Natural Progression - It is time for UC

[lava]

Alright thcfarmers, it is undercurrent time for this grower. I grew in aero for the last year and had my fair share of problems and learning experiences.

The setup:
(10) 5-gal uc bucket vegger
(6-8) 16-gal uc brute tote flower unit (wrapped in reflexive)
-flower units: (2) 4-plant perpetual or (1) 6-plant, 1 harvest grow
(the flower system depends on my experimental first grow of 4 plants)
-flower power: (2) 1000w bare bulbs down the middle of the 4 plants

I will be using botanicare pbp and beneficial tea.

I started this build 2 weeks ago and the veg plants were planted 5 days ago. I will be starting the flower build this week and hope to plant when the veg plants have adequate roots.


The UC Vegger

The UC Flower

Some early problems
-air pump is pumps warm 80+ degree air into each bucket.
I am going to setup a chill res that will be chilled to 60 degrees and i will pump the air through a hose coil in the chilled water.
-vertical bulbs
I cannot seem to find a product that will hang 1 bulb below another bulb. I will end up making one out of a metal rod.

 

[Texas Kid]

You wont find a better vertical light system for indoor vertical gardening - constructed of powder coated metal and 6" air cooled glass with 6 KV sockets. All Vertitube™ systems are built to work with our Hydrogon™ systems to make the ultimate hydroponic kit. Built with no exposed wiring, weather proof electrical boxes, water resistant covers and sealed cord restraint make our light tubes safe for foliar spraying. Our grow light tubes are built by hand and with pride to last and feature a 3 year warranty on all electrical parts.

•Vertitube™ sections are interchangeable

•Each Vertitube™ comes standard with a powder coated vented stand

•Maintain optimal room temperatures by controlling your Vertitube exhaust fan speed

•Vertitube™ operates cool to the touch when used with a minimum 600cfm fan - Only in extreme hot climate is cooling the intake air considered

•Works with wide range of bulbs from compact fluorescent 95 watt to 1000 watt high pressure sodium
Vertitube™ 3L1000

The Vertitube™ 3L1000 is designed to accommodate three (3) 1000w lamps. The 3L1000 is designed for use with the Hydrogon. total height with 17" base is 90 7/8"

Vertitube™ 4L600
The Vertitube 4L600 is designed to accommodate four (4) 600w lamps. Total height with 14" base is 91 7/8".

 

[lava]

Thanks Tex, I was looking to go bare bulb. Those Vertitube looks sweet if the bare bulbs do not work out.

 

[St3ve]

The way I've seen ppl stack bare bulbs is to have the bottom one built on a stand coming up from the ground.

Looks nice man, can't wait to see how the system runs. How are those 5g buckets doin with the uniseal? Leakin much on ya? I would LOVE to run buckets like that but everyone says that they are touch to keep dry.

Also, did you find those 14 gallon brutes locally or have to go to the net for them?

 

[lava]

hi St3ve,

Those black buckets are industrial grade and 30% thicker then the grey lowes ones. My first build was with the lowes buckets and they leaked. I have not had a single leak with the black ones.
http://www.uline.ca/BL_8150/Plastic-Pails-And-Lids

I got the 14 gal brutes online, about $15 each. They had grey ones, i just bought the wrong ones.

 

[lava]

survived my first scare today. I figured out that the filter was clogged and the current has been stopped for 2 days.

Yesterday i was wondering why the water in the plant buckets was 77-78 degrees while he epic center water was 66 degrees. I thought the air pump was pumping too much hot air into the plant buckets. I was way off. I corrected the clog and the epic center water increased to 71. Its a new game with its own set of tricks.

 

[Bud Spleefman]

What kind of lights are you vegging under, and are those the only lights those plants have been under? They look good for LED (I'm thinking)

Do you have a chiller?

I used to run a non-circulating DWC, as long as you have plenty of air and the buckets stay cool, no worries....

It's those water/nute temps that are a killer...... when I ran a UC I was using a 1/2 hp chiller on about 150 gal system... way more than I needed, but that's a big advantage of a circulating system.

Good luck with the grow!

 

[lava]

What kind of lights are you vegging under, and are those the only lights those plants have been under? They look good for LED (I'm thinking)

Do you have a chiller?

I used to run a non-circulating DWC, as long as you have plenty of air and the buckets stay cool, no worries....

