Waterfarm Mods & Tips

[SciensWiz]

I agree with Sciens wiz, if you don't get it to recirc. then each farm or grow cell will be different PH's and ppm's....I'd daisy chain each bucket w/ 3/4 in. tubing, to a central res....

I diy'd a RDWC w/ 10 gal. buckets, a res, and a controller bucket....
Each bucket and the res has airstones, the res has valves that I can close, and the controller bucket pumps the water from the grow buckets back to the res, for ph or ppm checks...
then I open the valves and gravity fills the buckets back up, and the recirculation begins again...I also use drip rings, I've found that I can grow bigger plants quicker and keep them happier in bloom w/ the drip rings....I have seen this done w/ 2 to 20 gallon grow cells, so Jump in and get yer feet wet, the water's fine...

yea you have to get the kit if you want to use the waterfarm..otherwise its not worth it when you could just get a good ebb and flow...

Hey D4 what kind of pump are you using to return to the control unit? Ive got the regular old recirculating setup with a 30-60 gal air pump im using..its not pumping hardly any water out of it anymore though and im thinking maybe its because there is so much root mass in my buckets? Any opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[MrGreenTsi420]

sounds like you got the right idea! also just see what works try half of each or try one eash harvest well good luck and also make sure u add the AIRSTONES on the bottom of the buckets! i am going to do it and its going to be real nice!! but this work great also~! that texas controller is real nice!!

 

[Luv2Gro]

I have twice in the past 5 weeks came across this problem. There would be no water coming from the drip ring, this was due to some kind of build-up on the air hose at the bottom of the bucket. It is a pain in the ass to try to remove the pumping column with a huge plant in the way but it has to be done. Once the column was removed the problem was identified, some kind of build-up in the air hose. If anyone has any experience combating this problem I would love to hear it

+rep man, i would twice if i could... i was about to go get a new air pump b/c i was convinced the air pump was already shot after 2 mos... i just went in my room scraped out the shit with a safety pin put back together and was up and running in less than 10 min... tyvm..

 

[Knally]

I have twice in the past 5 weeks came across this problem. There would be no water coming from the drip ring, this was due to some kind of build-up on the air hose at the bottom of the bucket. It is a pain in the ass to try to remove the pumping column with a huge plant in the way but it has to be done. Once the column was removed the problem was identified, some kind of build-up in the air hose. If anyone has any experience combating this problem I would love to hear it

+rep man, i would twice if i could... i was about to go get a new air pump b/c i was convinced the air pump was already shot after 2 mos... i just went in my room scraped out the shit with a safety pin put back together and was up and running in less than 10 min... tyvm..

Same as you so far; take out the pumping column and air line, clean it up from clogs and put it back.

 

[SciensWiz]

Im not talking about the pumping columns in my waterfarm buckets...im talking about the pumping column in my control rez that recirculates the water..its not pumping hardly anything, so my system isnt really recirculating..im wondering if its because the roots in all the buckets are so thick it wont allow for the recirculating pump to pull water from all of them into the control rez?

 

[JonnyBtreed]

If your lines keep getting clogged I would suggest running clearex or florakleen through the system every couple weeks. Its great stuff. Keeps all the lines from getting clogged and leaches all the salt buildup out of the hydroton which helps keep you safe from nutritional lockouts or toxicity halfway through flowering. Cheap too.

 

[SciensWiz]

my pumping column isnt clogged and neither is the air hose that pushes the water up...the funny thing is when i take the pumping column out and reconnect it..it immediatley starts pumping water very well and then by the end of the day its not pumping hardly anything anymore...i think somewhere in the back buckets all the root mass might be keeping the water from pumping through correctly..i have a 30-60 air pump..should i try something stronger?

 

[skeeterleg]

Hey Headbandrocker

I was curious about the dwc and aero comparison you did:

"I did a side by side dwc bucket and aeroponic rig and wholy shit!
The dwc produced lots of roots but
The center plant in the aero setup grew like 6x larger"

Was the dwc a waterfarm? Aero is when the roots are spayed on a timer right??? I am trying to decide which growing method to use when I expand my op.

 

[skeeterleg]

I have been thinking of a way to make it easier to monitor, change and control the nutrients in multiple wf’s. How to completely exchange the nutes constantly?

