Please help provide me with experienced information regarding Drip to Waste :D

[halitzor]

Hello Farmers,

I am in the process of building my latest grow room and I have suddenly had a change of heart. I have decided to stray away from the only method I have done, DWC, and go to drip to waste.

My plan for this room was originally to use 8 x 8 foot pvc fence posts with 16 3" netpots per post. SWC recirculating system with chiller. This would provide roughly 1lb/month staggered by my very modest calculations.

However I want the simplicity and reliability of drip to waste. I don't want to mess with DWC anymore.

Therefor, I am looking for some words of advice from people who have experienced using drip to waste.

My system will either be the 8 8 foot pvc fence posts mentioned above, or a 4x8 foot flood table. Se of green using roughly 128 clones with no veg time, or maybe 1-2 days.

I am considering using coco as my medium and using House and Garden coco nutes.

Thanks for any info you can provide. I have already been searching and reading but there's not many good threads.

 

[leadsled]

I find top drip to waste requires less water/nutes than ebb and flow. I find also can be less work and time with res changes and volume. The other plus is better results. (at least in my experience)

Little confused.
Sounds like your going to use fenceposts cut holes in them and stick in netpots.? or that was the plan for the original setup?

Other options are go top drip to waste in trays or go with buckets.

stick 3.5 gallon buckets inside of 5 gallon bucket. The 5 gallon bucket catches the waste. Or can also go hempy.

If using coco the larger root mass will probably produce better yields than a 3" netpot.
(unless you do large plant numbers)

Hope that helps.

 

[Bobby Smith]

Check out Boomer242's thread - he runs top feed drain to waste in either coco or rockwool, forget which.

I also wanted to go drain to waste for the simplicity, reliability, lack of needing a chiller, and a host of other reasons but decided my 4" PVC didn't allow enough root space with medium in it.

So I'm forced to buy a large hydro reservoir, chiller, more pumps, and a whole host of other shit to run recirculating.

DTW would be soooooooooo much easier.

 

[halitzor]

I find top drip to waste requires less water/nutes than ebb and flow. I find also can be less work and time with res changes and volume. The other plus is better results. (at least in my experience)

Little confused.
Sounds like your going to use fenceposts cut holes in them and stick in netpots.? or that was the plan for the original setup?

Other options are go top drip to waste in trays or go with buckets.

stick 3.5 gallon buckets inside of 5 gallon bucket. The 5 gallon bucket catches the waste. Or can also go hempy.

If using coco the larger root mass will probably produce better yields than a 3" netpot.
(unless you do large plant numbers)

Hope that helps.

Yes the original and probably still plan is to cut 3" holes in the pvc fence post and drop netpots in. Each netpot will either be filled with large diameter perlite or coco.

I don't want to do 5 gallon buckets because I won't get close to the yield I am wanting. Its way too messy with an uneven cannopy and way too easy to get spots of mold / bud rot I've found. Air circulation isn't able to get between all the plants. I lost 2 oz of my last harvest because of that... and 15oz from a 600w is no small feat~!



Basically this is the setup I'm invisioning:

8 posts laid side by side, 4 on the left and 4 on the right. The furthest outside post will be 12" higher than the most inside post. And a 4" drop from post to post. This creates a stadium look and allows me to feed only the first top post on each side and let it run down subsequent posts if so desired. (for the dwc recirculation idea).

If I use drip to waste than I will just run drip lines along the posts and tilt them slightly at one end to drain into a container.

I think the drip to waste is the way I want to go but I'm having a lot of trouble finding good info on what size drippers / how often to feed / how long to feed at once. Ect.
I checked out that thread you suggested bobby, his plants are 20x bigger than what I'm doing so the numbers don't really help me : (




Imagine this, except drip to waste or rDWC:

 

[leadsled]

Yes the original and probably still plan is to cut 3" holes in the pvc fence post and drop netpots in. Each netpot will either be filled with large diameter perlite or coco.

I don't want to do 5 gallon buckets because I won't get close to the yield I am wanting. Its way too messy with an uneven cannopy and way too easy to get spots of mold / bud rot I've found. Air circulation isn't able to get between all the plants. I lost 2 oz of my last harvest because of that... and 15oz from a 600w is no small feat~!



