3 way d i y hydro set up!

[greenthumb]

hi farmers im going to be making my own hydro system that has top drip feed+crude aeroponics and dwc.
i have got myself a 25 gallon water cistern and a 1300ltr/hr pump attached to a garden sprinkler system which will be the aero part.
the tank will be half full of nutes which is airated by one of those hydor high output pump
and that makes the dwc part.
then ive got another 500ltr/hr for the 6x2ltr/hr drippers and that makes the top feed part.
now i think that thats about all i need i think.
is there anything i have forgotten that i might need to tweek it a bit?

 

[Lost]

Yes. Good start but a few things to consider....


Each DWC pot (container) needs its own airstone. Simply airrating the res will not give you nearly the amount of oxygen they need. You don't want roots sitting in water with no bubbles.....

You are most likely plumbing the res return to act as your water height controller. I would guess that your putting your retuen lines about 1/2 up the plants container, obviosly, the bottom point of your return line will be the highest water line for your buckets. The only problem with that is without and airstone to keep the water moving, your water on the bottom of the bucket just sits there. The drip feed stuff goes right out the drain cuz its on top and you may end p with stagnant parts of you bucket. This is very bad. No still water, no water without bubbles..

I will be very blunt here. The drip feed will help for the first week, maybe 2, but after that, the dwc portion is what is really doing the work. The drip is just there to recirculate the nutes to and from the res.. Also helps the roots get to the water, but after they hit the water, its basically a DWC show..

Good Luck!!!

 

[Lost]

p.s. - if you run sprayers 24/7, you do not need airstones, but I would still put airstones in there anyway. In my experience the more air, the less bad shiz that happens :)


Also, what kind of containers..?

 

[greenthumb]

the 2 pumps will circulate the water constantly so there will be no stagnent water.
between the 2 of them they have the ability to move 1800ltrs per hour! and its only 114 ltr system full to brim so in reality there will only be about 50ltr approx of nute solution.
and at all times there will be 1/2 approx will be circulating so approx 25ltr of solution left in bottom with a 200 ltr airpump should be more than enough but i do have a spare 35ltr airpump which could cover the other half of the tank.
i will be using 8.7cm heavy duty net pots placed in the lid with perlite as a medium.
all the pipes are at least 13mm diameter so they shouldnt block easily.
plus i will be adding neat mycorzial fungi in there too to help with the bacteria issue.
i have a digital ph pen at the moment and as soon as i can afford one i will be getting the tri-meter for the tank as well.
with this hydro im going to grow organicly so i have a load of cheap pillow cases that i will be putting my stuff in like-seaweed extract-bonemeal and sulphate of potash.
would it be safe to add mollasses as i tryed putting it into my water butt and it started fermenting.
that wasnt being constantly recirculated though.so i dont know if it would ferment in this system as well what do you think?
if not mollases what could i use as a carboload?

 

[greenthumb]

plus i will also be getting a RO machine soon to that is capable of producing 180ltr a day of pure water

 

[Lost]

I just started using Hygrozyme a few weeks back and it seems to be great!


Ahh, no stagnant water, your set! I'll be following your grow :)

 

[fiyahman]

Just keep the res temps cool and you'll be on your way.

 

[jadins_journey]

DWC rocks there is no doubt. Just a couple thoughts on your design though, your resv is a bit small (12.5 gls). Depending on plant count they can drink that volumne down quickly, my 4 plant system with 15 gl resv was only stable for 3 days after resv. change and with those pumps the water temp is gonna go up. Just a couple observations to consider.

Best of luck,

jj

 

[greenthumb]

the res is 114ltr 25 gallons(uk) in total and there will be 50ltr of nutesolution of which about a third to a half will be circulating. but i check on it at least 2-3 times a day while lights are on.
all ive got to do now is decide whether to put all the same strains in it or 6 different ones.
i will probs go for the same though as they would be more likely to be around the same height. thanks for the heads up about nute temps rising because of the pumps.
but i wont be heating the solution like i used to as the cistern is black and will get pretty warm as it absorbs heat from the lamps.
the room ive built for it is 115cm wide and 8 foot long with 2 600hps a dehumidifyer 125-5" intake and 150-6"extract with filter temps are around 20-21 degrees lights off and 26-27 lights on with a humidity around 51-59% which is a bit higher than normal but i had a leak in the room and the carpets got wet. but there nearly dry now so it is going down thankfuck.
at the moment i have a big tied down thai skunk thats got about 4 weeks left and a bbc with about the same plus a huge white lady thats been in a week and 5 lowrider#2+1 roadrunner went in last thursday.

 

[greenthumb]

pic 1 = new drying room under construction.
pic 2 =cistern res 25 gallon.

 

[greenthumb]

pic 3 =intake+door
pic 4 =extract
pic 5 =thai skunk in back cheese in front
pic 6 =white lady
pic 7 =5 lowrider#2+1 roadrunner
pic 8 =3 fans +1 dehumidifier
pic 9 =humidity 59% just been watered about 20 mins ago+temps 23.2.
i will put some pics of the set up when all the bits arrive ok.
i have some bubblicous some northern light from 3 different breeders about7= bbc clones a couple of early special 1= cali hash 1= blue hash.
some of my own crosses about 20 bbc crossed with my first strain and 2x white lady sativa dom pheno crossed with my first strain. 1x white widdow 1x blue widdow.

 

[Lost]

Looking good :)

 

[greenthumb]

thanks lost.
the next crop will be a big one as i have about 40 seedlings of which about 20 odd are mature and are show me there little albino pubes and so far i think i have about 4 males but 2 of them look really weard not balls or pistols the rest are a week or two and some are germing right now but all will be going to flower on the 27th august regard less and i have refined my breed with some more genetics hopefully adding the lavender colour with the yeald and hopefully smell of mine (green apples)

 

[greenthumb]

i was watching that MARIJUANA MAN on you tube and he was talking about uvb lights and there importance when it comes to potency and terpines+flavenoids.
and he also goes on to say that they can be kept on even during lights out period as plants still recieved uvb during lights out.
so i went to get a 10uvb-33uva reptile strip light(desert rateing)
as he says real research has gone into this by proper scientists plus the fact that the strongest strains in the world come from the regions of the globe with higher uvb like africa-thialand and so on.
now he sounds very convincing but im very uncomfortable leaving the light on 24/7 so ive put it on a timer for 12/12 like the 2hps.
has anybody else got any views on the 24/7uvb concept?