hydro with scrog in buckets, drip system?

R

rookanga

Member
Hi, this isnt the first time ive grown, but it will be the first time growing with hydro, I was thinking about the "General Hydroponics WaterFarm - 8 Pack" way of doing it, I have a low ceiling, about 7 feet, so I thought scrog would be perfect for it, also helps out with yields, my question is, how would you scrog a bucket? I was thinking about 3 feet altogether for each bucket, this way, I could move them around so they wont grow into each other, but I dont know if you put metal rods into the bucket or would you attach it to the outside of the bucket itself? Also if anyone has any other ideas, please share them, im trying to set it up the best way I can.

One more question, how do you make a "hammer style" texture reflective wall, do you buy something then do it, or can you buy it already all done and cut it to length?

Thanks
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
You run 1 screen over the entire canopy (all 8 buckets) or however you need to if the rails are split from the res (1 screen on each row of 4) . You dont attach anything to the buckets. You can build a screen that goes in place and is held up on legs, or build a pvc screen that can be moved/broken down etc, or attach the screen to the perimiter walls of the grow area....the list goes on. If you need ideas for a screen let me know. I have a few diy that are cheap and easy to make. As for the water farm, there really shouldnt be much moving of the buckets at all. The stay where they are placed once set up for the most part.

As for "hammerstyle", you can get matte reflective finish on a 50 ft roll at hydroponics stores/online etc. Not sure where you are located, but you can also get something like this material from home depot if you want to get it today:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reach-Barrier-4-ft-x-25-ft-Air-Double-Reflective-Polyethylene-Insulation-Roll-DD48025/204476656?gclid=CKGAqZW1rs8CFYQDaQod8RoNEw&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Check out The Dawgs 5000k+730nm thread here in the led section. He's using waterfalls with diy screens that are awesome.
 
R

rookanga

Member
HydroRed said:
You run 1 screen over the entire canopy (all 8 buckets) or however you need to if the rails are split from the res (1 screen on each row of 4) . You dont attach anything to the buckets. You can build a screen that goes in place and is held up on legs, or build a pvc screen that can be moved/broken down etc, or attach the screen to the perimiter walls of the grow area....the list goes on. If you need ideas for a screen let me know. I have a few diy that are cheap and easy to make. As for the water farm, there really shouldnt be much moving of the buckets at all. The stay where they are placed once set up for the most part.

As for "hammerstyle", you can get matte reflective finish on a 50 ft roll at hydroponics stores/online etc. Not sure where you are located, but you can also get something like this material from home depot if you want to get it today:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reach-Barrier-4-ft-x-25-ft-Air-Double-Reflective-Polyethylene-Insulation-Roll-DD48025/204476656?gclid=CKGAqZW1rs8CFYQDaQod8RoNEw&gclsrc=aw.ds
Click to expand...
I was thinking about doing this before, but the problem that I came up with is, wont the plants grow into each other? They will be different strains and I was trying to eliminate the possible problem of them tangling into each other, thats where I came up with the idea of scroging each one to the bucket
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
rookanga said:
I was thinking about doing this before, but the problem that I came up with is, wont the plants grow into each other?
Click to expand...
If you utilize your screen for canopy management it wont be an issue. Lot of people forget that the screen is more than just a "bud support" while your plant grows. It was initially introduced into gardening so you can weave your tops through the netting and get a full complete canopy.
rookanga said:
They will be different strains and I was trying to eliminate the possible problem of them tangling into each other, thats where I came up with the idea of scroging each one to the bucket
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With different strains, your going to encounter different plant heights and bushiness. Keep in mind your going to be feeding different strains and plants from the same reservoir if you get the 8 bucket setup. How are you going to cater to one strain without changing the mix that feeds all 8 of them from 1 res? See what Im getting at? Also once you grow the plants into the net, then the other plants still keep growing taller than the others, your going to have a bitch of a time propping up the shorties of the bunch with the tall one under a net. Multiple strain grows on single feed systems are tough to say the least. Not to say you couldnt pull it off, but just making a few points to consider before you jump in.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
If you utilize your screen for canopy management it wont be an issue. Lot of people forget that the screen is more than just a "bud support" while your plant grows. It was initially introduced into gardening so you can weave your tops through the netting and get a full complete canopy.


With different strains, your going to encounter different plant heights and bushiness. Keep in mind your going to be feeding different strains and plants from the same reservoir if you get the 8 bucket setup. How are you going to cater to one strain without changing the mix that feeds all 8 of them from 1 res? See what Im getting at? Also once you grow the plants into the net, then the other plants still keep growing taller than the others, your going to have a bitch of a time propping up the shorties of the bunch with the tall one under a net. Multiple strain grows on single feed systems are tough to say the least. Not to say you couldnt pull it off, but just making a few points to consider before you jump in.
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I have 10 strains all on one res. As long as you don't go past 650 ppms man, it's all gravy, baby.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
I have 10 strains all on one res. As long as you don't go past 650 ppms man, it's all gravy, baby.
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What if 2 plants continue to stretch in the 3rd week of flower while the other 8 have stopped? How do you properly feed the one that is obviously going to need more (N) longer than the other 8 that have stopped stretching. You either have to starve the tall ones or adjust the entire system res for 2 plants. Either way, something is going to not be fed properly and will suffer from this.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
I've run multiple strains, but my bucket hydro system is run with individual reservoirs. Each bucket is its own reservoir. More work, but advisable to be able to fine tune for individual plants in multiple strain hydro grows.
 
R

rookanga

Member
HydroRed said:
If you utilize your screen for canopy management it wont be an issue. Lot of people forget that the screen is more than just a "bud support" while your plant grows. It was initially introduced into gardening so you can weave your tops through the netting and get a full complete canopy.


