Rusty's R/DWC perpetual

I thought I'd post a tutorial on my style of perpetual R/DWC. I'm sure that there are better ways of growing but this works great for me.
I like the system to be mobile, cost effective, fast and clean with minimal effort. Each pot costs about $20 to completely set up if you buy everything from a hydro store but you can DIY the system with buckets, small plant pots and garden hose (I've seen it with my own eyes...).

This is an empty unit with a water pump which feeds a pot at the other end of the system to keep everything recirculating. I make up neat little cages for the pumps out of metal fly-screen to keep the roots out of the impeller.

I love watching roots grow. These net pots are great for root porn even though it is kinda cheating.

I have a pond fogger and two "bar" type air-stones working inside the crate. The gross brown stuff on the roots is beneficial bacteria. I miss my peroxide white root-zone but these bugs are great.

This is the base pot. The picture pretty much speaks for its self.

I found that the pot base for a 440 mm pot fits nicely over the top of a 330 mm pot. Its as easy as measuring out a hole just big enough to fit the net in but not large enough for the pot to fall through. Your little sisters compass, dividers or a nail with a piece of string will all suffice.

They should look something like this when they're ready to flower.

I am referring to an 8 week cycle.
Canna™ PK 13/14: I give a 25% dose in week 3, 75% in week 4. It is used in conjunction with H & G's Top booster.

CyCo™ Potash: Any old potash will do.

Budwise™ Blast: Stops hermies before they happen and triggers floral regrowth if used in week 6

B.A.C Bloom stimulator: It was free!!

Canna™ Cannazyme: Say what you want about the brand, but Cannazyme is the shit.

Simple Grow™ Root 79: It's $28 a litre, mixes at 20ml/L and it works great. Its a lot cheaper than Rhyzotonic and just as good IMO.

Growth Technologies™ Ionic Bloom: I bought this bottle because I ran out of base nutes at the end of my last grow. It was $18. It seems to do the job.

Growth Technologies™ Cal/Mag/Nit: A little Cal/Mag/Nit can't hurt. I also figure that if it prevents leaf tip burn then I can run them at a higher EC without burning them.

Cash Crop™ Cobra: I Just got this stuff. Beneficial bacteria and trillions of other things I've never heard of sounds great. $65 but hopefully worth it.

Peroxide: To kill everything except the plant 1 week before harvest when I start flushing.

Accent solutions™ Clearing solution: Smells like Tequila Sunrise.

Canna™ Aqua Vega: It was $20 for parts A & B together.

House and garden™ Base bloom nutes: Supposed to be good + Cheap

House and garden™ Top booster: Supposed to be good + Cheap


Its a bit of a mess but it works and doesn't leak.
Lights: 2 x 400w HPS (Son-T)
1 x 400w MH (SuperVeg MH/HPS conversion)


I'm pretty savage when it comes to lolly-popping. They made a nice clone army.


Pinch not, lest ye be pinched.


This crate cost me $70. Its big and bulky but I always get a nice plant out of it.

only one week of flushing?

On the 7th week of an 8 week cycle I start flushing with clearing solution and a small amount of Hykleen (H²O²). Most of the time they get flushed between 10-14 days as I like to harvest late, over a two week period, in two stages. The end product always burns well and has no trace of nutrient water in the taste. The directions say 5-7 days so a full 7 days should be enough to start taking the largest colas. The last thing I want is blocked cones and chest pains.

Things are moving along nicely now. Day 5 of flowering.


My new cloning bay. 3 stages should do it.


Root porn?


This is the beast in the corner for this grow. She vegged for a week longer than all of the others so will be getting the least attention. Hopefully the rest will catch up soon.

i thought coco only needed a day or 2 of flushing at the end atleast thats what most of the stuff ive read has said even the coco growers unite forum here points towards only a day or 2 of flushing with coco
oh and subbed lol

odlaw said:

i thought coco only needed a day or 2 of flushing at the end atleast thats what most of the stuff ive read has said even the coco growers unite forum here points towards only a day or 2 of flushing with coco
oh and subbed lol

Click to expand...

