Recirculating Under Current DWC Systems????

Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with growing in one of these set ups? I found them online at CCH20.com or something, but i have made one myself with 5g buckets and just started it... just want to see if anyone has any feedback.. there is pics of the system i built in my journal on second to last page i believe if you want to see it.... If anyone has used this method please let me know how it went.
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
So I got this new system built over the weekend and thought i would share.. It is a Under Current Recirculating DWC system with (4) grow sites a (1) control bucket which is equipped with a float valve hooked to a res. with straight ph water and an airstone to keep it circulating. All the buckets are connected with 1-1/4" PVC and are slipped into the buckets with the GH 1-1/4" Grommets (Also Siliconed those into the buckets for extra measures to guarantee no leaks) that i got at my local grow shop. I have a 835gph inline pump pulling from the back and pumping back into the control bucket. Each bucket has (1) 6" airstone and each grow site has a drip ring to help me water from the top until the roots drop... my next investment will be a chiller which will link between the pump and control bucket so i can maintain cooler temps.. right now using the ol' frozen water bottles, but those melt way quick... We'll see how this one goes.. i had some overwatering and ph issues at first, but everything is controlled now and seems to be taking off.. fingers crossed.. Wondering if anyone has used this method before???




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BoOYaH!!!

BoOYaH!!!

Active Member
Nice! how is the flow rate from bucket to bucket???....i was thinking if it was too fast might overflow one?? how has it been going so far??
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
Thanks BoOYaH... not at all... i tried my first prototype with 1/2" poly tube and yeah i had level issues because it wasn't flowing properly, but once i went to the 1-1/4" PVC my levels are constant and the flow rate seems perfect... i set the water line 2-3 inches below my net pots and it doesn't change.... But yeah so far so good i am still trying to figure out my watering schedule with the drip rings but as far as everything else it seems to be working just fine. I will have to invest in a water chiller to hook up inline after the pump to get my temps down though... We'll see how this round goes though they seem to be doing good so far...
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
I've seen a similar setup at my local shop. Might I suggest you look into Black air tubing & hoses may cut down on the algae build up that I saw in a few of the pics. You can always upgrade your buckets to the Team water jugs found at Home Depot / Lowes & Walmart... That's what I'm using as my two buckets now. temps are much easier to maintain than the black buckets

What size tent do you have them in? I'm looking at upgrading after this grow and using my current one as a veg / mother tent with my T5's in there
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
Check out the team water jugs & your price difference / time spent re-plumbing everything... You could easily maintain stable cool temps using these jugs, just a thought if you didn't want to spend money on water cooler, I've never researched them and don't know the cost. Team jugs were around $20/ each with tax.
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
Weedler said:
I've seen a similar setup at my local shop. Might I suggest you look into Black air tubing & hoses may cut down on the algae build up that I saw in a few of the pics. You can always upgrade your buckets to the Team water jugs found at Home Depot / Lowes & Walmart... That's what I'm using as my two buckets now. temps are much easier to maintain than the black buckets

What size tent do you have them in? I'm looking at upgrading after this grow and using my current one as a veg / mother tent with my T5's in there
Click to expand...
What up Weedler... that's funny you say that because i went and bought a roll of the 1/4 inch black tubing yesterday to switch out the line from the res to the control bucket... every other clear line is just air... But i'm not sure on the algea... i tokk those pics like 5 min after i got the nutes mixed and the water had only been in there for about 30 minutes.. so i'm not sure on the algea.. i'm watchin it though to make sure i don't get any.. Fingers crossed!!
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
Weedler said:
Check out the team water jugs & your price difference / time spent re-plumbing everything... You could easily maintain stable cool temps using these jugs, just a thought if you didn't want to spend money on water cooler, I've never researched them and don't know the cost. Team jugs were around $20/ each with tax.
Click to expand...
i'll have to check those out... unfortunately i've siliconed those grommets into the black buckets so i would have to get more and build a new system if i find those jugs to be useful... i think the chillers are around $350-$400 for the small one but i think it will be worth the investment for the long run even if i don't continue with this system i will still be use it for future DWC grows.... I def appreciate the info Weedler... what section were those jugs in home depot in?
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
So if anyone duplicates this make sure to check that the water level is at least 3-4 inches from the bottom of your net pot or you will most likely end up with root rot... speaking from experience..lol had to trash the 4 plants i had going but i will be starting again once my new clones are at least 12-18" tall... I also have 24 Fire OG clones that will be on stand by just in case i need them....lol or if i have some more error during my trials...lol I will be starting a new journal once they are ready... i will be doing 2 - NL#5 and 2 - BLACK (pure indica) and then i will have 2-Violator Kush in i think 2 gallon pots in coco... never tried the coco thing so we'll see what happens...
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
Man sorry they developed root rot, was it because there wasn't an air stone in each bucket? I have my water about 1-2" from the bottom of the net pots. I also had to add Canna's Rhizotonic to help the roots its worked wonders! I may even try a Canna grow using their system once I get R/O water
 
Lightguy420

Lightguy420

Well-Known Member
it's all good.. all part of growing right..lol no i had an airstone in each of the buckets but the water level was only about an inch from the bottom of the net pot and with the bubbles it was just getting to saturated and unfortunately it was a busy week for me and i was lazy and didn;t do anything about it sooner.. so live and learn right... And yeah good call on the enzymes.. i will be getting something of that nature before i get the system going again.. right now i am just waiting for a few to root before i plug in the pumps...
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
I'm running an almost identical DIY UC system as well. I've seen some really amazing results over at
THCfarmer forums and they have a whole section of their forums dedicated to this growing style. I'm glad
to see a few people adopting this style on these forums as well as I think the system is really great.

