DWC 5-gal bucket scrog all-in-one?

[digital]

Ok, so I have a 5-gallon DWC bucket that I made earlier this year. The bucket is a standard 5-gal Home DePot guy and the net pot is a 6" pot lid for 5-gal buckets, meaning the lid and pot are all one piece. The bucket has fill, drain, and water level tubes. It is possible for me to fill and drain the bucket without removing the lid.

So far though, I've only grown standard plants. And while the output is nice, I'd like to puch the system a bit further. I'd like to use the system for a scrog, but I'd also like the ability to move the whole thing, bucket plant and screen, as one unit. I've tried searching the threads here, as well as several other forums, but I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for. I'd like to fabricate a screen that attaches to the lid or the bucket itself and is approx. 2' x 3'.

Has anyone ever seen a system like this, or have any ideas how I might go about attaching the screen to the DWC bucket?

 

[fatigues]

The idea is not to attach the screen to the bucket. You will need to be able to change out the bucket over the course of your grow from time to time.

The way to go about this it to attach the screen to the lid of the bucket. The lid of the bucket will also hold the netpot, and can be raised up and detached from the top of the bucket to permit you to do whatever it is you want to do inside of the bucket during the course of your grow.

Usually, what you want to make this easiest on you is another bucket of the exact same size and dimensions. Then, you simply carefully remove the lid, lifting the whole lid, screen, plant and root ball out of Bucket #1 and quickly put the root ball into Bucket #2 and close up the lid.

If Bucket #2 has been prefilled with nutes and contains airstones, you then plug in the aeration hoses (and whatever else it is you've got to be hooked up in that bucket, if any) and BOOM. You're done. Put Bucket #2 back in its place under the lights and carry on.

You then take Bucket #1 away so it can be emptied, cleaned and the airstone(s) contained within it similarly soaked and cleaned up for the next rez change, when you'll do the same thing in reverse. Wash, rinse, repeat during the course of your grow. You get the idea.

As for the means of attaching the scrog to the bucket, the means employed usually take their cue from the method you used to construct the scrog. If you used PVC pipe for that purpose, you just have pipe descend down from the four corners of your screen, descending in downwards arcs, using elbows, straight pieces and 45 degree parts where necessary, until you have brought your four "legs" coming off of the screen corners to a more or less square configuration in the centre. Tthe PVC ends of these four angled "legs" should be spread out spread out far enough and now pointing straight downwards - so that each of the four PVC pipe legs will now fit along the inside edge of the lid at four points.

Drill your lid the same diameter as the PVC so that the pvc pipe points will go through the top of the lid just inside the edge, so that the weight is more or less evenly distributed over the lid.

Use threaded PVC fittings for both the portion of each PVC pipe that rests directly on top of the lid and use an end cap for that portion of the threaded PVC pipe underneath the lid. Think of it as fittings that act as "support bulkheads" on top and just below the lid. Those will provide the necessary support for your lid when it is at rest - and when you have to pick the lid up and out of the bucket.

If you think that the weight of the scrog will be such that if will bend the lid too much if the weight is resting all on the lid, instead simply have the four PVC pipes continue all the way down to the bottom of the bucket, so that the four legs of your scrog screen are now resting on the bucket's bottom, and not bearing any weight on the lid itself. You're good to go.

 

[VerdantGreen]

....

Has anyone ever seen a system like this, or have any ideas how I might go about attaching the screen to the DWC bucket?

i grow in organic soil so i dont know about DWC, but i do attach scrog screens to my pots - grow diary link is in my sig

V.

 

[digital]

...<snip>...

That's pretty much the answer I was looking for. I believe the lid I have (http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=384&navid=48) is sturdy enough that it could hold the weight of the screen + plant.

I guess now I'll have to round up some PVC and get some designs made up.



Thanks fatigues!

 

[fatigues]

That's pretty much the answer I was looking for. I believe the lid I have (http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=384&navid=48) is sturdy enough that it could hold the weight of the screen + plant.

I guess now I'll have to round up some PVC and get some designs made up.

If your net pot is built right into and forms part of the lid itself, you can put a little more weight on the lid than you might otherwise dare to try. The additional weight can cause the edges of the lid to come up as the interior droops down under weight though.

