Help me pick a system please.

Hey guys, i phoned a hydroponic store i ordered some air pots online from for my next go around and turns out they can't get my air pots.... so instead i am getting them to send me hydroton and abuncha 6" net pots.


Now, i have a 4x4x7 tent with a 600w, i want 4 plants in there (2x2 area for each) and have a veg tent as well, which means i have to be able to move the plants from veg tent to flower tent. Any and all suggestions/comments would be appreciated. i am leaning towards UCDWC but again i really want some suggestions.

Of course its going to be all DIY.



heres a current budshot of my Super Lemon Haze at Day 33

Recirculating Deep water culture using 5 gallon buckets is the easiest and cheapest to setup. You can easily pull a quarter pound off each bucket per harvest with a 600 watt, depending on the strain, or do a perpetual and pull one every two weeks or so.

Very easy to do a perpetual grow with two rooms. One always vegging and one always flowering. Every two weeks you harvest a plant in the flowering room, move a vegged plant in to replace it. Move a rooted clone to replace the vegged plant and take a couple new cuttings to replace the clone.

If you got an additional 600 watt in your flowering tent, you would more than double your harvest. Probably would bump it up to 1/2 - 3/4 lb territory per bucket.

You can also do a drip system very cheaply.

What sort of system were you thinking?

69Bandit said:

Hey guys, i phoned a hydroponic store i ordered some air pots online from for my next go around and turns out they can't get my air pots.... so instead i am getting them to send me hydroton and abuncha 6" net pots.


Now, i have a 4x4x7 tent with a 600w, i want 4 plants in there (2x2 area for each) and have a veg tent as well, which means i have to be able to move the plants from veg tent to flower tent. Any and all suggestions/comments would be appreciated. i am leaning towards UCDWC but again i really want some suggestions.

Of course its going to be all DIY.



heres a current budshot of my Super Lemon Haze at Day 33

Click to expand...

I agree with GreenThumb, 5g buckets are the best for your setup. With a 600W (doing it right) could yield you 200-400 grams. And I also agree with him about getting a second light for your tent. 1-600watt is not enough for flowering 4 large plants.

509Zman420 said:

I agree with GreenThumb, 5g buckets are the best for your setup. With a 600W (doing it right) could yield you 200-400 grams. And I also agree with him about getting a second light for your tent. 1-600watt is not enough for flowering 4 large plants.

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Thanks alot for the responces guys. i was planning on moving my 600w to my veg tent and buying a 1k for flowering in the future, but finances are not that kind to me right now. If i did go with another 600w for flowering i would not have enough room for the reflector i currently have.

Ok, so 5 Gallon buckets. but what are the benefits of RDWC vs UCDWC?

69Bandit said:

heres a current budshot of my Super Lemon Haze at Day 33

Click to expand...

Oh that's frosty!

I've never done a hydro grow until now. Cut a clone off my Critical Jack and rooted in rockwool cube(also a first). The roots are growing fast, IMO. I put my water and nute mix in a 5 gallon bucket. Added an air stone and my clone. It produced roots 8-10 beyond the net pot within about 10-14 days. It's doing all of the work. I've done nothing to it since planting 2 weeks ago.

69Bandit said:

Thanks alot for the responces guys. i was planning on moving my 600w to my veg tent and buying a 1k for flowering in the future, but finances are not that kind to me right now. If i did go with another 600w for flowering i would not have enough room for the reflector i currently have.

Ok, so 5 Gallon buckets. but what are the benefits of RDWC vs UCDWC?

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They are the same to me. My systems recirculate via undercurrent. The advantage of undercurrent is that water does not pile up in the bucket as much, so you can circulate faster. If you do a circulating DWC setup, put your reservoir outside the room. This will drop your solution temps way down.

GreenThumbSucker said:

They are the same to me. My systems recirculate via undercurrent. The advantage of undercurrent is that water does not pile up in the bucket as much, so you can circulate faster. If you do a circulating DWC setup, put your reservoir outside the room. This will drop your solution temps way down.

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Unfortunately the res has to be in the room, but it will be outside the tent. no direct light on the res.
also, i remember reading somewhere that UCDWC systems did not require air stones. However i will probably run air stones to avoid any problems.

Is there any rule of thumbs when constructing a DWC system? e.g. Res size, pump size.

[Edit] Just read about your high pressure aero experiment, all i can say is bad ass man hope it works out for you [/edit]

PetFlora said:

Check out My DIY 21st Century F & D. Click on my sig

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I checked it out, unfortunately i cannot get air pots hence my move to hydroponics, plus i don't want to have to deal with humidity that comes from open water. Thanks though, its a great DIY thread

yankeegreen said:

Oh that's frosty!

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Thanks Yankee <3

Im running a recirculating top drip system and its working beautifully. You just take your rockwool cube (with plant ready for hydro system in it) and place it in pot and surround it with hydroton. Then you get little spagettin lines and connect them into half inch tubing and then into the hydrogen via a stake you place in the hydroton. You put 4 line emmediately around the rockwool (making sure the water/nutrients dont drip directly on the rockwool) and about 8 lines around the outside of the pot so water drips everywhere. Then your reservoir goes under your flood table and you put water pump and air stone in reservoir. Easier to show but i dont have my camera.

