Thinking about DWC

[ilikebike]

hey guys ive recently started my second (and third) soil grow and i am very interested in hydropnics, specifically DWC because of its ease. I have the opportunity to make use out of a bed room to great a grow room. I am thinking of doing stand alone DWC 5 gallon bucket system with air-stones and hydroton, I am thinking about doing a 9 plant perpetual grow and have a separate room for multi strain mother tent. I have the BPN elite nutrient system so that is out of the way, everything else i need to build this system can be bought at homedepot or the hydro store. Do you think this is something i should attempt? i have always been kind of intimidated by hydroponics but after i get my first harvest under my belt i want to expand my yields and be able to have a perpetual supply of medicine. thanks for taking the time to look at this thread@!

how do you feed the plants with nutrients? do you just mix up the nutrients before hand, then drain the 5 gal bucket and refill it with the nutrient solution?

 

[YardDog35]

hey guys ive recently started my second (and third) soil grow and i am very interested in hydropnics, specifically DWC because of its ease. I have the opportunity to make use out of a bed room to great a grow room. I am thinking of doing stand alone DWC 5 gallon bucket system with air-stones and hydroton, I am thinking about doing a 9 plant perpetual grow and have a separate room for multi strain mother tent. I have the BPN elite nutrient system so that is out of the way, everything else i need to build this system can be bought at homedepot or the hydro store. Do you think this is something i should attempt? i have always been kind of intimidated by hydroponics but after i get my first harvest under my belt i want to expand my yields and be able to have a perpetual supply of medicine. thanks for taking the time to look at this thread@!

how do you feed the plants with nutrients? do you just mix up the nutrients before hand, then drain the 5 gal bucket and refill it with the nutrient solution?

I say go for it! DWC, as with all hydroponics can grow monsters.

I did a DWC grow after my first feeble attempt in soil. Not to say soil is bad, I grow in it now...feeble attempt because I knew nothing lol. It was actually easier than I anticipated thanks to everyone here at . Help was just a question away.

A couple things to consider, IMO. Biggest thing with DWC is water temp., if you can't keep the water below 70* or so things won't go as well as they should. Higher water temps deplete oxygen from the water. Another is cleaning you tub or bucket. Make sure you will be able to remove the plant at anytime, for its whole life cycle from the res for res cleaning. Some units have a drain on the bottom and I see folks use that, then refill time and time again...yuck. IMO you must be able to scrub your res clean between every other refill. Cleanliness in godliness! Res has to be light-proof, completely. Light will cause algae. Also use black air hoses for the same reason.

Don't skimp on the air pump or air stones. Get the good ones at the hydro shop. More bubbles the better! No need for a water pump at the beginning of growth, IMO. Just fill the res high enough so the bubbles splash the media to keep it moist until roots hit the water.

You are correct on nutes. I would fill my res, then add one nute at a time, stirring in between. PH it, and you're good to go.

Hope that helps somewhat. Good luck!

 

[azcruiser]

hey guys ive recently started my second (and third) soil grow and i am very interested in hydropnics, specifically DWC because of its ease. I have the opportunity to make use out of a bed room to great a grow room. I am thinking of doing stand alone DWC 5 gallon bucket system with air-stones and hydroton, I am thinking about doing a 9 plant perpetual grow and have a separate room for multi strain mother tent. I have the BPN elite nutrient system so that is out of the way, everything else i need to build this system can be bought at homedepot or the hydro store. Do you think this is something i should attempt? i have always been kind of intimidated by hydroponics but after i get my first harvest under my belt i want to expand my yields and be able to have a perpetual supply of medicine. thanks for taking the time to look at this thread@!

how do you feed the plants with nutrients? do you just mix up the nutrients before hand, then drain the 5 gal bucket and refill it with the nutrient solution?

Go for the dwc, and when the roots hit the water.... lookout.
It is more work but when you see how fast and big your girls get you will get hooked, I did anyway.

You can just add to it, and drain every 9 to 14 days or so.
You can slide the net pot lid over and check it.(hard with 10", easy with smaller ones.)
or
move the plant to another bucket then back.

Like yarddog35 said light on the water is bad.
Get the good heavy black buckets and black air hose, and a good air pump.

