3000W Under Current Grow DIY

Hi Kids,

I'm new to the site but certainly not new to the growing scene. I few months back I got the itch to go back to my grass roots and start growing DWC again after various coco, rock-wool and aeroponic grows. I've built in the past several successful bio bucket systems but was looking for something a bit different. I stumbled upon the undercurrent system and after careful study I decided to make my own. Here are some pics for you guys. I used all the same parts the manufacture uses (purchased wholesale) and built the whole machine for less the $700. Enjoy.

Plants will be added soon.

 

Not a bad ideal. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

I wanted to build it and thoroughly test it before I move forward. I built the room to accommodate 9000 watts and three under current systems.

Plants were moved in today under low wattage. Toning will start in 4 days once they are acclimated.

 

I'm running (2) Jack Herer, (1) Hindu Kush, (2) Pineapple Express, (7) Jillybean.

Toning is a process of introducing tender cuttings or micro propagation plants to the intense light needed for flowering slowly and methodically. At the moment I have 4 bulb 4ft T-5's hanging under my 1000 watt's on 24/7. Every couple of hours my 1000 watt's come on for no more then an hour then turn off. Remember the T-5's stay on through the whole process. As they "harden" I increase the 1000 watt duration little by little until eventually the plants can handle the intense light (4-7 days). I will veg for 21 days while training the plants around my cages then start flowering.

I prefer House & Garden (H&G) by Von De Zwaan nutrient line. This batch will be using H&G Aqua Flakes A&B + Drip Clean, Root Excellerator and Multi-Zen for weeks 1-3. Week 4: I will add Bud XL to the same mix. Week 5: I drop Multi-Zen and root excel and will add Top Booster the last 3 days of the week. Week 6: A&B, Drip clean, bud XL and shooting powder (1 pack). week 7-8 I use week 6 formula but add 2 packs of shooting powder. The middle of week 8 I drop the overall TDS/PPM of the food by half and every day I keep dropping it slowly until I'm flushing with pure water until trichomes are half milky (eases stress and prevents plants from storing food during flush).

Under Current is extremely pricey for it's simplicity. Building it myself I had to work out some engineering issues as with any type of hydro system. I have close to 20 years experience with hydro which gives me a knowledge base to solve problems quickly before plants stress creeps in. For a first time hydro garden I wouldn't recommend a complicated system (i.e. Aeroponics, rockwool, hydroton or any other type of recirculation system like NFT). The start up cost on these systems is high and they require experience to get high performance. Hydro is like a European sports car. They will out perform anything on the road when they work right but require lots of tweaking and care.

Many may disagree (coco proponents) but I feel Coco is an amateur medium to start with but still can pull totally decent results. Best part is coco can be drain to waste meaning you don't re-capture the run off which will eliminate a lot of standards issues you will face with other hydro setups. Once you get a hang for PPM, pH fluctuations and feeding cycle then graduate to a more complex medium and master that one. Spend a year or two trying the different systems and dedicate yourself to mastering each before you attempt high output systems. Just my two cents but if your like me you might just jump in head first and learn.

DWC is different then most hydro systems. The less moving parts make it simple but it's not without it's issues. Plants will grow strong with less nutrients if the oxygen levels are high and pH range stable. The biggest issue is nutrients will fall out of solution if the water isn't moving. Bio-Buckets are the shit for learning DWC. Thats How I got started back in the 90's. Unfortunately, I don't have pics of my old bio-bucket system because it was so long ago but I could walk you through my set up design. It's clean but does have some engineering to the design.

Sorry about writing a novel here.

~HD

 

The bio-bucket system is a recirculating bubble bucket with a bacteria and fungal crown feed to each plant. Crown feeding is feeding only the top or crown of the plant and it's medium. This allows for a healthy inoculation of beneficial's while still running hydro.

The buckets sit above the reservoir on a rack. Each bucket is top feed via a pump in the main reservoir. A disc diffuser (7-9 inch) is used to aerate the reservoir. The bottom of each plant bucket has a drain (bulk head union 1) and and overflow (bulk head union 2) on the side. As the buckets are top feed the solution is allowed to run back to the reservoir to be re-aerated and each bucket drain utilizes a ball valve shut off valves to slow down the drain and allow bucket to fill up. As the water accumulates in each bucket with individual air stones or disc (bubble bucket) the overflows keep the bucket from over filling. This bucket system keeps water moving, heavy aeration and if you desire a crown feed bio feature. Of course you can do with out the bio feature and the bucket will still perform beautify.

Of course you could always try building a undercurrent system. I like the undercurrent better the the bio bucket but take pride in mastering all the other techniques. Makes for a well rounded farmer.

 

Yes the results are great.

If you need any advice or where to find parts to build a diy UC yourself let me know.

 

Thx, I got the seals from the manufacturer in Australia wholesale.

~HD

 

Nope..it's been holding solid. The cold water adaptor on the MIP side of the float does though, from the violent vibration from the air diffuser. Man that thing rocks!

 

You are right. More pictures and info would help.