First Time DWC Grow Here! - Tips & Critiques Welcome!

Ah wha that's no good, I sure hope I don't run into root issues. They seem to be a major issue for hydro grows tho, going to definitely tty my best. But I'm sure I'll have my share of scares, as for a shop vac no I don't have one at the moment I think I knownwhrre your going with it. I definitely need a shop vac lol would make cleaning the buckets out easier

Hydroguard every time you add water. My nute solution in my buckets almost always runs 70-76deg F. Add 2ml to each US gallon. I usually dose on the heavy side.
 
Tent finally arrived!!
DSC_021815.JPG
jist waiting on the lights
 
For draining my tubs in ScroG or not I use a $10 drill pump. Just need a couple of feet of garden hose with a female fitting to connect to the intake end of the pump. I put a piece of mosquito netting over the end fastened with a SS hose clamp to keep roots from getting sucked up. I just use my rechargeable drill to run it and it only takes about 4 or 5 min to drain 35L out of a tub. I don't put a hose on the outlet side but have a large, tapered funnel I got at the auto supply store and just shoot it into a 5gal water jug for disposal in the garden or compost pile. Have to hang on to the pump part when first starting as it can flip around from the torque.

@sciguy When the THC breaks down as the trichs go amber it changes to CBN, not CBD. Still has some medicinal properties but not as useful as CBD. If CBD is desired growing a strain with a higher CBD content is needed.

L8r
 
Awesome idea oldmeduser! I was thinking today.. what about the poor Roots:-o but yes some netting would work great! Alright so here's an update I got the tent assembled, tested out my inline fan for shits... Lol almost sucked the tent inside out, noticed that I have Velcro vents on the sides.. Much better now lol also I I may not need an intake fan? Them vents such huge amounts of fresh air in..
DSC_022217.JPG
 
I hope your $10 drill pump works better then my $4 one from harbor freight. It won't work with a hose on the intake end. I have to stick the pump in the water and worry about dropping my 20v lithium ion dewalt drill in the water. That would be a devastating tragedy...
 
Hey man, looks like you're about ready to have some fun here!

On germination -- as I'm sure you've already found, there are a number of methods and everyone has their favorite. Although I've only germinated 20-30 seeds in my life, I would suggest you to consider germinating right in your DWC buckets rather than in a dome. Mix up your starter nutes (unless you are starting right in h2o2 only... a discussion in itself), make sure your substrate (rockwool for you) in the net cups gets moist but not soaked, place your seed pointy end up in your rockwool (use sterile tweezers) and get those things right in the buckets. I'd do 24-0 lighting until you get some real leaves then you can do 18-6 or whatever you plan for veg... I use "rapid rooters" rather than rockwool, but in general not a "whole" lot different than rockwool... In my current grow I used a humidity dome and IMO it's more of a pain in the ass than its worth as I had to moisten my substrate in the dome 3x daily... I could ramble on about germination here, but I'll save you the pain :)

On your setup, maybe this was mentioned before (maybe even by me :) ), do you have a water chiller? If not I'm assuming you're aware that you'll want to keep the res water between 65-73F (or so) otherwise you might run into root zone issues (root rot and other fun things)? Not trying to be a downer here dude, just making sure you don't ruin a grow like I did before getting a water chiller.

Looks like you have some nice equipment here BTW!
 
Thanks Cogreen! I definitely know I gotta keep my temps jist right in the babblers. That's my main worry, I'm going to go with frozen water bottles and see if that's all it needs if at all. I rent a house atm so I don't have the room I want for a more cycled style grow set up. Hopefully by the end of winter I'll have bought a house where I can have a clone, veg, and flower tent :) haha imagine! Right in the living room, what a conversation piece that would be lol I got it all set up in my chill/game/be in peace room (one of the rooms upstairs) lol anyways again thanks for all the info!
 
Maybe you can get away without a chiller... However just based on my experience and the journals I've read it can be a challenge to keep the res temps down in a number setups. If your dead set on hydro then maybe see what happens, but be ready to buy one (if needed) as you would probably use it longer term with hydro anyway. Worst case I'm sure you could move your plants to a different medium if needed (e.g. coco, soil...). You may also be able to use some "additives" which give you a few more degrees on the high end of the temps. For example something like "Hydroguard" or using beneficial bacterial (e.g. "Great White" or whatever). Some people also use H2O2 (basically food-grade hydrogen peroxide).

Also a question -- how much air does that air pump push?? More oxygen in your water usually = better... When you fire that thing up, make sure there's a lot of bubbles in there!!

Seriously; I'm not trying to be negative here, just trying to set you up for what you might expect.
 
so here is an update guys, im about 6 days since the sprouts came threw. once germinated i placed the seeds directly into the rockwool cubes and into the dwc buckets. i took a chance and so far its going well. they seem to be growing super fast and they have about 5 inches of bright white roots into the water threw the netpot :}, pretty cool to see. definitely seems to be a lot better then soil from my experience which isnt a whole lot. they just seem so much more robust, i have been using light nutes, my ppm for both is right around 220. and ph is sitting nicely around 5.6 i ended up moving my exhaust fan inside the tent. a lot quieter, and seems to be doing a lot better keeping the heat out. anyways here we go.
DSC_028315.JPG
DSC_02829.JPG
DSC_028112.JPG
DSC_02809.JPG
 
hey cogreen its all good man, all the advice i can get is appreciated. and for your question.. i have a fish tank style air pump the girl at the hydro shop said it would do me for 4 at most and 3 nicely. so i figured id go with it, no point in overkilling if i dont have too, both buckets so far are getting lots of oxygen tons of bubbles. plus i have some dnf 29% peroxide that came with the dnf line-up. should i add some in with every water cleaning or should i just use it if i start to notice a root issue?
 
p.s. still in the air about the water chiller. so far the water has been staying around 70 sometimes a little lower, i havemy fan blowing right on the buckets and air lines.. not sure if thats helping but something is working because my lights have been on a 18/6 cycle so far at 400watt power mh. gong to swing it to 600 soon im thinkin, light cycle seem okay or should i be leaving the lights on longer ?
 
Right on -- looking good man! I thought maybe you gave up on this journal as I didn't see an update in awhile :)

Some people use H2O2 as part of their program (regularly), but as rifleman said H2O2 will kill all bacteria, both good and bad... I personally started off using H2O2, but soon thereafter started using beneficial bacteria (Great White) so I now only use H2O2 to clean my equipment. If I were you I'd take a look at "Hydroguard" -- it can be used as part of your regular program or in root zone emergencies. My understanding is that it works wonders, but luckily I haven't had an emergency situation where I've had to use it.

If you decide to use H2O2 as part of your program, it's my understanding that it only lasts a few days in water, so you may need to apply it every few days (not an expert here so google-foo that shit if you decide to use it).

I do a 20-4 lighting schedule during veg, but that's just me... 18-6 should be fine too.

BTW -- if you end up needing a little more "power" on your ventilation you may be able to get some by finding a way to straighten out that ducting coming into/out-of your fan.

Anyway, congrats your baby girls here and nice work!
 
Back
Top Bottom