You want some thing simple and easy go with Hempy buckets. No timers , no pumps, no res maintenance (no res really) Just perilite, or perilite/vermiculite mix, coco, mapito, polyfill,hydroton,etc.etc, you get the idea its friendly for alot of different mediums. Mix some nutes and pour,or use CRF's. If you dont mind hand watering its a great way to grow. If you like gadgets I'm sure you could figure a way to automate the watering.If you want to be able to move them from tent to tent,its just like a soil grow in a container. Check out the world of hempy thread.

thatreedocta said:

Im running a recirculating top drip system and its working beautifully. You just take your rockwool cube (with plant ready for hydro system in it) and place it in pot and surround it with hydroton. Then you get little spagettin lines and connect them into half inch tubing and then into the hydrogen via a stake you place in the hydroton. You put 4 line emmediately around the rockwool (making sure the water/nutrients dont drip directly on the rockwool) and about 8 lines around the outside of the pot so water drips everywhere. Then your reservoir goes under your flood table and you put water pump and air stone in reservoir. Easier to show but i dont have my camera.

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Yeah, i was hoping that i could keep my res outside of the tent to keep temps lower. really leaning towards the bucket system since i got a continuous PH/PPM meter, would be nice to have it in the res for feedback from the plants.

mountainboy said:

You want some thing simple and easy go with Hempy buckets. No timers , no pumps, no res maintenance (no res really) Just perilite, or perilite/vermiculite mix, coco, mapito, polyfill,hydroton,etc.etc, you get the idea its friendly for alot of different mediums. Mix some nutes and pour,or use CRF's. If you dont mind hand watering its a great way to grow. If you like gadgets I'm sure you could figure a way to automate the watering.If you want to be able to move them from tent to tent,its just like a soil grow in a container. Check out the world of hempy thread.

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I checked out the first page of the World of Hempy, its a cool idea but i'd rather have my plants transferable from veg to flower tents. also messy mediums seem like a pain in the ass.





I've decided i am going with either a UCDWC or a RDWC system, but not sure if i can use air stones in a UCDWC system otherwise i think that would be my choice.

If i was to use air stones in a UCDWC system, would it not pull the bubbles away before they hit the roots?

Find a tote that is the same height as your buckets to use as a res. The bigger the better for res size. I always used 27 gallon tough boxes:



If you try DWC without airstones, you will have root rot and stunted growth. It isnt worth it.

GreenThumbSucker said:

Find a tote that is the same height as your buckets to use as a res. The bigger the better for res size. I always used 27 gallon tough boxes:

View attachment 2485466

If you try DWC without airstones, you will have root rot and stunted growth. It isnt worth it.

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Yeah, but i heard UCDWC does not require airstones due to the way it works. but i am concerned that the current would be so strong as to pull the air stone bubbles away from the roots on its route back to the res.
However i don't have hard evidence that this is the case. i am leaning towards a UCDWC system with air stones in each bucket.

69Bandit said:

Yeah, but i heard UCDWC does not require airstones due to the way it works. but i am concerned that the current would be so strong as to pull the air stone bubbles away from the roots on its route back to the res.
However i don't have hard evidence that this is the case. i am leaning towards a UCDWC system with air stones in each bucket.

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I have heard that a UCDWC, because of the current, supplies enough air to the roots. An air stone, although would give you more air, is not needed. But I say FUCK IT, do what you want! Oh and you can glue a tie strap, with silicone, and connect the tie down around the stone. This should help keep it in place.

509Zman420 said:

I have heard that a UCDWC, because of the current, supplies enough air to the roots. An air stone, although would give you more air, is not needed. But I say FUCK IT, do what you want! Oh and you can glue a tie strap, with silicone, and connect the tie down around the stone. This should help keep it in place.

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Great idea with the glue man, going to get a tough box and build a UCDWC system with airstones.


Now, anyone have a good DIY UCDWC link?


Also any guesses on how many GPH Pump i should have for a 4 plant system?

69Bandit said:

Great idea with the glue man, going to get a tough box and build a UCDWC system with airstones.


Now, anyone have a good DIY UCDWC link?


Also any guesses on how many GPH Pump i should have for a 4 plant system?

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Here is a parts list:

11 - 3/4 inch strait nipples

1 - 3/4 inch T nipple
11 - 3/4 inch grommets THIS KIND! -->

15 - 20 feet 3/4 inch black poly hose
1 - 3/4 inch barbed ball valve -->

4 - net pots

4 - 5 gallon buckets with lids

20 feet of 1/4 inch air line tubing.

1 - 27 gallon Toughbox tote from Home depot or Lowes

1 - 60 gph or 80 gph water pump

5 - cylinder shaped airstones -

1 air pump - GET THIS KIND!! -->


Here is a diagram of the system:



The whole thing would cost about $125

One airstone per bucket. Drill a small hole through the lid to feed the airline through.
You don't need a big water pump. Too much water and the level of the water in the two back buckets rises up. You use the ball valve to adjust water flow to perfection.

Very easy, very simple system. You should get some hydrogen peroxide to keep everything sterile.

When clones first go in the system, the water should just touch the bottom of the netpots. Once they drop roots, you lower the water to 1 inch below the net pots.

Use 4 inch or 5 inch net pots. Dont use netpots with big holes in them, the hydroton will fall through into your water and clog your lines.

You should get some silk screen and line the bottoms of the buckets, else roots will clog the lines.

Also, arrange your buckets out in the tent first, then mark where you are going to cut your holes and measure your hose lengths. That way everything fits nicely.

That's about it.

Questions?