Current RDWC Hydrofarm Grandaddy from week 5
- Thread starter PotPower
- Start date
very very nice
+rep
+rep
CatfishBilly
Active Member
frosty buds! love it... got me thinking about switching from soil. current light setup?
PotPower
Active Member
It looked the same as in soil-less medium sunshine #4 but they are just larger!
I am running 4000w currently air cooled HF Radiant hoods with 1000W 120/240v switchable Powerhouse ballasts running on 240V
Sometimes on hot hot days where it is 90+ outside I have to unplug one to keep the room at 77f max.* I run AC also*
PotPower
Active Member
Hey Krisnarf,
R stands for "Recirculating" Deep Water Culture, since I got 8 buckets set up in a loop with a 5 gallon res.
I bought a couple extra drip rings and hose fittings to convert mines to use air to recirculate the system.
GH sells the R-kit but I spent half the price for the same results.
Here a few snaps of the res where most of the magic happens.
The dual drip rings draw water from the last bucket into the res and back around.
I had to drill extra holes on the buckets to connect a "in" and one for "out" on each bucket and 2 more on the res for drain and for the dual drip rings..
The buckets were set up in a loop and I have a air stone in each bucket!
I say it recirculates at the rate of about 8-10 gph which is nice and steady.
I am also using the drip rings in conjunction with the RDWC so it could be called
"RDDWC" Recirculating Drip Deep Water Culture. I can tell you this much, my buckets are pretty packed with roots and my system started getting backed up so I had to raise the "ROOT BOX" during week 3 of flowering to let the water circulate through the buckets properly.
I even have a drain to waste I set up on the back of it so it makes flushing and changing it easy.
From the looks of it I am getting about .5 or more lbs per plant.
I have a mega farm system also I am retrofitting to run the same deal but much larger pots and larger hoses for more circulation.
kriznarf
Active Member
Why 240 volts instead of 120? General curiosity.
kriznarf
Active Member
Awesome. Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into this.
CatfishBilly
Active Member
I believe that running 240 you use less amperage, causing less load, and more power efficient, but i am not sure..
kriznarf
Active Member
Cool, thanks. I'll be looking into this for sure.
PotPower
Active Member
Yes, If you have plant limits in the low numbers this is a way to stay totally legal and get high yield.
Here some current pictures I just snapped of the ladies.
They started turning more purple. wait till you see it when finished.
coming to the end of week 7. one more week then flush.
Here some current pictures I just snapped of the ladies.
They started turning more purple. wait till you see it when finished.
coming to the end of week 7. one more week then flush.
PotPower
Active Member
Thanks, first imagine a 120v vs a 240v. The light is taking let's say 5 amps through one 120v wire. with 220v it will split the amperage between two 120v hot wires so you get around 2.5amp estimated* per 120v leg, less draw through each wire which is safer. I have a GFCI Internal Breaker 70amp 220v/120v combo panel which is controlled also so my system has double the protection.It is also hooked Electricity is not anything to mess with for most people.
Also I did not train them since this was my first shot at RDDWC and I wanted my buckets to be portable. I guess I like to just grow them out and trim the lower 1/3 off before flowering.
I do train the mothers and do the whole LST Wire pinching the top ect. they are only 2.5 feet tall.
I have 8 plants/4 x 1000w hps* which look like about 1/2lb. per plant.I usually get 1 gram - 1 watt but that is because I have a very small space to raise them in.
I am taking a long break after this until my space becomes larger. I would never grow more then 8 but on my next try I have a GH powergrower system which is much larger and has better re-circulation since the water tubes/pipes are like 5 times larger and the buckets hold 2 more gallons of water and a gallon more hydroton.
PotPower
Active Member
I decided to hack one of the colas off because it was about to fall over and it has about 5% amber. I say 8 more days and it should be ready but here is a size comparison next to my forearm.
I weighed it out and it is 149.3 grams and should and should loose about 2/3 in weight when done drying and cured so I expect about 45-55 grams off this one.
I weighed it out and it is 149.3 grams and should and should loose about 2/3 in weight when done drying and cured so I expect about 45-55 grams off this one.