It's those water/nute temps that are a killer...... when I ran a UC I was using a 1/2 hp chiller on about 150 gal system... way more than I needed, but that's a big advantage of a circulating system.

Good luck with the grow!

Hi Bud Spleefman

those plants were only under T5 before. I had some red flowering LEDs that sucked for flowering, but i read that they are great for vegging. Each LED is 360w, so i should get some extra growth. Here is my old vegger:

I have a 2hp chillking for all my cooling needs. Great investment. I will have no problem keeping all my temps in check. I am leaving my water temps at 68 because the bene tea hibernates at lower temps. But the baddies (slime) rain terror at all temps.

Last night i also replaced my epic center. It is now light proof and big enough for everything.

 

[lava]

starting to lay out my flower unit. It looks like i will have 38" centers (with 27" from center to bulb). I will have 26" from centers to wall.

After 8 days in the vegger, the roots are really starting to explode.

Here is the system i am retiring. It was a scrog with aero/nft. Pulled 24oz a few rounds ago with a 600w and CO2. I needed tomove on because i could not keep up with the plant load. Too many plants.

 

[deep buddy]

looking good bro for real im subd up been looking at buying a uc but would rather make one. maybe a parts list and sources would be awesome. and is that cool coil working good for you?

 

[ttystikk]

looking good bro for real im subd up been looking at buying a uc but would rather make one. maybe a parts list and sources would be awesome. and is that cool coil working good for you?

I can help you with all aspects of a DIY UC style setup.

 

[sebastien420]

im liking what i see, ive been reading alot about uc systems if ran properly i think its the way to go with big results in the long run...

 

[lava]

Update...14 days into the build

I will be water testing the UC flower unit today. The build went smooth the past few days.

The roots are going crazy now

Here is my monster Super Lemon Haze. Over 40" and growing. Should be a lot of fun in 3 weeks.

 

[sebastien420]

i cant wait to see this nice lil system at work, it looks amazing... good work lava!!! and best of luck with your first test run.

 

[lava]

i cant wait to see this nice lil system at work, it looks amazing... good work lava!!! and best of luck with your first test run.

thanks sebastian

I have built a lot of systems, so that why this one went smooth. And my past year of aero growing with certainly make my uc growing easier. I know there is a uc learning curve, but i should be able to pick it up fast.

Here is my G13 Labs Pineapple Express from my current run due top be harvested in 10 days.

 

[lava]

Almost planting time, scheduled for 2 days from today. Water tested the system, got the lights tested, and cooling installed.

Vegger is getting big

 

[aSilvrHaze]

thats awesome man. i love how you mounted those verts!

 

[Devlove]

Looking good, real good.

 

[ttystikk]

Lava, I see how you're running an icebox to cool the air in your vertical tubes. If you're pulling the air down and cooling it before blowing it out at ground level, it's cool, but you're working against the fact that hot air rises. Big enough fan, shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I would still mount the icebox downstream of the fan for better heat transfer into your chiller circuit.

If, on the other hand, you're pushing the air through the iceflow box and THEN up the tube, then I'm afraid you're going to have a different and potentially more serious problem; cold air blowing past the lights will cause them to run cooler than their design temperature, and therefore will alter their light output . It will shift the color spectrum and it will reduce the overall lumen output of the bulb, both of these are not good. I learned this from the guys at Hydro Innovations and it's one reason I went with a totally separate hood ventilation system.

they also said that condensation from the iceboxes could splatter on the bulbs and cause them to shatter, but I don't know if that's a big concern for your vertical arrangement.

Best case scenario? If it were me, I'd mount the icebox and fan near the ceiling, and suck cool air from the floor up the tube. Have the fan suck the air up- now assisted by the fact that it's being heated- then through the fan and last through the icebox and back out into the room. I think this would be the most efficient way to cool the vertical light stack. If the water temp is more than 10 degrees cooler than the room air temp, the net result of this should be air that's actually cooler than the room air itself being exhausted back into the room, up near the ceiling where hot air naturally gathers...

I'm liking the clean setup you've got going so far and if it works out for you I might copy it, so consider me subbed!

 

[lava]

ttystikk, thanks for the info. I have the ice box and fan blowing up towards the bulbs. Sending cold air across them. With your information, i will have to retool and come up with a better design. Also, there is no tube, i am running bare bulb.