Hi was planning to build a 6 bucket rdwc using heavy duty storage boxes. Going with 40mm pipe and connectors. Done a test buckets with the 40mm tank connector and was leaking between the rubber seal and side wall. I used a 51mm hole saw but was wondering if this is slightly to big and should have a used a 48mm for the holes? Holes have been deburred also so nice smooth surface for the washer any help will be appreciated.

Howdy!! Intro Hey guys, I have been meaning to sign up and share my RDWC build on here for a while but have never got round to it. Basically I have been following the RDWC grow space for a while now and wanted to build one for myself. I haven't grown for ages now and wanted to get involved in a nice community to share and learn from others doing the same. I chose this forum as Ive noticed there are a lot of RDWC experts around here who may have experienced some of the challenges that I'm having/going to have. Design I wanted to design the system around my space which is a 3m x 1.5m grow tent.. which spills over into my built in wardrobe for the control reservoir and pump. I decided to go with a venturi setup because i want a 1 pump does all approach and didn't want noisy air-pumps and extra pipework. I took inspiration from the Alien V-System RDWC....wanting to build something similar for a lot cheaper. Let me know your thoughts and pitfalls of the design: Photos 35L Tubs with 90mm uniseal return line: I decided on uniseals as I couldn't find bulkheads big enough. I have read that RDWC lines get blocked by roots so wanted to go as big as possible. Also, I raised all of the tubs onto plinths. this allowed me to install all the returns at the bottom to get maximum drain. The plinth also adds a air gap between the tub and the ground for better temperature control of the nutrient solution. Pump Choice and Test As i was basing my design roughly on the Alien V system, i took a look at what pump they used and it was basically a 370W swimming pool pump. The Alien V System uses 65L tubs , mine are pretty much half sized , so I did a few calcs based on the specifications of the Alien 8 pot v system and the volume of my system. I ended up getting a 250W pool pump for around £50... The pump was meant to be 250W out the wall...which is heaps.. but when i plugged it in, it ran at more like 400W out the wall.. this was starting feel v. expensive on running costs so I did a little research and decided to run the pump through a variac controller to reduce the voltage (torque not speed) of the pump as there is no head in the system. I ramped the voltage down until the pump started to stall and then nipped it up a touch from there and now my pump runs at around 200W at the same flow rate! ...Also it is very loud... so I had to build a sound insulated box around it (see next photo) System Plumbing So I wanted the system to be as pipe free as possible to allow for maximum mobility in my tent. I came up with the idea of running the pump outlet in a kind of ring main/manifold around the perimeter of the grow tent so it wont affect the precious tent real estate which i will need for plant maintenance ect. later down the road. The pump sucks the water out of the service reservoir and round the ring main up through venturi valves into the side of each of the tubs. this looked like the cleanest way to get the plumbing done with as few joints as possible. The return manifolds follow the two lines of 4 tubs and join together before returning to the service res (bottom left out of picture). I added a drain valve at the lowest point of the system to gravity drain it out, also added another drain valve (red) to empty the pump manifold lines as they have to go up and over the return line in the tent. Notice the pump soundproofing.... boy it works! It has a opening at the back for the motor fan so it doesn't overheat! This is how the plumbing leaves the tent. Notice how the pump manifold hugs the outside of the tent and doesn't really take up any space. I installed rubber connectors every two tubs and loads of barrel unions for the PVC pipe so i could construct and glue the whole system in my garage and disassemble it easily enough to carry in and reassemble in the tent. This would not have been possible to build in situ, which is why i had to take care and thought into how it could all come apart again after being glued. Notice in the bottom left tub the 'impeller like' 3d print which was designed to A: help create a votex in the tub from the return suction and B: act as a lid over the return line to prevent clogging. The lid hasn't been glued onto the impeller yet in this photo as it was printed in two parts. This is just outside the tent where the pump and service res live.. The black line is the auto top up/drain line which connects to a top-off tank and drain (located outside of the property). The top off tank was repurposed from a wheely bin. I hadn't yet installed the float valve in this photo which would create the auto top off for the RDWC system. The venturi valves came with pre-installed spring check (one way) valves to prevent back flow when the pump isnt running. I found that these were very stiff and i was concerned that the flow of the water divided by the 8 tubs would create enough negative pressure to open the spring valves enough to aerate the tubs...It turned out that I was right and the air flow was heavily reduced by the valves. The below photo shows the difference between the spring valve removed (two bottom tubs) and spring valve in (two top tubs). LOOK at the agitation on the bottom tanks.. it almost looks as if it would be a bit too much for the roots to handle??? As i removed the spring valves for the Venturis, I had to make sure that the airline was higher than the max fill level. So I installed little soldier pipes to stand tall with their sticks to maintain erection . Also, I insulated the tubs for nute solution temperature control. To start the babies off, I teed off of the pump manifold line with a valve to a DIY top feed dripper system which i made by capping the ends of the irrigation lines and put pin pricks through around the net pots. With the valve, I could adjust the flow from little streams to slow drips... As well as the drippers, I added another valve off to the water chiller which is off outside the tent. All of this is run off the one big-ass pump. These are my first babies of the system and this photo was taken a over a week ago now. I picked this chiller up second hand...fuck they're expensive.. I was looking into making my own as they are so dear.... hopefully will be able to sell it for what I got it for Let me know what you guys think.

