Drain-to-Waste Questions

OctoberKing

Active Member
Hey folks,

Been growing in soil for a while now and I'm seriously considering making the switch to Drain to Waste and I have a ton of questions.

First here is my set-up. I have two tents inside a 5' x 6' closet, one tent is 31" x 31" x 84' tall, the second tent is 20" x 36" x 62" tall. The second tent sits on a short shelf so I have room to store gallon jugs of water, nutrients and a few supplies below the smaller tent. Normally I use the larger tent to grow one photo period plant and the smaller tent normally has two autoflowers.

So this is what I have in mind; I'd like place a 10 gallon reservoir on the shelf below the small tent. A Botanicare 10 gallon reservoir would fit nicely. Then pump my nutrient solution to the two tents to top feed my plants, I was thinking of using round Floracaps. I'd have my plants on a tray with an open drain to a waste reservoir.

This is where I get lost. I know my pump would be on a timer, but how do you control the rate of flow (gph) to each tent? Since each tent will have an open drain to waste I'm not worried about overflow however I'd like to be able to dial it in so not to needlessly waste nutrients. Oh and what size pump would you suggest?

So any help or suggestions is welcomed here, thanks.

Peace,

October
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member

OctoberKing

Active Member
So after reading everyone's responses and suggestions I've done some looking online. So I'm thinking having a submersible pump in the reservoir plumbed to a multi-port pressure compensating emitter. From the emitter running 1/4" tubes to the Floracaps. Would this work? Also this might be a deal breaker, reservoir temperatures, my closest temperatures can run to about 80°F in the summertime. What's my maximum temperature for nutrient solution? Also would I need to aerate the reservoir?

Thanks
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
So after reading everyone's responses and suggestions I've done some looking online. So I'm thinking having a submersible pump in the reservoir plumbed to a multi-port pressure compensating emitter. From the emitter running 1/4" tubes to the Floracaps. Would this work? Also this might be a deal breaker, reservoir temperatures, my closest temperatures can run to about 80°F in the summertime. What's my maximum temperature for nutrient solution? Also would I need to aerate the reservoir?

Thanks
you got some cash and want to do it right the first time and save a bunch of headaches?

chiller prob 1/10, 1/4 hp, a small pump in the res to the chiller and run a line back to the res that waterfalls into it. you'll have cool water and all the dissolved oxygen you'll ever need.
 

TintEastwood

Well-Known Member
Pic
So after reading everyone's responses and suggestions I've done some looking online. So I'm thinking having a submersible pump in the reservoir plumbed to a multi-port pressure compensating emitter. From the emitter running 1/4" tubes to the Floracaps. Would this work? Also this might be a deal breaker, reservoir temperatures, my closest temperatures can run to about 80°F in the summertime. What's my maximum temperature for nutrient solution? Also would I need to aerate the reservoir?

Thanks
That should be perfect-o for Floracaps. Even flow from the manifold. bongsmilie

I hope you can be creative and keep your res temps down.

Otherwise.....Exactly what @rkymtnman said. I've struggled with high res temps and cloner temps. Hassle keeping cold gallons in refrigerator.
Chillers are the bees-knees, but they can be bank account breakers! :cuss:
Nice that they can double for use with cloner.
 

gr865

Well-Known Member
As a hobby grower I never really think about the cost of my grows. The way I look at it as if I were to be purchasing cannabis. I smoke about a pound a year, and the rest I make FECO out of, well now I have discovered Rosin there will be a little less to smoke, at least combustibles. So at present I have around 2.5 pounds of smokable buds in jars but about to make a large batch of FECO.
If I was purchasing cannabis for my smoke and med's it would be somewhere around $3,000 to 5,000 for that amount. I know damn good an well I don't spend near that amount growing cannabis that is better and more healthy than what they sell in CO or Cal.

LOL, real stoned so may not proof read.
 

OctoberKing

Active Member
So wow, a 1/10 hp chiller looks to be around $350. Now that's more than I'd like to shell out. But like gr865 I wouldn't let that keep me from doing what needs to be done. My wife has Multiple Sclerosis, that's exactly why I started growing and why I will continue to do so. Actually the cost of getting a DTW system is very reasonable. My grow space is unique so sourcing the drain trays will be the hardest part. Now I did grab my infrared thermometer and checked the temperature of the gallon jugs of water I keep on the bottom shelf and they were all around 71°F so I'm confident that even in the middle of the summer I could keep the water temperature below 75°F. So here comes another question, is 75°F nutrient solution a few days during the summer to high? I believe most of the time I'd see temps in the mid 60's to low 70's, also thinking of upping the reservoir from 10 to 20 gallons to help keep the temps down.

Thanks
 
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