Introduction

This is a hybrid of multiple hydroponic systems. Specifically it is a hybrid between DWC and NFT systems. In a nutshell it is a system of pots designed to be flexible enough to accommodate any grow room, big or small. Part of it's flexibility comes from it's ability to add and remove pots before, during and after each grow.

Concept

The system consists of two basic parts. The reservoir and the pots. Water will be pumped up from the reservoir into each individual pot. Inside the pot it will fill to the preset overflow level where water will then drain back into the reservoir. All the pots are detachable which makes removing male plants easy with no worries about tangled roots. This also allows for movement of a plant from a veg room to a flowering room for SOG operations. This is possible because all the pots will be connected in parallel rather than series. What this means for the plants is, the roots will never have to fight for resources with other roots. The plant's roots will always be submerged. Finally the roots will never sit in stagnant water.



Materials

(for a 2 pot system)

1x 1/2" ID T connector
1x 3/4" ID T connector
2x 1/2" ID drain fitting
2x 3/4" ID drain fitting
4x 1/2" ID valve
1x water pump*
1x air pump & air stones
1x reservoir container
2x 1-2 gallon container w/ lid**
2x net pot (size is your choice, I recommend 3" or 3 3/4")
7ft 1/2" ID tubing***
4ft 3/4" ID tubing***


(For each additional pot)

1x 1/2" ID T connector
1x 3/4" ID T connector
1x 1/2" ID drain fitting
1x 3/4" ID drain fitting
2x 1/2" ID valve
1x 1-2 gallon container w/ lid**
1x net pot (size is your choice, I recommend 3" or 3 3/4")
1 1/2ft 1/2" ID tubing***
6"-12" 3/4" ID tubing***

*The pump should be powerful enough to supply each pot with 25 gph. so if you have 2 pots your pump should be at least 50 gph. 4pots = 100 gph, ect.
**1-2 gallon containers work best but for larger plants, larger containers might be necessary. depending on how large the pots become, a larger pump may be required.
***Both 1/2" & 3/4" 3ft of tubing added to reach the reservoir. Tubing does not like to bend. If you have strict space requirements consider getting L connectors. If you plan on growing bigger plants and more space between pots is required then more tubing will be required. It's better to have too much tubing than too little.

Building It

Pot Construction

Two holes should be made on either side of the container. Use a 1 3/8" drill bit. It will make hole just big enough for both of the drain fittings. The first hole should be near the top but below the net pot. The second hole should be on the opposite side of the container and half way between the bottom and the first hole. The reason for this is the unequal heights will allow less water to be come stagnant. The reason it's not on the bottom is because if there is some failure that would result in a loss of water pressure (i.e. power outage, pump failure, leaky tube) there will still be a ample supply of water to sustain the plant for a short period of time.

Pot:



When you do drill out the holes for the intake and drain remember to cut off the shaving so the drain fitting can make a water tight seal.

shavings:



Find the measurement of the diameter of the top and bottom of the net pot. Find the average of those two diameters and that's how big of a hole you want to cut in the lid of your container. I use 3 3/4" net cup which has a bottom diameter of 3". The diameter of the hole would be 3 3/8". Either use a compass to measure out the hole or use this improvised method. Drill a small hole in the center of the lid. stick a pencil or pen in the hole. take a second pencil or pen and tie it to the first with the length between them equal to the radius (diameter/2) of the hole for the net pot.



Once you have your hole traced out it's time to cut it out. If you have a jig saw then drill a starting hole and cut away. If you don't here's and another improvised method. Take that drill bit and drill holes every 1/2 inch or so on the inside of your traced circle. There should be a nice perforated circle.



Take a carpenter's knife or any sharp knife and cut the perforation. Once the circle is cut out, smooth the edge by whittling down the perforation.



Repeat these steps for all the pots.


The Reservoir

The reservoir can be anything you want. You can also change it at any point during your grow. There is really no modification required for the reservoir. Just make sure it is light proof. The only requirements is that it can hold the water pump, air stones and enough water for your plants. The only tubes coming out of it will be the air tubes, intake tube, and drainage tube. The reservoir must be placed at a lower level than the pots.


Tubing

The 1/2" tubing will be connected to the pump. The 3/4" tubing will be the drainage.

Configuration for tubing with 2 pots:



Configuration for full 2 pot setup:



Configuration for tubing with 4 pots:



Configuration for full 4 pot setup:




Pot connections

The pot connects in two places. One for the intake and one for the drain. The intake will have 2 valves on it back to back. The reason for this is when you wish to remove a plant while other plants are still in the system, the pump will still be on. If it were left open water would spill everywhere and water pressure would be lost. If you ever want to disconnect a pot from the system, simply turn off both valves on the intake tube and then disconnect the tube between the valves.

Intake tube disconnected from pot:



Valves on the drain tube is optional. it's not as important becuase it's a low pressure tube and everything drains downwards into the reservoir. If no valve is used a simple plug is necessary or small leaks will happen.


Congratulations your setup is now ready for growing.

does it work well?

any pics of it in use?
that'd be a nice end pic for the entry...

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i'll cut you yo

member of pagc

i've torture tested it but i haven't grown in it yet.

is this you're invention?

i like it...

__________________
Lumberjack's personal - my new grow journal (check it out!)

i'll cut you yo

member of pagc

this idea came to me shortly after a conversation i had with fdd...way back in like august.

And a humble bud bat at that! Its brilliant! Its way over my head but the theory behind it seems sound.
Thats impressive my friend.

Looks pretty neat! nice presentation!

looks nice, the only problem i see with this is that the water wouldn't be able to circulate fast enough to have that supply of oxygen for the roots, its like a cfm fan you need to change the air in the growspace in x amount of time, does the water in your buckets change out in x amount of time?

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Waffles.

awesome system, keep an eye out for the root growth not to be sucked into the lines you will probably have to do some root trimming.

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ha ha weed .... a friend with weed is a friend indeed

They look like bubble buckets to me but this is a great read through with pics and info and worthy of the faq imo

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