Morning gents, Having a think about sealing my grow space and injecting co2 into the area to improve growth and yield Grow space is approx. 2m x 2m x 1.8m Question: How many KG of CO2 is likely to be needed per week to keep room at desired ppm concentration? (1200 -1600ppm) My lights are more than enough to give the higher ppfd levels required Obviously air from outside the grow room will be pumped in via the air stones which will carry oxygen and the plants will also produce oxygen so the CO2 PPM will be constantly diluted. Also Any recommendations for an all in one monitor / controller that will meter the correct amount of CO2 to maintain concentrations at desired level. Thanks in advance for any help / advice

Hello, my fellow herb enthusiasts, I have decided to put up a short build guide for people considering RDWC. Now I have pictured 2 of my previous system builds, but unfortunately, the pigs stole them so I'm a bit limited in showing actual photos of various parts of the build. I have built quite a few of these over the years, each one has been a learning process, and not without disaster along the way, as u do. The systems shown will fit in a 2.4 by 1.2 tent (the 4 pot one) or a 1.2 tent (the 2 pot one) These are NOT undercurrent systems, they are simple recirculating systems, utilising 22mm spray bars for the delivery and 40mm returns to the res. I have located the res outside of the tent in both systems, because this helps keep the temperature of the nutrients cooler, and reduces the work for the chiller (i'll come to that later) So the system works by the process of pumping nutrient around the system, through the spray bars. This nutrient solution is highly oxygenated, with high levels of dissolved oxygen produced by the falling water disturbing the surface tension (which creates DO(dissolved oxygen). Now I'm not saying that this system is perfect or cant be improved upon, because nothing is perfect is it, its all a compromise in some way or other, before you all start slagging it off and telling me how I should have done this or that or whatever. I'm not really interested, ok? good.......... then we shall proceed Lets start with a list of stuff you will need to complete this build (2 pot system) The pictures are meant as a guide only as some of the stuff I describe is what I would do differently if I was to do it again 3No. really useful boxes (2 for the plants , one for the res) either 64 or 84 litre jobs (the more nutrient you have the more stable the EC and Ph will remain). this is why I use big boxes A hole cutter for 22mm and 40mm pipework. A number of 40 mm tank connectors (6 in this case), plus 40mm pipework, bends and tees to suit. I use solvent weld fittings, which do not leak if done properly, unlike the push fit ones. The solvent weld fittings are also cheaper woop woop. the down side is that if you ever want to move the system or dismantle it, you will need a hacksaw lol. A number of 22mm pipework fittings including bends, tees and pipework. I am not stating how many of each you use because it will depend on how you lay it out. I'm sure you are capable of working this part out for yourselves A water pump _ I would recommend a 4000l/hr one for this size system, the 4 pot system I used a 6000l/hr one, but should have gone bigger. A reducer from the water pump outlet to the 22mm spray bar. These can be bought off ebay as silicone reducers , just pump in the sizes, e.g 22mm to 26mmm or whatever it is. Stainless hose clamps to suit this reducer, both ends. various drill bits, a drill, A chiller- will depend on the total capacity of your system, for a 2 pot system I reckon you would be ok with a 150l chiller, I used a 300l one on the 4 pot system Maxijet 1000l/hr pump and hose to suit the chiller. Right, now to the construction part. we will start with the returns. these are 40mm, which are a decent compromise, you can go bigger (but they are expensive) or smaller (more likely to block with roots etc) So take your really useful boxes and lay them in the tent where you want them to go, this is how I did it As you can see the totes are side by side with the return pipes at the front and back of each box. Its always a good idea to set things out to make sure there is enough room for like lids to fit on (ahem), and all the pipework to fit etc. Now once you know where its all going measure out your pipes, notiing where each one goes. I lay them out on the floor the way they will go in the tent, makes life a little easier. The return pipes are attached to the box via the 40mm tank connector, which is solvent welded to the pipe When you drill the hole for the tank connector/ bulkhead, you want to try and get it very close to the bottom of the box,, BUT make sure you still have room to screw on the nut. When you get the tank connectors you will see a rubber washer type thing - this goes to the outside of the box ok? A word on solvent cement- you can get high as fuck off it so use in a