RDWC Build.... So far so good

I built a RDWC undercurrent system because I was getting bored with dirt and wanted larger plants quicker so I thought I'd give this a shot. So far so good, roots are healthy and white, and the plants are growing really quickly. Just flipped the light, keeping my fingers crossed!

4x8 tent
qty2 600w hps
1/10hp chiller
6x 5gal bucket system w/ epicenter
RO water system
GH series nutes

Temps are running at about 78, water is 68-70. Since these images I wrapped the buckets up with insulation.
Running 4x Blue Power (sin city seeds) 1x Bubbilicious and 1x Ice (friend got clones from WA, very excited)

Looking nice dude I wish I built a system like that.v
I'm rocking standard reg dwc.

Thanks, it wasn't too hard or expensive to build. I'm very impressed with the current growth, best I've seen. Here they are wrapped up, should be 56 days to finish, I'll be these stretch to 5' tall knowing the strain. Should be a lot of fun!

blackforest said:

Thanks, it wasn't too hard or expensive to build. I'm very impressed with the current growth, best I've seen. Here they are wrapped up, should be 56 days to finish, I'll be these stretch to 5' tall knowing the strain. Should be a lot of fun!

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Here they are a week later, I ran into some brown root issues. At first I thought they were just tinted due to a nute change, but I don't think so. I was trying to keep the system sterile, but was not having much luck. Switched to hydroguard by botanicare and it seems to be working great now. I also turned down the chiller so the water is closer to 65, it was at 70-71 some days. White roots are coming out of the brownish root mass, and growth is exploding once again!

Here they are today. About 14 days into flower. Back on track....
Running GH Lucas formula
Cal Mag (ro water)
hydroguard (bacillus bacteria)

looking great, i just started building my own system. What inline pump are you using?

hicountry1 said:

looking great, i just started building my own system. What inline pump are you using?

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Thanks for checking it out. It's an 'Active Aqua' 793gph pump, It's a sub/inline mag drive pump and that's going through a 1/10hp chiller. The pump was only like $55 at the shop. The system is 28 gal in 7, five gallon buckets. Everything is running great, visions of sugarplums right now...

put up the net, changed out the water today. I can't complain, hydro is a lot of fun. The growth compared to my coco/soil pots is silly. Very clean and really autonomous. I usually peek in when the lights come on and that's about it.

blackforest said:

I built a RDWC undercurrent system because I was getting bored with dirt and wanted larger plants quicker so I thought I'd give this a shot. So far so good, roots are healthy and white, and the plants are growing really quickly. Just flipped the light, keeping my fingers crossed!

4x8 tent
qty2 600w hps
1/10hp chiller
6x 5gal bucket system w/ epicenter
RO water system
GH series nutes

Temps are running at about 78, water is 68-70. Since these images I wrapped the buckets up with insulation.
Running 4x Blue Power (sin city seeds) 1x Bubbilicious and 1x Ice (friend got clones from WA, very excited)

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Right on,we have the same set up almost..I have a 4 site under one lamp,5 smartpots under the other..running co2? Im using dynagro and tea...
Looking good bro..

Looking like a jungle in there!

Keep your water temps in the mid sixties and you'll be smiling at the finish.

Don't skimp on checking details, like pH and EC/ppms.

Looking good!

ttystikk said:

Keep your water temps in the mid sixties and you'll be smiling at the finish.

Don't skimp on checking details, like pH and EC/ppms.

Looking good!

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Thanks for the good advice! Chiller is keeping water at 65 ($80 on CL!) today's water change came out to 1320ppm, and after nutes w/ ro water the ph is like 5.5 -5.6 so I have not been adjusting it. It creeps up a little, but so far I don't have to use much ph down which is good imo. What are you guys doing about flavor/sweetener? I've been told that hydro will decrease taste; true? I can only imagine what they would look like with a longer veg and bigger containers! Just an extra week veg for 4 of them (out of 6) and they are almost twice the size of the ones that got 1 less week. Smiles every time I check on the girls.

