DTW expertise required

[truecannabliss]

Hey everyone im thinking about moving from hand watered coco to DTW for several reasons, all beautifully demonstrated and discussed in Hundred Gram OZ incredible thread
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241341

Now it goes without saying that i went to the man himself for some advice but i would also like more opinion from anyone with first hand, real world experience (as oppose to info gathered from other sources online etc).

I am looking at 60 x 600w (or possibly a 60 x 1000w gavita set up) with 12 x 6.5 litre pots per light.

Head room is not an issue and the room is legal so will be done to a high standard.

Eventually i would like to have a maximum of 3 strains running so potential for separate watering controls for each 20 lights is needed.

It will be clones eventually but the 1st run will have to be seeds till mother plants are prepped for such large numbers.

What pumps, timers, tubing, connectors and other such components will i need?

Also any other things i need to take into consideration?

Tips for starting seedlings would also be appreciated as they can be hard enough in coco, DTW may require some other tricks.

Peace and thanks.
Many thanks in advance, cant wait to share this journey with you all.
Peace

 

[queequeg152]

diaphragm pump is going to be your primary means of pumping to emmitters.

anything between 0-6gpm can be handled with a diaphragm pump.

higher than this you will want a multistage centrifugal + a large accumulator.

your pump is controlled with a simple irrigation timer with a master valve control circuit.

this is a 24vac signal designed to tip over a larger relay that handles the high amp switching of a large pump.

a diaphragm pump wont be terribly high current, none the less you will need a 24vac coil relay to switch it.

controlling which zone the fertigation system pumps too will require either valve actuators, or solenoids.

i highly reccoment simple lawn sprinker solenoids.

its really not much different than that of a lawn sprinkler system.

 

[truecannabliss]

Could you link me to DJMs coco trees thread?

 

[GreeeeN GRassss]

Could you link me to DJMs coco trees thread?

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=300255

 

[Hundred Gram Oz]

Hey bro I'll reply with some ideas to this thread instead of PM, it might be helpful to a few members. Info, Pics, etc.

Peace,
HGO

 

[queequeg152]

i would reccomend against a sump pump if you are interested in using spray stakes or spray emitters... or low micron filters or solenoids.

they do not produce enough pressure. they are meant to pump to maby 20 feet and maintain a good flow rate.

a typical diaphragm pump will reach 60 psi easily. i have my mine set to modulate pressure at around 60 personally. with this pressure i can use pressure compensating drippers... meaning all emitters more or less reach the same flow rate regardless of their elevation and length of tubing.


cheap piloted solenoids are quite restrictive... given a high enough flow rate, single digit pressure drops are not uncommon across these things.

and small diameter drip lines are especially prone to causing pressure losses.

 

[onavelzy]

at that scale of growing, why not use DTW beds? Also, hard to see the advantage of the smaller gavitas if you have the room over head and the physical set up to run 60KW.

a really good source to see large scale grows like you're talking done in coco beds is Jackmayoffers thread from 2012.

here's one of his posts showing shots of one of his rooms at week 5


i put the search for his threads and his posts only so you don't have to waste time wading through all the other conversations from others that take up the majority of the thread. just scroll on that page until you find the aptus thread

Also, although the initial theme of the thread is his trial of using Aptus nutes, that is really just a small part of what he shows folks and he no longer uses them, despite getting really great results. at various places he describes how he sets up his beds, his drip system, his lights, his grow mediums (he does several side by side trials in the thread). It's a goldmine of information and pearls of growing expertise for any considering trying out maximizing their yield using coco beds with scrogs.

def worth looking through if you're considering investing enough money for a grow of that size and complexity and have these kinds of questions.

best of luck

 

[truecannabliss]

Yeah im thinking 40 x 1000w Gavitas.....as for beds im not too sure about moving too far away from what i know just yet but may experiment.
12 under each one in 6.5 litre pots, so 120 per 10k each being fed off separate tanks on timers so i can run 4 strains.

 

[queequeg152]

Yeah im thinking 40 x 1000w Gavitas.....as for beds im not too sure about moving too far away from what i know just yet but may experiment.
12 under each one in 6.5 litre pots, so 120 per 10k each being fed off separate tanks on timers so i can run 4 strains.

you dont need seperate timers... just seperate solenoids.

theyve been making lawn sprinkler timers with 8+ zones since the 1980's