If you grow trees, this will be a problem. Small plants will be fine. You may find yourself outgrowing this system to.Well, that was another question I had, roots and pluggung up a circulating DWC. I was/am hopeful that a slowly circulating system might work with the small return lines, something like this from Amazon, here
yettrees won't be a problem
I sure hope that the dripper ring running constantly isn't a problem, but like you say, I'm no expert. It's easy enough to turn off.
That's weird. I was just looking at DIY 'fallponics'. Here is the picture. Interesting he has 2" bulkhead fittings in 5 gallon buckets. Hmmmm?Knowing what I have learned in the past few months, I would steer clear of a system like this. Have you heard of Fallponics? Very similar to what you have here but IMO, much better. If you can't afford a pre-made system and are a bit handy, you can make your own. I'd be glad to help you in any way I can if you decide to go that route.
I have seen these type of systems. I think they even sell a bulkhead that has that curvature to fit a bucket but I wouldn't know where to find them.That's weird. I was just looking at DIY 'fallponics'. Here is the picture. Interesting he has 2" bulkhead fittings in 5 gallon buckets. Hmmmm?
Yes, you want to use an air pump with an air stone in each plant site and perhaps two in that large res.Would additional air being pumped into this system be needed?
It can be done. Let me know if I can help in any way bro.It would be nice to build something similar to this with the resivoir (and chiller) outside the tent.
If you are growing smaller plants 2” is fine. On the system SLG is talking about the plant sites are 13 gallons and the roots can get big. You are gonna need to control that.That's weird. I was just looking at DIY 'fallponics'. Here is the picture. Interesting he has 2" bulkhead fittings in 5 gallon buckets. Hmmmm?
Would additional air being pumped into this system be needed?
It would be nice to build something similar to this with the resivoir (and chiller) outside the tent.
I actually have the 8 gallon version of these buckets. I think I can get 6.5 to 7 gallons in each one, somewhere between 13 and 14 gallons in the system.On the system SLG is talking about the plant sites are 13 gallons and the roots can get big.
Couple years ago I was toying around with DWC and Kratky, and as I knew nothing about them I started out with leafy green veggies and GH nutes. Yep, kale, spinich, lettus, basil and cilantro. The DWC easily won out. I didn't want to make major mistakes starting off with $25.ea cuttings of cannabis, so I did regular veggies. Talk about weird looks in the grow store when I started asking about nutes for basil. I'm in Colorado, LOL!!! Anyway, after some real success with the veggie DWC garden, I started my cannabis cutting in DWC. You can see both the veggies and the cutting in the picture below. So for the cutting I started using a line of nutes that I won't name, but are local from here in Colorado, and in one of the bottles were solid pieces. The phone # was listed, so I called. The advise I got stopped me in my tracts. I was first ask what kind of hydro system, so I told him DWC. He told me that I could/should strain out the solids and it would/should work fine. Then he ask where I had purchased my DWC and named a manufacturer, "X" in Cal. I said nope, I made it myself. He said that "X" had done a commercial trial of DWC in Denver and it didn't work. Reason was "because of the altitude", the water couldn't hold enough oxygen. I was in the early stages and it was easy to transplant them into soil and that's exactly what I did. No need to beat my head against a wall, I knew dirt works, LOL!!!
Now it's 2 years later and I've been given some conflicting advise. At 4700' I am slightly lower, than Denver, but only 500'? Is that enough to really make a differance? I understand a tiny bit about how a chiller/cooler can help as well as adding Hydrogen Peroxide I'm told can raise the oxygen saturation level, but is that enough??? Help! Is it a general waste of time to do a DWC at altitudes over 2500'-3000' as was suggested to my by the nute manufacturer?
Thanks for your input.
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I can debunk the idea of DWC not working at elevation. I grew in DWC and later RDWC for over a decade in Denver. When I first started I did some research and understood that water can not hold as much dissolved oxygen, DO, at elevation compared to seal level. So, I decided to do some experimentation. Before putting my plants in the DWC, I filled 2 5 gallon buckets with water and ran a 1200cc air pump between the 2 buckets, temp at 65F. I had access to a DO meter and the reading was 6ppm O2, a bit on the low side. I bought another 1200cc pump so each bucket had its own air pump. The DO METER THEN READ 7.5 ppm. And with the addition of H2O2 I hit 8 ppm, a very healthy DO level. When I switched to RDWC I had even higher levels, I suspect circulating water can hold more O2 than basically stagnant water.Couple years ago I was toying around with DWC and Kratky, and as I knew nothing about them I started out with leafy green veggies and GH nutes. Yep, kale, spinich, lettus, basil and cilantro. The DWC easily won out. I didn't want to make major mistakes starting off with $25.ea cuttings of cannabis, so I did regular veggies. Talk about weird looks in the grow store when I started asking about nutes for basil. I'm in Colorado, LOL!!! Anyway, after some real success with the veggie DWC garden, I started my cannabis cutting in DWC. You can see both the veggies and the cutting in the picture below. So for the cutting I started using a line of nutes that I won't name, but are local from here in Colorado, and in one of the bottles were solid pieces. The phone # was listed, so I called. The advise I got stopped me in my tracts. I was first ask what kind of hydro system, so I told him DWC. He told me that I could/should strain out the solids and it would/should work fine. Then he ask where I had purchased my DWC and named a manufacturer, "X" in Cal. I said nope, I made it myself. He said that "X" had done a commercial trial of DWC in Denver and it didn't work. Reason was "because of the altitude", the water couldn't hold enough oxygen. I was in the early stages and it was easy to transplant them into soil and that's exactly what I did. No need to beat my head against a wall, I knew dirt works, LOL!!!
Now it's 2 years later and I've been given some conflicting advise. At 4700' I am slightly lower, than Denver, but only 500'? Is that enough to really make a differance? I understand a tiny bit about how a chiller/cooler can help as well as adding Hydrogen Peroxide I'm told can raise the oxygen saturation level, but is that enough??? Help! Is it a general waste of time to do a DWC at altitudes over 2500'-3000' as was suggested to my by the nute manufacturer?
Thanks for your input.
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I'm not sure if there is any benifit either? It just seems that in most RDWC or FallRDWC, they always seem to be trying to move as much water as possible. @Jimbo9414 was saying, he "suspect circulating water can hold more O2 than basically stagnant water". Maybe that's why?TBH bro, I don't know enough about fluid dynamics to say either way about your ideas, they may be good, maybe not. Test it out and let us know how it goes for you!
I guess my question would be, why do you want a higher gph from your system? I'm not sure what benefit that would be.
I would think more is better but you have to consider the limitations of your system. You can try your ideas and they may work great! I just don't know enough about the fluid dynamics to be of any help in problem solving.Believe me, if it only need to circulate at 75gpm, and anything more is overkill, I'm good.
Is there a flow control on the pump?Here's a couple pictures...... advice and comments are welcome!
Wide open.Is there a flow control on the pump?
I just got back from another supply run with 1/2 tubing and ordered a 400gph pump from Amazon.FWIW, I think those 1/4" lines are too small. My fallponics runs 3/4" lines which I think would be your minimum. 1/2" maybe.
Yeah, that other member was @steamroller and he has lots of experience with these being a fish guy. I'd trust his input on this.The little variable speed digital aquarium pumps I was put on to by another member might be helpful if you arent sure exactly what gpm/flow you need.
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