RDWC. 12x5 Gallon Buckets 4x8 Tent. 3x600 watt.

My first grow on my own: I have been helping my elderly aunt (with Parkinson disease) grow for several harvests now. I fell in love it right from the start. This will be my first grow without my wise old auntie looking after things. I feel like a scared little kid. lol.

12x RDWC
Based on this design http://www.myspace.com/thegrowroom420/blog/399709190


The clones
I was able to get 12 clones. They weren't in very good shape when I got them; exposed to spider mites. Some of them are Perma frost and some of them are Aff-Gooey. I have no idea whats what yet.


RDWC Plumbing
PVC 3/4 drain pipe goes to each 5 gallon bucket.Controller bucket located outside of tent. Inside buckets each plant is hooked into drip collar (temporary until they get bigger). I also added a small valve between supply line and drip collar. When I ajust the ph at the controller I like to turn drip collars off until everything circulates.


Air Pumps inside tent
2x Blue Stone Air pumps, 1xEco Air 4 (Run to computer battery backup outside tent)


Air pump outside of tent
Commercial Air 5 pump provides air for res and controller tote. Notice sound proofing boards behind pump. This sucker is loud. I use to have band practice down here so sound proofing has already been done.


Nutrients


Humidity
The air in my basement is like 35% humidity. Too dry. I had this old wall greens humidifier I planned on using, but the damn thing gave up the ghost and I got no more cash so I had to improvise. I was playing around with foggers a few months ago and i have this 5 disk ultrasonic nebulizer. I put it in a 2 gallon bucket and hung it infront of a fan hanging from the ceiling of tent. I feed it ice cubes through the little holes; it spits and gurgles like a little monster thing in there; keeps humidity 60-70%. Not pretty but it will do for the moment.


CO2
I don't know about the gas yet. Here it is. My intuition says to let them settle in for a while longer.


Lights
3x600 watt lights. I have 2xMH and 2xHPS bulbs. Currently running 2xMH and 1xHPS for veg. I have ballasts dimmed to 300 watts each because plants are small. During bloom I plan to run 2xHPS and 1xMH.

This is going to be awesome. Looks like my garden but with DWC! Do you have all your units linked up with an external pump?

You and your Aunt have all my best wishes. What do you got growing there?
Nevermind I just noticed it was recirculating. Hahaha, I would have never expected to find such quality info on Myspace.

I did a bone head thing and plugged one of my air pumps into a powerstrip that is on timed power for lights. 4 of the buckets weren't getting air for 3 hours into lights out. I was also using the drip rings and this limited the nutrient exchange between contoller outside of the tent and buckets inside. Nutrient temp was 23c at buckets (during dark period god knows what it was when the lights were on) and controller rez was 18c. Normally stays 19ish through out the whole system. Thick slim everywhere clogged supply lines. I rinsed each plant under tepid water for 15 minutes. Took the whole machine apart and cleaned it top to bottom. I wont make that mistake again. The temp stays pretty even through out the system as long as the nutients can reciculate outside the tent. Ambient temp of my basement is 18c year around. Drip rings will require a second supply line.

Im lookin forward to seein this grow through, Good luck, Like the pics. Cheers

Had the same slime issue again. The water temp got up to 23c. My freezer can't freeze the 2 liter bottles fast enough to cool this thing down. I went out and bought a 1/4 hp water chiller and 1/6 hp sump pump.

Hi GruntStump,

Looks like a cool grow so far. I like your tent design and setup -- RDWC, even better. Are you using the H202 or the HygroZyme in your mixture?

Cheers,
Mr. Bond

Until today I was using the both H2O2 and HygroZyme. The HygroZyme is the only thing i'm not familiar with in my mix so I cut it out of the line up until I can get rid of this nasty slime.

I just finished installing the water chiller.

Pump for water chiller
The instructions for the water chiller said to use a pump filter bag. I bought my girl friend these pantyhose for Christmas and she didn't like them so I took them back and used them for a pump filter.



Water Chiller
I set the water chiller on a concrete wall about 5 feet above the controller bucket. The 1/6th HP pump does 1500 gallons per hour and the water chiller is rated at 1100 gallons per hour. I figure the 6 feet of house should slow down the flow enough for the chiller.

