Should I build my own RDWC system or buy!!

[joegrizzley]

What’s up guys ok so I plan on switching over to hydroplonics getting tired of always having to water after a long day of work lol. Anyhow if I buy it looks like for a reasonable not p.o.s system I will spend around $500 and if I’m to build it looks to be around $200 bucks I’m parts. Another question when running a rdwc system how would I control water level? Do I control it through the main reservoir like as the plants get bigger and I clean my res when I fill it back up, fill it to the needed level. I would think because a cutting from a small Rockwool cube into clay pellets the water level would need to be much higher then once the plants established itself


Picture is the main reservoir I would be using and the other is the type of system I plan the build but only one plant per 5 gallon bucket.

 

[Huckster79]

Before making the jump look into PPK, passive plant killer method. Crazy cheap and simple build and great results! It’s taking best of coco and best of full hydro and marrying them. I water now once to three times a week- could cut that if I built a separate back up res.

Basic concept is a container (preferably breathable- I use clothes baskets lined with weed block fabric- but key is attaching a sink throat drain to bottom of container- wrapping end of it in fabric and making sure grow medium (coco usually) goes in throat piece. This sits on a res- shared or individual to each container. A small pond pump in res up to watering halo around plant on cycle timer - like 15 seconds every 45 mins or I do 1 min every two hours... what u get w this is freshly aerated water continually to plant flushing out the old O2 depleated water. The great advantage is if ur away and pump fails the plant will wick water up that throat piece...

I use individual res for each container- daisy chained w 1/4” tube so I only have to fill one and they equalize out. Most of us that use this just use Jacks hydro nutes at relatively low dose as nutes are always available they don’t need as high of concentration.

It’s not as fussy as full hydro but has amazing root growth like hydro. I did a side by side the PPK plant was about 50% more yield than her regularly potted sister...

It’s having a foot in both worlds while eliminating the downsides of both methods...

 

[THT]

I plan on switching over to hydroplonics

Hi Joegrizzley, I made the switch from soil to DWC and I could not be happier. For me, its the low maintenance and ease of balancing the environment that makes DWC superior to my old methods.
edit: to help with your answer, you really can't go wrong as long as you keep a few simple variables in check.