Waterfarm System.

Does anyone have any experience with these?

Flora Hydroponics, Grow Lights, Hydroponic Nutrients, Hydroponic Supplies, Hydroponic Systems

I'm hoping to switch over to one of these systems next grow so that I can get an extra foot of vertical space, but I wanted to find someone whos laid hands on it and get their opinion.

....Anyone?

i am using taht system for flowring.
it is a good system
but it is just kind of a hassle because you will have check the water for each indvidual bucket.

willard said:

i am using taht system for flowring.
it is a good system
but it is just kind of a hassle because you will have check the water for each indvidual bucket.

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Thanks for the info. Could you elaborate on the pros/cons? I read on the site that it has a float valve or something that regulates water level...does it not work that well? Or it just wasn't designed to regulate the levels in the buckets? Do the buckets just lift apart or is it more of a pain in the ass than that?

you can get it off ebay for like $150

panessa said:

Thanks for the info. Could you elaborate on the pros/cons? I read on the site that it has a float valve or something that regulates water level...does it not work that well? Or it just wasn't designed to regulate the levels in the buckets? Do the buckets just lift apart or is it more of a pain in the ass than that?

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well i actually havent put it to use yet
because i still vegging my plants.
i am using a drip system right now.
and theni am going to cut clones and put it in my hydro farm

the float valve basically gives more water from the top resviior to the btm one when the btm one is getting low. . but i was thinking that it will be too complicated and hassle to keep on swithcing it
so i was planning to just use the buckets. and whenever they are getting low on water i am just going to put it in myself. instead of having the reservioir to regulate it.

i think it just makes it easeier.
what do you think?

I would hope to be able to use the res. Just so I can have it on a timer when i can't be there as often as would be necessary otherwise.

Im alittle foggy on how the buckets work?

Theres one inside the other...water runs through the top and collects in the bottom bucket?

Do you use hydroton in the top bucket?

Are the roots allowed to grow into the bottom bucket?

What forces the water back into the res from the bottom of the buckets?

Sorry, But i've only seen very small pictures of this setup, and I'm pretty much guessing at how all this would work.

I would hope to be able to use the res. Just so I can have it on a timer when i can't be there as often as would be necessary otherwise.

***The res isn't on a timer..it continuously fills the buckets via the flot valve. A timer would be used for the drip application/the airpump that operates the buckets themselves.

Im alittle foggy on how the buckets work?

Theres one inside the other...water runs through the top and collects in the bottom bucket?

****The water in the bottom of the bucket is recirculated up and into the "drip ring" via air powered by the airpump. Basically...air forces small bubbles of water up the tube where they explode and then run into the ring and drip out...percolating down through the hydroton and over the roots and back into the bottom of the bucket where the process repeats.

Do you use hydroton in the top bucket?

***Yes.

Are the roots allowed to grow into the bottom bucket?

***Yes. This can be a problem if they grow into the tube/air tubing...etc... and they probably will. These systems make great rootballs.....

What forces the water back into the res from the bottom of the buckets?

***Nothing. The res feeds the buckets *fresh water* ever-so-slowly as the levels drop/water is used. This drop happens at a faster rate as the plant matures.

Sorry, But i've only seen very small pictures of this setup, and I'm pretty much guessing at how all this would work.

*** I am using the "guts" of the system..the drip ring..the tube...etc. and
have placed this in a 10" mesh bucket that sits inside a 5 gallon bucket. I have 6 of these connected together and I use another 5 gallon bucket as the fill res.... it's hard to explain but is infinitely easy.

good luck with yer grow

bt dt

I am useing one of those set up's right now, for my mother. The system seems to work great, and there is a clear tube that goes vertical on the outside of the bucket, so you can see the water level inside the bucket. I think it is a great system. I need to get another bucket though, so when I change the nut solution, I can just sit the top in it, while I do my work.

I can't thank you guys enough, this is extremely helpful.

How hard would it be to get a harvested plant's root mass out of the bucket? The pictures I saw looked like very small holes in the top bucket. That was reason number one I just threw out my stealth hydro tub when I harvested....getting the roots off the pots and all that shit just wasn't worth it

Btdt: You read my mind. I was watching an episode of weeds on showtime and they were going in what looked like 5 gallon buckets, with fill and drain nozzles. What is between your 10" pot and the bottom of the bucket? Or did you get buckets with lids and cut holes in the lids? Do you have pics?

Alright, i looked around on ebay and found a guy who sells 5 gallon bucket lids....that have pots built into them. (i had no idea such a thing existed, this is probably what you were talking about btdt.)

He also sells the complete drip tube guts for your own bucket. (again, i had no idea)

I ordered 8 of each, and I'll go pick up some buckets. Couldn't/Wouldn't have done it without you guys.

like this i hope...

eBay: GIANT NET POT 10" Mesh Bottom Sides fits 5 Gal Bucket (item 320113398368 end time Jul-10-07 22:27:20 PDT)

I just bash a hole in the bottom of the mesh pot for the Waterfarm tube to go through...

I put the buckets together as normal...with the clear tube installed that goes up the side that crabnock spoke about...

I had my buckets seperate at first...each being their own res...etc. I found it hard to change/check the water this way, so used more blue tubing and some 1/2 "tees" and plumbed all of the buckets as one by taking those vertical tubes and laying them down sideways and hooking them all together...then I ran the last leg of the "T" over to another 5 gal bucket that also has an inlet and an outlet that I use as the "res" to put in new water/check pH...etc. I can also drain the system from this bucket...making it infinitely easier than having to lift the bucket top and change the water.