With different strains, your going to encounter different plant heights and bushiness. Keep in mind your going to be feeding different strains and plants from the same reservoir if you get the 8 bucket setup. How are you going to cater to one strain without changing the mix that feeds all 8 of them from 1 res? See what Im getting at? Also once you grow the plants into the net, then the other plants still keep growing taller than the others, your going to have a bitch of a time propping up the shorties of the bunch with the tall one under a net. Multiple strain grows on single feed systems are tough to say the least. Not to say you couldnt pull it off, but just making a few points to consider before you jump in.
Click to expand...

The thing I was thinking about it, to have the hose the connects into each bucket (about 2 feet long for each), be detachable, this way I could raise the bucket, disconnect it, move it to another place (if needs be) and either put a different one there or have it connected up without a bucket being there.

Now having each bucket on its own reservoir, would be great, but a couple of things come to mind, does each bucket need its own air pump? What happens if one bucket used up all the water without you realizing it (human error or for any other reason...), will it destroy the pump? What other problems should I be aware of, for this to happen?

I was wondering about putting the scrog on the bucket, so I could move it around, if needs be, sorry I didnt mentioned that before, I figure this could give me more flexibility then confinement.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
rookanga said:
The thing I was thinking about it, to have the hose the connects into each bucket (about 2 feet long for each), be detachable, this way I could raise the bucket, disconnect it, move it to another place (if needs be) and either put a different one there or have it connected up without a bucket being there.

Now having each bucket on its own reservoir, would be great, but a couple of things come to mind, does each bucket need its own air pump? What happens if one bucket used up all the water without you realizing it (human error or for any other reason...), will it destroy the pump? What other problems should I be aware of, for this to happen?

I was wondering about putting the scrog on the bucket, so I could move it around, if needs be, sorry I didnt mentioned that before, I figure this could give me more flexibility then confinement.
Click to expand...

There is no pump to be "destroyed" for the individual bucket setup. All you need is 1 air pump that can handle however many buckets you plan to run. Say you plant to run 8 buckets, then you get 1 commercial air pump for $60-$80 that comes with a manifold to connect all of the buckets to one pump. The buckets have sight tubes on the sides so you can see how full the bucket is without even touching the bucket. An occasional visual glance will keep your buckets from running too low.
As for attaching the scrog net to the bucket itself, up until @Airwalker16 pics above I haven't seen it done like that, but its pretty smart. Not sure how convenient it would be on 4+ plants though? At the end of the day its whatever is going to work best for you in your spot.
 
R

rookanga

Member
HydroRed said:
There is no pump to be "destroyed" for the individual bucket setup. All you need is 1 air pump that can handle however many buckets you plan to run. Say you plant to run 8 buckets, then you get 1 commercial air pump for $60-$80 that comes with a manifold to connect all of the buckets to one pump. The buckets have sight tubes on the sides so you can see how full the bucket is without even touching the bucket. An occasional visual glance will keep your buckets from running too low.
As for attaching the scrog net to the bucket itself, up until @Airwalker16 pics above I haven't seen it done like that, but its pretty smart. Not sure how convenient it would be on 4+ plants though? At the end of the day its whatever is going to work best for you in your spot.
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What about allowing the roots to soak in the water? Wouldnt that drown them? Or should there be a good size gap between the first bucket and the second bucket, so that there would be enough space for the water to collect and the roots would be laying in the water at all times? Also what happens when the roots grow long enough and hits that water and just sits in there, they wont drown?
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
rookanga said:
What about allowing the roots to soak in the water? Wouldnt that drown them? Or should there be a good size gap between the first bucket and the second bucket, so that there would be enough space for the water to collect and the roots would be laying in the water at all times? Also what happens when the roots grow long enough and hits that water and just sits in there, they wont drown?
Click to expand...
This made me laugh. Believe it or not, there's a reason it's called DEEP WATER CULTURE. Your roots are submerged in water 24/7. They absorb the nutes through the water. Water becomes the soil. You add air stones so that your water is constantly being oxygenated so they DON'T drown. If they were to sit in stagnant water, yes they'd die. But that's why I love RDWC so much. Everything is constantly moving and being mixed.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
rookanga said:
What about allowing the roots to soak in the water? Wouldnt that drown them? Or should there be a good size gap between the first bucket and the second bucket, so that there would be enough space for the water to collect and the roots would be laying in the water at all times? Also what happens when the roots grow long enough and hits that water and just sits in there, they wont drown?
Click to expand...
Thats what you are trying to promote is the roots growing into the water in the res. Like airwalker says, keep the res plenty oxygenated with lots of microbubbles from an airstone and the roots will love it!
20160928_001551.jpg
 
mytwhyt

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
If you're only doing a few 5 gal buckets, an attached screen is easy... A cut down tomato cage makes an excellent screen holder for a 5 gal bucket scrog... To recirculate a dwc without using a pump in the reservoir, you'll need to plumb the bucket a little different... A rdwc using a GH pumping column without the drip ring will circulate a bubble bucket at about 6 gal an hour......
The white 3/4" pvc is a standing water column... The top of water column is higher than the water in the grow bucket, and the separate reservoir... The water in the water column is filled by gravity from the separate reservoir.... When water is pumped into the grow bucket from the water column, gravity returns it to the reservoir..... You don't get the heat a submerged pump would add...
If you cut 8 of the locking tabs off the bucket lid, it still seals and it is a hell of a lot easier to get off/on..
The float valve is for an add back reservoir that would sit on top of the reservoir...
IMG_2854.JPG 1.JPG IMG_2861.JPG 2.JPG IMG_2863.JPG 4.JPG IMG_2864.JPG 3.JPG IMG_2868.JPG 5.JPG
 
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