Yes, great advice! I have had root balls nearly FILL a 5 gallon bucket myself, gobbling up loose bubble stones and air lines in the process I did, near the end of my past grows, have some roots get into the return pipe but I think if I use 1 1/2 inch pipe it wont be a problem. Even the 1 inch I used in the past was fine; every now and then near the end, I would need to gently pull some roots out of the return pipe. A larger pipe diameter should make this a non issue. I did not include some things in my schematics as it was created to show the overall design, but each bucket has 2 air stones/lines. A bit overkill, but that's how I always ran them in the past. I've had some come loose and/or get gobble up by a root ball so 2 is better than one! I can probably elevate the buckets by a few inches; I've just never run into any issues with this system design in the past. That said, depending on the space I have left after everything is setup, I can always add a small diameter pip sear the bucket rim that angles down into an emergency reservoir. If that's not possible, I'll just have to be vigilant and watch for water levels, flow, and leaks. I am not familiar with the sprayer: is that a nozzle that connects to the end of each feed/push tube that will spray the roots as opposed to just letting water flow out like a hose? In the past, I had a down spigot type barbed pipe that would force the water to shoot straight down the side of the bucket, causing a waterfall like effect. Using a spray head is an interesting idea! If it's a matter of simply attaching a fitting to the pipe, that is certainly possible. I might need to adjust the return rate though as that sounds like a very slow way to return water to each bucket. I am installing ball shutoff/turn valves at the base of each return line for each bucket, so I think I can slightly turn those to effect the flow and slow/speed it up, depending on how open I keep the valve.
For me I am always pushed for overall plant height because I grow sativa . When my plants get bigger and in flowering each plant container uses 3 to 6 gallons or more of water per day . That is the main reason I don't use 5 gallon buckets . 2nd reason is the root mass has as you said sucked up the air lines and air stones and takes up space in the bucket which makes the bucket hold less and less water .. By using larger self contained bubblier containers I can move the containers and I can leave for 3 or 4 days at a time because I use 20 gallon grow bubblier DIY containers . I also have to keep the inside air temp about 70 degrees F or the system uses allot of water . My grow containers temps run about 2 to 3 degrees hotter then inside grow tent temps .. So ideally 68 degrees inside grow tent temp is ideal temp for the bubblier containers . When I have my DIY refrigerator/chiller set up I can keep the water temp down to 68 and let inside tent temp go to 74 F. But i still wish i would of used Coleman ice chests as my grow containers . Again the water pumps make heat and so does compress air . MJ plants don't like stagnant water .. The plants grow allot better if the water highly oxygenated . I had a general hydroponic aeroponic AF 20 systems . I was growing in a 5 inch x 5 inch plastic fence post laid on its side . the plants roots plugged the 5x5 fence post and it would of flooded my 4x8 grow tent if just by luck i was working on my plants at the time it started leaking I got lucky Sprayers . if you look at the pics i posted you will see a blue tubing . I melt in holes about the size of a pensile lead . Tube is plumb to a 250 GPH Danner pump . and have holes pointed into the water and on the plants roots . 100% humidity in the grow container is a good thing as long as the water temps are below 70 degrees and your doing a sterilized grow system. Hope this helps
Nice! I think my next DIY will be built out of coolers. I'm dipping my toes back into the waters after a long absence so I want to start small. How do you keep your net pots anchored on the top of your container/cooler? When I tried that method, I used a tote/bin and once the plants got to be monsters, they collapsed the net pots; and pushed them right down into the holes they nested upon. Since that grow, I moved to buckets and 1 piece bucket lid net pot combos. How do you keep your net pots secure?
All but one of my grow containers are thick hard plastic if you look at my photos . They are like a tool trunk/chest from Wal Mart . I have done two things to keep the plant in place , first is i made a top notch trellis netting system . Second is i drilled 3 holes around the outside of the basket and use plastic washers to and wood screw to screw the washer down over the sides of the basket that keeps the plant some what up right . I don't move my plants .... i have 3 grow areas , total of 84 to 86 square foot of grow space divided into 2 4x8 grow tents and a 4x5 walk in closet . I have all the lighting required for the plants full life cycle .in each grow room . Now i am putting my plants in trellis netting at about 3 weeks and my trellis netting is 3 tiers .
I just dug out all of my old equipment, so now I have extra: extra water pump, 6X extra double port air pumps, extra cool tube and 600W fixture and ballast, extra MH/HPS bulbs, and a ton of mylar reflective material. Having all of this extra equipment will come in handy if anything fails or breaks. I forgot I had all of this stuff. If I wanted to run a two light system, would one inline fane be enough to cover both lights? I've never run a two light system before.
Better off running the returns straight to the res not through the other buckets as long as you have the water feeding through top Nd return at the bottom should be sweet