I'd love to be feeding at full strength into late week 8 (6), but I can definitely notice a difference in flavor if left for a full week. Without a weeks flush you get a funky watery taste and it gives me a headache, chest (Lung) pain etc. I've found that with a decent amount of cal/mag you can up the EC to 2.4-2.6 in late flowering and it's already at 2.2-2.4 in week 1. I guess if you were running weak nutrients then you could get away with a minimal flush if any, but even well cured buds at 2.6 EC are rough as guts. Thats when I water cure.....

I'm running in a hydroton coco mix but thats only to give the clones a chance and keep the mature stems upright as most of the work is done in the water. There is about 80L of hydroton left over from the old system which acts like 10mm stone in concrete by stiffening up the coco. I love coco because its only $3 for 9L and holds water nicely.

Thanks for coming along for the ride dude. There will be macros and root porn for all.


If you have any exciting pics from your own grows then feel free to post them.

Very nice setup Rusty, im trying to setup a similar system but for only 1 plant till i get the hang of hydro
but im subbed, i can learn a thing or two by sticking around, looking excellent so far!

MasterHemp said:

Very nice setup Rusty, im trying to setup a similar system but for only 1 plant till i get the hang of hydro
but im subbed, i can learn a thing or two by sticking around, looking excellent so far!

Click to expand...

Thanks for coming along dude.
Once you get the basics of hydro down, you'll love it. All you need is a bucket, lid, small "net like" (10mm holes) pot, air-stone, tube and air pump.

Maintain the water level at about 50-100mm from the bottom of the net and the bubbles popping on the surface will keep the net + medium moist.

More bubbles = faster growth.

R/DWC gets more complicated but the results speak for themselves. While I am still only growing at .5-6 g per watt, I can get it in six weeks with my AB. I'm sure if you put it all in a tent with C0², you could knock another week off and raise the g per watt ratio further. More lights, halo and Liquid Light would also further increase yeild, quality and maturation rates.

Growing large chronic buds quickly, with little effort sounds good to me....and most of what I've learned has been from RIU or links to other sites from RIU.

Nice info man you broke it down pretty simple for me
i'll let you know how my setup turns out, going to get everything in about 2 weeks time, just reading up abit more on it
your room looks fantastic right now with all those ladies in there, it's gonna look spectacular when there's buds on them, keep us updated

rusty crutch thats an awesome setup dude im about to start my first dwc grow have you tried that liquid light? from what i hear its good shit but if its not worth the investment? not wanting to sound like an idiot but do are all your pots connected? i thought the idea was for stand alone tubs but as i said im a newbie to dwc and any advice would be greatly appreciated looks like you have it down to a fine art

steve6green said:

rusty crutch thats an awesome setup dude im about to start my first dwc grow have you tried that liquid light? from what i hear its good shit but if its not worth the investment? not wanting to sound like an idiot but do are all your pots connected? i thought the idea was for stand alone tubs but as i said im a newbie to dwc and any advice would be greatly appreciated looks like you have it down to a fine art

Click to expand...

Hey steve,
I have not tried liquid light as yet but I should give it a try. I've got them on all sorts of additives, one more can't hurt.
Yes, the pots are connected by a series of 19mm pipes. The water pump and heater sits in a separate pot called a "brain" or reservoir. The water is heated to 22°C in the main res which balances the temps in the other pots to around 17-18°C (perfect for R/DWC). The main res has a water pump which has a direct 13mm line attached to the pot at the very end of the chain of pots allowing the water to re-circulate through the system (R/DWC = Re-circulating Deep Water Culture). Each pot has a minimum of one air stone (1 full outlet) in it with the larger plants getting 2-3 stones(full outlets) depending on size. I'll take some pics of my organized entropy.

Pipes and stuff...


