Study of 3 noncirc. sys

[Jalisco Kid]

Thought I would add to the confusion. JK

 

[Chronic Monster]

I thought Ol Heath Robinson advised against that air gap because of "cord roots". Cool article!

 

[Confuten1]

ur on a roll, thnx for that great read

confu

 

[dankworth]

Told this story before, but when asked, the plants showed me a picture with an air gap.
So I was like, ok then.
I know it sounds weird, but that's what happened.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I had a post drop from here. Maybe I need to reword this. I like a gap when I grow some trees. If the bubbles are keeping the bottom of my buckets wet I like it. It helps strengthen the roots so it can hold up 3-4' roots. In some of the ways I have decided to push forward was have mist in the top of my tanks to encourage roots and this way they come out all over rather then just the bottom. JK

 

[Tank333]

How do you create this mist, JK?

 

[ttystikk]

I'm playing with running a waterfall aeration system in 27 gallon tuffboxes, and this read was intriguing- it's telling me that more airspace between the bottom of the netpot and the water is better.

The waterfall is pretty simple, just a 1/2" elbow fitting sticking through a hole drilled in the top of the tub. Water flows through it and splashed into the surface of the water inside, creating aeration, circulation and humidification- all while using just the recirculating water pump. The air pump and stones have been benched for now as redundant. At the moment, I'm running a 633 gph pump through a 1" manifold with four 1/2" outlets, each feeding one of four tubs through the elbow fittings mentioned above.

It seems to me that if my waterfall is in the top of the tub, the lower the water, the bigger the air gap- and the more forcefully that waterfall will churn the water below, creating ever more humidity in the process...

Am I missing an opportunity by keeping my tubs too FULL?

What would be an 'optimum' air gap between netpot and water surface? If there is enough splash, etc, might I be better off running a fraction of the full capacity, to open more air space?

The things that I lie awake thinking about late at night... Thanks, @Jalisco Kid , for choosing me a perfectly good night's sleep! Lol Great read!

 

[sedate]

Am I missing an opportunity by keeping my tubs too FULL?

My $.02:

I always let my buckets drain off considerably before re-filling them. I find the process of wicking off most of the water - regardless of the ppm swings (some fert regimens will swing pH wildly, some won't) - gives me much better results than not.

For example, in a 5-gallon standalone hydrobucket, I will let the solution get down to 1.5 - 2-gallons before re-filling completely to the top.

I actually get root-rot issues when I keep the solution at a level that overlaps more than 1cm or so of net.

 

[ttystikk]

My $.02:

I always let my buckets drain off considerably before re-filling them. I find the process of wicking off most of the water - regardless of the ppm swings (some fert regimens will swing pH wildly, some won't) - gives me much better results than not.

For example, in a 5-gallon standalone hydrobucket, I will let the solution get down to 1.5 - 2-gallons before re-filling completely to the top.

I actually get root-rot issues when I keep the solution at a level that overlaps more than 1cm or so of net.

Having the netpots be awash is bad, learned that from hard experience.

This is RDWC, so it would take forever for the water level to drop.

Also, I have a waterfall in each tub that splashes and agitates the water very nicely, and I'm thinking I might get away with a lower water level because it does a great job of splashing and humidifying the space under the lid.

Thoughts?

 

[Jalisco Kid]

How do you create this mist, JK?

I run propagation mister/fogger in my upper tank area.The same system I use in my aero. JK

 

[PaperStreet]

Cool thanks for the read.

 

[sedate]

Having the netpots be awash is bad, learned that from hard experience.

You can have them awash for a day or so - but the process of drying out and re-soaking seems to give me the best results in a standalone hydrobucket.

But yea. Hard experience.

Just last month: I was busy for a couple of weeks tearing apart my engine and replacing my head gasket - anyway got off point with a 9-site 2000w RDWC and left it WAAYY overfull cuz I was stuck at my shop getting my motor back together..

Lost 5 plants at week 5 and 50% yield on what is left. Meh. :sour:

This is RDWC, so it would take forever for the water level to drop.

Also, I have a waterfall in each tub that splashes and agitates the water very nicely, and I'm thinking I might get away with a lower water level because it does a great job of splashing and humidifying the space under the lid.

Uhh. I mean I guess it depends on the design of the system, on the size of your rez. I think overly large rez's can be problematic here actually - nevermind you tie up a lot of fertilizer and shit.

And top-feeds look cool but I'm not sure they really do much in a properly aerated/circulated RDWC. Note the absence in commercial systems/Undercurrent.

But if you have a water level that is mostly static day-to-day, I would probably aim to keep the waterline at 1 or 2 cm below the net - but I'd still let it work it's way down the root mass a bit.

Your a hyperactive poster ttystikk :) don't you have a grow diary or a thread with your system or something?

 

[ttystikk]

@sedate I have posts of my passion all over here- the equipment, lol And yeah, a few pix of grows, too, just to prove a point now and again.

 

[ttystikk]

I tried top drip, too but I got the same results you did.

What I'm doing now isn't top drip, it's waterfall aeration, designed to replace air pump and stones.

Works great, no airpump roar.