12 plant limit - should I go RDWC or Ebb-n-flow?

oldschoolfarmer · Jun 8, 2009

I want to setup a semi-automated system for this coming fall season. It would be nice if the system could be used during summer, but I can't afford a good chiller... so for now, the system will be used during spring/summer/fall.

RDWC and ebb-n-flow use a central rezevoir. I guess the information I'm looking for is:
1) what's easier to setup?
2) what would you use for such a small plant #?
3) what's easiest to maintain?

I'm in research mode, so if you think aeroponics beat out both these systems or if you think I should look at something else... by all means, I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks for your help!

samtodd · Jun 8, 2009

if your not willing to buy a chiller i would say steer clear of dwc imo..

oldschoolfarmer · Jun 8, 2009

It would be nice if the system could be used during summer, but I can't afford a good chiller... so for now, the system will be used during spring/summer/fall.

I'm very experienced with DWC, it's RDWC that's new to me.

Anyone else?

BigGreen · Jun 8, 2009

I ran my last run with out a chiller but now I need it. As long as you can keep your temps 72f and lower you'll be fine with out a chiller but you'll need aquashield. The rdwc gives very very fast and robust growth even faster than regular dwc. I would recommend rdwc theres a lot less maintance and every thing is way more stable and if you get any extra $ get yourself a chiller I found mine for $325.00 I can give you a link if your interested. Its a small price to pay for a very healthy crop.
Good luck

Tanuvan · Jun 8, 2009

1) what's easier to setup? Ebb n Flow...only need a pump,timer,2 rubbermaids, and some tubing. Much Cheaper. Less complicated.
2) what would you use for such a small plant #? Either One
3) what's easiest to maintain? Ebb N Flow in my opinion...unless you like fighting with pythium...you had better have your temps under serious control in DWC/RDWC. Though the RDWC will require less ph/ppm monitoring compared to regular DWC.

215Z · Jun 8, 2009

Whatever you choose, I hope you go big. Like, 10gal Brutes with shower drains at the bottom.

Wait...What? · Jun 9, 2009

Ebb & Flow, run to waste. It'll be a looooooooooooooong time before I go back to recirculating hydro setups. Run to waste blows it away every time.

Smoke Kush · Jun 9, 2009

ebb and flow is a lot easier than dwc and rdwc. I run a top feed on a 3x3 table with 3 rows of 4. The res is a lot smaller with top feed than full on flood. Less nutrients needed and a lot easier to control temps. Just get drip irrigation lines and fittings for the feed line. cheap and easy.

sk

samtodd · Jun 9, 2009

samtodd said:
if your not willing to buy a chiller i would say steer clear of dwc imo..

oldschoolfarmer said:
I'm very experienced with DWC, it's RDWC that's new to me.

Anyone else?

should i repeat myself?

whodi · Jun 9, 2009

if you wanna do a prepetual harvest or grow huge trees with vertical lgihtning, i'd go rdwc over ebb flow

rdwc will get you better yields but you have to make sure your environment and equipment is well maintained. still best to have a chiller with rdwc as well.

ebb flow would be easiest, however.

But I agree with the poster about run to waste.. grow in 10 gallon contaienrs with all perlite or 60% hydroton 40% coco. Hook up a good drip system and you can get some really nice yields with little effort (as long as your growing skills are good)

samtodd · Jun 9, 2009

run to waste with straight perlite or hydroton sure seems wasteful to me.. like extremely wastefully..

what about something similar but with a 50% coco fiber 50% perl with about 2 inches of hydton at the bottom.. you could grow trees like a straight hydro system but be able to retain that water/nutes for alittle longer.

whodi · Jun 9, 2009

not wasteful.. water 3 times a day 15 mins each in flower.. bout 2-3 gallons a day.. and of course half of that in veg. Drink as much as any large plant would.