 

[ilikebike]

sounds good i might try a recirculating dwc system. Sounds like its easier to just have a resivor you can mix the nutes in and distribute it to the 5 gal buckets. ill def keep everyone posted!

 

[ilikebike]

ok so i got most the supplies needed to try a DWC in my tent.

List of things...

5 Gal Bucket
3 Gal Bucket
Net Pot Lid
Grodan Starter Cubes
Hydroton Pellets
Hygrozyme
2 Air Stones
Dual Port Air Pump


I intend on upgrading the air stones and air pump to a commercial sized one when i move to the 5 gal bucket. but i will use my current air pump in the 3 gal bucket. Also not sure what size net pot lid i got but it was the biggest one there, should be nice for a big plant.

Im going to cut a few clones from my 9 ppp plants i have going in my veg tent right now. i have to wait till they get bigger but i will dip them in clone gel and put them in Grodan cubes (Presoaked with pH 5.5 water with a drop of superthrive)
Then i will put them in my aerocloner till i see roots.

I will then move the best looking clone to the 3gal DWC Bucket using BPN 3 Part ELite Nutrient line i will veg it until it is to big for the bucket and move to the 5 gal bucket, i will then switch the lights to 12/12 and see what happens.

This is my first attempt at hydro (other than rooting my clones in my aerocloner) so im a little nervous but excited at the same time. I am going to get a Control Wizard 24/7 Nutrient monitor to measure all the vital signs of a dwc.

The Hygrozyme is for when i change out the reservoir. I will leave the plant in the nutrient water for a week then measure the ppm to see how much the plant has taken in and measure my next nutrient dosage accordingly.

Please let me know if i am approaching this at the right angle, i have been doing alot of research since i first posted this so i hope it works out for me.

 

[jandre2k3]

ok so i got most the supplies needed to try a DWC in my tent.

List of things...

5 Gal Bucket
3 Gal Bucket
Net Pot Lid
Grodan Starter Cubes
Hydroton Pellets
Hygrozyme
2 Air Stones
Dual Port Air Pump


I intend on upgrading the air stones and air pump to a commercial sized one when i move to the 5 gal bucket. but i will use my current air pump in the 3 gal bucket. Also not sure what size net pot lid i got but it was the biggest one there, should be nice for a big plant.

Im going to cut a few clones from my 9 ppp plants i have going in my veg tent right now. i have to wait till they get bigger but i will dip them in clone gel and put them in Grodan cubes (Presoaked with pH 5.5 water with a drop of superthrive)
Then i will put them in my aerocloner till i see roots.

I will then move the best looking clone to the 3gal DWC Bucket using BPN 3 Part ELite Nutrient line i will veg it until it is to big for the bucket and move to the 5 gal bucket, i will then switch the lights to 12/12 and see what happens.

This is my first attempt at hydro (other than rooting my clones in my aerocloner) so im a little nervous but excited at the same time. I am going to get a Control Wizard 24/7 Nutrient monitor to measure all the vital signs of a dwc.

The Hygrozyme is for when i change out the reservoir. I will leave the plant in the nutrient water for a week then measure the ppm to see how much the plant has taken in and measure my next nutrient dosage accordingly.

Please let me know if i am approaching this at the right angle, i have been doing alot of research since i first posted this so i hope it works out for me.

Everything seems on target. One question. Your Aero Cloner, why Rockwool and not just straight collar, then into the hydrotone? Are you using the wool instead of the collar?

Also, When doing DWC, Mark on your calendar when you first placed the plant into the bucket. Then count two weeks out, write, "CHANG RES" and keep going on like that for about three months. This will help you remember to do so instead of guessing or trying to remember.

Last, what are you using as the spray for inside the DWC buckets, it wasn't listed. Until the roots reach out of the basket, and into the water, you're going to want something to spray a jet of nutrient solution into the hydrotone to keep the plant growing.

 

[ilikebike]

i was using the grodan cubes so i had something to stick in the basket of hydroton, rather than just putting a clone with roots, it might fall over or something, the grodan cube would give it a solid base.

Also about a drip/spray line. I thought i would be able to get away with using the 3 gal bucket and just letting the hydroton wick up the nutrient water and feed it to my plant before the roots were actually in the water? am i doing this wrong please let me know before i start it up.

