining hole on each of your tables going back to your res
Click to expand...
thats a ebb and flow...i want just a drip.
 
loolagigi

loolagigi

Well-Known Member
i was thinking of putting each bucket on its own small table. allowing me to move around the room and utilize my grow space. why would you not reccomend pumping solution to a round drip in each bucket holding a net pot and hydroton...have a hole at the bottom for a return line gravity style?

right now i have 4 buckets with 4 reseviors..what a bitch to change em all when i can do one. also, if i top feed so many times per day with oxygenated solution the roots will have a harder time rotting.
 
Goku97

Goku97

Member
loolagigi said:
i was thinking of putting each bucket on its own small table. allowing me to move around the room and utilize my grow space. why would you not reccomend pumping solution to a round drip in each bucket holding a net pot and hydroton...have a hole at the bottom for a return line gravity style?

right now i have 4 buckets with 4 reseviors..what a bitch to change em all when i can do one. also, if i top feed so many times per day with oxygenated solution the roots will have a harder time rotting.
Click to expand...
Well the benefit of using the table style is that you can do 1 small table and house the same amount of plants or more and you will only have to clean that 1 table and if you wanted to have clones you can put the clones in that table
 
TaoWolf

TaoWolf

Active Member
Hey you can buy the Waterfarm kits for about $15 [<-link] and just adapt them for a regular 5 gallon bucket. Would also let you use what items you already have (like an airpump/stones/etc). If you wanted a little more DIY you could buy a 3 gallon bucket (they are the same diameter as a 5 gallon), drill holes all through the bottom and place that into a 5 gallon bucket... the 3 gallon is filled with hydroton and the 5 gallon is your reservoir that feeds the drip ring (that uses your airpump to feed solution up to it). If you also aerate the the reservoir, the roots can grow through the bottom of the 3 gallon bucket and you'll basically have a drip/top feeding/DWC system for cheap.
 
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