Dirt bagger switching to DWC

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I had a couple of test this week. A ball buster of a calculus test so I haven’t posted much. So that means a big update with lots of pics. What’s the point of a journal without pics.bongsmilie


The day after I changed my nutes out last time the roots on my biggest plant had a brown goo all over them. I thought it might be root rot since my temps seem to be hovering around 73. I haven’t done anything about them because I want to see if it causes a problem. Anyway the brown goo has since disappeared and the roots are looking good.


The roots of the others are all about the same size.


The smaller 3 are all about the same size and have started growing good. They all turned a little purple yesterday and it got a little worse today. So I’ve decided to change the nutes out today.


The bigger plant has been topped and tied down. She is growing but showing signs of nute deficiencies. It’s crazy how fast she is growing.



Picked up some A.N. Bloom yesterday.


They are getting 1/2 strength this time. Hopefully they’ll like that. The valve made it a breeze to drain and rinse the system. There wasn’t any film build up or slim on the buckets so I just gave the system a good rinse. As you can see from the root photo above there was a small amount of debris in the bottom of the middle 2 buckets. It took 35 mins to drain, rinse and fill the system. I already had the nute mix ready but that took longer than the change.




Bought a new air pump. It pumps 38 ltr. per min. I’m going to run it to all the buckets in my veg room. Puts out a shit load of air, lots of bubbles.



I made an upgraded feeding tube for the system. It’s 1/2” all the way to the buckets. While my initial test on it seemed promising when I got it all together it just doesn’t perform as well as I would have liked. Currently with a 1/2 “ hose feeding the 1/4" hoses my slowest bucket changes out its water every 5mins and 4 secs. With 1/2” all the way its reduced to 4 min. even. I guess it’s the old law of diminished returns. I’d need to upgrade the pump to see a major increase. I’m sure I’ll use 1/2" in the flower room because I’ll be moving more water but considering the buckets are already set up for the 1/4" I’m going to stick the smaller hose.



I’ll be putting my other clones in that system tomorrow. I’m letting it pump a mix of water and h2o2 tonight to clean it all that crap from the fox farm nutes out.:bigjoint:
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
i like rdwc. i have two tote under each 400w with a res tank hooked up to sprayers in the lid of the others. my issue with it is the sprayers getting clogged and if the power goes out, i have to convert it to reg dwc real quick.
I keep the fluid in my res and buckets at the same level so if the power goes out they should be ok. My inlet hose is just a 1/4" elbow shoved through the bucket and pointed toward the water. I almost put a sprayer in there and had still planned to until you said that so thanks.
 

NONHater

Well-Known Member
I had just learned this actually lol...sublbc on you tube has some real informitive stuff. Lookin real good bro! Love me some root porn and lovin watching them grow for ya! Keep em white! Plants lookin good for the most part as well! Rep when can!
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
Well I’ve got the clones system built and now they are in their buckets. They all had small roots all over the plugs so hopefully they want take as long to get started.



I’ve added a 3/4" pvc pipe between each bucket to see if that will help prevent the sediment build up in the middle buckets. It seems to help with flow, it drains easier and stiffens up the system.







They have more bubbles now.


I mixed up a new batch of nutes for the bigger ladies at 3/4 strength. I also did 3/4 strength for the clones as well.

The stems are turning back to green and are fat as fuck. They all look a little perkier. I’ve never seen plants grow so fast, has to be at least a 1/4" every day. I need to start measuring them I guess.





They’ll be ready for flower probably 3 or 4 weeks before the room will be ready for them. Oh well I’ll just have to grow some big bitches.bongsmilie
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I had just learned this actually lol...sublbc on you tube has some real informitive stuff. Lookin real good bro! Love me some root porn and lovin watching them grow for ya! Keep em white! Plants lookin good for the most part as well! Rep when can!
Thanks man I'll have to check some videos out. You ever heard of the urban grower? LINK He pushes Advanced Nutrients but his videos are pretty sweet.
 

Irollfatties

Active Member
Damn your setup is identical to mine except it looks like you spent a hell of a lot more time and money in yours with all the plumbing and drains. I really didn't want to spend that much time and money when i'm going to switch over to Multi-flow. Its the next big thing. Its seems to be way easier and water temps can stay high. No matter what, I admire your dedication to your system.
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
Damn your setup is identical to mine except it looks like you spent a hell of a lot more time and money in yours with all the plumbing and drains. I really didn't want to spend that much time and money when i'm going to switch over to Multi-flow. Its the next big thing. Its seems to be way easier and water temps can stay high. No matter what, I admire your dedication to your system.
Good luck with the multi flow system. Are you going to buy or build?

