DWC Shopping List

[DSXJ]

Hey guys I have done many grows with soil and really want to try a DWC setup.

So far I have read the tutorial on here about DWC and have taken all my information from there.

My shopping list as stands :

Air Stone x 2
Air pump x 1
Water pump x 1
Water hub x 1
15gal Rubbermaid x 1
25' clear 3/4 inch tubing x 1
Bag of Hydroton 10.7L bag
Net Pots x 6
TDS METER
PH METER

Question, with the hose coming from the water pump the tutorial has the hose going directly into the Rockwool and providing a slow drip for feed, is this correct dwc or is this the drip feed?

Also, does the size of the net pot matter? I plan on doing 6 girls in a 15gal rubbermaid.

Thanks guys!

 

[DSXJ]

Could hear a pin drop in this thread.

 

[MrFlintstone]

I think most refer to that as a true dwc, with the top feed I'm not quite sure how to set that up as I don't use them (k.i.s.s.) I use 3.5 and 5 gal buckets, 4 outlet air pump connected to a spider(a.i.t.) from the black widow kit on eBay, these are neat and require a 4 outlet or bigger pump, got it for under 20$ that's in the 3.5, in the 5 gal I have a dual outlet airpump connected to a 8" micro pore stone from petco, and also an Oxyhead from eBay for 18$ it's a pump with a Venturi line that you can hook a air pump to, it provides tons of oxygen, the Hawaiian Purp is in the 5 gal, and I have to say I love the oxyhead.

I would suggest getting a decent air pump, two micro pore stones, the hydroton I would rinse like 1,000,000,000 times, as far as meters, the pricey ones are well worth it but you can manage with cheaper ones, I would suggest calibration liquids for both ph and tds meters.
eBay is your best friend find stuff cheap!

 

[Bassman59]

The tutorial you mention is directed towards the newcomer and using multiple plants per tub. My first grow, I too did this and followed the tutorial.

Things I learned:
1.) Grow small, flip to flower early.
2.) 6 plants is too many in that tub. Three max, actually prefer one.
3.) water temps! NOT enough talk about water temps in that thread. Water temps above 68f are the bane of dwc.
4.) 3" round cylindrical air stones put out tons more dissolved oxygen than the crap stones used in that thread imo.
5.) Hydroton is hard to find nowadays. But there are replacements, and they're lighter in weight. Wash the hell out of them!

I did one lousy grow using the setup you describe, then turned it into a makeshift rdwc with a water chiller with much better success, but 3 plants was still too many. My third grow, I made a RDWC setup using 5 gal buckets. I've not changed back since.

 

[DSXJ]

I have a 6 plant maximum and would like to take advantage of it every time, do you suggest I use 3-5 gallon buckets per plant? I will use round air stones and will look into the water chiller. My understanding from that thread is that it didn't have just 1 tube feeding multiple plants I would run 1 tube per plant rather then 2-3 tubes for 5-6 plants. I have hydroton locally so it won't be much of an issue, but what are some substitutes in case they are out of stock. By flipping flower early you suggest the minute they are sexed instead of vegging for much longer.

Like I said I have a 6 plant maximum and would like to do all 6 to provide maximum results for my meds. For my hydro setup I will be using a 4x4x6(1kw light) tent and a 2x4x5(600w light) tent for my mothers. I would like to consistently be cloning/pulling. There would be 4 plants in the 4x4x6 area as the other 2 will be mothers, or even 5 if I can get a healthy enough mother going ie lots of topping .

Thanks for the input, thought this thread as lost to the abyss haha!

 

[Bassman59]

ok for your space, I would actually suggest a 3 plant grow, 5 gal buckets. Look at my grows, you'll see my setups. 4 plants is crowded in 4x4. Too crowded imo and experience. I grow 4 in a 5x5 and that's crowded, 3 in my 4x4. And I'll probably switch my 5x5 to three.

I veg in a closet mostly, and use my tents for flower period. This gives me 1 harvest per month basically, or every 5-6 weeks.

Just ask for hydroton, they'll give ya the replacement material (I dont recall the name).

I don't use a feeder tube. I drop them into buckets when they have roots that will slide through the net pots and reach the water. No need for the setup mentioned in that tutorial imo. Works fine in that setup, but I don't call that way of doing it optimal in any way.

 

[DSXJ]

I think for my first one I'm going to attempt the feeding tube like shown in the tutorial, couldn't hurt having the roots in the water and having a feeding tube right? I still think I can get away with more plants as I have 6 in a 2x4x6 and yes it is crowded but topped and in a SCRoG setting, getting set for defoliation soon and seems like they will do quite well. Take a look the links in my thread.

I will scan your thread and I'm sure I'll learn quite ab it from it, thanks.

 

[Bassman59]

Except that the pump in the bucket heats the water, which is the bane to all dwc growers.

 

[DSXJ]

Wouldn't the water chiller get the job done at this point? Or perhaps an external?

 

[Bassman59]

You're over complicating things imo. While that tutorial does offer a reasonable starting point for the newcomer, it doesn't fit everyone. You only need a couple inches of roots to start them off. Even less. Adjusting the water level a bit higher, and the effect of the bubbling from the air stones will get moisture to your root riot (or whatever) cubes and the root's will reach down for more.

Your chiller will be set to chilling the water that's leaving the plants at their highest temp. Then going into your main res, warming a little, then to each plant, subsequently warming a little more. Add you're adding a pump in the middle to warm it again? One that really isnt even needed?

Eventually you take that top feed pump out anyways if you're following that tutorial. Once the roots reach water level you don't need it. Maybe it saves you 3 days growing time. But it also adds one more thing to watch and one more thing that could fail.

Don't get me wrong, I did the same thing in my first two grows. But today, it doesnt even cross my mind. I can get 2 foot long roots in a cloning tray alone, before planting.

These two cuttings were just taken from a plant, dropped into ro water only, and left in a bathroom with two cfl's left on 24/7 3.5 feet away above the mirror.

I may or may not even plant them. I just took them to shorten the mom.