DWC System how does it work?

[roundstone]

Hi
I am thinking about getting a 21L dwc system. At the moment I use coco soil in 6.5L pots. I want to change to an easier system as I am away for a few days each week.

Looking at the dwc I guess you just put water and food in the bucket till the bottom of the net and leave the air pump running 24/7? my question is when the roots from the net grow and goes in to the water wont the plant die from root rot when you have to top up the food and water next time?

any answers would be good or results on yields using this system

many thanks

 

[labexperiment]

No the air is one component to keeping the roots from getting root rot, but there is more.

There is a lot of info you need to grow in a new system, asking a general question like this would be very time consuming for someone to answer, not to mention redundant. Your best bet would be to do a search on "First time DWC" or " DWC how to" in the search at the top of the page on the right. Then read, read, read and read a little more. I would suggest to get a good start you are looking forward to 20 hours or so of reading. At least that is about where I am at as I look into moving to either DWC or Organic for a future grow. I have been reading for an estimated 20 hours for each of the grow styles I am looking at trying.

 

[Blueballavngr]

I am also switching to dwc and lab experiment pretty much called it. Searching for hours is fun but after a while there r certain answers u can't find like which nutrients, ppm for each stage how high should the water be in cloning, what temp should the water be to avoid algae growth and what temp is optimal for veg growth, what pump is best, should I run multiple pumps or one with 8 hose sights, individual buckets or a circulating system and will this hinder urself from putting the stronger ones into flowering sooner as seperating the system would require a whole other set up, I found many of these answers on a simple youtube search because a 100 page journal can take a whole evening. Ps these r the answers to thd best of my memory to save u the time I spent researching:
General hydroponics ( I wanted fox farms but there line is mostly for soil) also research teas if u want organic, ppm changes pending on strain resistance so sorry on that one, water should be able to provide a wick method for cloning but when roots appear lower 1 inch so the roots stay moist but will stretch and develope for that buffet of gogo juice, temps 60-70 f, two beginner commercial pumps 4-8 hose outlets ps having a back up is highly recommended and have the pump higher then the reservoir to avoid back flow in time of power outage , also cut hoses to same length( use black hose to svoid Alge growth) because air will always use the easiest route which could short some tlc to plants with longer hoses, don't be cheap on ur airstone, it's ur life line, I am not a pro and I have not dialed in on my recipe for success so I will not have a circulating system in case I have an isolated incident it won't spread. Hopefully lab can confirm my thoughts or correct me before I start mine as I have ordered my equipment but haven't received to start my first hopefully successful journal. I would greatly appreciate nutrient advice because I am familiar with gh but not convinced it is the best for my strains of atomic nl and white widow x shark bite and blue og

 

[roundstone]

Thanks for the info you are right loads of reading, so I looked on youtube the results look great I will be using just buckets with the air stone not a circulating system, I am guessing I can add a tank and join all the pots up together if I get any problems. just one question how offen would you change the water? I have read some people do it every week or 2 weeks or once a month.

thanks

 

[Dantes Monkey]

Thanks for the info you are right loads of reading, so I looked on youtube the results look great I will be using just buckets with the air stone not a circulating system, I am guessing I can add a tank and join all the pots up together if I get any problems. just one question how offen would you change the water? I have read some people do it every week or 2 weeks or once a month.

thanks

I did a 9 plant dwc in 5 gallon buckets on my last grow. Most of my plants were going through at least a gallon of water per day, so I was having to top off buckets at least 3 times per week. I had a couple plants that would drink half their bucket in a day no problem. I would just change nutes when topping off so never actually changed my water out completely. Probably not the best way to do it, but just don't let your air pump go out or your res temps get too high.

One DWC grow was enough to convince me not to do it again. My next grow will be flood and drain.

 

[labexperiment]

The temp for the water should be maintained between 66-69 degrees for optimal oxygenation according to my research, but this would require a chiller in most cases and could only be used in a RDWC(unless you buy multiple chillers). Regular nutrient solution changes in the reservoir, proper thorough cleaning and monitoring your PH is your best defence against any issues in your nutrient solution.

I used GH for my nutrients with the exception of some house brand I tried(and regretted), and Snow Storm Ultra(no regrets). GH has a whole line up of products including most if not every additive or supplement you could want/need, not to mention their Rapid Rooters for germinating which I absolutely love as they seem to hold onto just enough moisture for seeds/seedlings. I also used Botanicare Cal/Mag but have recently switched to GH Cali-magic because I am a fan of GH and believe they have engineered their products to work together. I have only ever used their chemical/salt based nutrients, supplements and additives and have not tried their organic line.

I would also recommend running separate pumps for each bucket or one pump for 2 buckets, unless you have an excess amount of buckets, this would avoid one bad pump ruining the whole crop, just my opinion though, and of course have at least one spare pump laying around.

 

[Dantes Monkey]

+1 on what Lab said

Temperatures for me were impossible control, but of course I didn't have a chiller. Even if you aren't recirculating, you could use one chiller with a wort chiller in each bucket. I would recommend a manifold to run them in parallel rather than in series. And on that note, you could also run two air pumps with an airstone from each in every bucket, this way every bucket gets redundant air.

I had a ballast trip my main breaker and kill power to my air pump, my roots were never the same...

 

[Blueballavngr]

Change water 7-10 days

 

[roundstone]

ok thanks for all the advice I was thinking of joining all my buckets up so when I change the water it would be easier then taking one bucket at a time. Also I have a big problem with thrips at the moment every leaf has been attacked so been only 2 weeks to go until that harvest is done then I can get the dwc up and running.

 

[roundstone]

Hi
What should the e.c and ppm be from start to finish in flower. I will be using canna aqua. thanks

 

[Perfect Sun LED]

Sorry to say, but there is nothing easier about DWC.

Being gone for a few days could kill your plants. If you do decide to do DWC and want to maximize your chances of the PH staying stable while you are away, then try a stable PH nutrient for DWC like the stable Advanced nuts.

 

[roundstone]

Hi
I have my DWC set up now but have a problem. I have 8 buckets with 8 air stones and it is so noisy. If I join all the buckets up and put a water pump in the tank can I do away with 8 air stone and just put 2 in the water tank????

Thanks