Power boards on the floor.

awesome pics man (y) can tell your a better plumber than a sparky looks like a very intricate setup ill stick to my simple seperate pot setup for this grow but will definately contemplate this setup is the heater necessary? all the other dwc setups ive seen dont use them i wasnt going to but have one sitting around is it worth while? was worried about algae growth (but have covered my pots in foil tape) cheers rusty crutch cant wait to see the results of this grow

I am neither a plumber or sparky by any stretch of the imagination. Unfortunately there is not much call for a welder in an R/DWC system. While all the plumbing looks a bit intricate, the 13mm irrigation system is only used when I circulate the mixture or to inoculate with bacteria etc. Bottom feeding is fine, you don't really need to top feed at all but I like the thought that the water is moving around from pot to pot keeping it fresher.
Once you daisy chain the pots together it makes emptying and refilling buckets a piece of piss. No taking your plant out of the system, sitting in a bucket while you unhook the air lines to empty and re-fill the buckets. I just turn a tap to drain the system, mix 2 x 40L crates of nutrient, turn off the tap and fill it to my two reservoirs until the desired level is reached throughout the system.

Its like a Lego set, that you grow dope in.

As I am growing two strains with different characteristics and nutrient requirements I simply pulled a link out of the chain and turned an empty pot into a second res for the second system.

The heater is on minimum so it only switches on when the water in the brain gets lower than 20°c. The optimum temp for DWC is around 17°c which is where the rest of the system sits most of the time between the floor temp of 10°-15°c and the res temp of 20°-22°c. The lights run through the night and switch off for the hottest part of the day (6am-6pm) which further stabilizes temperatures. Algae growth is only an issue if there is light getting into the res, base pots or lines.

The two strains I'm growing are the "Amsterdam Bubblegum" strain and my very own breed of monster I loosely refer to as "Sherbet".

Amsterdam Bubblegum


Description: (formerly Bubble-Funk) Bubble-berry hybrid males crossed with a Couch-lock Afghani Females produced this award winning plant. This strain forms buds VERY quickly. You can pinch a 1/2 formed bud after 3 weeks and get an awesome stone!
Indica / Sativa: Indica dom Hybrid
Plant type: Indoor/outdoor
Plant height: Medium
Effect: High (Active, light)
Flavour: Bubblegum
Average yield: 5-7 oz
Bud Size: Pine cone, Coke Can
Flowering period: 6 weeks

Sherbet


Description: From 50 random bag seeds I collected this strain is the culmination of the best and brightest strain which I successfully bred. Its a large, fast growing plant that has excellent yeild even under medium/low light conditions. Be prepared for 2 oz buds as big as your arm. Little to no smell makes it great for stealthy operations.
Indica / Sativa: Sativa dom Hybrid
Plant type: Indoor/outdoor
Plant height: High
Effect: 7 weeks = High, 9 weeks = Stoned.
Flavour: Sherbet
Average yield: 8-10+
Bud Size: Feather Duster, Your arm
Flowering period: 8 weeks

Hey man that sherbet looks amazing what a monster, those buds are huuuge!!

That plant sat in the corner with little light and still produced over half a bag. I had to put yo-yos on 7 of the branches by the end. I'm running two of these bad boys this grow, hopefully they do even better. I've planted 5 more AB seeds and hopefully I can get another male to play with to produce (hopefully) a stable 7 week, large growing indoor/outdoor, potent, low smell, low light strain. I'll have to plant 30 or so seeds to get the best and brightest to breed some noteworthy F2's.

Everything is grand. The batch of beer I had been aging for 12 weeks was a huge success. My tobacco smokes up great, I have too many tomatoes and there are poppies everywhere.

The plants are flowering nicely, should be another great harvest. I bought some CO² enricher and a drip today. I've set it up in the veg bay at about 2 drops per minute.

I will definitely be increasing the size of the flowering bay next grow, maybe even before harvest. With a proper frame set up I will be able to make the room almost air-tight with panda film and silver tape.
A few sheets of 50mm permeated insulation board will have to make their way in there too to deaden sound and stop some of the IR leaking out. I'm close to an Air force base which has a regular flight path near my house. I wonder if they would report unusual FLIR activity to the authorities?