opt1c · Jun 9, 2009

here is my opinion; if you have only a few plants you really don't want to lose any of them; best way to do this is to grow really large plants; i think coco is a good medium for your needs; you can use a res without a chiller; the coco itself is a nice temp buffer and if you run dtw reservoir maintenance is a breeze; also with only 12 plants you can really take you time vegging out individual plants and then flowering monster trees under a large area while sill keeping it legal

i've found that coco is the most forgiving medium for large trees; very easy to flush and correct any mistakes you make; if the power goes out and you aren't hand watering coco is second only to soil when it comes to keeping your plants alive

unless you're limited by space i think you'd have a better experience growing individual plants in appropriately sized containers and hand watering than having all plants in one stage

also a lot cheaper startup cost than tables or rdwc

rdwc is very unforgiving in my experiences; i've yet to see a system run well without a chiller during the summer; biobuckets/undercurrent and u need a chiller; don't forget the extra electrical cost of those pumps, airpumps, etc... uses a lot of juice to get the water moving that fast without any dead spots in 12 buckets of any decent size

good luck

oldschoolfarmer · Jun 9, 2009

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I had heard that RDWC didn't require a chiller. Apparently that was false info

Time to do more research (coco). Thanks again!

purpledomgoddes · Jun 9, 2009

run run-to-waste like this... xyz+/- tomato plants...
4 gallon square buckets fit perfectly into 5 gallon round buckets; no spacer needed.

4 gal buckets are filled w/ media of choice (in this imaginary garden, coco+perlite). 5/8" nylon ropes are spread out in media, underneath transplanted plant, and in lower 2" of bucket. holes drilled into bucket @ 2". ropes drawn thru holes into lower 5 gal bucket.

when water feed, goes into lower bucket, is wicked up into top 4 gal bucket media.

mature plants will easily drink up 1-2 gallons a day. can actually see it happening w/ wick carrying water to top bucket, leaving bottom bucket dry in 1-2 days.

no pumps, no hoses, no drippers, no filters, etc. w/ floranova bloom dont even ph nutes/water going in, or check ph of run-off that rest in lower bucket. may be useful to check these things, but have done this few times and know what particular cultivars like.

hope this helps. enjoy your garden!

Wait...What? · Jun 10, 2009

It wasn't offered as an original option, but I'm lovin' the heck out of top watering coco, running to waste, using the H3ad/Rez ratio of micro/bloom.

Elcap · Jun 12, 2009

Coco in square pots, drippers, recirc with drain going straight back to res through a screen mesh and panty hose filter. Cheap, one pump, no chiller, can run at higher temps, if power goes down you have a coulpe days buffer, easy to flush, etc.

That's what I settled on after designing a 12 site RDWC and figuring out all cost and electic draw associated with the plumbing/pumps/chiller/etc. I was really, really pre-disposed to running DWC because aside from one flood/drain table run, all the hydro I've done has been DWC (switched from soil, would never go back). But I'm running coco after doing a shitload of reading (same way I switched to DWC, and it pays big time to know what you're getting into, common problems with the method, etc. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" as they say.

You shouldn't have much waste anyway, about 10% runoff is recommended, but I think it'll take some fiddling to get it right if you automate it since the root mass and how quickly they drink will vary throughout the grow. You can also manually water and skip the pumps, but I like to take off for a few days at a time every now and again.

good luck, and let us know what you come up with.

samtodd · Jun 15, 2009

you never said what kind of light you were going to be running and what kind of space you have.. this makes alot of difference in how you approach the situation.

HydroFarmer · Jun 15, 2009

Haven't read the entire thread, but I run RDWC with no chiller ( Basement Environment) and I never have problems with temps. Temps stay around 60 at night no lights and 78 day with lights..

Could just be because it is a basement and cooler by default

just my 2 pennies... :joint:

mpd · Jun 16, 2009

I've grown both ways and DWC produced more for me - same strain, same limitations - DWC was a bigger yielder.

Good luck with your grow!

12 plant limit - should I go RDWC or Ebb-n-flow?

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