DTW vs. Recirculating in Coco, via top-fed drip

Prestige · May 18, 2014

@Gamrstwin36

PM, bro.

Seed Buyer · May 18, 2014

Coco in a flood and drain table is no feat. I would start my clones in 4" square plastic pots and hand water Nova Grow at 1.5 ec for the first week. Once they needed daily irrigation I cut on the pump and flooded as needed which was usually once a day in veg for the first week or two when under my Bad Boy 12 lamp T5's. When they went into the bloom rooms they were transplanted into larger pots and flooded as needed which was usually 2-3 times a 12/12 photo period under 1000 watt HPS. I had a Ca issue once but it was from over watering. The Nova has plenty of Ca & Mg. I used tap water not RO. My conversation with Canna was years ago and I don't remember it verbatim. But after explaining I would be doing a recirculating ebb & flow and not a recirculating top drip, the company rep conceded that even though flood and drain is recirculating the same nutes it has a different effect than a recirculating top drip. I don't see how but I never had issues.

shoestring · May 24, 2014

Actually top feed rockwool slabs were meant to be non recovery (european greenhouses) but back in the day this was deemed not practical for the home hydroponics hobbyist. And back then i tried both ways with rockwool top feed, recovery and non recovery. I quickly found out that an open non recovery system had far less issues with far less maintenance. I feel the same way in coco coir now. With hydroton, dwc, aero, nft, its a different story.

Unit541 · Jun 6, 2014

I like DTW in coco. It's the easy way. All I have to do is keep the tank filled.

here's current dtw coco grow. 1 gal smart pots.

Prestige · Jun 7, 2014

That's gorgeous, man.

shoestring · Jun 7, 2014

Very beautiful. Coco coir drain to waste is where its at for me. Full nute profile every feed. Just keep them tanks full. It actuallly uses the same if not less nutrient and water than a recirculating system. Even smaller set ups if you can ditch your waste water its worth it. Problem is finding a drain in non basement gigs. Dont get me wrong though. Seen some sweet flood and drains with coco but if you go that route might as well go clay pebbles. Just my opinion. Grow on my homies!!!!

BeenBurned · Jun 7, 2014

Unit541 said:
I like DTW in coco. It's the easy way. All I have to do is keep the tank filled.

here's current dtw coco grow. 1 gal smart pots.

View attachment 412079 View attachment 412080 View attachment 412081 View attachment 412085

Very nice. Is that pump n timer or just slo drip?

shoestring · Jun 7, 2014

Ive found that leaving the quarter inch feed line coming off the main manifold line (1/2 or 3/4 inch) open with no dripper at all is the best way for my setup. Them drippers no matter what i did always got clogged eventually. You can even put a barbed quarter inch ''T'' at the open end fir better nute distribution but its not nesscessary. Just fasten the line to the coir with them stakes from rainbird or whatever. Or if you use plastic growbags just punch em through the lip or top of the bag where there isnt any medium. Oh and dont forget about an anti siphon. Thats a fancy word.for a little barbed elbow punched in your mainline still in the reservoir (plastic garbage can or tote) but above the highest level of your nute solution. You can tell you did it rite if you hear a slight gurgle of air come out.of it when the pump shuts off.

Prestige · Jun 7, 2014

Can you go into more detail about the anti-siphon, please?

shoestring · Jun 7, 2014

If your solution tank is not below your bed or drain trays and work off of simple gravity then your drip manifold will have a tendency to siphon and continue to drip when the pump shuts off. An easy solution to this is to put a breaker or anti siphon in the line. Its real simple. In your tank above the nutrient solutions highest level it can go punch a quarter inch hole in the feed line. Now u can leave it like this and it will work but your solution might spray out all over the place when your pump kicks on. Especially if you have no lid on the tank. Just put a quarter inch barbed elbow fitting in the hole and point it downward back towards the bottom and back into the solution. Easy and fixed. Anti siphon valve.

BeenBurned · Jun 8, 2014

nice, I like ur runoff boards too...heavy duty!
I have some xtra corrugated steel roofing I was going to try and use up somehow....screw it to a piece of 1/2 ply maybe and use that as a tray.
Ill b watching for harvest pics:hungover:

Unit541 · Jun 8, 2014

BeenBurned said:
Very nice. Is that pump n timer or just slo drip?

pump & timer. I feed every hour during lights on. Simple homemade drip rings with 1/4" tubing and T fittings.

shoestring · Jun 8, 2014

I run my pumps (4 -1000gph one for.each table) once daily when lights kick on for 45 seconds. This gives each one gallon grow bag plenty of runoff. About start of week 4 or 5 depending on variety i add a second 45 sec feed about 6 hours into 12-12. My ppm starts out at around 650 on the 500 scale and i ramp it up to 850 to 900 ppm depending.on variety and how they look. I very rarely go over 1000 ppm in base nutrients. I ph my tanks to 5.6 -5.7 and because of tap water hardness/alkalinity it raises to about 6.1 rite before tanks are empty and need refilled and reset. This is about every 4 to 7 days. The ph drift helps in making sure all essential minerals are being absorbed. It works for me and is super simple. A kid could run my system no problem. Its that easy.

Canappa · Jun 8, 2014

NFT/Aeroflow all day for me;) My diy gutter system run on a 22 site, with a 1500 gph sump pump that runs 24/7 pushing through about 40 , 360 degree spray jets that runs along the side of the gutters, ppm at 5.8- 6.2 nutes 800-1200 depending on what she likes. Room temps 78 day 68 night, Rh 55-65%. water temps 68 constant. I am currently running the system and the results are better than I ever expected. Bright white roots with turbo fast growth.

shoestring · Jun 8, 2014

Now thats puurrtty!!!! I bet veg growth in that system is Ferrari fast!!!!

BeenBurned · Jun 8, 2014

Thanx for the info all! good shit!!
@Canappa...Squeaky clean brother, had to check that thread out.
keep on keepin on...
B

Canappa · Jun 9, 2014

BeenBurned said:
Thanx for the info all! good shit!!
@Canappa...Squeaky clean brother, had to check that thread out.
keep on keepin on...
B

Thanks for checking it out, took me many years of trial and error to get the set up dialed in right...

Prestige · Jun 12, 2014

Unit541 said:
pump & timer. I feed every hour during lights on. Simple homemade drip rings with 1/4" tubing and T fittings.

You feed every hour with Coco? Or are you using RW? If Coco, pour the info on me bro, if you would be so kind lol.

Unit541 · Jun 22, 2014

Every hour in coco. Coco is hydro, not some shade-of-gray-in-between-area. Dry cycles can bring about difficulties in managing nutrient balances in the root zone. What information are you seeking? Have you had issues with watering cycles in coco?

shoestring · Jun 22, 2014

Yup coco coir is a hydroponic medium. Alot of people and even in print call it semi hydroponic but thats really not true. In my opinion its better than rockwool and way easier than aero, dwc, flood/drain,nft etc. A properly dialed dwc or aero will prolly give the fastest growth in veg but coco coir top feed is a close second and much more forgiving and consistent crop after crop. Especially when the proper container is used and the ec and ph is dialed in. With decent amounts of runoff coco just works period. You will know too when u got her dialed. Fantastic growth and huge potent properly grown buds is the result.

DTW vs. Recirculating in Coco, via top-fed drip

DTW vs. Recirculating in Coco, via top-fed drip

Prestige

Seed Buyer

shoestring

Unit541

Prestige

shoestring

BeenBurned

shoestring

Prestige

shoestring

BeenBurned

Unit541

shoestring

Canappa

shoestring

BeenBurned

Canappa

Prestige

Unit541

shoestring

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