Advice, first time RDWC grow

[bestgrow]

I have 2 systems. System A. consists of 8 25 gallon rubber made buckets with 3 gal buckets sitting in the lid with a hole cut out. hydroton then the trees. There 25 gallons are elevated on cinder blocks. They are elevated to about waist level. There are 2 4 inch pvc pipes running the water back to the res using gravity. there are dripers in the top ect ect, the basic doubles system. I have 600 watt hps bare bulbs (will be putting cool tube with booster fans soon). my plant spacing in a little close together so that might be a problem later.

system B consists of 8 5 gallon dwc buckets. it recirculates water using water level of reservoir (if that makes sense) water is then pumped from the res to the dripers. system b has 3 600 watt verticles in the middle.

pictures will explain the rest. 96 gallon main ress (2 of em).

question is, how am i gonna stop the trees from falling over or the bud branches from snapping. Ive seen chicken wire but am unsure of the logistics behind that. I could also do string to I hooks in the ceiling? I don't know. suggestions would be nice.

 

[canaguy27]

wiring for tomatoes works well too.

I would be concerned about those buckets failing. Spend the money and buy decent ones.

 

[OregonMeds]

"my plant spacing in a little close together so that might be a problem later. "

Yep, good call.

Nice setup though... Good job.

 

[cardrack111]

nice setup bro...its gonna be a jungle in there soon.

 

[Lost]

Those spring loaded check valves take a ton of OOMPH out of the pumps. Easypleasie had a link for transparent swing gate check valves. I used the 1 and 1/4 and there is verry little loss, compared to the spring check valve. Good luck, love your clean setup!

 

[Lost]

Found it:

I got a 1.25" clear one with threaded ends. I want to be able to see if there are problems and make sure it's working right. I can imagine with all the pressure that something could get bent or maybe even warped. It's a little pricey with shipping. You could probably find a better deal somewhere if you looked around.

Here's where I got mine from.


Also, I'm sure the spring check valves takes some of the pressure away but the gph limit is the main bottleneck in the valve. If it can only flow 750 gph, any pump bigger than that won't work right. Probably make it run harder/hotter?

 

[bestgrow]

Thanks everyone for taking a look.

Good looks on the check valves man, I will definitely be ordering some of those. anything for some more O's.

I will look more into the chicken wire / fencing idea. What would you ground that to. Im assuming the rubber maid container? but with what? tape or something?

Thanks again guys

 

[bestgrow]

p.s. Thanks for the inspiration doubles.

 

[IPlay4Keepz]

sup bestgrow, nice vertical u hav goin. just curious what strains u threw in there. I'm thinkin bout goin vertical myself and tryin 2 get ppls opinion on which strains make 4 best trees... top shelf meds of course. -Keepz

 

[bestgrow]

i'm running a few great white sharks, white widow, sour OG, sour grape, and then I forget.

I would say this system has a lot to do with genetics. Some of my plants are fucking huge, and others are just lack luster. I will post some pictures of the plants to give you an idea.

 

[bestgrow]

Has anyone ever experimented with phospho loading plants to get them to stop growing? I think my plants are going to be to big and am considering using it.

 

[Lost]

Ive used bushmaster once when I got into trouble. It worked.

 

[bestgrow]

hey lost, would you mind going into more detail. How big were your plants, did they stop growing up and grow bushier or what. Im just trying to get a feel for the process. Thanks again

 

[bestgrow]

My roots grew out of my outline and into my reservoir. I hope they dont clog, maybe I will pull them back through and place them into their respective buckets. The only problem with that is, i cant lift up my buckets that easily. nightmare. I put up 3 cool tubes today on system b and its hard to make the ducting not kinky, and the third light in the chain is to hot.

 

[Lost]

hey lost, would you mind going into more detail. How big were your plants, did they stop growing up and grow bushier or what. Im just trying to get a feel for the process. Thanks again

Sorry I missed this. The plant I used it on was a 98 bubba about 5 or 6 feet tall before bloom. I gave it Bushmaster about 3-4 days before flower and a few days after flip. Stopped vert growth pretty well. I got maybe 6 inches of stretch on a 5 or 6 foot plant.

 

[shamus dolan]

you said some of your plants are huge,was sour OG one of the bigger ones.....shamus

 

[bestgrow]

no. My biggest is white widow, i think its an unstable freak genetic, when it works it works. My great white sharks are also pretty large, but they are more bushy. Most of my plants are 3 ft wide at least the bushes are 4 ft

 

[billybadazz]

Clean set up looks like your doing good for your first RDWC