Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I think you want the bubbles in the bucket to splash the bottom of the cube or something like that.
If you could do it over again what would you change?
- Thread starter StonerCloner
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RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
well while the new seedlings are working on growing thier roots you need to make sure that the hydroton and rockwool are wet, you can either fill the bucket up to the rockwool with water/nutrients solution or water a couple times a day from the top.
dbdweller
Active Member
RDWC to me is the best way to go. You will need to clean the rezzz
Also since you are new never never use straight tap water.... the chemicals will keep the micros from developing on the roots... Very bad thing you will be doing more
damage then good.
RDWC can be made very cheap...
The simpler the better
But also
BAD THING with any rez or hydro
If you need to move it fast...landlord,parents, cops or whatever..... soil is the way to go. If you move the roots in hydro you better be fast... but most likely some if not all will go into shock and done.
Just my 2cents
Also since you are new never never use straight tap water.... the chemicals will keep the micros from developing on the roots... Very bad thing you will be doing more
damage then good.
RDWC can be made very cheap...
The simpler the better
But also
BAD THING with any rez or hydro
If you need to move it fast...landlord,parents, cops or whatever..... soil is the way to go. If you move the roots in hydro you better be fast... but most likely some if not all will go into shock and done.
Just my 2cents
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I feel ya on soil usually being easier to move, but I bet some DWC buckets would be just as easy. Throw a garbage bag over the top and lift the buckets up. I had to move my whole hydro set up once, for a matter of a couple days. It actualy went really well. I put everything into plastic totes, some on end for the taller girls, then just top watered them once a day to keep the roots wet. I put them right into flower after wards so the little bit of extra dark time didn't seem to hurt much.
TC
TC
StonerCloner
Member
I wont be moving it all! all legal here! It seems that after the initial set up a RDWC is a little easier to maintain maybe..? like to change the rez, you just change one big container, instead of 24 individual buckets, I think right?
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
yes correct, you also do not need to airate each individual bucket. you do all the airating in the main rezz and the main rezz recirculates the oxegynated air to your bucket sites.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
i personally think with 24 sites RDWC is going to be a better option. first of all its going to cut your workload down. cleaning and rez changing 24 sites is going to take you a entire day. opposed to just changing out the master rezz and refilling it.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
So you guys wouldn't clean the buckets in a rdwc? seems like they would get residue in them just like the main rez would. I would think all the pipes between them would have to be cleaned regularly as well.
I run ebb and flow and my rez, pots, and trays get residue in all of them, and I usualy clean all of them. The pots obviously I can't take the plants out of till they are done, but the tray I usually swap out for a clean one half way through each cycle since I run perpetual. I also clean my rez every 2 weeks when i change it also.
I run ebb and flow and my rez, pots, and trays get residue in all of them, and I usualy clean all of them. The pots obviously I can't take the plants out of till they are done, but the tray I usually swap out for a clean one half way through each cycle since I run perpetual. I also clean my rez every 2 weeks when i change it also.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
not sure to be homest, i would probabally clean the individual pots and piping out after each harvest. im lazy though.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
Fair enough I don't really know. Each harvest might be frequently enough for that type of system.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
well if he is bringing them into a fresh system every 8 weeks, and a fresh system at veg he will essentially be cleaning once about 1/2 way through. but to clean the entire system while growing in it seems a bit unecesary and more work than its worth.
so essentially he would harvest his 12 plants in the flower room. clean the entire system and then put his 12 plants in the veg room into the clean system. then he would clean the veg room system and put his clones in to start his next batch..
does that sound right? i really have no clue either just kinda trying to put it together in the most common sense way i can.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I had just been picturing cleaning each bucket each time you did a res change, but in the recirculating set up the build up might be isolated to the main res.
I totally get what your saying and once per grow is prolly just fine. I've never followed any DWC grows atleast not long enough to absorb all the details, lol. I've seen how big these guys get their plants though, and its almost always impressive.
I totally get what your saying and once per grow is prolly just fine. I've never followed any DWC grows atleast not long enough to absorb all the details, lol. I've seen how big these guys get their plants though, and its almost always impressive.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
i will be starting up a simple DWC bucket in the next week or so. already have it built just need to get a clone in it. I had been holding off because my veg tent is somewhat small but now that im vegging under the 100w MH and flowering under my CFL's (soon to be a 600w) in the tent i have planty of room to get the small DWC system up and running and see how much i like it.
ThE sAtIvA hIgH
Well-Known Member
I got one thing to say to you guys ...........coco and hesi coco nutrients , thank me when you harvest .
