i got sent a iws pro system by a very kind man , and it is of the 10 litre pot variety.

its cracking bit of kit, but alas i feel the posts are a bit on the small side for growing monsters so today i took the plunge and 160 quid later ive got a dozen 16 litre pots and inners.

mate uses the same system but he has the frankly collosal 25 litre pots.

i did think about these until he told me they take 7 bags of hydroton per grow!!!!!!!, and my inner tightwad kicked in.

16s will do me fine. im down scaling anyway.

like i say ive never done flood n drain, but my mate has and despite his lack of skills he seems to do well on it, and hes never cleaned his system in about 5 years, the lazy fuck.

so anyone with any tips or tricks, fire away... and wish me luck

I've not used it in anger yet, but on a dry test It's more quiet for sure, so thats great. But I didn't think to check if it was speed adjustable - this new one is a little more powerfull than I really need, I only bought it hoping to reduce pump noise but that got me thinking... dangerous!

This new one runs at 10w rather than 4w on the old one, so I was wondering if theres any 'Heath Robinson' way to step the power down a bit- not so much to save electricity, although any saving is always a plus.. but I figured having another speed setting might help with noise if, at full speed it happens to resonate at an unfortunate frequency that's annoying in the grow space, a different speed might give me options to negate that so its even more quiet?

Here's the manual - you have to scroll  down to the english bit but I can't make much sense of it, other than for stripping it down for servicing or whatever..

https://www.koigarten-mueller.de/mediafiles/PDF/Luftpumpen/V-Serie Gebrauchsanweisung HR.pdf

Any thoughts?  Thanks!

This isn't a diary just a thread showing both the growfridge and flower room in action.

Pure hydroponics in both using just a few pebbles to hold the plants in the green

mesh pots, no other medium in the black buckets.

PH Perfect nutes Grow A+B and Bloom A+B and no other additives or boosters.

Currently 1/4 strength, top fed 15 mins on 45 off, 24/7

Both spaces are pretty much optimum conditions.

These are 9 Glookie Bomb clones which have been vegging in the growfridge,

straight under 12/12 yesterday, couple of runts but they'll produce something.

Here's the growfridge with a couple of Eleven Roses from seed,

the best will produce clones for the next round.

(hung on to the last Glookie....the space is there and it's insurance if anything goes wrong)

@til next time

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

Do autopot users just let the system do its thing or do you use timers?

I keep hearing about it not being a problem having the roots wet as basically full hydro systems the roots are sat in water and using the autopots the plant just uses what it needs, albeit with presumably wet/damp media surrounding its roots.

That all being said, I have read the opposite also and people recommend using timers...where to start but first question really is about figuring out the timing if using a timer...basically, how do you do it? Keep a watch and figure out how quick the plants are drying etc? Or is there some kind of magical formula everyone uses?

Conversely, who uses autopots and after the initial watering in period, just let the reservoir empty as and when it needs without using any timers of any kind?

p.s. I know there is a coco thread/section but as this is more about the autopot system themselves I thought perhaps best in here?

This is the standard Hailea pump at the highest setting.  It's loud but the droplet formation is quite nice.

This is the fish tank pump with venturi, supposedly it's rated for 500 litres per hour.  It's much quieter, except the venturi air intake tube sounds like someone hitting the bong for all eternity which is loud in a different way, I think it'll be easier to dampen the sound by sticking the air intake end in a pair of socks or something than it would be to silence that air pump.

Does it matter if the bubbles don't rise in the centre of the reservoir and hit the opposite side instead?  I could make a 90 degree elbow that would probably sort it.  What with it being a pump i'm guessing it'll be doing a better job of circulating the aerated water around the reservoir than the airstone and air pump, but the airstone and air pump seem to do a better job of creating surface droplets that the roots might like better.  The bubbles are smaller with the venturi, so more surface area for nutrient oxygenation so maybe it's even stevens.  Is there anything else I need to consider given that my reservoir is only 15 litres?  Would I be better off biting the bullet and using the air pump and airstone that came with it, and wrapping the air pump in 74 duvets to deaden the sound?