It didn’t cost that much man, about 30 bucks a bucket with stones and everything. Aside from painting it probably only took 3 or 4 hours max to build, that’s with smoke breaks. PVC is cheap and easy. It’s actually cheaper than those barbed fittings and grommets that the hydro shop sells. Plus I feel a lot better about moving the system around.

The multi flow units look pretty sweet and if this doesn’t work out I may try something similar to it. Right now my system is kind of a cross between RDWC and an undercurrent system. An undercurrent system is what gave me the idea for the pipe between the buckets. I can definitely tell a difference in the flow.

My veg room stays 72 during the flower room’s dark cycle and the res stays about 67. When the flower room is running the room gets up to about 82 and the res temps are around 75. I’m hoping the amount of current the system has in it will allow for a little higher temps. I’m going to put in a small exhaust fan into the veg room. Hopefully this will help keep the temps down when the flower room is running. If the temps continue to be high I’ll move the res outside the room and into my basement. I’ll have to build something outside to make them look inconspicuous. I’m going to have to put the res for the flower room in my basement anyway so I’m already working on plans for that.bongsmilie
 

melazapura

Well-Known Member
Found your journal while browsing through, and I totaly love it man. You've done your homework job well done. I'm a noob on my first RDWC had some troubles but I think I'm finally getting the hang on things. Good luck+ rep :peace:
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
Redid the way the system ties into the res. This way it creates a loop instead of a single line out of the res.


Changed the feeder line. I kept hitting them the other way and causing leaks.


I went with an undercurrent system for the flower room. I’m using a 700 gph inline pump. I know it’s over kill but if I ever extend my system I don’t have to buy a new pump. The system has about 27 gallons of water in it.




It flows great.


I haven’t noticed any sediment in the bottom of the buckets. I put my ladies in the flower room last weekend and they are blowing up.


 

Irollfatties

Active Member
Dude i'm wishing i woulda used Pvc pipe now. LOL. I tried to move them a little and now they are leaking. :(. How does the pvc mount to the bucket? I'm switching to a 4x4 tent instead of a 5x2 so i'm gonna make a new one. Also did you buy all your stuff at the local Homedepot/lowes? I'm definately installing cut off valves this time. It will make things so much easier.
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
PVC rocks, and because I used bulk heads and orings it’s really easy to move around as long as it’s almost empty. For the veg room I was able to find everything I needed at Lowes. Well everything but he pump, cheaper at the hydro shop. The flower room I used 1 1/4” pvc so I had to go to an industrial supply store to find o rings big enough. If you go that big get the electrical conduit pvc for the bulk heads. The regular pvc is a pain in the ass to get tight. My elbow hurt for 2 days. I noticed the gray pvc conduit at Lowes today and it tightens all the way down with ease. I’ll be using those next time.
 

Irollfatties

Active Member
So you got the bulkhead fittings at lowes to? Hmm, well i'm using these bulkhead fittings right now so im unfamiliar with the ones you're using. And i would think 3/4 pipe would be as big as i need on the return lines, right?

Maybe i need to look harder for them at lowes.

 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
The reason I went with a bigger line is the flow. Well I read a lot of people recommending the bigger the better so you’ll have less chance of blockage when the roots fill the bucket. 1 1/4" was a big as I was comfortable going with the only o rings I could find. They aren’t thick enough for the curve of the buckets to go bigger. I called a local rubber manufacturer about making me some bigger rubber gaskets but they said it wouldn’t be economical for them to do it and I’d be better off finding something somewhere already made up. (Now that was great customer service)

I used male and female pieces of pvc to create my bulk heads. I put on o ring on each side of the bucket. I’ve seen a lot of people use those uniseals where the pipe just passes through it. Personally I don’t like those and they are expensive. The 3/4" pvc bulk heads cost me about 1 dollar a piece and the 1 1/4" cost about 2.50 bucks a piece.

Dam when I get high I like to ramble on.

For the 3/4 lines schedule 40 pvc fittings work great. I found o rings in the sink repair section. They are a #18 o ring with a 15/16” i.d. Works perfect.







 

melazapura

Well-Known Member
I thought this journal was dead.glad to see you are stil kickin it
Nice work with the system upgrade I think I might go with a undercurrent system next time around.
What do you think so far about it?
The ladies in flower are looking sexy keep us updated. this time I'm going to remember to hit subscribe to this thread :peace:
 

BudMcLovin

Active Member
I’ve been tied up with my calculus class. It’s had me ready to pull my hair out and jump off a bridge a couple of times. Mid term last week so I’ve got a few weeks of relaxation now.
I’m loving the system. The main stems are already huge. I’ve never had healthier plants. The leaves on the Satori are 7” long. Crazy big.


 
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