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
thank you for the input m8 as i really dont have much for recomendations on nutrients for him.
i will say this though. i am a firm believer that no matter what nutrient you use a plant can only grow to its maximum potential genetically. no nutrient is going to make the buds better or bigger. now that being said im sure theres nutrients out there that do a much better job of helping a plant meet its fullest genetic potential. I only say this because theres alot of gimiks out there and alot of claims from nutrient companies that just are not true so be carefull with spending your money on a product that supposedly "increases potency" or "increases yeild"
my 2¢
splifchris
Well-Known Member
i agree with alot of whats been said... definately hydro... water farm or simple dwc buckets.... personally i love the perpetual harvest... i have 8 girls in flower room... 2 plants growing 2 weeks apart giving a harvest every 2 weeks... under 1000 watts ( 600w and 400w bulbs) averaging 3 / 5 zips per plant... but the thing i would have changed would be growing only 2 strains ( I always bought from the pick and mix section of attitude and used to get really excited about the free seeds, but growing 4 or six plants all different strains that grow at different rates and heights and different flowering lenghts is a huge and unnessary pain in the arse ... id prob go for indica dominant aswell.... as sativas in hydro end up monsters that can be hard to handle... now, i dont work just now and spend a rediculas amount of time in my grow room... at least 2 hours every day plus 4-6 hours trimming every 2 weeks.... ive only been growing for 2 years properly and beeen lucky in that iv had no real fuck ups except a couple of hermies...my advice would be do one grow of say 4 plants and use that as your learning curve, you should be able to set that up for 600 quid easilly, by the time your half way through, start thinking about upgrading...also i did a little math for you and 3 600 watt lamps in the flowerroom is gonna cost you about 1000 bucks per 60 day bill... thats before you add fans extractors and your veg lamps etc which would add another maybe 200 bucks depending on wattage of lamps fans etc.... Oh yeah... and once you find your fave straign .... clones are the way forward.... my strains (for selling) just now are ak 48 and great white shark and also a couple of strains just for me (super lemon haze and blue dream) Anyway... thats my lot.... good luck with your grow..... Oh and keep good records... i use diary's and a wall year planner and write down every thing and work ahead of my self and write reminders for the future diary ( flush ak 48 today etc) Oh and flushing.... I flush my girls 3 times... once 2 weeks into flowering and once again 2 weeks before end of flowering and then again just before dark peiod just before harvest... appologies about spelling grammer but i bee stoned as a motherfucker just now.....
PEACE
PEACE
StonerCloner
Member
thanks again guys for all the help...dawing a up a blueprint for the room designs now. So, my grow room is in my basement, in the winter its about 50degrees and in summer about 70 degrees, so do yall think I should insulate the walls in the grow room? or would that be a waste of money? Thanks again
FootballFirst
Well-Known Member
i grow for personal use only. i should have straight up bought a 250w HPS instead of buying a bunch of 42w CFLs.
RetiredMatthebrute
Well-Known Member
i just did the math and @ $.075 for the 3 600w lights to run 18 hours a day will add around 144 bucks for a 60 day period. not sure where your getting your numbers from or how much your power company charges but thats a pretty big difference.
so the 3 lights on 12/12 would cots on average 40 bucks a month
then add up the other 2 600w lights in the veg cab and your looking at a increas of around 72 bucks a month.
so his total increase in his power bill will be roughly 130-140 bucks a month and thats adding in some $$ for all his pumps and fans..
the money he is going to save after his first harvest will be well worth the jump in electricity since most dispensarys are charging upwards of 40-50 bucks an 1/8th so as long as he harvests at least a half ounce off his 12 plants he should be breaking even at least. I would be willing to be he harvests more than a 1/2 zip though.
to calculate your energy costs look at you electric bill and see what they are charging for a kilowatt hour (KWH)
then break down how many watts you are using. 600w x 3 = 1800w.
break the watts down to Kilowatts, theres 1000 watts in 1 kilowatt. so 1800/1000 = 1.8
multiply the watts times the KWH (in my case my electric company charges $0.07438 per KWH) 1.8 x .075 = $.135
it is costing you almost 14¢ an hour to run those 3 lights.
now multiply the hourly rate to run your lights by how many hours a day you will have them running, in this case the 3 600w will be fueling the flower cab so 12 hours a day .135 x 12 =$1.62
its costing $1.62 to run the 3 lights for 12 hours a day, now multiple the amt per day and the amount of days in a billing cycle (30) 1.62 x 30 = $48.60
feel free to correct me if im wrong in my math
