DIY 3 Gallon Rubbermaid DWC

post pics with plants?

chronicpenguin said:

post pics with plants?

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What plants?

Sorry, I plead the 5th. I'm choosing not to show any pics of my babies for the time being. Maybe one day...

Bad fucking ass dude.

If I was one of those damn devil worshiping wacky tobaccy rocking and rolling marijuana heads I would definitely try to duplicate what you did. +rep for you good sir.

Great tutorial. Absolutely great. Simple and foolproof.
I really want to see your whole hydroponic TOMATO garden too.

diggitydank420 said:

Now stick it in the hole!

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That's what she said ...

you can get anti reverse flow filters that fit inline on your pump. incase of power shutdown liquid wont be drawn back into your pump.

maybe also an air curtain could help in smaller hydro setups. they are a small plastic bar and leave a fine curtain of bubbles. normaly used too hide the backside of aquariums. they fit via two small sucker pads.

as for cheap stones, the green ones are rubbish and fall apart after a couple of months. the dark blue single air stones have been the best i used in aquatics.

a Y splitter would allow for two systems side by side too be powered from 1 single pump saving on cost with adjustable air flow rates via the Y splitter.


Tamzi

diggitydank420 said:

Now... how to tie this in to existing tubing? Ideas?

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try just a plain old T to splice in the backup pump with the normal one. the pumps have check valves in them. they don't always work perfect when the pump isn't running, but if you lose any air out of the backup pump when it's not running, you can always add a check valve to it. walmart has them. my air pump even came with 2 for free.

the ones at walmart are blue

diggitydank420 said:

Put some more caulk around the outside (hopefully you don't have as much dog hair in your home)

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Looking like a smooth setup you got going on there man! I had to quote this 1 and express my feelings for you!! I also suffer from E.H.E (Extreme Hairs Everywhere) but I wouldn't give em up for nothing!

- Skinz

diggitydank420 said:

What plants?

Sorry, I plead the 5th. I'm choosing not to show any pics of my babies for the time being. Maybe one day...

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Hehehe safest way around it man no harm posting after harvested nd smoked though surly? lol but then again its the fact of documenting it

(Sorry bout double post)

- Skinz

Kialhimself said:

Hehehe safest way around it man no harm posting after harvested nd smoked though surly? lol but then again its the fact of documenting it

(Sorry bout double post)

- Skinz

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No harm unless you're running a perpetual harvest (SOG)...

Screw it. I'm already in too deep!

Here's how it was...



Now this is how it is...

damn looking good

As far as I know, and from everyone that I know, the more air the better. The roots of the plants loooovvveee oxygen, and that's why all hydroponics methods grow faster than soil (there isn't as much oxygen in soil, lol). I am about to start a grow journal with a similar setup, though I am doing it stealthily inside of a dresser. I am also going to use 600W HPS and MH HID's, though the DWC method I am going to do is almost the exact same! I like the water meter, I'll have to incorporate one into my system!

how big does the air pump need to be? I'm about to use somthing similar and in the dry (with water only) run it didn't look like I was getting enough bubbles. Mine is a ten gallon rubbermaid tank with six plant holes and I'm using the two air pumps, both are very small (5-10 and 15-20) aquarim ones from petco. It's very hard to get bubbles to all the plant holes because the air stones can't be manipulated that way. Do I HAVE to spend more money on a big air pump?

dum said:

It's very hard to get bubbles to all the plant holes because the air stones can't be manipulated that way. Do I HAVE to spend more money on a big air pump?

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walmart has, I think, 18 and 22 inch blue air stones. I would put 2 of those in each tub for better coverage. they also have the fish tank air pumps with the 2 output tubes on them for about $10. you can either use one pump per tub with one output per stone, or if you only have one stone, you can get a T or Y connector to merge the 2 outputs from the pump into one and run the air stone with double the air, this helps a lot. either way, I would give each tub its own air pump.

are you sure your water levels are high enough? the bubbles usually splash about 3 or 4 inches high. I've heard 1 inch below the bottom of the net pots is a good water level.

I'm an idiot, I tought that you filled the water all the way up and the roots absorbed the bubbles.

Nice healthy plants by the way.

dum said:

I'm an idiot, I tought that you filled the water all the way up and the roots absorbed the bubbles.

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This is what i'm wondering too.


Great thread BTW. Love this system. I've just germinated my for my first grow, and i think i'll do a set up like yours. Only difference, as height is a problem for me, is the type of container used for the rez. I'm gunna need something shorter and perhaps wider.

DO you think less height in the rez will be a problem?

Ps. I apoligise for all the questions, i know there is probably a thread dedicated to DWC somewhere on here.

I wouldn't go much smaller than what I have. 3 gallons is pushing it, and I don't think they make anything much smaller than that anyway. These are only about 8 inches tall as it is.

Well as for a pump, I would recommend getting as large of one as you can afford (they are cheap!) since as the roots are more oxygenated the plant will grow faster, larger and with better yeild. Here is a link to one that pushes a ton of air, and it is not much more than you probably spent getting 2 crappy ones! High Tech Garden Supply As you can see, it pushes 600 GPH for only $37.95! This works great for me. As for how the plants use the aereation, all plants need oxygen to survive and grow. The roots absorb the oxygen as well as the nutrients and water, though the reason why we suspend the plants a bit is so that the roots can recieve as much oxygen as possible while staying moist from the bubbles popping. The aeroponics method capitolizes on this principle since in aero, the roots are NOT in water, though they are sprayed with a fine mist of water/nutrients. The more oxygen to the roots the better!

Hope this answers a few questions!