Any tips for a coco grower who wants to go Undercurrent RDWC?

I've been in coco/perlite for a few years now. I have three x 4'x15' rows of plants I want to change to RDWC.

I am wanting to completely ditch Coco/Perlite, Pots, Trays and go to RDWC. I grow in a clean basement, lugging 10 gal pots of coco up and down the stairs on a monthly basis and 2 cu/ft bags of coco then dealing with all that trash is starting to be too much of a pain when I'm growing 36 plants. (Caregiver)

My main idea on a system is something like this except my pump would be an inline and go straight back into the res over the T fitting.


I know I'm going to need a chiller, not sure what size yet, I assume at least a 1/2 HP for a 8 site system in "27 gal" HDX Storage totes?
I plan to run 3" bulkheads & plumbing and I'm thinking for an 8 site setup with that large of tubs I would probably need a 800 GPH pump?

Any tips/considerations for the setup or issues I might face? Here's the grow space, each row is identical.

Uhhhh looks like we should be asking you lol

Ph and feeding I know is different but like coco you can feed easily so that’s the one thing they have in common but with rdwc you gotta be more exact or you can raise the ph to high or feed to much and have to replace the water or something. which you might already know but I’m just adding in something because I’m curious to see what people say I’ve never grown rdwc but I’ve done coco that’s what caught my eye it does get heavy I agree. Water is heavy to you would need a stream into the buckets

Seanf610 said:

Ph and feeding I know is different but like coco you can feed easily so that’s the one thing they have in common but with rdwc you gotta be more exact or you can raise the ph to high or feed to much and have to replace the water or something. which you might already know but I’m just adding in something because I’m curious to see what people say I’ve never grown rdwc but I’ve done coco that’s what caught my eye it does get heavy I agree. Water is heavy to you would need a stream into the buckets

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I learned with RDWC the biggest things are pH and water temperature. I talked with a fellow grower who I remembered sold his system to go back to coco and he said the RDWC is just too little insurance for the larger grows compared to coco. It adds a lot more variables to the grow due to needing more components, air pumps, water pumps, chillers, etc..

Ultimately I decided fuck it and stuck with Coco/Perlite. I setup a huge Netafim drip irrigation system for VEG & BLOOM at my buddies barn and it turned out great so I'm going to do a similar system for my plants.

calvin.m16 said:

I learned with RDWC the biggest things are pH and water temperature. I talked with a fellow grower who I remembered sold his system to go back to coco and he said the RDWC is just too little insurance for the larger grows compared to coco. It adds a lot more variables to the grow due to needing more components, air pumps, water pumps, chillers, etc..

Ultimately I decided fuck it and stuck with Coco/Perlite. I setup a huge Netafim drip irrigation system for VEG & BLOOM at my buddies barn and it turned out great so I'm going to do a similar system for my plants.

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Yea I like coco the flavor is good and quality is good I like the idea of hydro it sounds cool but I might stick with soil and coco for now. I didn’t know that about water temperature but it makes sense.

Seanf610 said:

Yea I like coco the flavor is good and quality is good I like the idea of hydro it sounds cool but I might stick with soil and coco for now. I didn’t know that about water temperature but it makes sense.

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If you keep solution cold you typically don't need to chlorinate the system. If your temps go warm you will breed anaerobics that will attack your rootzone and make your water filthy. Even in coco I add 5 ml pipette to every 50 gallon water barrel once a week at least just to keep bullshit at bay, I've noticed the max ppm doing that with 7% pure clorox bleach lands me around 2-3 PPM of chlorine total. I don't use any microbes or teas additives as I have learned all of that is a waste of money and time. I just feed with armor si, maxibloom and let it rip.

