DIY DWC system question

PixieMeat

PixieMeat

Active Member
I'm planning to build a DWC system for a 1sqm space. To save money on pumps and space, I would like to build it in a larger box. My question is how many plants can I drill holes for in a longer plastic tote like this one (not exactly though) http://www.shoplet.com/Rubbermaid-Food-Boxes-12-1-2-Gallon/RCP3500WHI/spdv
Is there a rule of thumb to go by on how many gallons per plant is needed for both small strains like Lowryders and larger strains?

Thanks in advance.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Funny, I was just having a discussion about this . I started .... https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/346967-my-first-grow.html#post4373353 ... off with three small clones in a 37 gallon rubbermaid tote, pretty big tote and I fully intended to finish 3 plants to maturity, fat chance, I finally decided I couldn't even finish 2 large plants in this tote. Now I just responded to a guy in another thread that said he did 6 plants in one tote, I dunno the size but it was smaller than my 37 gallon(which I ended up retiring right after first veg). So I just asked him about yield, he says he got 17 zips, I'm having a hard time swallowing this info since I at the link above (my first grow) I had 4 plants and yielded about the same but I went for individual units, one plant one tote. My second design of a tote which you can see at the link above is sweet, I will continue using this type of tote forever I'd say. the lid in the front makes it very easy to change res or just check it. With any other tote I dunno how you go about that other than popping off the lid and if you have several large plants in it that would seem difficult, I do use 3 bubble buckets that the only way to check or change res is to remove the net pot and when plant reaches 4 foot tall that gets very tricky at times, My oractice is one plant one tote anymore. o h and the tote you're post, its clear, you want no light getting to the roots, you're better off just buying 5 gallon buckets probably since your area is so small.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
that totes too small too, you need room for roots to hang down. and that place you shop.....thats highway robbery at its finest, wtf? damn near 30 bux ? shop elsewhere.
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Depends entirely on how long you veg them for. I use 40L totes, so not too much smaller than that one, and at present i have just 1 plant in there which is going to be totally out of control once fully into flowering, and she was only vegged for around 4 weeks.

The roots do not need to "hang down" and will happily spread across the water area. The bubbles in mine cause the whole root mass to float at the surface.
 
PixieMeat

PixieMeat

Active Member
dbkick said:
that totes too small too, you need room for roots to hang down. and that place you shop.....thats highway robbery at its finest, wtf? damn near 30 bux ? shop elsewhere.
Click to expand...
I don't shop there, I live between southern Spain and The Netherlands.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
tip top toker said:
Depends entirely on how long you veg them for. I use 40L totes, so not too much smaller than that one, and at present i have just 1 plant in there which is going to be totally out of control once fully into flowering, and she was only vegged for around 4 weeks.

The roots do not need to "hang down" and will happily spread across the water area. The bubbles in mine cause the whole root mass to float at the surface.
Click to expand...
Ok then the roots "do not" need to hang down but 10 to 1 they'll do better if they are. unless the entire bottom of your tote is an air stone.
 
PixieMeat

PixieMeat

Active Member
dbkick said:
Funny, I was just having a discussion about this . I started .... https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/346967-my-first-grow.html#post4373353 ... off with three small clones in a 37 gallon rubbermaid tote, pretty big tote and I fully intended to finish 3 plants to maturity, fat chance, I finally decided I couldn't even finish 2 large plants in this tote. Now I just responded to a guy in another thread that said he did 6 plants in one tote, I dunno the size but it was smaller than my 37 gallon(which I ended up retiring right after first veg). So I just asked him about yield, he says he got 17 zips, I'm having a hard time swallowing this info since I at the link above (my first grow) I had 4 plants and yielded about the same but I went for individual units, one plant one tote. My second design of a tote which you can see at the link above is sweet, I will continue using this type of tote forever I'd say. the lid in the front makes it very easy to change res or just check it. With any other tote I dunno how you go about that other than popping off the lid and if you have several large plants in it that would seem difficult, I do use 3 bubble buckets that the only way to check or change res is to remove the net pot and when plant reaches 4 foot tall that gets very tricky at times, My oractice is one plant one tote anymore. o h and the tote you're post, its clear, you want no light getting to the roots, you're better off just buying 5 gallon buckets probably since your area is so small.
Click to expand...
So I should use 1 container per plant when dealing with large plants... what about small plants? If I use 5 gallon buckets, it would seem a bit overkill for such a small plant like the lowryder but if they were large plants I could see the reasoning. Since I have no idea how large the root system of something the size of the lowryder is, I'm not sure how deep it should be or how many I can fit on one tote. I was thinking about drilling a valve near the bottom and putting the tote up on something so I can run a hole to drain if needed and also one on the top so I can feed more solution in if needed. Perhaps something like that would keep it from being a hassle to add/remove water instead of trying to lift everything up. I'm trying to find the best way to go so I can maximize my space.

Thanks for the advice on the clear tote, that completely slipped my mind!
 
tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
dbkick said:
Ok then the roots "do not" need to hang down but 10 to 1 they'll do better if they are. unless the entire bottom of your tote is an air stone.
Click to expand...
As i said, the roots actually float around the surface, from a physics point, it would actually be better to have a wide and shallow root mass as opposed to deep ball.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Its only truly small as tip top stated, if there is no veg time or very little. If you had a look at my first grow that I posted up above you can see a root system and know what to be looking for.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Just as I say my totes with sprayers and water pumps do MUCH better than my DWC buckets with nothing but an air stone in them.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
PixieMeat said:
So I should use 1 container per plant when dealing with large plants... what about small plants? If I use 5 gallon buckets, it would seem a bit overkill for such a small plant like the lowryder but if they were large plants I could see the reasoning. Since I have no idea how large the root system of something the size of the lowryder is, I'm not sure how deep it should be or how many I can fit on one tote. I was thinking about drilling a valve near the bottom and putting the tote up on something so I can run a hole to drain if needed and also one on the top so I can feed more solution in if needed. Perhaps something like that would keep it from being a hassle to add/remove water instead of trying to lift everything up. I'm trying to find the best way to go so I can maximize my space.

Thanks for the advice on the clear tote, that completely slipped my mind!
Click to expand...
But back to your matter, do whatever man, its a weed really.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
you could make it as many site as you want but just leave the pots empty or cover holes with something plastic, the 3 site unit I was talking about earlier I took the middle pot out after the 3 plants outgrew it, I continued to veg the 2 but the middle site I just covered the hole with a frisbee or something.Then the 2 got so big I had to go with individual res, I switched to buckets and built one tote like I'm currently using, the buckets I'd rather burn than deal with again but still..... I have 3 totes and 3 buckets going, the lid on these totes I use now is tight. deal with a 5 foot plant in a bucket and you'll see why
 
PixieMeat

PixieMeat

Active Member
dbkick said:
you could make it as many site as you want but just leave the pots empty or cover holes with something plastic, the 3 site unit I was talking about earlier I took the middle pot out after the 3 plants outgrew it, I continued to veg the 2 but the middle site I just covered the hole with a frisbee or something.Then the 2 got so big I had to go with individual res, I switched to buckets and built one tote like I'm currently using, the buckets I'd rather burn than deal with again but still..... I have 3 totes and 3 buckets going, the lid on these totes I use now is tight. deal with a 5 foot plant in a bucket and you'll see why
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to photos of your current setup?
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
the first page of that you can see the 37 gallon tote(well, you can't see the tote but you can see the bright orange frisbee thing I used to cover the hole) in the photo with the 4 plants in veg, 2 in buckets up front and 2 in the 37 gallon aerospring tote with one site covered in the middle. this was about 29 days veg.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top