GruntStump said:

Until today I was using the both H2O2 and HygroZyme. The HygroZyme is the only thing i'm not familiar with in my mix so I cut it out of the line up until I can get rid of this nasty slime.

Click to expand...

HygroZyme contains enzymes... these enzymes are like a beneficial type of bacteria, sort of. if you use that at the same time as the H202, the H202 will kill the enzymes. its either you go sterile and use H202, or you go beneficial bacteria, and use some EWC/beneficial tea or an enzyme product like the HygroZyme. cant do both at the same time. also, HygroZyme and similar products are notorious for hurting more than helping once you _already_ have a slime infection. it seems like they are good at keeping infection away as long as you maintain proper res conditions (clean buckets, enough air, etc.) but once the slime hits, they stop helping, and can actually accelerate the slime problem further, and quickly!

if you are still fighting the slime, you need to completely sterilize your system OR inoculate it with some beneficial bacteria. sterilizing can be difficult, if not impossible against the slime in particular.

since you were running without air for a while, sounds like your res went anaerobic, and fostered in the conditions for the formation of the slime, potentially accelerated by the temperature. i would advise you halt the H202 treatments and try out the EWC/bennie tea that so many people are raving about. myself included, i have used it and it saved my plants from the slime. check it out -- https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-how-breed-your-own-beneficial.html -- many people have commented on that topic

its cheap to get going, easy to do, and the end result is even better than the enzyme products. in fact the activity of the beneficial bacteria creates the same enzymes that you find in HygroZyme while its doing its thing (which also includes enhanced nutrient uptake and significant new, very-white root growth among providing disease prevention, etc). you and i are kind of in the same boat, i thought i needed a chiller for my system but now i still dont use one and the root production is fantastic. the room temp can also go up quite a bit and it doesnt make the slime explode like it should. sorry for all this ranting... haha... but def dont use h202 & hygrozyme at the same time!!! and try the tea!

regards,
mr. bond

oh, and tell your girlfriend that Mr. Bond says she should be more appreciative of the gifts she receives!!! then follow with a backhand. ok that second part is optional. XD

I will definitely look into the tea. Sounds like a cheaper way to do things. The instructions on the back of the HygroZyme specifically say that you can use it with H2O2.

I recently got one of those Air 5 pumps and it was loud at first. I anchored it to a Cinder Block stood on end with concrete bolts and it got a lot more quiet.

I found this Forum while investigating Root Slime in my RDWC. Nixing the H202 and brewing some Microbe Tea after a good flush took care of it amazingly fast. Are you having pH spkies too? System looks awesome. Looks similar to what I have running. Now it is just a matter of fine tuning it. I am getting there slowly, but I am getting there.

I havent had any slime problems for several days now. I cut the hygrozyme out of the mix and installed a water chiller. I also took the plants out and ran a strong bleach solution through the system for several hours "used a whole gallon of bleach".

The PH is extremly stable. It fluctuates for a few hours after a rez change, but once it stableizes i dont have an issue keeping it right at 5.8.

These girls are out of control. I trim them back and every time I turn around they get bigger.

Day 5 of flowering:

I have some concerns about the roots clogging my 3/4' pvc. Can anyone give advice
on when and how to do root pruning. This plant has a long way to go in this bucket. I don't want to cause an overflow.

Largest plant: (From bucket I)

I had roots fill my 1.5" pvc lines one month into flower. I simply lifted the plant out and cut off the roots that were drawn into the pipe. Problem solved.

I decided to add some additives to help with bud density.




They seem to be responding well. Will they resume growing taller after I take the Pk 13/14 out of the mix? Currently on day 25 of bloom. Aff-gooey and perma-frost. They are approximately 43" tall. This tent is stuffed to the bloody gills.



I'm using the co2, humidity is difficult to control.

I added a dehumidifier along with a condensation pump. I pump the water right back into the mix. Unfortunately this little thing doesn't seem to work well. With the co2 on the humidity can still get into the 70's. It adds 2f to the air temperatures.

I lost one of the plants on the back row. She broke her main stalk from the weight, so I had to go around and tie everyone up. Oooff I feel terrible about it...lol