Pyro's Vertical rdwc

[video=youtube_share;ALdlA6ET4WA]http://youtu.be/ALdlA6ET4WA[/video]

proper procedure for pvc would require a solid jig with straps. And if pvc is collapsing you need to fill pvc with 5-10 psi compressed air prior to making bend. You will need cap ends and intstall quick connect with ball valve. If you dont have large volume tank to fill pipe without cycling you may need gauge on cap. I have bent large diameter pvc without it collapsing. but if you are not familar with pvc it would be best to air it up. cause pvc is a little $$

We had the PVC plugged and did apply some pressure. I think a culprit could have been that we were bending around something that wasn't so sturdy. The problem I felt that was an issue was just the fact that we could only heat maybe 2-3 feet at a time to get flexible. It made it difficult.

This corrugated pipe was a $35 experiment. If it works to par, then it really puts the numbers of a PVC system to shame I guess. If flushing every 2 weeks is all I have to do, I'm happy.

I wish I could have gotten good results from PVC. I think the finished result would have been cleaner, and a little easier to work with. I would have loved a perfectly bend and tilted spiral with the flares on the pipe. It'd require no glue and could be disassembled pretty easy.

I'm currently smoking the Chemdog I've harvested in some 1 gallon soil buckets. It's pretty rad. My tolerance has dropped.

iPurpleSticky said:

Have any of you guys heard of the 12/1 lighting schedule?

In short, for veg you do 12 hours on, 5.5 off, 1 hour on, 5.5 off. Flowering is something like 11 on 13 off then slowly change to 9-15 in the last few weeks.

I'm debating trying it. It is a little odd. But the power savings means I could totally move up to a 600 or 1000 watt light in flowering since I'd save a ton in veg. I was just wondering if anybody had any experience. I haven't done a ton of research, but I think I may start.

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Running a 12 hours on, 5.5 off, 1 hour on, 5.5 off light schedule will cause your plants to hermie. That technique is normally used during the flowering cycle by growers who want there plants to create seeds.

Hm. Alright.

I didn't know how I felt about it, but we shall see. Maybe I'll run a test for education.

[video=youtube;8CcYEnM2058]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CcYEnM2058&feature=youtu.be[/video]

I've built a 40" long "oven" with a pair of long rollers to facilitate evenly heating enough 4" PVC to do 1/4 of a 4' diameter circle. I've also built a pair of jigs that interface together to "sandwich" the PVC into the quarter circle with enough straight pipe left to couple or otherwise join the lengths together. I've had problems with;

-bringing the PVC up to temp
-the PVC kinking when I'm trying to bend it

I'm heating the oven with a heat gun, and I just acquired a second gun so I'm hoping I'll be able to get the oven hotter. I was switching the one gun from one end to the other, now I can run the two guns simultaneously and hopefully get better results. I've also added some insulation to the outside of the oven in an attempt to keep heat loss down. I wasn't inflating the pipe enough to keep it from kinking because the removable endcaps kept popping off once it was pressurized and I don't have access to the purpose-built plugs. I'll try simply taping the endcaps and see if that helps. Glad to see I'm not the only one recoiling from the prospect of buying all those PVC unions but love the flooded tube look.

I plan on doing this in a 5x5 tent. What length do you think I would need for 4 levels? I was going to use 1 inch pvc to make holders to support the pipe.

drekoushranada said:

I plan on doing this in a 5x5 tent. What length do you think I would need for 4 levels? I was going to use 1 inch pvc to make holders to support the pipe.

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Not to hi-jack PurpleSticky's thread but...

Wood and fasteners like PurpleSticky uses are probably less expensive and more versatile than making your supports with PVC. Adjustable spur and bracket shelf supports could perhaps be used as well; these would provide a means to tweak the height and angle of your tubes without having to rebuild or shim your support frame.

TheBoy, I tried PVC too, and it's just tough. I didn't ever build a jig or anything though. It'd be nice to have this out of PVC, but this stuff works. The only downside is the corrugation. I had issues with algae growing in the corrugation, but it didn't cause any harm. It seemed like it couldn't grow out of the corrugation, because it'd get swept away. I had no issues with my roots either[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif].
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Drekoushranada, I used a 50 foot length, but my last 4th row only made it about a quarter of the way around. That's with a 4 foot diameter. Wood will definitely be cheaper like TheBoy mentioned. I'm not even sure if I'd be comfortable with all that weight on PVC. Even my setup could use some bulking up. If I were to rebuild, I'd definitely put 4x4s in the 'corner's for some support. There's quite a bit of water in those tubes, and they get super heavy.

Cool I figured that I read the whole thread but I'm not sure if I over looked how you did your frame. Could you explain how you did it for me? I seen something about it on the first page but I don't understand really. I'm sure I can tweek it for a tent and with a 4 foot diameter I can just pop one of my 600 hps in there and start a good perpetual grow with the money saved from the change of pipe to purchase another tent.

All I did was make octagons. I just cut all my sides of the octagon to length, then clamped a block onto my miter saw so I could shove them on, and cut them without measuring. The octagons became the shelves for the pipe to sit on. I used bailing wire to tie it down in some places, but it'll sit there on it's own pretty well.

From there, I just put legs on it.

I personally used 1x3s for the cost, and they work just fine. I ended up building the entire system (wood, corrugated pipe, and pump) for 135 bucks. The pump was 60, so the setup really isn't all that expensive.

Now I just need to get cloning working again, it's starting to put me really far behind.

How many mother plants were/are being used to fill the system with clones?

Well, I've got Cluster, Jamaican Dream, Jack, Chemdog, Hawaiian Snow, and Vanilla Kush. I'd bet a or two in 5 gallon buckets of coco would be plenty. Once they start getting big, taking 4-5 clones a week isn't a big deal.

I'm slowly getting it filled as we speak. I was having issues with cloning in a DWC , so I am kind of behind. Right now I've got 3 clusters flowering, and I've got 5-6 assorted strains going in, mostly cluster but I've got a Vanilla kush and a JAck in there too.

I think what I may do with these incoming clones is keep them in a bubble bucket the first week or two of flowering and run high N nutrients. The size of the previous plants that had high N ferts through the beginning of flower were almost twice the size of the plants I'm growing now. Either a bubble bucket or I could convert the top row to run different nutrients and the bottom rows to run flowering... That would work too, I could even clone in it.

Well right now I just started 5 mother plants from seed. I was thinking of getting a 8 long x 7 high x 4 wide tent and set up two octagons so I can do a perpetual run. I would like to make one big one and just connect the pipe in the tent. I only have one chiller so they would use the same rez anyway. The lighting would be two 600w on each side of the tent. How does that sound and do you have any ideas of how to set up the tent?

I think running 2 octagons instead of one would be more efficient. You lose 2 'sides' if you make it one big oval.

What you could do, is just make a single octagon, but make 4 full rows and run your 600 watters stacked on top of each other. That'd save some room and would still have a huge yield. Then you'd have room inside the tent for a veg chamber.

Understood. I like the 2 octagons better. I have a 5x5 tent for my mother and cloning chamber. Yeah I expect a good yeild for sure this go round.

hey i purple sticky, i have considered using corrugated pipe but wanted to use fittings. you came up with a simple answer with the shims in making the dams. the simplest things seem at times to be the most profound. i am building an octagon unit right now and was looking up info when i came across your thread i am glad i did.

If you wrapped up your ducting you'd probably kill the algae problem. It won't grow without light, so your material is probably not completely opaque. It's the only thing I can think of. Seems it would be a fine line between "enough light for algae growth" and "enough light to kill roots" so I could be wrong.