Ideally, I would have an RO put in, but I'm not sure if the council will allow me to have an RO system put in.

Thank you in advance for any advice

I have a couple of systems I've found, not 100% sure about the though as I've never used them.

To cut the long story short I'm looking for something that I can sex plants then when they go into final pots it will be the sytems pots. 

So like an auto pot system, but something I can start in the normal hand watering way, pot up, sex the plants, then when I have all the fems I can put them into the system pots to auto water through bloom.

I maybe able to get away with the basic autopot, and may well do, but I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has or knows of something that would work really well with the above. I'm a little uneducated in the way of dripper systems, tbh the things scare me as I'm the sort of cunt that could burn a boiled egg. But If they would suit what I'm after then I'd defo give them a go, although I'd prefer something I can buy rather than put together.

I just want to be able to grow regs without the hassle of watering by hand, and this particular application will always be regs so I cant go hydro for this sadly.

Cheers.

Hi all

Please have a look at my new grow. This is my 2nd attempt with DWC.

The 1st grow was strawberry cheese cake and I got around 7oz from two plants.

This plant is the stronger of 2 seedlings the smaller was culled. I’ve got pics from the start of the grow if anyone is interested.

I think I may be asking to much of this plant, also any advice will be appreachated.

Regards All……

I have two choices for my area. A 36L 8 pot RDWC or a 20L 12 pot RDWC. So that's 8 X 36L pots or 12 X 20L pots. 

I know all the pros n cons etc, very familiar with RDWC, and my instincts are telling me to go the 8 x 36 system. But the overall size of each system isn't to far off in volume cos of all the extra pipework etc the 20L has, I think it ends up at about a 30L difference between the two, so I'm not gona get much more in terms of PH / EC stability in the big one. 

I use a SCROG. Under a fair amount of LED. Chiller and pumps are the same so no cheaper there (as the volume is so close). Price is so close its not worth factoring in between the two systems.

As I say my instincts are saying the 36's, mainly for the SCROG, I have a feeling the 20's will get quite heavy on the roots by the time all said and done with a SCROG grow. 

But I thought I'd throw it out there to the RDWC / DWC growers here and see if anyone thinks the 20's might have something worth considering over the 36's, like will they be quicker to fill the net as there is 4 more? etc etc.

Cheers.

For me will be pleasure to discuss and share information from now on

I am planning to set up a hydroponics system with at least 16 buckets DWC in my garage (6x4) meters. And I want from you to recommend me some budget friendly and good working led lights( before I use 600W hps ) but from now on I want to change with LED for this new project.

The light I am looking now is Lumii Black x6 680W and it cost about 230€. I am planning to use 6 to 8 PCs. I have already installed solar panel system = 8kWH . My budget it's not really limited , but I don't want to spend so much money on lights now.

Please advice for good lights around 200-300€

per pc.

The purpose of this build is to try and address issues that arise using different hydro methods...access, over/under watering, root rot, training etc...

Ideas and equipment pinched from other systems, no special bits are needed for the build and as the tag suggests it's very much....a trial run...

Equipment

I already had the following.

1m x 1m flood and drain table.

Maxijet 1000 pump. 

Mini re-circulating pump.

Res heater.

Feedlines and various fittings.

Wilma 4" mesh pots, pebbles.

Purchased

5ltr buckets with lids, wreath frames.

The Build

The buckets were drilled for drainage and a 4" hole cut in the lid.

Attached the wreath frame around the lip of the buckets secured with a couple of screws, luckily they're pretty much a perfect fit..more by chance...

Covered the lid with B/W plastic and cut holes for the wilma pot.

Made and fitted a feed ring with two spouts using feed pipe and 'T' pieces on each bucket...

...which is fed from a manifold in the res...maxijet pump.                ...and here's the finished beast... 

I started 6 Wedding Cake beans in rootit cubes, all germed and I gifted one to my grow bud leaving five to play with. 

Started in my pot-in-pot system in the trusty old washing up bowl, Wilma mesh pot and pebbles inside a solid pot, promotes roots.

21 days after breaking ground and with a good root mass they're ready to go in...24 days from sowing seed.

