converted dwc to drip system?

[willowgrow]

Okay, so for my next grow i have converted a space in my attic into a pretty legit, framed in grow room (more in another post when i get some pics). I had originally wanted to run a DWC system with all the buckets having an individual ball/valve drain and networked together via pvc and drain into a tubbermaid res. i would then have a water pump working to refill those buckets when i drained them. So basically it is 3 buckets that i would drain into a main res every few days, and from there i can monitor the PH, TDS, etc. and then repump them back into the buckets. So my question is: instead of having a DWC system, can i just leave the roots dangling in the empty 5 gal buckets (they will still be in the rockwool, placed in netcups full of hydrotron) and then place a wick or tube at the base of the stem/rockwool. So like every 30min or so it would pump water to the base of the plant, then work its way down into the bucket and drain back into the res?

Sorry for the short story, im kinda high so this makes perfect sense to me, but im sure it is somewhat confusing to you all. Any advice is much appreciated

 

[ShecallshimThor]

sound kinda like a flood and drain modification to me
maybe read up on aeroponics (sp?)

 

[Tater]

Yeah you can do that. Instead of pumping the solution back into a reservoir why not just cycle it? Hook your buckets up in a circle put a pump in your reservoir and have it pull water from the buckets into the res and out the other side back into the buckets, every thing stay's mixed and ready to check at a moments notice. Did you install a drain in your attic? I would.

I understand what it is you are trying to do, you want to set up a drip system kinda like a water farm. This will work well but watch for over watering at the beginning until the plant has a well established root structure. You could have the buckets higher than the reservoir and this would effectively let gravity act as your "pump" to bring the water back to your reservoir. If this is the way you want to go I would install my grommets about 6-8 inch's above the bottom of the bucket, that way it won't run dry in the event of a pump failure and if you got an airstone int here you still have a dwc system. Let us know what you decide.

 

[willowgrow]

You could have the buckets higher than the reservoir and this would effectively let gravity act as your "pump" to bring the water back to your reservoir. If this is the way you want to go I would install my grommets about 6-8 inch's above the bottom of the bucket, that way it won't run dry in the event of a pump failure and if you got an airstone int here you still have a dwc system. Let us know what you decide.

Putting the valve up higher would be a great fail-safe, wish i had thought of it , and I think i'll go that route. I'm not sure i quite understand your first method. The buckets' drain valves are all networked through 1/2" pvc with one common drain that empties into a res below it by gravity. Are you saying put a air pump in the individual 5gal res? Also, the wall behind my attic growroom happens to be a guest-bathroom :hubba:, with all the fixtures literally 2 feet away from my attic setup. I had previously thought about tying into it, but was sitting on the idea until I actually had to change out the res and see how hard it was going to be (i know its going to be a biatch, just wanted to see if it was manageable). Thanks for putting my mind at ease though :ccc:

 

[Tater]

I set my grow room up in a bedroom that shared a wall with a bathroom. Cut a hole in the wall and T'd into the existing drain line (talk to your local hardware store about options for this, tell them you are installing a second sink for the missus ) Saves me a ton of time and labor. Think of the first system as a clock face, put your controller at 12 oclock in your mind then a bucket at 3, 6, and 9. Now imagine your drain line starts at 12 runs around the clock into each bucket entering the bucket at 3 oclock on the 12 oclock side and exiting on the 9 oclock side, then into the 9 oclock bucket and out the other side etc etc until you get back to your controller. Now you have two holes/hoses one leaveing your control bucket and one returning, attach a pump to either and cycle the water so that the water moves in a circular fashion from the controller to the 3 oclock to the 9 oclock etc and back to the controller. This will keep your nutrients olution mixed and simplify checking your buckets as you will now only need to check your control bucket.