This is what I have come up with:
1. Use one res / no control needed.
2. Pump the water directly in a continuous supply loop from the res to the drip rings (or a top feed) with a return for the excess water to drain back to res.
3. The water drains into the bottom of the wf and then gravity flows back to the res. Two options here:
a. You could drain from the bottom which would exchange the water in each wf more thoroughly and may help wash out residue on the bottom. Control the water level with a valve. The flow from the feed would have to be the same as the drain. This would be done with the valves. If your water pump goes out here you are fucked!
b. Or just install the drain at the level you want the water in the wf as an overflow with no valve required. This would have more or a tendency to have build up in the bottom of the wf. If your water pump goes out here your good!
4. Install a valve at each drip ring supply to control flow through the drip rings.
5. Install a valve for each return line from the wf to control water level in wf for root bathing. No valve for side drain set at fill height.
6. Have an air stone in each wf and the res.

My thoughts were that this would constantly re circulate the water in each wf keeping things mixed up and oxygenated. To check change or adjust nutes/ph just turn off the pump and let all the water drain back to the res. This way the nutes/ph is easier to control and adjust and be consistent in all the wf’s. Once you get your nutes done turn the pump on and your done.

If you want to grow different strains that require different nutes then this idea would not be ideal. But if you grow one strain or strains that like the same nutes it would easy to manage. They key is to have a strong enough water pump and to control the drip ring flow and the return flow in order to keep the water level in the wf at the desired level for the roots.

What do you guys think??? Has anyone tried this?

 

[headbandrocker]

Hey Headbandrocker

I was curious about the dwc and aero comparison you did:

"I did a side by side dwc bucket and aeroponic rig and wholy shit!
The dwc produced lots of roots but
The center plant in the aero setup grew like 6x larger"

Was the dwc a waterfarm? Aero is when the roots are spayed on a timer right??? I am trying to decide which growing method to use when I expand my op.

Hi to awnser your ?
The dwc was a homemade 2gal bucket with net pot and single airstone,the aeroponics is running 24/7, i am playing around with an aeroponic bucket idea as the biggest problem with aero is the roots grow together and are hard to move,the bucket would eliminate this.
I do all my vegging in a easycloner 12o and my clones have bark on the stems at 3 weeks,the aero for some reason {even in veryclose quarters} produces crazy amounts of side branches/spears/tops etc.And 26+ inches of roots~ The U shapped pic is a cool dwc design that is very cheap and i heard it works well

cool links:
http://www.alternative-innovation.com/free-how-to-build-hydroponic-waterfarm-system-plan.html

http://www.alternative-innovation.com/free-hydroponic-system-plans.html

 

[skeeterleg]

Thanks bro!

 

[Hulk Nugs]

Sick thread man i am really glad i found it, just started doing a search for all waterfarm threads. I have two my self and i am looking to harvest what i have so i can do some mods my self got alot of great tips and ideas. Just have to make a Waterfarm subform in the Hyrdro room like the DWC and the AERO has .... have fun growing i know i am

 

[Merlin85]

What kind of watering drip schedule do you have your plants on..this is my first grow and I have my plants set at 8 times a day for 15 minutes each..does this sound about right? Little to little..little too much..what do you think?

 

[Merlin85]

What kind of watering drip schedule do you have your WF set on? This is my first grow and I have mine set one 8 times a day, 15 minutes each. They seem to be doing alright, but does this sound like a to little, or even to much..what do you guys have yours set at?

 

[Hulk Nugs]

i leave mine on never shuts off untill the end of the grow

 

[Merlin85]

i leave mine on never shuts off untill the end of the grow

Really?? So is that the norm then? I thought that mine was going to get too much water leaving it on 24/7. Is this the way everyone runs it?

 

[jollytime]

I run mine 24 hours from clone to flower then cut down.By then the roots are in the pods and they use a little less water

 

[benthead]

i run mine 15 on 2hr off durjng light periods. 15 on 4 hr off during dark

 

[MickFoster]

I run mine 24/7 until the roots grow into the bottom rez - then I eliminate the drip ring and put an airstone in the rez for the rest of the grow.

 

[Knally]

I run mine 24/7 until the roots grow into the bottom rez - then I eliminate the drip ring and put an airstone in the rez for the rest of the grow.

Cut a hole in the center of the top bucket and feed your rootball down through into the reservoir with an airstone. Your net pot should sit tight in the hole to keep your hydroton, silica rocks, etc. from falling through. You'll get very good results.

I run my drip nonstop, but my girls get fed from inside the bottom reservoir with their roots filling up the bottom container.

Good luck.