140 gallon RDWC

[Bennyweed1]

And here is the last of my organic garden as it is cycled out for the new RDWC hydro garden

Last set in veg

Last chunk in bloom

and the women responsible for it all..the mommas

 

[Stonefree69]

Thanks for all the input so far folks! So I have a problem on my hands regarding these small 1.5" connection lines I did.

I have to make them work now because I already drilled the holes.

So my solution is I think I will put screens over the 1.5" pipes and install baffles in the totes to disrupt the current so the roots don't all gravitate to the pipes. Think that will help?

My next question is.....

How do you RDWC guys completely drain your plant sites? You can only get the connection piping so close to the bottom but in my system there will about 2-3" of water after they are drained due to the fact the connection piping can only sit so low.

What is the solution to this? Thanks in advance.

A 1" pvc street elbow on your pump, which has slip-male adapter fittings put on your pump female thread intake:

Ecoplus also has a nice 1,500 gph pump which says it drains down to 1/4" level:

 

[Bennyweed1]

A 1" pvc street elbow on your pump, which has slip-male adapter fittings put on your pump female thread intake:

View Image

Ecoplus also has a nice 1,500 gph pump which says it drains down to 1/4" level:

View Image

I get what you are saying but that will only drain the control reserv. down to a 1/4", right? All the other buckets will remain the same because the bulkheads are all about 3" off the ground.

The pump I currently have does drain my reserv. down to about an inch or less but it is the other 8 plant sites I need to worry about. Ya feel me?

This is the beast of a pump I have: http://www.flotecpump.com/ResidentialProduct_fl_lg_or_FP0S3000X.aspx

Its a power house.....3000gpm @ 0' of lift

 

[coldcanna]

This is the beast of a pump I have: http://www.flotecpump.com/ResidentialProduct_fl_lg_or_FP0S3000X.aspx

Its a power house.....3000gpm @ 0' of lift

Bahahaha 3000 gph? Good to know that if the whole pot thing doesn't work out you have the equipment to drain swimming pools and combat house fires. Your a beast man

 

[Bennyweed1]

Well I have my first hydro problem.

My plant in veg is developing little rust spots on the leafs. I am using maxibloom @ one tsp or 6 grams per every one gallon and cal/mag at 3tsp total. I have a total of 12 gallons of water.

pH is 5.9, water temps are 67.5 F, using RO/DI

Sorry no pics yet. I thought or think it is a calcium def but I dont want to be adding more stuff on a assumption. My TDS pen broke so I do not know my total TDS either. New one will be here sometime today.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Bennyweed1]

Here is the Mag/Cal def I reported a few days back. KISS or plain maxibloom needs a boost if using a RO/DI filter. At least for me so far.

I recalibrated my pH pen to verify it was not the issue, water temps are 67.5 the only thing left to assume was my ro/di fliter.

What do you think?

You can see new growth starting since I added the cal/mag

I am stating to wonder if I should stick with maxibloom or go to either GH floraseries or AN 3part.

 

[Bennyweed1]

would anyone else like to chime in here. Could this be nutrient burn instead?

I find it hard believing I could have a cal/mag def. when some many other people have no issues using KISS or maxibloom.

 

[Stonefree69]

Well I have my first hydro problem.

My plant in veg is developing little rust spots on the leafs. I am using maxibloom @ one tsp or 6 grams per every one gallon and cal/mag at 3tsp total. I have a total of 12 gallons of water.

pH is 5.9, water temps are 67.5 F, using RO/DI

Sorry no pics yet. I thought or think it is a calcium def but I dont want to be adding more stuff on a assumption. My TDS pen broke so I do not know my total TDS either. New one will be here sometime today.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I have a Spectrapure 90 gpd RO/DI system right now getting 13 ppm out of 650 ppm hard tap water or 98% rejection rate. I don't use the DI cartridges and swapped them out for .5 micron carbon and sediment filters. DI or deionized water can cause bleaching like problems, you might get 0 ppm but the DI water can be reactive to stuff like calcium.

The RODI system was a great deal so I got that and like I said swapped out the 10" DI cartridges.

 

[Stonefree69]

Here's to quote someone at an aquarium reef forum (not reefer ) "Is it Safe To Drink RO Water?? You'd be surprised..": "I would like to tell you of my personal experance. We have a DI unit on all our house water. We got it 10 years ago, I though it would be good for my freshwater fish. Oh my, after a little while I noticed that all my snails were turning white and dying. It was because the water wanted the minerals back, and it was leaching it back out of everything it could[hungry water]. I found out that you must add back these minerals to get good water for freshwater fish. As for saltwater you are adding all that back in the mix."

