Planning a new hydro setup

[WeedHopper]

My Nutes Drifted in my DWCs and my Girls did very well. I gave up trying to keep it at 5.8 all the time. Way to big of a pain. I think when I start growing again Im gonna give F&D a try.

 

[Surfer Joe]

Thanks.
My next grow will have to be in soil because the bucket temps will get too high in the garage during the summer.
I am going to try airpots and then give hydro another go next winter.
But in my space, I will never have enough room for anything more than a single bubble bucket at a time.

 

[trillions of atoms]

Running gh 2 part w some roots accelerant this run...no phing...havent even checked!

Usually im anal about ph but I have been watching plants and have been fine. I did accidently flood the tray all day once ( I run high ppm) and did notice a SLIGHT nute overload w a couple sagging leaves ( hanging off the main vein)
I topped off w 2 gals of ro water and flooded as usual the day after.


Im actually really suprised how well they look after little care.

I use micro and bloom. Hit w koolbloom liquid 2 weeks flower n bump it up...month in I start w a lil kb powder, then knock it up from there.

 

[CasualGrower]

only thing I see, why fill from the bottom of the buckets..... to get solution up to drain level you are gonna need a heck of a pump to pressure up 4 buckets....... Just fill from the top and oversize your drain lines to avoid overfilling. Make sure you keep a good eye on root growth to keep them from plugging the drain lines. But that would be for a Circulating DWC.... IF DWC... put a stone in each bucket.... If this a Flood/Drain system a few times a day.... the design will work, You will have to adjust pump size and drains to tune the system.....

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Weedhopper, I am very unhappy with my flood and drain. My DWC plants are going much better.

I never try and keep my pH steady. I start low and let it slowly climb to about 6.0. By then they are ready for a res change.

 

[WeedHopper]

I just like messen with stuff THG. F&D is one idea. He he

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I like messing with stuff, too. Lots of people swear by F & D. I figure I am doing something wrong, but haven't a clue what.....

 

[trillions of atoms]

I would bet goddess that your over or under watering....

if you have been running dwc a while...your intune with it.

 

[bagabones]

I was really impressed by the heavy growth seen in hydro growing, but servicing even a couple of buckets has been a fair amount of work .
I was wondering about future plans and came up with this design and would appreciate any comments.
The idea is having a pump from a large rez into some buckets at their base and an overflow tube out of the bucket at the desired height and back to the rez by gravity. (see diagram)

A couple of concerns I have in this design is where to put air in.
Should I aerate the main rez or put an airstone in each bucket?
Could I put in a venturi tube at the inlet of each bucket to create aeration without an airstone?

Also, how do you clean such a large main rez or the buckets during a grow?
Do you leave the buckets alone and just clean the rez?
Do you just flush the rez and plumbing system to clean it?
I would prefer to design a rez that is easier to service than the one in my diagram. Maybe one that is a tall cylinder that can sit beside rather than below, but I was not sure how to plumb such a setup.

this is only my opinion;

I have grown a few different hydro styles... personally this looks like a ebb n grow but with the res under the plants which is less efficient than the ebb n grow

if I was going to go with this style system I would go with drip lines that top feed and let it drain back from the bottom into the res

you will have less root disease issues and could potentially use a smaller rez (not that smaller is better)

im personally not a huge fan of the flood and drain methods.. I have found root disease is more probable

 

[Donalogical]

Interesting comment bagabones- I've found this to be the case as well. However, I'm looking to fix this issue in my personal setup now.

 

[Gooch]

I am new to hydroponics and growing cannabis in general, I have 2 types of hydro systems one is a 6pot single unit, the other is an ebb and grow. I read each post in here, and thank you all for the great insights, especially the difference in timer settings with the ebb and grow during growth and flower, and also about the root disease info from baga I suspect that may have something to do with over watering possibly, especially if once a day for 15 minutes seems to work for one. From what i understand the way to get the oxygen in the ebb and grow is when it is drained and in the open air, am i mistaken? and wouldnt having it constantly submerged cause it to rot?