Combined DWC and top drip feed system...

[BuddingGrower]

I have been thinking about how to setup my hydro system. I have a 130 l box with a lid where I'm going to put some net pots and two long air stones.

Unfortunately the box is not strong enough to be filled near the top; the plastic bends outwards on the long sides. It's fine when it's only half full but then the net pots won't reach the water. I think adding a top feed irrigation set would work and keep the plants roots alive until they reach the deeper water. I found this one, Irrigation Set Economy for 8 plants which I think would work nicely.

It's also available from a store in Finland (hint Google results) which has usually been quite fast at processing orders (usually the same day,) but now even after a few emails and almost a week later there is still no reply from that store.

Perhaps they are just busy, and I'm just annoyed because it's taken me a long time to get everything almost ready and I'm just waiting on a few parts.

I don't know whether I should just forget my approx. 50€ order and buy from that shop in Germany (but their shipping is very expensive, something like 30€ compared to 4€ from FI.)

This turned out to be more of a rant than I thought it would; time to go chill to some music. I really hoped to have everything setup before Xmas.

 

[maxibiogreen]

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Hi BG.

You do not need to buy anything!
You must speak about a similar system to this one isnt it?



What you can do is connect a water pump to the correct sized plastic pipes with a T shape in wich you connect 360° sprayers. And Voila.
I ll try to take a pic of one of my old set up tomorrow.
This way everything is inside the res nothing coming out of it .
I ve also found out that big containers were mostly interesting for cloning or to use with small plants. A 20 l bucket with an air pump inside will do just as good and will be possible to move around.

This is a simple DWC system , difficult to make it more simple and the results are quiet interesting.

 

[BuddingGrower]

Well I already placed the order to Pispalanpalmu for that set. It is very cheap, probably cheaper than buying all the components separately.

I'd set it up so that the whole thing is inside the reservoir and the little water hoses come up from the bottom of the net pots (secured with cable tie.)

It's just annoying they are not replying to emails. I asked a few times, always very politely, whether there might be some delay or some other problem. No reply.

Let's see in another few days. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, because usually they have shipped orders the same day. It might be they have to order this set into stock from their supplier and that's causing the whole order to be delayed.

 

[BuddingGrower]

Max you have a really nice setup with the bucket DWC but I wanted to use a single container for many plants so it's easier to track the water level, pH, EC and feeding. IMHO bucket DWC is perfect for 1-2 plants but if you have 6 or 8 (for example) then the maintenance would take too much time and effort.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Get a cargo strap...

Wrap it around the place in the tub that swells out and cinch it down snug.

Now fill your tub... should fill up all the way and be just fine.
Alternative is to put your first tub inside another tub of the same design and glue them together. (Clunkier but it works.)

Stay Safe!

 

[BuddingGrower]

Get a cargo strap...

Wrap it around the place in the tub that swells out and cinch it down snug.

Now fill your tub... should fill up all the way and be just fine.

I didn't think of this idea. Yes, it could work, but then I would have to deal with nearly 130 liters of water instead of maybe 50-60% of that with the added top-feed system.

I might add a cargo strap anyway just to be extra cautious.

Alternative is to put your first tub inside another tub of the same design and glue them together. (Clunkier but it works.)

Stay Safe!

I'm not sure this would work; you can see on the Ikea page the short sides have this kind of square shaped reinforcement. Those sides don't move one bit, but the long sides don't have any reinforcement. Two times thin plastic is still not very strong.

I like the cargo strap idea, with the Ikea tub 50-60% full, and the top-feed drippers. Now I just hope Pispalanpalmu haven't ripped me off; I don't think so because I made a couple of orders to them successfully... I don't know, maybe they are just busy or taking some vacation around itsenäisyyspäivä. Let's see whether they reply today.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck!

PM me if you have any specific questions about dwc. Loved it for years.

Stay Safe!

 

[BuddingGrower]

Looks like the situation was due to Xmas delay, so no problem. I'm interested to see how the combined system will perform and maybe I'll start a journal here on ICmag.

 

[BuddingGrower]

I broke lid for the 130l box while I was trying to cut the second hole for the net pots. I was using a cheap 5€ circle cutter (ympyräleikkuri) because the hole isn't a standard hole-saw size. I think it's time to buy a new lid and an adjustable hole saw...

Damn, I hate to think about how much money I've spent on this stealth cabinet. Most of the cost has been buying the tools needed. I should post some photographs now that it's quite close to being complete but I'm a bit paranoid about posting them... What do you usually do for photos? Just make sure there are no reflections and no identifying information?

Does anyone know where to get a strap and buckle to wrap around the box? Like Hydro-Soil suggested. I don't want the long sides to bend out too much when it's full of water.

Best to be safe!

 

[prowler]

You should be rather scouting for a better box. I mean i would be bugged with the constant worry of 100l of water trying to break it's way out of the cabinet. You can find plastic containers in the following stores: Bauhaus, K-rauta, Etola, Ikea, Tarjoustalo, Starkki...etc.

 

[BuddingGrower]

You should be rather scouting for a better box. I mean i would be bugged with the constant worry of 100l of water trying to break it's way out of the cabinet. You can find plastic containers in the following stores: Bauhaus, K-rauta, Etola, Ikea, Tarjoustalo, Starkki...etc.

Maybe this is a good idea. I have a box already from Ikea and it's okay as long as it's only about half full... If I can find something more robust that would be good.

I have about 100 cm (width) by 60 cm (depth) of floor space inside the wardrobe.

 

[Kukkamaisteri]

One thing to consider is to double up those plastics. It gets a lot stiffer & safer that way.

 

[BuddingGrower]

One thing to consider is to double up those plastics. It gets a lot stiffer & safer that way.

That could work too. I might pick up another box after the Christmas rush and holidays are over... and a few lids in case I break another one while making the holes.

I was bored so I made two DWC buckets. I have more buckets and lids but they are not ideal; blue plastic buckets which lets some light through so I would have to wrap them in panda film or black duct tape. My air pump only has two outputs so it can't run more buckets.

I might do an experiment with the two buckets to see how painful it is to maintain the water and pH and EC levels. If it's easy to keep, say, 4 or 6 buckets with stable levels then that would be perfectly okay and I would just buy more air stones and a pump with more outputs and forget the single big box idea.

I can see advantages here because it's easier to deal with the weight of the water when I have to change nutrient solution or flush at the end of the grow... but I would want to be able to get away with spending 1 hour/day (or less) on maintenance.

 

[BuddingGrower]

I have an almost complete cabinet setup and I'm really tempted to germinate some seeds... I still have to cut a hole for the passive air intake and make some light traps from cardboard.

The exhaust fan, ducting, and charcoal filter is setup already and I have the 2 reflectors hanging but still need to connect the power cables. I'm using CFLs so that is not a difficult job.

Almost ready to grow!