Hydro & LED, let the best of two worlds combine

I'm looking to start a thread demonstrating the potential of combining LED COBs and the plethora of Hydroponic systems around these days (bonus points for DWC/RDWC/NFT)

I've spotted a few hydro led grows out there but there must be more, show me what you got

Its the only way.

SWC
easier, more forgiving less water no "root ..'stem' ..rot" ,seldom need chiller...dwc and rdwc are cool though are dialed work great

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:

SWC
easier, more forgiving less water no "root ..'stem' ..rot" ,seldom need chiller...dwc and rdwc are cool though are dialed work great

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what is SWC ?

best system I have grown in so far is a recirculating bucket system that runs like a gravity flood and drain. Roots never sit in water for more than 5 minutes even if the power goes off. Kind of like a dutch pot system.

I run a dual RDWC setup: 1 for veg and another for flower. I will post photos once I get my COB lights built. Just need to get off the fence and order parts.

Slacker tip: 2x4 tent is a good place to start with RDWC. There are tubs that can easily be found to fit two plants with the right spacing and volume of water, no messing around with bulkheads or complex water lines. Can't say that about larger size tents.

Rahz said:

Slacker tip: 2x4 tent is a good place to start with RDWC. There are tubs that can easily be found to fit two plants with the right spacing and volume of water, no messing around with bulkheads or complex water lines. Can't say that about larger size tents.

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Example of this? You just caught my interest lol.........

You want the plants to be about 18 inches apart so the ideal tub will be rectangular and hold around 20-30 gallons. You can do the math on the dimensions to get a rough idea where the water line will be. Fill to about 2/3 so about 8 gallons of water per plant. The pump is placed in the tub on one side/corner and pumps water to the other side. Keep the water oxygenated but you may need a 2 port air pump with some stones to keep the clones/seedlings wet til the roots hit the water. Clean the pump of roots after veg is finished and again 4 weeks into flower and you're gold.

Paint the lid with something opaque, maybe black then white plasti-dip. Deck it out with a 1/16 hp chiller. Wrap it in insulation to keep the cool in. A foam board with cutouts can be placed over the lid to help keep light out and further insulate the water.

So this is just DWC in a big container with two plants then it's not "R" DWC...........

PurpleBuz said:

what is SWC ?

best system I have grown in so far is a recirculating bucket system that runs like a gravity flood and drain. Roots never sit in water for more than 5 minutes even if the power goes off. Kind of like a dutch pot system.

Click to expand...

aw come on ..use yer sleuthing..

dwc..swc?

S hallow W ater C ulture

1-2" in bottom..air stone if you want

Evil-Mobo said:

So this is just DWC in a big container with two plants then it's not "R" DWC...........

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It is recirculating. The water is pumped out one side and pumped in on the other. It keeps the water moving against the roots which is the benefit of RDWC over DWC.

Rahz said:

It is recirculating. The water is pumped out one side and pumped in on the other. It keeps the water moving against the roots which is the benefit of RDWC over DWC.

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Sorry I did not see a separate res mentioned so that's what threw me off. So how does the water go in and out without bulkhead fittings?

The pump sits in the container draws water from the bottom and the water line exits through the lid... then to the chiller if one is used, then to the other side of the tub down through the lid. No res required, no holes in the tub itself, no bubbler needed if the roots on new plants are long enough, but using the bubblers through the whole grow provides a fail safe.

I had another space about 3x7, too big for a tub. Didn't want to use bulkheads so I bought a 5 ft piece of 12" PVC tubing and end caps. Works the same way (really well too) but had issues that made it not as appealing as the tub. I wasn't trying to drill a hole large enough for the pump to fit so the pump sits just outside the tube. This meant I had to prime the pump every change out. Not a big deal but better to have the pump below the water line and forget about it except for clearing roots once a month. The second issue was the curvature of the 12" pipe. It was only flat enough to use 3 inch net cups. This could be solved but I never got around to it. The stems would get so large I couldn't get the cup out without digging all the hydrotron out and then cutting the roots until the root ball dropped. Then I would have to pull the roots out of the 3" holes.

My dream system for that area would have been a 5' long x 14" x 8" wide stainless steel trough supported with an insulated wood frame, a sectional cover system so the top could be easily accessed and modified for 3,4,5 plants. Would have been the same deal, but with the pump below the water, out top on one side, through the chiller and in the top on the other side.

On the subject, how many grows can a person stack in a 8-10 foot height?

We've all seen the warehouse grow with scientists standing around looking at clip boards, but why not build it? I think it would be feasible to get three tiers in an 8 foot space.

Drip buckets in 6" netpots with hydroton medium. Each bucket works as its own res and once the roots find the water, I only drip when the lights are on. I run 2 buckets from 1 dual diaphram $10 walmart aquarium air pump(up to 12 buckets with 6 pumps). Quiet, powerful, and they dont get hot and pump hot air into your res driving temps like a lot of hydro systems requiring chillers.
This is my first run with diy led cob light so I have no experience in growing with them, but I will say that they are very happy under 400W of COB light so far. Been running this method of hydroponics for over a decade with no leaks or floods. Great system and cheap as hell to make. It might not be as convenient as having one master res or a slave system, but I make due with a 27 ga. res to top off all the buckets. I stack the 27 gal res on milk crates so it is elevated -in turn not needing any pumps or electricity to top off my garden. This is a very simple, affordable and easy to control indoor hydroponics garden. Very efficient system that requires very little power consumption and almost no noise. I've found my industrial air pump is untouchable it gets so hot and it is far louder than 6-8 of the small pumps together. I've played around with a few different methods of hydro growing and I find this one suits me best. Now that I've made the jump from HID to LED in the summer my electricity used in my garden will continue to decline. I run hydroponics on everything from my clones to my mommas to my garden -& wouldnt have it any other way.

Rahz said:

On the subject, how many grows can a person stack in a 8-10 foot height?

We've all seen the warehouse grow with scientists standing around looking at clip boards, but why not build it? I think it would be feasible to get three tiers in an 8 foot space.

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I have a 2 tier veg roow RDWC setup. 8 buckets on top and 8 on the bottom. Have 8.5' ceilings in my basaement. so I split the difference on grow height. The tricky thing was plumbing the single resivour that sits on the floor. I need to post some photos when I have all 16 buckets filled (only using 8 right now).

@Rahz stacking systems have been happening....for a few years...in the cannabis industry

Wisher2 said:

@Rahz stacking systems have been happening....for a few years...in the cannabis industry

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Absolutely, I'm just suggesting it's worth taking a look at for the individual and DIYer. It's not unreasonable to suggest 150+ grams per square foot in a 3 tier system. For a LED DIYer, a tier system should not add much to the overall cost.

yeah for sure....I think because of the low plant count deal....it is hard for people to run systems like that....it would be super effecient if you had a stacking system and ran sea of green....not letting your plants get over 12" tall...per tables.....with cob bars run soflty hung 12" above canopy.....you could kill it....kinda like lettuce racks....but if alot of people were to get popped with over a certain amout of plants....well.....that is why the states that are legal....need to rethink plant count....as in....indoor and outdoor sqft instead of 6 or 12 plants or whatever