dwc in 4x8 tray?

how can i convert my setup to a dwc or rdwc? I have a 4x8 tray ...well 4 of them lol, i run 18 plants in each tray so they get a good veg then flower. I have 80 gallon res below all tables that i use to flood my table with. Help me think of some awesome setups and i'll do it and post it how it came out. Money is not a factor really, already have a sealed room setup and 1 chiller prob need more. I want to try something that doesn't involve air stones.

My thoughts are to get a 2" 4x8 foam board and cut 18 6 inch holes to hold net pots and use clay pebbles for medium. Then that foam board would lay ontop of the 4x8 tray. This is where questions come into play...do i fill the tray with water and also have the res pumping all the time to mix it all up? From the pump pumping in the res would that be enough water movement in the tray to provide enough o2 (flooming?)

Would love some help with this... i've been using terraponic bags and am done with them. I get about 3.25 dried off 2 1000 hps lights 9 plants under each hood....but i need more. Seems like i can have more control with straight up hydro i'm in there at least 2 times a day so i def keep an eye on everything....any help would be appreciated i have like 2 weeks to plan.

Im attempting what you are contemplating now, on a much smaller scale. I'm running expanded clay as medium, filled high enough the top inch or two never gets wet thus preventing algae growth. I've got my pump surrounded by air stones, and running 24/7, thus my plants are supplied with freshly oxygenated water at all times preventing the overwatering effect.


Im still very early in the process, and am using it to mend wounded plants, but in the 24 hours since I've instituted this approach my plants look much healthier.

I want to keep an eye on this thread and see what advice others give you, but I too want to share what I'm learning with you.

Perfect timing and thanks for posting this thread.

thanks for the reply elway...looks like it's just you and me .... Here's what i'm thinking...

1/2 inch sheet of plywood, thinking this for sturdiness (or might go 2" 2x8 foam board) gonna place this over the entire 4x8 tray. I think the tray is actually bigger than the sheet so i'll rig up something to it sits on top of the tray. Was thinking of plywood so i can put some hinges on the back side of my tray against the wall so i can lift it pretty easy to peak at the roots too...minor detail though.

So out of the plywood lets say i'll cut 18 12" holes or so for my net pots to sit in. Probably go with clay pebbles but don't really want to but need something for the roots to attch to as i grow 4 foot plants.

Ok so holes are cut out not on the side of the plywood that will face the tray i plan on running 3/8 plastic tubing horizontally along all the pots. I plan on hooking these up to a pump that will be in my res that will pump the water into. I'll then start to poke holes in the plastic tubing so the streams of water will point down and hit the water once the plywood is closed. With enough of these bad boys pumping water i'm pretty sure it's going to agitate the shit out of the water creating plenty of oxygen. I'll probably run my water level maybe half way up the tray and have my overflow pipe drop directly into my res creating a waterfall effect in my res creating even more oxygen.

To start the clones off i'll just run a drip system until roots hit water but i plan on making the roots pretty long in the cloner before i place them in this setup.

Doesn't sound that hard to do so far just gotta start building.

Current setup is 8 1000 hps bulbs...8" magnum hoods not vented...c02 gas burner ...fuzzy logic controller...34000 btu a/c....A bio wave that i just bought..google it...all this in a 10x20 sealed room with insulation and the whole nine yards....

Thanks for reading sorry for ramblin' Hopefully we get some more input

forget the foamboard and go with abs plastic sheets, I just looked at a thread that may interest you. actually it had link to another page here.....http://www.hydrocanna.com/diy-do-yourself/4497-diy-super-charge-your-grow-aeroponics.html
set up as fake aeroponics (low pressure).

you could easily make it a hybrid aero/dwc/nft kinda deal by adding airstones and setting the level of the water held in the flood table.

of course a 4 by 8 sheet of 1/4" thick pvc isn't real cheap, you could probably do 1/8th". I just priced a 4 by 4 sheet of 1/4" pvc and it was like 80 bux.

thanks for the info def check out that link....well i own a screen printing shop so we do signs and shit so i could probably get some of our sign board and use that since i get wholesale pricing....good lookin out!

actually one of the places I looked at the sheets at advertised one of the uses as "signage"

I don't know that I'd do that setup totally aero and drain the res as it sprays, nor would I make it dwc totally. I'd do a hybrid of both those methods combined.

the reason being the water your roots are left standing in is a fail safe in case your pump goes out or misters all clog for some odd reason.

my setup or the links? His tutorial was good but like you said i'm going to do a mix of things but he had some great pointers. Thanks for the heads up.

patient76 said:

my setup or the links? His tutorial was good but like you said i'm going to do a mix of things but he had some great pointers. Thanks for the heads up.

Click to expand...

yeah, I'd do it your way too. you said you have a chiller so cycling the pumps that feed things shouldn't be needed. I do like to cycle my misters though, sometimes to keep the heat down( a submersible run 24/7 will create heat) since I don't have a chiller in veg or sometimes just to let the roots have a little time to dry out. good luck and happy growing.