RDWC system 1st run journal

Those are great pictures. It shows I could use my cloner to grow a plant if I wanted like that. Thanks @OGIncognito :+1:

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Would be cool to see that. I built a smaller version for cloning but haven’t tried it.

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Appreciate all the help and input guys. The pics really help @OGIncognito, I’m thinking of redesigning it with elbows coming down after the ball valves and then making my own manifold out of pvc or irrigation pipe. Did you use certain spray tips for your set up?
And I did get some poly film and made tops for them so try and reduce any potential to algae growth. I believe the girls are still recovering as some of the leaves are still looking a bit rough. Anything else I can do to try and help them you guys think? Or are these signs of certain deficiencies? Thanks again



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Does the nutrient solution stay in the plant containers with air stones? Hate to say this but they look pretty bad. Can you post some pics of under the lid where the plant roots are? I’m trying to figure your system out to better help. What’s your spray interval? PPMs and PH of the nutrient solution? :love_you_gesture:

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When I designed it I was hoping that some water would stay in the buckets and I was going to add air stones but bc of the design of these buckets to drain I can’t keep


more than a few inches of water in them when it’s running. I was hoping they’d recover after being too damp, do you think they’re saveable or should I go ahead and germinate some more seeds?

Right now their food is at around 450-500 ppm and CO2 is at 650

The pump is on a 15 minute on 25 min off interval and I will get some pics of underneath when I get home in a few hours for sure.

The pH stays pretty stable and I don’t let it get out of the 5.5-6.5 range

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I think this is too often and too long. If the lid to your bucket is sealed the roots will able to absorb a lot of the moisture between the spray intervals. I would put that on a 3 minute every 6 hours for several days and see how they react. I had to start out with 1 minute every 12 hours during the seedling period, 1-2 minutes every 4 hours in veg and 1 minute every 45 minutes in full flower. The root chamber kept a high RH to keep the roots moist. Bump up the nutrients to 800, PH 5.8-6.0 and get the temps up to high 70’s- 82 degrees. You don’t really need that cover on top :love_you_gesture:

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So my issue is that these buckets aren’t really sealed. They’re more an open top design. I made those ‘tops’ based on @Not2SureYet idea using the poly film to reduce the light getting to the smart gravel to reduce the algae.

I’ll change the interval on my pump and see how it does for sure and drop the pH just a bit to keep it in that range. As for the temp, are you referring to the room or the actual temp of the nutrient solution?


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Room temps :love_you_gesture:

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Bet thanks again brother, I’ll try and dial in my temps a bit better. Thinking about putting a 90 after each valve and running the manifold underneath a few inches of the smart gravel so it’s lower in the bucket. I’ll see how just changing the temp and pump interval helps for the next few days first as I don’t have actual lids on it some I’m not sure how much these make shift ones will retain the humidity

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The hydroton retains a good bit of moisture and the roots will find it :love_you_gesture:

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Awesome appreciate it brother and what do you think about if I directed my manifolds a bit lower in the buckets like this perhaps, you think it would be better or nay?

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How much comes out on the Spray cycle, what do the roots look like. Still think they’ve just been too wet. It’s almost like a flood to drain set up but with a aeroponic manifold?? Going to tag a Grow Bro for some more help @OldSkunk any thoughts or suggestions to help a fellow Hydro Bro out :love_you_gesture:

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You want to see what it looks like while it’s pumping or you asking how many gph? Bc gph I have no idea lol and it’s hard to look at the roots bc they’re under the smart gravel. But they could definitely be stronger, anything you recommended for stronger/more roots besides some mykos maybe? And yea except you can never flood it enough bc it drains so fast lol :joy: that’s why I’m still tinkering with it hard to fine tune it, this trail run of girls might not end too well so I might get ready to germinate some fresh seeds and try round 2 lol. This what they looked like earlier, think they’re looking deficient in something?


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