well ventilated area (that's the health and safety pish out the way) Also, when using solvent cement, this is what I do to prevent bailing water out of the tent/ leaks . Saw cut the end of the pipe, then sand off the rough end where all the scrappy bits are, and a small chamfer on the end of the pipe. (Use 100 grit sandpaper or above) Make sure nothing is sticking out from the pipe, like rough edges etc Put the solvent cement on the end of the pipe, AND on the inside of the fitting it is getting connected to. Now stick em together, you don't get long. When I join them together I kinda push the pipe in and give it a 1/4 turn at the same time. wipe off the excess glue (don't put it back in the glue pot) Leave this for 15 minutes and it will be solid. So glue all the returns together, putting it in the box, measuring trimming etc as you go, to be sure it will all FIT properly. No point glueing it all together then finding out your 10mm out on a measurement has fucked half of it up is there. The returns are at opposite sides of the really useful box to equalise the return flow, so that the roots stay in the centre of the box. If both returns were at the same side of the box, the roots WILL migrate there and clog the returns. In the picture above you will see just below the spray bar Tee, the return pipes go to a tee fitting and then back to the res. If I was to do it again I would have 2 returns to the res, just in case the one was to block with root (unlikely tho it may be). The picture above also shows the spray bars, the 22mm pipe inside the box which delivers the nutrients to the tote. Drill the holes for these as high up the sides of the box as possible, you want as much fall from the water as possible. This one is drilled just below the top lip. These are done in a similar fashion to the returns, but it is easier to drill the holes for the nutrient to spray from before you glue the lot together. I use a small drill bit for the holes, and for this system, if I remember I had something like 4 holes on each long side and 2 on the short sides. I had these holes drilled in such a way to spray the water around the base of the net pot, about an inch or 2 away from the actual pot itself, but its not really critical where the holes go, as long as the water can splash on the surface, creating DO. The spray bars go to a TEE which goes to a single pipe from the water pump. A word of advice - the pump outlet has a reducer attached, and then it goes to the 22mm pipe. You will see that this pipe goes through the side of the res. there is a reason for this, which is - if somehow the pipe detaches from the reducer, it will not go flying out of the way allowing the fountain from the res to flood the room, as the side hole will keep the pipe in place. See pic below. Again if I was doing this again I would have the pump closer to the tent side of the box. this pic also shows the reserviour, outside the tent. You can see the single return at the bottom of the box. The red thing on top of the pump is the reducer Like a said, id do a double return next time, but you get the idea. If you look at the pic above, then this one, its like, inside the tent- outside the tent Here is my 4 pot system in action with spraybars (the spray bars are a different design, but the principle is the same). On the subject of dissolved oxygen, you can also add an airstone or 2 to this system. You don't really NEED to, but they help by creating yet more oxygen to the rootzone, like I did in the above system. so that's the spray bars and returns done, you are nearly there. For the net pots you need to make some holes in the lids. I use 200mm net pots, and to make the hole I devised a cunning plan, baldrick would be proud of. here is how its done. Mark the centre of the box lid, drill very small pilot hole, then get a piece of timber, and put a drywall screw through one end, so the tip of the screw ids protruding by about 3-5mm. then measure out 95mm and put another screw through the same amount. Put one screw in the pilot hole you drilled, and then turn the wood through 360 degrees scoring a perfect circle into the plastic. Then you just keep on scoring round and round till you eventually go through the lid , or it gets so thin you can cut it with a Stanley. Also when this is done insulate the boxes if possible, ive used Kingspan in the top pics, or even the silver reflective bubble wrap stuff for the lids is better than nothing, DO it. chillers - you WILL need one Chillers have a separate pump- a maxijet 1000l/hr job from the res to the chiller, and the warer will naturally return from the chiller to the res, , if you can try and get the return to make the water fall back to the res - more DO - you know it makes sense. Pop in your net pot, fill with hydroton and grow big fuck of trees. My first run in the 2 pot system produced 700grams from two (whisper it ) autos Mission accomplished. If I think of anything else I will add it. Mon the water