Basically this is the setup I'm invisioning:

8 posts laid side by side, 4 on the left and 4 on the right. The furthest outside post will be 12" higher than the most inside post. And a 4" drop from post to post. This creates a stadium look and allows me to feed only the first top post on each side and let it run down subsequent posts if so desired. (for the dwc recirculation idea).

If I use drip to waste than I will just run drip lines along the posts and tilt them slightly at one end to drain into a container.

I think the drip to waste is the way I want to go but I'm having a lot of trouble finding good info on what size drippers / how often to feed / how long to feed at once. Ect.
I checked out that thread you suggested bobby, his plants are 20x bigger than what I'm doing so the numbers don't really help me : (




Imagine this, except drip to waste or rDWC:

ok I understand you now. Your going SOG style. the details help to see what you are going for..

I am familiar with dr greenthumb's setup. Your taking it a step further with v shape.

Make more sense as now why you want to use netpots and posts.

Top drip setup with 1/4 lines and drippers. DIY thread here.


Built that setup for rockwool, then ended up switching to coco. Can design it to go along with the setup you build.


I think the drip to waste is the way I want to go but I'm having a lot of trouble finding good info on what size drippers /
I like to use 1/4 lines and the drippers in the thread above. You can also just plumb the lines directly to the pots. (o rockwool cubes)

My res is about 15' from the drippers. I used a 1800gph mag drive pump to ensure even coverage.


how often to feed /

I prefer multiple times a week with lower ec. Also depends on strains so you dial it in from there.

I like to follow a feed water feed water schedule with smaller containers. Some strains may do feed water water feed, if there are not big eaters.

how long to feed at once

for coco, I shoot for 20-30% runoff at each watering/feeding.

Lots of more info in the coco forum. feel free to ask as well. I have used top drip with coco and rockwool.

do not see why your setup would not work. but I would imagine the roots are going to hang from the netpots down into the posts.

That could potentially ruin your crop if something goes wrong with the roots. There hanging there and that could mean higher performance but if they get too hot etc then problems can happen. (unless you add misters or foggers, then you can get more performance but also have to keep that in check) Seems like your trying to keep it simple and reliable.

I would maybe think about mounting some type of pot that sits within the posts. The pot rains into the post which then catches the waste

That way the roots are within the coco (or rockwool) in the pot and protected and safe.

Maybe something like this.

Just a thought, may help to make thing more reliable.

Hope that helps.

 

[halitzor]

Thanks for the reply, NOW were getting somewhere.

Yes I'm doing sea of green but trying to take it to the next level. I have a chiller and good ventilation and AC if I need to use it so I'm not worried about the roots inside the posts at all. I think I will probably have a dripper on each plant as well as a mister between inside the posts to ensure they never dry out.

Most things I've seen so far say to feed an hour after lights on and an hour before lights out with ebb/flow and drip systems. You only feed twice a week? I would think that would cause the roots to dry out too much?


Also I will be using small squares of panda film over each net pot to block any light from entering the pvc fence posts.

What would you think about a dual reservoir setup? One reservoir is for the nute mixture and one reservoir of RO water pH'd to 5.7 or so. Run the RO water on the misters between each plant and do sort of a mini flush between each feeding. Worth it? Benefits / cons?

I'm getting excited. Tomorrow we go to the hardware store to get building materials :)

The more I think about it the more I think coco is going to be the best medium to use. Its drip to waste so I don't have to worry about the crap in the water, and I will be using house and garden or canna nutes so I won't have to worry about salts and things getting built up since I'll use drip clean.

ok I understand you now. Your going SOG style. the details help to see what you are going for..

I am familiar with dr greenthumb's setup. Your taking it a step further with v shape.

Make more sense as now why you want to use netpots and posts.

Top drip setup with 1/4 lines and drippers. DIY thread here.


Built that setup for rockwool, then ended up switching to coco. Can design it to go along with the setup you build.


I think the drip to waste is the way I want to go but I'm having a lot of trouble finding good info on what size drippers /
I like to use 1/4 lines and the drippers in the thread above. You can also just plumb the lines directly to the pots. (o rockwool cubes)

My res is about 15' from the drippers. I used a 1800gph mag drive pump to ensure even coverage.


how often to feed /

I prefer multiple times a week with lower ec. Also depends on strains so you dial it in from there.