I hope you can see how it works in the pic.

Yea I was thinking about that. removing the lids, especally when they're 5-8 weeks into flower, would be a bitch.

The original purpose of the clear tubes was to indicate water level only, right? Some of the text on the pic was alittle blurry, but I got think I have the general idea. You're an office and a gentleman, btdt.

Are you still using the float valve in the res? Or is gravity operated?

Also, under your current setup, about how much water sits in the bottom of each of your plant buckets when you've just filled everything up?

hey panessa.

I'm working my way through all of this too. This is the first run with this set up and I have historically been a soil grower. I've dabbled..but never "fully immersed" myself in the hydro thing...

Yeah..the blue tube was originally a water level indicator. In my set up...I could add one to the "res" bucket if I wanted to check the level...but I just stick my hand in there and get an idea....adding water if needed. I try to keep 4-6" of water in the bottom of each bucket due to the DWC combo i'm doing. You may get away with less..you will see that it takes "X" amount to just get the water to pump up the column...and from there the flow will increase somwehat the more water there is in the bucket.

I've also added an airstone and a second O2 Max diapraghm pump to my system...so it drips and bubbles at the same time. I do this to give em more oxygen (never hurts in hydro/dwc) and to ensure that everything circulates better and will work until the end of the grow. One of the things about these systems, (waterfarm) I'm told....is that the roots can eventaully clog up the air tube/stem and it will cease to pump water until cleaned out. With the airstones...even if only placed there for an emergency (tubing sticking out somewhere and accessible but not hooked up if you don't have a second pump) you will still have a DWC/lots of oxygen goin on if the drip tube fails.
I'll run my drip as long as it works..after that..I may drop another airstone in there instead. We'll see. Time will tell. It's all a crap shoot...

No float valve. If you wanted to do that and have more water in a res you can stack 2 buckets...putting the float valve in the bottom and setting it at the level you want the water in the system buckets...and "charging" it from the bucket above via a 1/2" tube feed. Fill the upper bucket...it feeds the lower bucket as the system uses water via the float valve. This is how the GH system works. T'would be a great way to be able to extend the time between checking on the system if needed. for me..i'm around enough/check enough/mess with my system enough it isn't warranted.

anyway...I'm getting KILLER/very lush growth....and the clones I took at the same time that are in soil are about 1/3 the size of these! Can't wait to see what the BUDS do...but need to construct a new space to put all of this in and hook up the final light set up before they go 12/12 and am going to let them get HUGE before I do...

prolly only a few weeks away at this rate! LOL. Yikes!

good luck.

bt dt

After i dismantle my current flowering setup I should have a couple extra air stones and air pumps...so I won't let anything go unused.

As far as the roots cloging shit up. My first grow was a stealth hydro tub, same basic dwc/bubbler concept were talking about here. And the drip tube was clogged and useless after about 3.5 weeks of veg, once the roots are in the water, I'll get another air pump, and I won't be as anal about checking the tubing.

I've never been able to move plants halfway through a grow, so the small ones get overshadowed by larger ones, and don't reach potential...I'll be moving those buckets all the time....not to mention I can let them get 6' tall now........fucking exciting.


As far as soil, when I was a little kid, I would help my mom with her soil grows. But I hadn't grown anything in awhile, and I figured if I was going to learn it all over again...I wanted to get better yeilds than her....and now I do

I've used water farms to grow mothers before. Since I was cutting on them regularly, I kept them smaller and bushier than normal growth would be, and that was a good thing. I think you'll find that if your plants get too big, the system won't hold them. And when you top off by pouring into the rocks, the plants can easily topple. I would use a very low strength nute solution in those, too. And keep them clean, they clog with dried nutes.

HTH

potroast said:

I've used water farms to grow mothers before. Since I was cutting on them regularly, I kept them smaller and bushier than normal growth would be, and that was a good thing. I think you'll find that if your plants get too big, the system won't hold them. And when you top off by pouring into the rocks, the plants can easily topple. I would use a very low strength nute solution in those, too. And keep them clean, they clog with dried nutes.

HTH

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Even if you adapted the system, like btdt was talking about, with 5 gallon buckets?

Could you post a REVIEW of the system here:
https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/18840-store-bought-system-reviews.html

they are looking for REVIEWs to put in the new GROWFAQ that will soon change to a wikipedia format.

These aren't storebought systems, Roseman...they're stoner created and pretty much untested...at least by moi'...LOL

plants toppling?

if our plants get *that* large panessa...I think I can figure out a way to hold the bitch up...how 'bout you? (ahhh....bondage)

fwiw...there's a lot more mesh/places for the roots to grow out of in the 10" mesh posts than the pots the Waterfarms come with....which are shallower by far. Even so///I'll be ready should they look unstable at any point in time.
Currently my plants are as wide as they are tall...so not too top heavy yet...

bt dt

Yea, Im scrapping my ebb and flow setup after 1 grow because the table sits so high off the ground that I can't allow my plants to grow that tall...and they're doing it anyway. When I change to the bucket setup, I should be able to let them grow to about 6' tall, and yea btdt, if they get that big....I'll find some way of supporting them...with a big smile on my face. I still don't have my hands on any of this, but I'm really hoping that a 5 gallon bucket with hydroton and water would be heavy enough to support the plant properly....but we'll cross that road when we get there.

panessa
are you starting from seed or clones?

and how many plants are u planning to grow?just the 8 or more?