I have a 4x4 x6 foot high tent and I am looking at DWC. Originally I've been thinking of getting an oxypot or 2 single bubble pots. I will be using 600w hps so hoping 2 plants will be enough yield wise. Any advice on what to go with in the hydroponic world for a tent this size? I am looking for advice on water changing also and the most efficient way to do that.

Afternoon all, Looking to build a Fallponics/UCRDWC system. Finally located some 35L Black Really Useful Boxes (Nightmare trying to get them delivered to non-mainland part of the UK) and now just wondering where people picked up their plumbing parts (And exactly what would be best [pipe guage wise] for the system). Currently using a 50L Wilma with the arses cut out of the pot holders to allow the roots in. The tent is a Budbox Pro 120 and I am using LED for lighting. I'll be using 5x35L Really useful boxes (Just to get setup but should be good for the 1.2m tent for room, allow extras in like humidifier, etc.) - may upgrade to a larger header tank down the road. Have a Hailea 300A winging its way to me for next week (Although I dont think I'll have time to set this up for fresh grow - 4 seedlings already starting to show 2nd leaves so probs give the Wilma 1 last run). Any advice on decent place for plumbing supplies (and again, best bits to use - I am no plumber so foolproof would be great here) would be greatly appreciated. If @badbillybob still about on here and willing to give advice, I'd really appreciate it. Saw some great info on threads and looking to see if anyone has made any improvements/advancements through trial and error. Thanks in advance all!

I'm in the process of upgrading my grow system. After a bit of research I've decided to go for an 8-pot IWS R-DWC Pro Undercurrent system. I'll need air stones. I'm thinking of getting an Hailea 9630 air pump kit with 8 x 2" ball stones. I then wondered if should I get 2 off 9610 pump kits (with 4 air stones each) I then have redundancy if a pump should fail. Q. Does each pot need an air stone or would every other pot be enough anyway? There will be more questions for which I'll make separate threads I've looked at a lot of threads here already, I'll tag in @badbillybob and @zen-ken at this point as they're active(?) DWC growers and have answered a lot of us newbies (and old hand's) DWC questions. I've ordered some Tribus @zen-ken I was unable to find a grow diary that used an R-DWC system - a search for 'DWC' in the diary section gave me 0 results, if there is one or more could someone point it/them out to me please. I'll start an LED R-DWC grow diary when I have parts to start the set-up properly - got a 'new' tent and new LED already though they remain dark. Thanks now and later