There has to be a way to do a dwc with out a drip line ill be fuckin furious if i cant.

 

[jandre2k3]

i was using the grodan cubes so i had something to stick in the basket of hydroton, rather than just putting a clone with roots, it might fall over or something, the grodan cube would give it a solid base.

Also about a drip/spray line. I thought i would be able to get away with using the 3 gal bucket and just letting the hydroton wick up the nutrient water and feed it to my plant before the roots were actually in the water? am i doing this wrong please let me know before i start it up.

There has to be a way to do a dwc with out a drip line ill be fuckin furious if i cant.

Well.... you could over-fill the DWC, but you'd have to monitor levels very closely until the roots extend. Hydrotone does not wick very well, so no good there.

The hydrotone does a VERY good job of securing the roots in place. I actually had a seedling that kept leaning over before placing it into the hydrotone. After that it stood up straight and true. Those little pebbles are very deceiving, the actually do a stellar job. They DO float however so I'm not sure how well even with a gro|dan starter cube would do without an internal drip line inside the bucket.

I'd say give a shot. They do have near neutral bouancy, so it might work. Just keep in mind that they do float, and might cause problems. Why would you be furious? If it doesn't work, they can be easily acquired at any hydro shop, or nursery in the "pond" section. The tiniest one (70-90 GPH) would work, usually around 10 bucks. It only has to pump a column about 1 foot high!

 

[ilikebike]

Where does the pump go? Would I need another resivior to put the pump in. Also what kind of timer should it be set on? How do I control the amount of water needed for the drip line. Should I use coco coir instead of hydroton? If u could give me a link to what else I need that would be great. Can I just use my aero cloner to start the plant then move it to the dwc bucket?

 

[jandre2k3]

no-no-no. The pump goes inside the DWC bucket, a line goes straight up the side and Elbows from 1/2" to 1/4" and runs over to the basket along the lid to spray water on the UNDERSIDE of the basket inside the bucket! That's it. runs 24/7 and is used only for vegging. Once the roots hang low enough to reach water by say 6 inches, switch out the buckets for a flowering bucket, (no water pump) and stick it in the flower room. Hydroton is excellent for DWC, coco would disintegrate into the DWC res.

 

[ilikebike]

ok im going to root my clones in the aeroponic cloner, then when they start to develop roots i will leave them in the cloner but start them on nutrients till they grow long enough roots where i could put it in the net pot with hydroton. Ill keep ya updated!

 

[ozric420]

Where does the pump go? Would I need another resivior to put the pump in. Also what kind of timer should it be set on? How do I control the amount of water needed for the drip line. Should I use coco coir instead of hydroton? If u could give me a link to what else I need that would be great. Can I just use my aero cloner to start the plant then move it to the dwc bucket?

IMHO, just let roots grow longer in cloner , so you can slide the roots through bottom of net pots, then fill pots with hydroton stones, roots will be closer to water, and the air stone will cause plant roots to grow into nute solution, no real need for a pump,if you can hand feed for a little while, plus pump will add heat to the res, when I first set up my buckets I did add drippers, but found that I really didn't need them, 5gal buckets will grow a tree.

 

[ilikebike]

ya im going to cut a 3'' hole in my aerocloner, and put a 3'' net pot with collar in it to veg a PPP clone until it has developed a big enough root structure then i will move it to the 5gal bucket. thanks for all the help guys!!!!!!!

 

[Bassman59]

The Hygrozyme is for when i change out the reservoir. I will leave the plant in the nutrient water for a week then measure the ppm to see how much the plant has taken in and measure my next nutrient dosage accordingly.

I personally would check the nutrient ppm feed amount every 3 days.

The way that you nute is that you draw a line in one of your buckets of where you keep the water level at. Anytime you take a reading, you must have the water filled to that line. What you want to see is that your plants eat 60 ppm over 3 days. For example if you put 600ppm of nutes in, you want the meter to read 540 in 3 days when you top off the buckets back to the line. If they ate more than 60 then your levels are too low. If they ate nothing and the reading is the same or higher then you are too high. Its that simple.

 

[ilikebike]

thank you for that kind sir it will be noted!