Planning two dutch bucket system

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tobh

tobh

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even good ole maxi grow/bloom works fine

much appreciated! have good leads on the feeding front now. just gotta work out the other details now. Dutch buckets are probably the simplest of hydro systems, aside from say NFT or ebb and flow. They're sure as shit the cheapest to set up. Gonna be a journey.

Hoping in the next couple weeks I'll have the gear together to get it set up. By then should have my new beans in and be able to pop some to get going.
 
tobh

tobh

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Alright, here's the parts list with links to parts (where applicable) I'm considering. Let me know what you guys think:
Only reason I'm considering the drip kit is it has the main irrigation line and feeder lines, which i could probably source for cheaper individually. Here's a basic diagram:



Screen Shot 2020 04 23 at 61514 PM


It's not to scale, by any means. Just a general idea of how the pieces will go together. Thoughts? Feedback?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Alright, here's the parts list with links to parts (where applicable) I'm considering. Let me know what you guys think:
Only reason I'm considering the drip kit is it has the main irrigation line and feeder lines, which i could probably source for cheaper individually. Here's a basic diagram:



View attachment 965394

It's not to scale, by any means. Just a general idea of how the pieces will go together. Thoughts? Feedback?

Never done a Dutch bucket system so I'm not sure I fully understand it without looking more into the challenges.

Personally i would use all PVC. I can't comment on the drippers.

Not sure I can be much help to ya
 
tobh

tobh

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Never done a Dutch bucket system so I'm not sure I fully understand it without looking more into the challenges.

Personally i would use all PVC. I can't comment on the drippers.

Not sure I can be much help to ya

I thought about full PVC, my only concern is light penetration in the larger return pipe. Though, if ABS gasses off, then that could definitely be a health hazard.

Here's a decent video that talks about it. Bit long, but he was one of the guys that inspired this project.


As for being of help, no worries man! I appreciate your input regardless.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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I thought about full PVC, my only concern is light penetration in the larger return pipe. Though, if ABS gasses off, then that could definitely be a health hazard.

Here's a decent video that talks about it. Bit long, but he was one of the guys that inspired this project.


As for being of help, no worries man! I appreciate your input regardless.
Ok get it a bit more now. I don't think it will be enough to cause issue especially with schedule 80
 
cemchris

cemchris

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only thing with pressure comp drippers is you need to make sure to have enough pressure for them to work proper. There is a min requirement.
 
tobh

tobh

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Alright, new update guys. Finally found a hydro shop in my area (I avoid shooting into Portland for any reason except to pass through), and picked up the following:

- 50lbs of hydroton
- Front-Row Ag. parts A and B, 25lb bags
- Commercial air pump and air stones

Earlier this week I was able to get a 300gph water pump, and a drip irrigation kit from RainBird. Figured the kit would be easier than trying to piece all the irrigation together separately, plus anything left over can be used in one of my raised beds. I also acquired some 3.5 gallon square buckets with lids, so at this point I still need a reservoir, return pipe, and pH/EC meters. Down to the final pieces!

I decided I'm going to run bell peppers initially as I haven't done this kind of setup before and rather not kill off a bunch of clones in the process of figuring out what is what this first round. Especially since I went to the hydro store for Jack's and walked out with Front-Row, which I've never heard of. Here's the specs:

Part A:

Total Nitrogen ..... 14.0%
0.5% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
13.5% Nitrate Nitrogen
Soluble Potash .... 8.0%
Calcium .... 14.0%
Boron ... 0.05%
Copper ... 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Copper
Iron ... 0.35%
0.35% Chelated Iron
Manganese ... 0.10%
0.10% Chelated Manganese
Molydenum ... 0.003%
Zinc ... 0.05%
0.05% Chelated Zinc

Derived from calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, boric acid, copper EDTA, iron EDTA, iron DTPA, manganese EDTA, sodium molybdate, zinc EDTA

Part B:

Total Nitrogen ..... 3.0%
0.5% Ammoniacal Nitrogen
2.5% Nitrate Nitrogen
Available Phosphate .... 13.0%
Soluble Potash .... 17.0%
Magnesium .... 5.0%
Sulfur .... 7.0%

Derived from monoammonium phosphate, potassium nitrate, monopotassium phosphate, potassium sulfate, magnesium sulfate

Given these nutrients are designed specifically for coco or rockwool, the feeding chart seems a bit off. I'll be reaching out to the company to get more detailed information regarding feeding EC for recirculating systems. There's a Part C as well, but I'll pick that up later, depending how things go with the first two. Part C is the bloom supplement which just looks like a PK booster, so I may just use something else.

The guy also recommended running protekt or some other silica supplement. Do you guys have any input on this? I know silica is vital for the cell stability and strength, but I've never used it in my coco runs.

Let me know what you guys think of this blend. It seems comparable to competitors.
 
tobh

tobh

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So, I've got a question. I've used rockwool before (years ago) with absolutely no success. I was young and dumb, but the experience was enough for me to really not like it as a medium. That being said, I've always had excellent success making clones with coco. I don't want to order/run to the hydro store again just to pick up a handful of rockwool cubes.

Given I'll be running hydroton in the buckets, can I just take a clone in coco and drop it into the hydroton without any issues? Or should I really consider rinsing the roots off first? I understand one doesn't want a bunch of organic matter in a sterile system, but with the right precautions I'd think a little would be ok. Thoughts?
 

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