Hello , hello, and welcome to my watery wonderland, roll up roll up (quite literally), and come and join Billy's circus of dreams. There will be some laughs, a bit of craic, some big ole ganja plants and a reserviour full of watery fun........ This year i have decided to join the sweet seeds competition again, and this time i am choosing 3 classic strains. Here they are im doing 2 of each, and the strains will be Jack 47, cream 47 and sweet afghan delicious. i did the SAD last year and enjoyed it so much im doing it again. it produced dense solid buds from bottom to top of the plant and tasted divine. The Jack 47 and cream 47 are unknown quantities, so it will be nice to test them out. im hoping the cream 47 has the power and the jack has the taste, but time will tell. i am going for something different this year, this year im going to try and grow a few trees...probably one of each strain, depending on how my germination goes. ive been killing a lot of seedlings lately, no idea how, or why, but i will try extra hard this year, because i want them all germed so i can pick the best ones for "redwood alley". My plan is to put them all into the system, see which ones take swimming lessons and which ones dont, and keep the 3 best . My room. Its about 2.5 wide by 4.2 long, and has a 9 pot, DIY, top fed, rdwc system in it. these are 60 litre totes, which are fed my a 8000litre pump on the 5 pot side , and a 4000 litre pump on the 4 pot side. Air pumps are 60 litre ones, and all pumps are Hailea. 2 golf ball airstones per pot. These arent really needed, but the more the merrier as i say i have 5 lights in there, all of them are dimmable ballast HPS, 600 watts. my fans are a 10 inch intake and a 12 inch extract, run off a simple DIY variac controller. Filter is currently an old rhino pro, 1 metre long, which is going to be changed out very shortly with a new one. Not a rhino tho, a Carboair. Germination. i will be soaking them overnight in a shot glass and then into kitchen roll till roots sprout, and then probably into the prop with some coco, till they have enough roots for the system. This is the same way ive been doing it for years, but i used to use the root it cubes, im not this time, as ive had some damping off lately in them, and no, before you say it, ive not been over spraying them. So they are in shot glasses as we speak, and i will report back when the excitement starts. Bring it on!!!! 'Mon the trees!

Hope everyone had a great 420 So I've decided to make the most of my drying tent and turn it into a veg room so I can get a continuous grow going. In my flower room i run a 8 35l pot alien rdwc sysyem. I've just been out to b and q and my local grow shop and picked up all the bits I need to build a 10 site rdwc system for about 160 quid compared to 700 for an equivalent alien system. Will be getting it put together tonight and putting some pics up of the prossess. This is the 1st time I have had a go at making a system and only decided to give it a go late last night so hopefully help out someone not sure on the diy route.

So decided to add 3 pots to my system in the middle of a grow, no idea what I was thinking, I knew it was a really bad call and going to be a nightmare. I keep getting leaks and I think i'd have a much better time with boxes and their flat surfaces. I see a lot of people recommending the 84L really useful box, but at 74cm long i'd end up with 4/6 instead of 9 plants in my space. Has anyone a supplier of taller strong boxes that would take up the space of a 33L pot or just a little more?

Hi I could really do with some advice please if anyone can help I have been growing in a 2x1 tent with 2x 480w hlg leds My last run I did 8 autoflower and did 31oz in 12 weeks from seed to dry and I'm wanting to move over to RDWC what would be my best case with the setup I have I would like to do less plants should I switch over to photos and just do 2 would that will the tent and would it be possible to get 50oz with that setup? Tia

Hi Everyone, this is my first post so be gentle :-) So a little back story, I've been growing now for around 4 years. Started on soil with a cheap all in one setup from Ebay, it did the trick and the itch started. Fast forward to today, I have the following setup in my boxroom upstairs. Budbox Pro 1.2x1.2m Mars Hydro TS 3000 Grow Light RVK 6" with stepdown speed controller Rhino Pro Carbon filter 6" Charles Austen ET40 Air pump OxyPot V9 Res 100L Bluelab Guardian Monitor 100L Flexitank for mixing up nutes Couple of cheap water pumps Plant Magic range of nutes Today I'm a confident grower and can handle any issues the setup throws at me. The last part of the setup I want to change is the grow system. I've been using one large res normally used for vegging for the entire grow, usually 4-5 plants in the OxyPot V9. Don't get me wrong this setup has been amazing, always blows me away how quick they grow when the roots hit the water. I'm finding having one large tank is a pain, the roots become entangled quickly so I'm unable to rotate the plants, takes up the entire floor of the tent and restricts airflow under the canopy. Just harvested in December and had my first brush with bud rot. Caught it early but still scared the shit out of me. I've been wanting an RDWC setup for a while and it's time to pull the trigger for my next grow. The bud box tent for example was purchased due to the raised poles on two sides allowing pipes to run under them. The IWS RDWC Pro is the system I've got my eye on, onestop just dropped the price down to £400 for the 4pot, I know I could DIY, I'm lazy and would prefer something already The only thing that worries me in the noise. I live in a terrace, over 100 years old so decent walls. I've mentioned to my neighbour when I first moved in that I have a big fish tank and sometimes the air pump gets noisy (a trick I read on here once), neighbour said he's never heard anything so happy with that. How loud are the pumps in the system? I can see a few posts regarding noisy pumps in RDWC and wanted to know if this kit has the same issues. I would post pics of my setup but it's like a bomb site at the moment as one grows just finished and I'm cleaning room etc. If you have made it this far I would like to say thank you, and I look forward to contributing to the community.

