First Time Hydro - Hydrofarm Grow Flow

[TychoMonolyth]

Any comments on using Active Aqua Grow Flow 5 gallon buckets for my first hydro grow? (It's a kind of Ebb and Flow in individual buckets).
I'm leaning that way for convenience & yield.

I'm thinking two tents. One veg, one flower.

Flo n' Gro is another similar system.

I tried DWC buckets last year but fell on my face.

 

[star crash]

 

[tobedetermined]

Cool sounding system. But . . . I would think that you will need a chiller (in most environments) to keep the water cold enough. The other hydro demon is pH swing & only RO water seems to solve that from what I have read.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Cool sounding system. But . . . I would think that you will need a chiller (in most environments) to keep the water cold enough. The other hydro demon is pH swing & only RO water seems to solve that from what I have read.

I'm reading 65f to 80f. That's quite the range.

 

[tobedetermined]

In pure hydro, you want it at 65F. Above 70F-75F the roots usually slime.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

In pure hydro, you want it at 65F. Above 70F-75F the roots usually slime.

Thanks.
Then the barrels get insulated blankets.

 

[tobedetermined]

Nothing gives you the explosive growth that hydro can bring to the table. I experienced an udwc but I know a well-setup ebb & flow is capable as well. Maintaining stable water quality is key because the roots are directly exposed without soil to slow uptake. Get some pens & plan to perfect a routine for monitoring your pH & ec. And of course, plan the tent environment. I started with a standard 4” exhaust but by my 2nd grow I had installed an 8” fan that I ran on medium with a 5” on the intake – all to reduce heat. I wrapped everything that touched water with that shiny bubble duct insulation. Rez, plant pots & all piping.

I only grew for 1 ½ grows before my system crashed & sprang a leak while I was at a convention in Vegas for a week. I switched to coco mid-grow & the plants survived & thrived & I never looked back. With far, far less maintenance required.

 

[negative37dBA]

Interested to know what caused you to "fall flat on your face" with your dwc grow? A proven design, like undercurrent, will never leak if you build it correctly. Temperatures have to be dealt with. Chiller is the ONLY way to do that correctly. As tobedetermined said...nothing will give you explosive growth and total control like a rdwc system. You need the correct equipment to do that though.
Keep your water temps good and use only R/O water with a UV filter on it...you will thrive! Water temp and quality are the 2 most important factors in hydro.
Have a great day all. Peace, negative.

 

[tobedetermined]

A proven design, like undercurrent, will never leak if you build it correctly.

Very true. I moved to a new tent & rebuilt my system reusing the Uniseals. Lesson learned.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Very true. I moved to a new tent & rebuilt my system reusing the Uniseals. Lesson learned.

Ok. I think i'm being convinced to go a proper rdwc instead of my "experiment". I'm a little nervous though. I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to it.
Is this what we're talking about for rdwc?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPWN5atC0BY



I was talking to someone who grows massive AAAA buds every time. He grows in a system I never heard of. He grows in buckets/net pots/hydroton, and uses a drip system. He said if there's water in the bucket after a feeding, he dials back the drip until there's barely any runoff. When I said "oh it's drain to waste" he said "No, there is no waste." He grows in 5 rooms of 12 lights each, so it's a big setup.

Is there a "drain to waste" with no waste system?

 

[tobedetermined]

I just gave the vid a quick scan but it looks like he covers a good build. I like his bulkhead solutions - that was my downfall. A udwc is just a closed loop with the pump sucking the outflow and then waterfalling it into your pots as the input. The water needs to be kept cool and oxygenated with a steady pH for the system to really thrive.

As for no waste, it is possible if you monitor your system closely. I can essentially do it with hand feeding coco if I wanted.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

I just gave the vid a quick scan but it looks like he covers a good build. I like his bulkhead solutions - that was my downfall. A udwc is just a closed loop with the pump sucking the outflow and then waterfalling it into your pots as the input. The water needs to be kept cool and oxygenated with a steady pH for the system to really thrive.

As for no waste, it is possible if you monitor your system closely. I can essentially do it with hand feeding coco if I wanted.

OK. Many thanks. The build begins.
And this time I'll give it the attention it needs. lol

 

[tobedetermined]

Aside from the necessity to have a chiller and RO water . . . Here are some other things I learned.

• Use large manifolds between the pots. You want water to flow easily. Smaller manifolds can clog with roots and jam the system.
• It’s easier to keep a large volume of water stable than it is a smaller one.
• Make sure that you can easily drain your entire system – including the last inch under the manifold level.
• Keep the res out of the tent. It's easier to maintain and it's cooler.
• Leave enough space to maintain the plants. You want a jungle but one that you can access.
• Get a bigger, badder exhaust than you think you will ever need and run it on low or medium. It’s quieter and you have to power if you need it to drop ambient temps. Or get an AC unit as well . . .

 

[alpo]

I did a DWC grow without a chiller and accounted for warmer water temps with more dissolved oxygen. not sure if that is recommended

 

[tobedetermined]

alpo If it works, it works.

Although I started in an udwc, I now grow in coco. It is hydro as well - just not as efficient. In pure hydro, the roots are always in contact with aerated, cool, nuted, properly pH’d water. In coco, the solution runs through and gradually dissipates - so the flow is never continuous. That is why many coco growers have auto systems that feed multiple times a day – to simulate the constant flow that a dwc or udwc gives you.

I found my udwc to be very high maintenance, but I was always fighting temps because I didn’t have a chiller and I was always chasing pH because I tried to use filtered town water – not RO. I was also still working and I was out of town a lot, so I couldn’t give it the attention it needed – and my strained grow budget couldn’t cough up for the chiller and RO unit. When I switched, I found that although the growth slowed a bit with coco vs udwc, my mental state improved dramatically because the maintenance dropped to only 10 minutes a day for a hand feed. And then there was the noise level. Circulation pumps, air pumps, fans, exhaust all add up to quite a din . . .

 

[alpo]

all the rdwc systems require a lot of water and changing and refilling the system every week keeps me away. Basically, no matter how much your plants drink you still drain the whole system then refill because you keep the water level constant.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

I'll use a float and a reservoir in the room to keep it topped up. Hey here's a question: How long can I keep the water (and nutes) in a barrel for? Will it go bad?

 

[tobedetermined]

A good question. The salts do separate and some granulate with time. I have heard that some growers use a timed agitator to keep everything in solution longer.

 

[negative37dBA]

Aside from the necessity to have a chiller and RO water . . . Here are some other things I learned.

• Use large manifolds between the pots. You want water to flow easily. Smaller manifolds can clog with roots and jam the system.
• It’s easier to keep a large volume of water stable than it is a smaller one.
• Make sure that you can easily drain your entire system – including the last inch under the manifold level.
• Keep the res out of the tent. It's easier to maintain and it's cooler.
• Leave enough space to maintain the plants. You want a jungle but one that you can access.
• Get a bigger, badder exhaust than you think you will ever need and run it on low or medium. It’s quieter and you have to power if you need it to drop ambient temps. Or get an AC unit as well . . .

Some high quality info on hydro right there...clear, concise and to the point. Nice job.
Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

all the rdwc systems require a lot of water and changing and refilling the system every week keeps me away. Basically, no matter how much your plants drink you still drain the whole system then refill because you keep the water level constant.

This is not true. You can do a "top off" style grow with no physical water change outs. Also think of it this way. Your plant is changing out the water for you as it drinks...
If you set up the system from the start to make it easy to drain then there is no issue.