you've built a very similar system to what i've been architecting for the better part of a year. I'd have done a few things differently, but your setup is obviously working quite well. One of the primary factors that's so appealing to UC is the simple fact that you can cut down nutrient concentrations by nearly 100% of what the feed schedules recommend, and still take advantage of insanely explosive growth rates. One of the metrics for production volume that I've found to be most accurate is not grams per watt, but gpw over time. So, if grower A is able to produce 2gpw in six months, but grower B is able to produce 2gpw in three, which is functioning more economically? Grower B, obviously. RDWC provides many of the advantages of SOG without the high plant count simply by optimizing most of the additional factors.
You can still veg for two weeks and flip to flower.
You can still run lower nutrient levels.
You still end up with equal weight.
You just aren't running a high density of plants in the same space.
AND you're likely saving a ton of money/time/effort AND reducing risk overall.
I don't know how this thread escaped me earlier on, been a busy couple months. Signed up now.
@Aqua Man has you on this, just wish he'd get to a point that he could get his system running again. This is his element, 100%.
If you want to see a serious bout of defoliation, check out
this thread by
@Dirtbag. Seriously aggressive stuff, but the proof is in the pudding.