Hello everyone, I am running a 6 bucket rdwc with cyco nutrients, using bloom a+b, swell, b1, sugar rush, supastiky, and Dr. Repair at dosages suggested by Cyco dwc calculator. I'm noot using clones and some plants have taken better to the system than others. I'm about week 5 but also previously i've noticed the PH dropping from 5.8 to usually 4.2 overnight and EC slightly rising. Any ideas on the reason behind the plummet? Thanks

We are off and running thanks to @HSO-Mark all popped and were placed in the propagation station. I selected the best three of each but had a forgetful feed and dried them out...they have now recovered and are in the system. hand feed initially with formulex I’m now onto a weak house and garden mix much love Kenny

Hey all, I've been out of the game for about 10 years. I've previously grown in Compost, coco, pebbles and rockwool. But never had the balls to do DWC. So Been looking around and decided to put together a RDWC system in a week or so. I have no clue what nutrients to use. I've looked around the site and most discussions seem pretty old (2015)... So at the risk of annoying some, I'm asking again. What nutrients would you recommend for someone new to RDWC? Please think ease of use (I like the sound of AN Sensi ph perfect, but is it worth it?). What other stuff do I need? For example, cleaning out the system between grows? keeping roots healthy etc. Can you share a feed schedule for your recommendation? Ah, go on, you know you want to you slags Any help appreciated! Just to prevent any squabbling, I'm not bothered about which is best, or this is better than that. I just want to use stuff that's easy quick and cheap. My personal opinion on all these branded nutes is that they are all pretty much the same and hype up all their stuff waaaay too much. lol. Cheers!

Hello there everyone. ive been growing out Dinafem beans since i started growing, and honestly, can hand on heart tell you that ive yet to be dissapointed in any of the strains that i have done. Just lately my growing has been going off a bit, lost my mojo, gone a bit stale, ive not been as enthusiastic as usual about my favourite hobby, and have had more than my fair share of dissasters...just have a look at my outdoor threads, or my breeding fiascos, as usual. So ive decided that what i need is a challenge......... a real challenge............ a real big challenge.........real BIG Soooooo, ive decided that for my next grow, im going to try and beat my previous personal best, and im gonna try and get ONE KILO of dried buds,.............. from a single plant........ Yes, you heard it first here, ......the kilo challenge is on...ive said it now, so i better make it happen. my previous personal best was 760 grams from one, but this time we are going big or going home. Growing huge plants indoors isnt as straight forward as just veging them for ages and letting rip, these will be dependant on timings for everything, toppings, lighting and nutrient schedules and environment need to absolutely bang on. Any mistakes can prove costly... The strain choice is Dinafems BIG Kush, a strain which ive grown previously , which surprised me in just how massive it got, and how good the bud was from it (the two are normally not exclusive). Every one of my mates who smoked it agreed that it was a belter, and it improved massively after a good cure. Dinafem Mark has very generously agreed to front the beans for this adventure, and im going to try my damnedest to make the KILO happen. its been a long standing ambition of mine, just to see if i could do it...fingers crossed etc we will be popping the beans as soon as they land and vegging for about 10 weeds in the rdwc. i tell you now, this is gonna be EPIC....there will be more info in the diary, so keep yer eyes peeled for the diary starting Go BIG or go home, as Guy Martin would say.... Trees for life, as i would say

What size water heater should I go for, in a 105L system? Any suggestions? Also i'm looking at using a Hailea 150A Chiller, are they ok? Many thanks.

Hi guys So I have my 1st grow behind me and in the jars waiting. So I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to use a rdwc for my next grow what I have just set up. So here is gonna be my attempt at a grow diary hoping that your experiences can help along the way. Unfortunately no photos at the moment as its broke but getting a new one next week so sure to get some up