Can you explain how is it dwc and flood and drain? One is allways in water one is almost allways dry
Allsoo love the look of the right one
Sure. The initial design was classic dwc with air stones and bennies. Probably with multiple reasons as to why- I was getting brown sludge as many others do. Generally, I was able to maintain control in one way or another, but I wanted to eliminate the problem altogether.
I previously had a low pressure aeroponic setup running on a timer that would mist the roots every so often, and the excess would drain back to the res. Never had problems with slime or root rot. So I thought, how can I apply that concept to my current system.
What I ended up with, is an oversized water pump, and a "sprayer head" as I call it- basically a rectangle of 3/4 PVC with a centered connecting piece. It has 1/8 holes drilled roughly every 3". The water is pumped out of the res, through the "sprayer head", which distributes the water evenly throughout the grow container, meaning no nooks or crannies get stagnant when the roots start getting huge.
The pump is on a timer. Again, the pump is oversized for the volume of water/return rate, so it actually begins to fill the grow container rather than an even exchange. The grow container is offset vertically, so the majority of the water drains back into the res, leaving the grow container nearly empty. This is why I say it is like a flood and drain, yet given the shape of the containers, the bottom few inches of water never fully drain, giving it similarities to RDWC.
I have found that with the many small holes creating "waterfalls", the water churns enough for aeration, and the large root area making near constant air contact basically eliminates the prospect of root rot. Just as a safety measure, I also run 3ml/gal of H2O2, as I prefer a sterile res.