I made some homemade 9" netpots and run my water higher than most without any negative impact
but I don't think root rot can exist in the 67/68 reservoir temperatures I have.

How big were you planning on growing the girls out? I've heard that 1.25" pvc can still get clogged
when the root mass becomes very large so I'd keep a strict eye on that if you're growing out larger plants.
But that's only what I've read a few places over at THCF, I have no experience with 1.25" as I use 2".

Top picture is DJ Short Blueberry @ 12 days from clones, and the second is 3 sour diesel and 1
island sweet skunk.


 
redi jedi

redi jedi

Well-Known Member
Nice...I'm planning to build a under current rig myself. Got a couple questions.

Where did you get those grommets?

Size of chiller your using?

I'm planning a 24 site system using 5gal buckets, do you think a 1/4hp chiller is big enough? The buckets would be on a concrete floor.
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
The grommets are called Uniseals, they can be ordered directly from cch2o: http://cch2o.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=52_56

I'm using a chiller for each system the black one is an ecoplus 1/10hp chiller and the other is a 1/4hp chiller. Both are overkill for the 20
gallons I have in each system but they barely kick on, more for piece of mind since without my res temps were 73-75 and I want 0% chance
of root rot.

I used my 1/4hp chiller for my aeroflo systems with over 100g of water and it worked just fine. Not sure what kind of ambient temperatures you
have but 1/4 might be enough to get the job done, if you can afford it I would go ahead and get the next biggest one you can find just so you're
not stuck with a chiller that isn't cutting it.

I'm not highly impressed with the 5g round buckets and the uniseal combination. I've had to use silicone glue on a few spots where the seals just
don't cut it. Getting a square container is definitely in my to do list as I think this will eliminate any risk of leaks and help the uniseals work much
better. I've heard of a few people ordering 8/13g containers from here: http://www.bayteccontainers.com/ez-stor--square-plastic-containers-and-lids.html
 
R

reefcouple

Well-Known Member
Lightguy420 said:
So I got this new system built over the weekend and thought i would share.. It is a Under Current Recirculating DWC system with (4) grow sites a (1) control bucket which is equipped with a float valve hooked to a res. with straight ph water and an airstone to keep it circulating. All the buckets are connected with 1-1/4" PVC and are slipped into the buckets with the GH 1-1/4" Grommets (Also Siliconed those into the buckets for extra measures to guarantee no leaks) that i got at my local grow shop. I have a 835gph inline pump pulling from the back and pumping back into the control bucket. Each bucket has (1) 6" airstone and each grow site has a drip ring to help me water from the top until the roots drop... my next investment will be a chiller which will link between the pump and control bucket so i can maintain cooler temps.. right now using the ol' frozen water bottles, but those melt way quick... We'll see how this one goes.. i had some overwatering and ph issues at first, but everything is controlled now and seems to be taking off.. fingers crossed.. Wondering if anyone has used this method before???




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Click to expand...
Nice work!! I have been running an ebb and flow for years now and i really like the bucket dwc method.. currently I am trying to convert my trays into a RDWC? Have alot of tweeking to do... Great work!!
 
redi jedi

redi jedi

Well-Known Member
disposition84 said:
The grommets are called Uniseals, they can be ordered directly from cch2o: http://cch2o.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=52_56

I'm using a chiller for each system the black one is an ecoplus 1/10hp chiller and the other is a 1/4hp chiller. Both are overkill for the 20
gallons I have in each system but they barely kick on, more for piece of mind since without my res temps were 73-75 and I want 0% chance
of root rot.

I used my 1/4hp chiller for my aeroflo systems with over 100g of water and it worked just fine. Not sure what kind of ambient temperatures you
have but 1/4 might be enough to get the job done, if you can afford it I would go ahead and get the next biggest one you can find just so you're
not stuck with a chiller that isn't cutting it.

I'm not highly impressed with the 5g round buckets and the uniseal combination. I've had to use silicone glue on a few spots where the seals just
don't cut it. Getting a square container is definitely in my to do list as I think this will eliminate any risk of leaks and help the uniseals work much
better. I've heard of a few people ordering 8/13g containers from here: http://www.bayteccontainers.com/ez-stor--square-plastic-containers-and-lids.html
Click to expand...
I figured it might be tough to get a nice seal using 2" pipe in a 5gal bucket. Square containers are a better idea but I like the fact I can buy lids with built in netpots that are made for 5gal buckets....convenience.
 
D

disposition84

Well-Known Member
The netpot and price are nice factors.

But quite honestly I think I've signed myself up for a bit of work once they get
bigger and start drinking a lot more. I'll have to keep a close eye on nute uptake
and might be refilling twice weekly. The extra capacity for nutes would be a
great upgrade with the 8g tubs.

Drilling a 3" or 5" hole into one of the square lids wouldn't be a tremendous amount
of effort either ;)
 
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