They dropped nicely into the bucket lids and this is after 24 hours...

This is a medium free system, there's only a cupful of pebbles in the wilma pots holding the plant upright, nothing else in the buckets.

There'll be a mesh going over once they get top-heavy towards the end of flower.

They are fed 15min on 45min off 24/7...roots can take up max oxygen and with no medium roots cannot be swamped or overwatered.

Roots are never fully submerged which virtually removes the risk of root rot meaning res temps aren't that critical, mine sits at about 23c

and warms the table which the pots stand on at the same time, room temps never go below 20c so pots can stay uninsulated.

Each bucket can be removed and replaced on the table for any reason, especially training when I'll use the wreath rings to tie down the branches.

Grouping them together until they fill the space means I only need one bank of lights to start and not two...saves a few quid.

Makes moving them around on the table as they grow a breeze as well.

Added bonus there are no rootballs to dispose of after the grow, even the cupful of pebbles can be re-used if you're really really tight.

Questions and comments written in pencil on a £20 note are very welcome...

This isn't a diary as such but I'll update as and when...cheers all...

This is how I keep a single mum in hydro.

Here's a Glookie Bomb after 14 cuttings were taken.

She's fed from the reservoir below via the black halo with two spouts every couple of hours 24/7

Suspended beneath the lid is an empty pot for the roots, preventing them from entering the res cancelling

the need for a chiller, I've clocked res temps of 28c this year with no issues.

Rootball trimmed off once the pot is filled has little or no effect on the plant.

By trimming top and bottom at the same time the plant can be kept going indefinitely.

She'll be ready to give up more clones in a couple of weeks.

Now that's a fecking juicy ball....

'til next time

I plan on having 8 fabric pots sitting on the top tray filled with clay pellets which I have already purchased but unsure on what fittings I would need?

Thanks for any help.

my groom this weekend and was

thinking I may as well go the whole hog and plumb some pipe straight into both veg and flower space. I’m setting up a 424 for next grow. Is it worth installing a tank fill device on the tank? If I get a couple of good runs with it I’m thinking of building a dosing system, so will deffo need it for that anyway. 
Anyone use nft fully automated, what gear are you using? Best number of plants for the table? My corex is cut out for 6, but I have a blank spare.
It’s been a while since I’ve used it, I found some well out of date Canna product's in my lock up, so they’ll go to the tip and I will get some Ionic Grow/bloom for hard water. Will this decrease the need for pH down as it advertises, or should I just get standard? My water is as hard as a dogs head 0.8 out of the tap, but has perfect ca and mg ratio (tested), my water is fed from underground aquifers apparently

Any top tips and advice welcome, I never really got to grips with it last time, though probably not the best system to use for your first grow indoors

Cheers  

Now I'm in the process in purchasing a new set up and I'm going RDWC but there's a few things I need a bit of help with 

Do I need any kind of pump in the res to keep the water turning over and what is best way to do it 

How do I test ph ? Do I test and adjust in the control bucket , in the res or both or what is the best way to do it 

I know what I'm doing apart from this and will keep this thread going for any more questions that arise during the first grow in the RDWC system 

I can see hydros everywhere now.

A collection of system working or not.

Experimenting Hydroponics.

Recycling re-using

Cutting propagator - mother hydro

My move is finally going ahead 

A purpose built shed will be the home for my girls 

I have trades in the family that can do this and I'm hoping to run my 2 thinkgrow 630 model H's in there 

Sealed room , AC , gas , chillers ... Sounds easy 

...but... Which system ?

I've used most types of systems ranging from coir in fabric pots to current culture systems 

The difficulty is that I had a lower leg amputation end of April this year due to sepsis 

I'm eternally grateful to the NHS for saving my life and aiding my recovery 

Ramps and bars can be erected  to help and I also have a prosphetic leg that I can use .. presently I can wear for 2/3 hours and walk 400 meters ... With a stick

During the build I can make most things accessible..although access to plants and watering are going to be a challenge 

I'd like to sit with the girls as much as possible I am looking into a mini wheelchair etc

would love some advice on the easiest /best system or method for me ?

Complicated I know .... Thank you in advance 

S