@rory420420 No CO2 right now. I'm not sure if I need it. No doubt it would benefit a little, but I'm hoping this system will mitigate the need for CO2 because of the constant feeding. I'm hoping for 1g/watt or more which would be unreal. This tent in the past 3 grows with coco/soil always produces 24oz under 1200w which is about 1/2 gram/watt. I've seen some rdwc grows get close to 1.5g/watt. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible, but if you know me, I'm always trying something new!


roots recovered nicely from a mild issue with pythium.
I decided on hydroguard (bacillus bacteria) by botanicare. Formally aquashield from what I've been told. Lowered the temps on the chiller too. They were close to 71. what next?

Getting there, growth is just unreal. Super easy system once it's setup, way easier than soil/coco imo. I change out nutes once every 7-10 days, takes about 10 min. That's it.

Awesome. Crazy how your system is literally exactly the same I built. Only thing is I like the rubber clamps you added. More easily break the system down to clean. Looks great man.

francy420 said:

Awesome. Crazy how your system is literally exactly the same I built. Only thing is I like the rubber clamps you added. More easily break the system down to clean. Looks great man.

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Thanks @francy420 The rubber clamps were def a good edition, and cheap ($4 ea). It comes apart in 4 pieces so I can get it through the door and into the tent, plus it will make it easier to clean as you pointed out.

I think I need a bigger air pump. Question I have is, I see several 40 lpm air pumps. The Alita's are about $130 and the 'commercial' brand are about $50. Big difference for the quoted same output. What am I missing here besides an apparently different design? Alita's (and comparable) are quieter and cooler...anything else? I bought a large 6" round disc air stone and wanted to get something you know, unnecessary, yet functional in regards to air volume to push 7 of these. I've always heard 'you can never have too much DO', true?

I use the cheap commercial pumps I think they are rated at like 900+ gph. The only downfalls are they are kind of loud. I find the pump isn't too loud but they push so much air the air stones bounce around in the buckets. The other problem is they get quite warm, and the air they push is also warm. So if you have water temp issues they will hurt you. I don't have water temp problems, and running 35 gallons in one system, and over 50 gal in the other the added heat really isn't a problem. They are only like $40

System is on auto pilot. I just change the water/nutes once a week and fill the rez w/ ro water and it lasts 7 days. Constantly tops off the system w/ a float valve and gravity feed. I have a 951gph air pump, but think I want to get a bigger one w/ larger air stones. Other than that, I'm happy with the build.

The 4 in the back pictured here are Blue Power by Sin City seeds. So far my absolute favorite strain ever. Not the biggest producer, but smell taste and high are at the top. I also have a 'bubbleicious' and an 'ice'. They look pretty good, just not as frosty as the others.

Water change outs are easy. I simply hook up a hose to the elbow and let the pump drain to floor drain in basement. Takes about 4 min to empty the system and another 4 to fill it back up. Float valve is hooked up to a gravity fed rez. Check on it once a week, bout it! Loving it so far, about 1 month left!

blackforest said:

Water change outs are easy. I simply hook up a hose to the elbow and let the pump drain to floor drain in basement. Takes about 4 min to empty the system and another 4 to fill it back up. Float valve is hooked up to a gravity fed rez. Check on it once a week, bout it! Loving it so far, about 1 month left!

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nice setup, just built my second undercurrent system and the only thing I changed was I went to 3" lines with the uniseal and I ditched my tee and just went with 3elbows with a pump back to the res. My roots were cloggin up the line and there was more flow on one aide than the other

Tokie-Danks said:

nice setup, just built my second undercurrent system and the only thing I changed was I went to 3" lines with the uniseal and I ditched my tee and just went with 3elbows with a pump back to the res. My roots were cloggin up the line and there was more flow on one aide than the other

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For my next build, I'll be going with 3" pvc and larger containers. These things grow crazy fast! I'm trying to imagine what your 3 elbow's look like compared to a tee. I'm also going to add a larger air pump (Currently at 951gph) and larger air stones. Water pump is 793gph and seems to be doing just fine. Really easy system to operate once you are up and running. I just change the nutes and fill up the rez once a week and that's about it...