Also aquarium water ppms are a lot higher than say hydro RDWC, so maybe you're making sense on those deficiencies. RDWC I use 600-700 ppms max and those salt water aquariums use on average 400 ppm calcium & 1,300 ppm magnesium.

 

[Bennyweed1]

^^^thanks for the advise man.

Where did you get your micro carbon filters? I will for sure follow that advise! Thanks man.

And the more and more I look at my plant I think I nut burned them.

 

[Mister_D]

Inclined to agree, think you've burned them. Tons of peeps using just maxibloom with ro, and no nute issues. Your leaves look very dark and are showing tip burn. My guess is the added cal-mag is throwing things out of balance. Drain, refill, and stick with straight maxibloom, see if that doesn't straighten you out.

 

[Bennyweed1]

Inclined to agree, think you've burned them. Tons of peeps using just maxibloom with ro, and no nute issues. Your leaves look very dark and are showing tip burn. My guess is the added cal-mag is throwing things out of balance. Drain, refill, and stick with straight maxibloom, see if that doesn't straighten you out.

True that man. Reason I thought it was a deficiency was because I was following the standard 7 grams per gallon but turns out it was to hot. I flushed and went half strength.

I lost about 6 days, need to get things turned around stat.

 

[Mister_D]

Lucky for you this is hydro. Things, good and bad happen very quickly

 

[Bennyweed1]

True that D, I flushed my buckets and cut everything by 50%.

Everything looks better and its not even been a full 24hrs

Each 5 gallon bucket has about 3g in it and my solution now is 560-620ppm and a a steady 5.9pH @ 66.5f

Here is the thing I dont get. I am new to hydro...this is my first real attempt, I dont get how 7 grams of maxibloom per gallon is working for everyone else?

That ratio literally fired the hell outta my white widow X big bud and stunted bad my Jack Flash and Purple Kush.

These are strains I been cloning for the last 2 years, I never have seen them get so baked...lol

7 grams per gallon was turning my solution pink and dying the roots pink. I don't get how it is so stiller for everyone else? Is it because my plants have developed a thing for organic soil and the switch is like being punched in the face?

I dont know but shit be cray!

 

[Stonefree69]

^^^thanks for the advise man.

Where did you get your micro carbon filters? I will for sure follow that advise! Thanks man.

And the more and more I look at my plant I think I nut burned them.

Sorry it took a bit to answer, but I get my RO stuff from Spectrapure site. They have a new RO cartridge out supposed to 99% rejection. When I save up I want their RO system with 1:1 rejection rate waste water using a booster pump. But right now I water me outside garden with about a 4:1 waste rejection.These guys are among tops in the industry in quality.

 

[Bennyweed1]

The plants are looking a ton better.

I must always remember that less is more. Im so used to organics when measurements didnt matter all that much. A handful of this and handful of that......

I want the plants to be about 6-8" taller before I put them into bloom in their final resting place.

White Widow x Big Bud

Purple Kush

Jack Flash

Only using half strength maxibloom.
I dont know when to increase EC? I imagine around the 4th wk of bloom? Whats it mean when EC raises and pH lowers or vice versa?

 

[Bennyweed1]

Now the growth is fired back up, things are really starting to look good

 

[Bennyweed1]

The first three are in their final resting places. I am going to veg for another 2 weeks probably or until they are about double in size.

Right now they are around a single 600w mh. The rest of the lights will be added as I load up the other 5 plant sites.

I still have to put up all the panda film. I want to make a tunnel along the top of the cages so no light hits the ceiling or the walls. I have to devise a way so I can slide it open from side to side like a set of curtains.

I also think I need to shorten the width of the cages. I want the rear of the cages basically at the back of the plants so all the branches are forced towards the bulb.

more or less I am stoked to have it loaded up! cheers peeps.

White widow X big bud

Purple Kush

Jack Flash

And the good'od reserv shoot

 

[Bennyweed1]

DIY pH controller is effin' rocken it..

5.6pH, 1.0ec, h20 18c/65f

 

[Stonefree69]

Not sure if the screen will help but it shouldn't be that big of a deal for 1 grow.

As far as the shop vac goes, I only have to use it after I harvest to get everything out. When I'm doing my nute changes, I drain my systems with a boiler drain adapter attached to a hose right to the bathtub:

View Image

then I fill up the system about 1/4 of the way with tap water and drain it again. I do that to mix up the remaining left over solution in the system and then I fill up the entire system again and add my nutes and pH down.

Glad you show how you have draining covered. Of all the complete hydro systems out there including UC, I can't for the life of me figure why they have left this detail out. Kinda like selling a car with no doors, we're all not running NASCAR here.