I don't think that I would want a net pot sitting in a hole, supported only by a thin beveled edge of plastic, to be sitting in a lid where the hole size can deform under weight. I'd probably want the legs extending to the bottom of the bucket under those circumstances.

Either way, it might be that your lid will be fine to support the weight - and maybe not.

I'd leave your PVC pipe below the lid threaded and just use a threaded end cap as the under-lid bulkhead support. At the least, if you find you would prefer to change out the fittings under the lid to screw in and extend the pipe legs down to the bottom of the bucket? Doing it that way you can choose to do so later if you want.

No need to commit yourself by using only smooth pipe and glue underneath the lid when you don't have to, right?

 

[digital]

Thanks for the input, VerdantGreen. It looks like your screen has four wooden dowel rods that basically stick into the soil/medium, is that correct? Looks like it works well with medium-based containers. Won't quite work with my DWC bucket, but you've given me some ideas for my soil pots.

fatigues: I think what I'll end up doing is having the "legs" for the screen come down and use a female to female connector (straight or 45 deg., not sure yet) that will rest on top of the lid. There will be a very short threaded length of PVC glued into the connector and then goes through the lid and then have the end caps screw on underneath the lid. Kinda like this:


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[digital]

So I finished up the screen. I ended up using 1/2" PVC tubing and fittings as suggested. The screen is 18" x 18".

The strain is Blueberry x Hawaiian Kona Gold. It's at two weeks veg from rooted 4" clone.

 

[iamyour_messiah]

Damn dude, that looks legit as hell.

Nice job!!!

 

[Raphael]

looking good, i like your dog too!

That screen is professional looking are you planning on letting the tops grow through then tie them down? thats what im doing in my grow.

keep it up!

 

[digital]

Damn dude, that looks legit as hell.

Nice job!!!

Thanks, iamyour_messiah!

looking good, i like your dog too!

That screen is professional looking are you planning on letting the tops grow through then tie them down? thats what im doing in my grow.

keep it up!

Thank, Raphael. She loves to "help" me with my gardening. By "help", I really mean "get in the way."

I plan on distributing the tops underneath the screen. I may tie them down if needed. The hole size is a bit small to have one cola per hole, but I'll be working to get as many filled in as I can.

 

[MarquisBlack]

Love the screen.

 

[overbudjet]

did i see a long haired daschound there

 

[digital]

Love the screen.

Thanks, MarquisBlack. It was pretty cheap to build. Cost about $30, and half of that was for the PVC cutters! Lots of fun to build. Can't wait to actually use it, now.

did i see a long haired daschound there

Good eye, overbudjet.

 

[Darth Fader]

Ok, so I have a 5-gallon DWC bucket that I made earlier this year. The bucket is a standard 5-gal Home DePot guy and the net pot is a 6" pot lid for 5-gal buckets, meaning the lid and pot are all one piece. The bucket has fill, drain, and water level tubes. It is possible for me to fill and drain the bucket without removing the lid.

Hey man! Sweet set-up. Can you explain the "fill, drain, and water-level tubes"? I'm, putting together a bucket much like yours. Trying to do bubbleponic w/ a drip hose. I'd like to use a res for easy refill but haven't figured out how to do that yet. Any ideas? I also plan to SCROG like you & VerdantGreen even though I'm not completely sure what that means or how to do it (CRAZY! - I'm such a newb!) I saw VerdantGreen's results & was pretty blown away. Any advice is appreciated. TIA

 

[FreezerBoy]

Digital, NICE WORK! rep points for you.

Darth, the idea is to grow horizontally. Indicas, veg half the screen then flip to 12/12. Sativas start at 12/12 and ScrOG when the plant hits the screen. When a stem pokes through a hole, poke it back down the same hole. The next day or 3, it will be back through the screen one hole over, poke it back down. Lather, rinse, repeat until buds start to form. These are allowed to grow through and above the screen while growth under the screen is trimmed and discarded to avoid mold.

The red circle in shot 5 is the "top".



At this point I made the mistake of allowing vertical growth at the first sign of hairs. As you can see I ran out of head room and started training her in pigtails to keep her out of the lamp.



Now I wait to see actual buds and once colas grow through the screen I tie them down throughout the grow

 

[bambam]

Love the bucket bro! Keep it up she looks like she's going to be fun to play with! Good luck man! BamBam