DWC Stadium Grow - Any suggestions?

[dota]

Specs: 5'x8'x8' Growing Area

Lights:
2 x Lumitek Dual 600w 240v Digital Ballasts
4 x Hortilux Super HPS EN Bulbs (Hoodless / Non Cooltube)
1 x Dual Outlet Digital Timer

Ventalation:
1x 6" Activated Carbon Filter / 6" GrowBright 424cfm Inline Fan
1 x Can-Fan 6" 440 c.f.m.Blower
4 x Pedestal Fans (vertical coolers)
2 x Oscilating Fans

Hydro:
20 DWC Buckets (as laid out by hererisssh)




I plan on making 20 independant DWC Buckets as specified by
hererisssh. I know it will be a lot of work, but I plan
on running cuttings from the same mother I butchered, and
running different nute programs on all the buckets to develop
an ideal DWC nutriant program for this strain.


- Do you think 4 - 600 W lights will provide enough light for the canopy? 20 plants - stadium style - in an 5'x8' room. Top row will be raised 2' off the ground - second row 1' off - a and a couple will be located on the floor.

- I plan on training the plants to fill in empty 1x1 spaces (white) -
I am pretty sure I will have a solid canopy over the entire room.

- What do you guys think of this setup?

- More efficiant than having 4-5 plants grouped around a single light?

- Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Rolln J]

great concept - I have seen some productive stadium grows - only problem I see is the maintenance for 20 individual dwc is gonna make you work real hard...

good luck with the grow.

 

[dota]

Do you think 2400 watts will be enough for the space?

 

[Rolln J]

should be - most stadium grows I have seen were Sea of Green style - you could get trees real quick in dwc - making height an issue - what strain you planning on running?

looking forward to seeing this progress...

 

[dota]

Well - I butchered one of my green crack mothers... I have 30 clones from her. Considering putting 20 into the system, and keeping 10 for mother production... But I wanted to do DWC so I wouldn't have to veg very long with the system.

Do you think I am overkill on my fans in the room - I have snow on the ground right now, so the air being pulled into my room will be enough to cool the room - is 4 floor vans a few too many for heat issues? Setting up the room right now - I hope to get a journal up within a week or 2.

 

[purpleberry]

You should read up on the 600W lumatek with those hortilux bulbs, I dont think they will work good together.

 

[dota]

I used to use regular hortilux HPS bulbs with lumatek ballasts - thanks for the tip - I'll read up on them.

 

[readytolearn]

great idea mate, i would however consider running it as a RDWC as the day to day PH and EC changes will be a nightmare.

 

[Rolln J]

great idea mate, i would however consider running it as a RDWC as the day to day PH and EC changes will be a nightmare.

how do you run that rdwc when the buckets are all at different levels?

 

[Radio_Dread]

yeah i dont think that would work with the differnt levels. you wuld have to have a differnt resi for each level, right below that level to drain. unless tou do drain to waste.... that might work

 

[dota]

Couldn't you have a res for each side? Even if there was a 90 or 45 degree drain angle in each level joining to one return?

 

[Rolln J]

if you could work out a res system that would be your best bet - prolly have to get fancy with pumps/floats...

I think a DTW coco setup with large pots would work pretty well for what your trying to accomplish though too.

 

[readytolearn]

I would run a rdwc for each level or create a run through system based on dams. Flooding the top layer before it cascades down to lower levels. Google Heath Robinson and take a look at his. The same sort of princple.

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

that's like 6-8 hrs worth of work to do a res change on 20 buckets. Setting proper PH and EC for each bucket is a pain in a grow over 6 plants. When they get large, they can suck up to a gallon of water a day. You could do a reservoir with a pump and a valve level with the upper level to shut it off once it reaches the desired height. you'll need to have your entire stadium level to keep the buckets fill point at the same level. just dump the upper level back into a res and check your PH&EC level for all of the buckets and add water or change it out and just pump it back into the buckets. WAY faster. There are some strains that I have grown which seem to stunt their stretch in a DWC. Island Sweet Skunk is one that does it, and the grapefruit tends to stretch more in a DWC. A 50/50 indica sativa mix has always done well for me in a DWC, hell they're my favorite in general. Make sure you get the bigger 10" net pots, the 6" pots can have a hard time supporting a large plant and the root area gets cramped up in that little pot. Keep light out of the res or your PH will gradually climb. I used to have to tape up the buckets with black duct tape before some genius decided to make buckets in black. I like H2O2 as well, nice pearly whites under that lid.