DTW vs. Recirculating in Coco, via top-fed drip

[Prestige]

Please share your experiences and opinions. Which do you feel or find to be the superior method?

I had my heart set on recirculating, had it all planned-out, but a knowledgable Farmer suggested against it. There has to be some people running recirculating drip in Coco with good results or at least has tried it and is willing to let me learn from their mistakes, lol.

Basically, anything and everything you know or have experienced with the two different methods. It would be very helpful.

Much thanks, fellow Farmers!

 

[sanvanalona]

Please share your experiences and opinions. Which do you feel or find to be the superior method?

I had my heart set on recirculating, had it all planned-out, but a knowledgable Farmer suggested against it. There has to be some people running recirculating drip in Coco with good results or at least has tried it and is willing to let me learn from their mistakes, lol.

Much thanks!

Both can work out very well but if you are new to this coco is much more forgiving and I personally love the flavors and yield that coco brings!!!

 

[Prestige]

I've been using Coco with half of my gurls for 2 runs now, but hand watering. I'm trying to convert to automated drip. Can't decide if Drain-To-Waste or Recirculating is the way to go. I hear DTW is better, but it would be a pain in the ass to redesign. Basically, is it worth the trouble to switch to DTW?

A friend who has helped me out a lot told me Grodan cubes are the way to go with recirculating, but I have little experience with rockwool, only use it for cloning.

I just need help/advice, lol. So confused.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Dtw in coco... If you have pH or ppm issues this will save you..

Recirc in rockwool IS the way to go, used to do it but became a bitch to dispose of the cubes so now I rock and reuse coco beds, DTW.

 

[justanotherbozo]

...yeah, i think i'm confused because i can't think of a way to run a recirculating setup with coco as your grow medium, recirculation is more a DWC thing, or ebb and flo, once you run the nute solution through the coco i can't see how you could then recirculate it back into your res.

...here's a couple pics of my internet friend Hundred Gram Oz's work and he runs coco DTW with frequent short feeds, he swears his yields have increased substantially by the multiple, frequent feeds.

anyway, here is a shot of one of his root balls and you'll note he lines the bottoms of his pots with hydroton to protect them from 'wet feet', a problem if there is any left over runoff for the plants to sit and get soggy in.

...and here is a shot of one of the plants, don't quote me but it looks to be about 4 or 5 weeks in to me, that's just a guess though.

...i share his work first because i know him well enough to know he is a sharing soul so he won't mind, plus, he isn't a member here so i can't point you to his grow threads without sending you to another site, and finally, because i am a small time operator running hand watered coco hempy buckets so i can't share MY work in this regard because i've not run things this way yet.

...and i say 'yet' because, if i ever expand, this is the way i'll go.

peace, bozo

 

[Prestige]

I know that thread well, it has been my guide I've used for Coco :)

 

[Prestige]

Okay, okay, okay.... I think I've identified the problem here. I think my definition of 'recirculating' is off.

My plan:
Use a reservoir on a flood table, 3 gal air pots with coco in them (hydroton or perlite on bottom as per Bozo's advice) and run drip lines to them. As the solution drips thru my medium, it ends-up on my table and flows down to an opening at the end. This opening has a tube that sends the waste back into my res.

This is what I thought recirculating was, am I just totally off with my vocab and that's what is causing the confusion?

 

[Prestige]

Okay, so I'm not artist, but is this more or less recirculating?

Sorry for the poorly drawn sketch, lol.

 

[Prestige]

Sorry, couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

 

[justanotherbozo]

Okay, okay, okay.... I think I've identified the problem here. I think my definition of 'recirculating' is off.

My plan:
Use a reservoir on a flood table, 3 gal air pots with coco in them (hydroton or perlite on bottom as per Bozo's advice) and run drip lines to them. As the solution drips thru my medium, it ends-up on my table and flows down to an opening at the end. This opening has a tube that sends the waste back into my res.

This is what I thought recirculating was, am I just totally off with my vocab and that's what is causing the confusion?

...i believe that returning that 'waste' solution back to your res would indeed be recirculation but i don't know that it'd be a good idea to add back that now nutritionally unbalanced solution, ...even if the imbalance i speak of were to be minimal you'd still have the problem of waste coco draining into your res with that 'waste' solution.

...another angle might be an elevated res and Blumats in each of your plants, this way your op could be almost completely automated but in a totally passive way so there are no pumps that can fail and kill your crop, ...gravity is your friend and it is free and it NEVER fails, just so long as you don't fail and forget to top off your res, lol (even this can be automated with a float valve but that would probably require some electrical power).

...what i'm describing is a passive DTW setup so your plan would still work almost as you describe, just not in a recirculating way.

peace, bozo

 

[Prestige]

The only thing is that I cannot dump the waste water. I have no drain and I can't haul big bins of water out ever week.

So Rockwool it is, then?

Give it to me straight... Can I do as well with recirculating rockwool as I can with DTW Coco?

 

[Prestige]

Okay.... I'm just gonna have to man-up and go DTW. I can figure this out, I can do it, lol.

So this is what I am thinking. Have a bin for each table, then I'm gonna have a pump that I drop in the bin full of waste that takes the water outside and into the plants. I just drain each waste bin one-by-one by dropping the pump into it.

How does that sound?

 

[Prestige]

I see people doing recirculating in rockwool, so I just thought I could get away with it in coco too.

It isn't the strongest, fastest or even smartest who survive, it is the most adaptable.

 

[Pisces]

hmmmmm, if you decide to stick with coco, I say you run a gutter from each table to One collection bin.

All runoff collects to said bin.

Pump that runoff from bin into the nearest toilet or sink.

 

[GR33NL3AF]

Check out my GR33N rooms at the bottom of my post... You will see how simple DTW is... The image you drew is recirculating and you don't want to do that for coco.

That being said, I've had stellar results in RW, so if you can't get away from recirc and want to use rockwool have no fear, your production shouldn't suffer.

 

[Prestige]

Thanks to everyone who beared thru the frustration with me and helped me to figure everything out. Much love!

I'm either going with RW or DTW Coco

One last question; why is it that RW can handle recirculating drip and Coco can't? Just outta curiosity.

 

[Pisces]

Because like I mentioned in your other thread, Coco binds on to certain elements like a sponge.
mainly it binds to ca/mg not allowing the plants to get the ca /mg they need.

And in turn, because it Binds to it, If you don't water to runoff, like a sponge, the cal/mag and other nutes will begin to build up causing deficiencies and eventually lock out your plants

RW doesn't have that clinging ability ….unless you allow it to dry out too much.
But that also goes for coco and any other medium as well.

 

[Pisces]

One of the first things I noticed after switching from coco to Rw is how much less of cal/mag i use per run.

And the Only reason I use cal-mag is because I use RO.

Otherwise it would just be base nutes..nothing else

 

[Prestige]

But I would be watering till runoff, a lot of runoff, moreso than I would be with DTW. Is it because the runoff is collected again and reused? I dunno, it just doesn't make sense to me, but you guys are all a lot more experienced than me and I know I am wrong. Just so frustrating not knowing for what reason, lol.

Anyways, I'm just gonna take everyone's advice.

Okay, so if you had to choose: DTW Coco or Recirculating drip with RW, for quality and yield, which would it be? Also, which would be easiest and more fool-proof for someone new to the system?

 

[Prestige]

I know you already said RW in my other thread, Piscies. Just want a bit more input before I make the plunge, this is a big deal for me, lol.

Multiple tables, I have to go for trees (at least sizable bushes) instead of multiple smaller gurls because of plant count and whatnot.