I like to follow a feed water feed water schedule with smaller containers. Some strains may do feed water water feed, if there are not big eaters.

how long to feed at once

for coco, I shoot for 20-30% runoff at each watering/feeding.

Lots of more info in the coco forum. feel free to ask as well. I have used top drip with coco and rockwool.

do not see why your setup would not work. but I would imagine the roots are going to hang from the netpots down into the posts.

That could potentially ruin your crop if something goes wrong with the roots. There hanging there and that could mean higher performance but if they get too hot etc then problems can happen. (unless you add misters or foggers, then you can get more performance but also have to keep that in check) Seems like your trying to keep it simple and reliable.

I would maybe think about mounting some type of pot that sits within the posts. The pot rains into the post which then catches the waste

That way the roots are within the coco (or rockwool) in the pot and protected and safe.

Maybe something like this.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized %1%2.
Click the image to open in full size.

Just a thought, may help to make thing more reliable.

Hope that helps.

 

[halitzor]

I think I came up with a good idea for the drippers. Since I'm going to have 128 plant sites that would be a lot of stakes or sprayers to buy. So what I think I'm going to do is run 1/2" poly tubing up the length of each pvc post and put a 1/4" barbed connector at each plant site so that the drip will run right on top of each plant.

They're .25 cents each at discount hydro, looking for a cheaper place now.

Made a drawing, do you think this would work with a 1000gph or so pump? Like a via aqua 1100 or so.

 

[halitzor]

Thought of yet another way to have the drippers work. This way would not require 35ft of tubing like the last drawing, it would however require more 1/4" tubing which is cheaper anyway.


In this picture a 1/2" poly tubing runs down the 8ft length and has an end cap on the end. There would be 64 1/4" barbed connectors inserted into the tubing and a small length of 1/4" tubing ran to the base of each plant.

I think this method might be superior as it would have a lot higher PSI in the line.

Anyone know?

 

[leadsled]

If the lines are not all the same length you can and will get uneven flow to your lines. Best to make em all the same length.

Most things I've seen so far say to feed an hour after lights on and an hour before lights out with ebb/flow and drip systems. You only feed twice a week? I would think that would cause the roots to dry out too much?

Yes, but then water in between feedings. Intention is to not let the coco dry out.
Lots of options for fertigation of coco.
Some feed 3-6x times during lights on. (just use 1/3-1/6 the volume)

All depends on your room and the size of containers and how fast they dry out.

What would you think about a dual reservoir setup? One reservoir is for the nute mixture and one reservoir of RO water pH'd to 5.7 or so. Run the RO water on the misters between each plant and do sort of a mini flush between each feeding. Worth it? Benefits / cons?

I like it and use a dual res setup. One is r/o water with a float valve to keep it topped off. The other res is for nutes.

This also helps to keep the lines clean.

I feel it is worth it prevents salt buildup and is easier to flush for harvest. Then always have enough water to mix for nutes or to water the plants.

I think you 2nd method probably is best approach. (as long as 1/4" lines are the same length)

 

[halitzor]

Cool. Yeah I can easily make them all the same length. Its going to look interesting for sure.

Do you think it would be beneficial to put a coco mat down inside the fence posts so the net potted plants can anchor themselves to something? Or just let the roots dangle in a ball in the bottom of the post?

I would prefer to not have to buy extra stuff. I was thinking just 3" net pots with coco in them suspended in the posts (light proof of course). And do normal open tube feedings via a pump.

I was thinking I could also hook another res up and use a fogger and tubing to fog the inside of the posts to make sure the roots never get too dry. I've seen a post recently where you can just drill a hole into the vapor chamber of a humidifier and attach a tube, and it will fog like crazy.

 

[Ben Derdundat]

Your Idea of a top feed drain to waste with a fog in the fence posts sounds interesting... You might want to consider having a little more medium for water retention so you won't have to be watering constantly. A 3" net pot with coco will have to be watered quite frequently and with a drain to waste that could end up costing quite a bit in nutrients.

Here are some pictures of one of my old drain to waste systems that had 120 plant sites. I used rockwool slabs with 4" rockwool cubes placed on top. 4 plants per slab. Not the greatest pictures. Hope this helps.

 

[halitzor]

Yeah your plants are a good 20x bigger than mine will be but I definitely see your concept.

Nice looking room for sure.