1200w mh/hps, automated DWC Tangerine Dream, Res Priv SK A.KA headband LOTS of pics

Grow Area: 8'w x 5'd x 6.5-7'h (5'w x 2.5'd actual plant area+/- )

2x600 watt Lumatek dimmable mh/hps cooltubed

6" inline fan and I'm going to try the goblin carbon filter but I have an activeair in case it turns out to be crap.

system: I basically built my own ebb n gro monster modified to dwc with 4" round airstones connected to a 110 liter a minute air pump, and 6" net pot bucket lids. Having the 55 gallon drum and the ebb n gro controller module makes dwc so much easier to work with. My res is ppm@276 and [email protected]

nutes: Botanicare cns-17 trio along with Botanicare cal-mag+ in veg. When I switch to 12/12 I will use Dutch masters reverse mixed with the Dutch masters penetrator and the cns-17 bloom until pistils start to show, Then I will switch to cns17 ripe, Dyna-Gro mag-pro 2-15-4, and Botanicare berry, I will also be using Floralicious plus throughout.

I will use FIM technique at either 4 or 6 nodes and I'm debating on whether to use a mesh net or not. I'm gonna let em get 3 or 4 feet tallno counting the bucket height.

please feel free to post or comment good, bad, advice, or other. I started this journal because my thread wasn't getting a whole lot of response. + rep for posting.....

And now for the pics....

Very nice setup. Very very well put together.

Thanx alot. I'm learning that a automated fill/drain dwc definitely has its perks. This way all of the girls share all of the solution, and all of the solution can be ph'd and ppm'd all at one time...+rep for posting

subbed let her rip

I just realized I have conflicting pics of my system....The second pic I posted was to show the air stones....The first pic is the system is after I reconfigured it for dwc....Also, I think I nute burned the girls a little bit...they were ppm'd at 300 so I lowered it to 225ppm. I'll put up pics tomorrow...

Ok, here they are. I think I gave them a little too much of everything. Does Sk6 look like low Phosphorus to anyone else? What would cause that? Some sort of ph fluctuation? I drained the solution back into the res today and it tested ppm@215 with a ph on the lower side of 6.0. Water temp 75f. I raised the lights to 36". They appear to be recovering. I will post more pics tomorrow...

well I'm no hydro guy, thats why i got the auto systems lol

but your sk6 deff looks like its missing nitrogen and could possibly be phos issues. My first guess is you may have over feed something and locked out nitrogen? or it could simply be just missing something. that spot almost looks like a light burn with that massive light you got 36 inches may be too close for seedlings?


now its interesting your TD seems to be doing good, maybe its just a better strain and more tolerant. They are all receiving the same nutes right? I'm willing to bet you gave it to much of something, i really doubt your Ph is off much but it could be the problem also. best i can give ya with my mostly soil knowledge.

Amazing set up you have tho really nice looking and clean.

side note the hangers your using for your lights the ratchet type, man i love these i will never use the capitalistic round ones that have the wing nut on the side.

Thanx Lonestand. I've already completely drained and refilled the system and I'm running it plain water ph'd to 6.0. I'm gonna give it a little while longer and then I will re nute it to 175-200ppm. I'm going to keep the lights at 36"but I dimmed them down to 360 watts each...I love dimmable ballasts.....Yeah dude...those rope ratchets are awesome! my fan is still hung with a yoyo but not by choice..everything will be on that rope ratchet as soon as I can buy em..

dam that ballast sounds cool, I already decided my next will be digital.

i know at 6 ph you should be fine cause 5.8 is good for a hydro.

Yessir....5.8 to 6.1....I like to be in the middle....Digital is the way to go...plus it uses less elctricity and a analog with the same wattage...This time around I am going to use the Super Lumens setting.

Looks good - can we get few more pics of the system? I don't understand how you are combining ebb and flo with DWC

subb'd

Sure. I'll post some that I already have now and whatever else per request.

yeah i was guessing your pumping and aerating water in each bucket correct? from a common reservoir. i think you mentioned a 55 gallon drum?

Lonestand: yep..a 55 gallon drum


Sure. I'll post some that I already have now and whatever yall request. They are 5 gallon buckets with a 4" round airstone attached to a 110 liter per minute air pump, and 6" netpots. The module came with a 2 gallon pot so i took it off and retro fit it to a 5 gallon bucket. the res is 55 gallons which is almost enough to fill the buckets twice. I believe it's ebb and flow characteristics are because of the controller module. It allows me to fill and drain all of the buckets at once manually, or on a timer. That allows all of the plants to share all of the solution as well as ph and ppm all of the water at the same time. I also believe draining all of the solution back into the main res a couple times a day helps in keeping the solution stable and balanced. The ppm's can be lower than normal, because of all of the water that's left over when the water from the buckets drain back into the res and remixes.

Its DWC because instead of filling and draining buckets bull of hydroton a few time a day the roots are suspended in highly oxygenated nutrient solution.

the system in the pic with my air pump is my stage 2 system..after the nursery to build up roots to reach the dropplets in the main system

nice setup mate. I can see the many benefits to this system. It's like aero/ebb&flow/dwc all in one!!! How much did it cost u for the setup and where did u get it from? Is it a reverse cycle pump or are they're two pumps? wondering how u feed the nutes from the buckets back upto the rez. Subbed!

is that a small stand alone ac unit? the grey box marked Frigidaire. that is exactly the kind of set up i would like to run, with a light mover over head is the only change i would want in my ideal grow room. what kind of temps are you seeing with the lights on?

Sytha said:

nice setup mate. I can see the many benefits to this system. It's like aero/ebb&flow/dwc all in one!!! How much did it cost u for the setup and where did u get it from? Is it a reverse cycle pump or are they're two pumps? wondering how u feed the nutes from the buckets back upto the rez. Subbed!

Click to expand...

There's one pump in the controller bucket that pumps to the 55 gallon drum, and a pump in the drum that pumps to the controller bucket. Both controlled by the controller module. The plant sites aer filled and drained by gravity.

My res heater, airstones, and controller module that comes with 2x360 gallons per hour submersible water pumps came from different hydro stores on ebay. Everything else I got at a hydro store a couple hours away. I built the hydro setup for about $600.

lonestand said:

is that a small stand alone ac unit? the grey box marked Frigidaire. that is exactly the kind of set up i would like to run, with a light mover over head is the only change i would want in my ideal grow room. what kind of temps are you seeing with the lights on?

Click to expand...

Yessir it is. A 9000 btu portable ac/dehumidifier. I don't really know much about the motorized light movers. I haven't really done that much research on them. Is one 600 on a mover equal to two static lights? I haven't hooked the ac up yet I'm trying to figure out how i wanna install it. Right now the plan is hook the hot exhaust up to an air channel that every register in our house is connected to and heating the house with it. my temp inside the tent is 80-81f. my veg lights stay on 24/0 at the moment

all i know is light movers are a lot better than turning the plants to ensure even light coverage, ingenious idea for saving the energy from your exhaust discharge.

Thanx...yeah I've been trying to figure out if I want to be able to turn the plants or if I want to put up a mesh net to hold up the branches later on in flowering.

re-nuted the plain water I was running to flush the plants a little. 183 ppm, ph at the higher end of 5.9