Chlorine is a micronutrient for cannabis plants too, but I don't follow that bandwagon as chlorine converts to HCI (Hypochlorous Acid) once met with water. I use it primarily as an agent to keep my rootzone and containers free of easy to kill anaerobic pathogens. The stinky slimy or cloudy kind.

calvin.m16 said:

If you keep solution cold you typically don't need to chlorinate the system. If your temps go warm you will breed anaerobics that will attack your rootzone and make your water filthy. Even in coco I add 5 ml pipette to every 50 gallon water barrel once a week at least just to keep bullshit at bay, I've noticed the max ppm doing that with 7% pure clorox bleach lands me around 2-3 PPM of chlorine total. I don't use any microbes or teas additives as I have learned all of that is a waste of money and time. I just feed with armor si, maxibloom and let it rip.

Chlorine is a micronutrient for cannabis plants too, but I don't follow that bandwagon as chlorine converts to HCI (Hypochlorous Acid) once met with water. I use it primarily as an agent to keep my rootzone and containers free of easy to kill anaerobic pathogens. The stinky slimy kind.

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But chlorine is bad for us you could use hydrogen peroxide probably just as efficiently.

bit of bro crap coming through here- were is the proof chlorine is bad for cannabis ----

Scuzzman said:

bit of bro crap coming through here- were is the proof chlorine is bad for cannabis ----

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I thought it was bad for humans to consume through a plant that’s why we filter it through our water

Seanf610 said:

But chlorine is bad for us you could use hydrogen peroxide probably just as efficiently.

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All city tap water has chlorine. It's not harmful unless it's at a dangerous level. 2-3 ppm isn't gonna hurt anything.
.

Bob&Trees said:

All city tap water has chlorine. It's not harmful unless it's at a dangerous level. 2-3 ppm isn't gonna hurt anything.

Water Disinfection with Chlorine and Chloramine | Public Water Systems | Drinking Water | Healthy Water | CDC

Education and information about water treatment, community water treatment, water systems, public drinking water, safe drinking water, coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, disinfection, community water fluoridation, fluoridation, consumer confidence reports, CCR, household water...

www.cdc.gov

.

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Yea so maybe not everyone does the same thing but I like to filter the water for fluoride and all that for watering

1) what about a UV light to kill. Inline or in the res.

yep understand 100% dude- , I live in country were Fluoride has been added for years, no issues at all (not enough added to hurt but really beneficial for the teeth) , the folk who live off tank/bore or well water have issues - no one cares when we water the veggies or fruit trees or even shower/bath

Also I grow in coco coir -RTW is the way to go no need for run off, water/feed 2-3 times a day easy as (keep the nutrients down a little)

Seanf610 said:

But chlorine is bad for us you could use hydrogen peroxide probably just as efficiently.

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You could get away with higer temps if you populate your grow with trychodermia(hope i spelled it right) they are carnivores.tnc bactor i use allsoo controls the ph.i just never used it on large scale most i went was 75L got a diary of daily ph and ppm changes

SnidleyBluntash said:

1) what about a UV light to kill. Inline or in the res.

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At a farm near me they have uv light filtered ground water that they sell for drinking so it works on plants too it’s like 1.25 for 2.5 gallons so it’s fairly cheap to use on your garden just a thirty minute drive

Scuzzman said:

yep understand 100% dude- , I live in country were Fluoride has been added for years, no issues at all (not enough added to hurt but really beneficial for the teeth) , the folk who live off tank/bore or well water have issues - no one cares when we water the veggies or fruit trees or even shower/bath

Also I grow in coco coir -RTW is the way to go no need for run off, water/feed 2-3 times a day easy as (keep the nutrients down a little)

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I grew up in nj so we used well water but not from a pull string well we filtered it they usually do but the best water is even natural water from farms exc. or nature. I’m in PA now and the water isn’t as good near Philly but it’s still not bad out in the country side like areas.

amneziaHaze said:

You could get away with higer temps if you populate your grow with trychodermia(hope i spelled it right) they are carnivores.tnc bactor i use allsoo controls the ph.i just never used it on large scale most i went was 75L got a diary of daily ph and ppm changes

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Ok cool I’m glad someone gave me an alternative I was thinking if I ever do hydro I’ll just use fresh water with live enzymes from nature at a spring source with a even ph and no bad bacteria content.