Should I swap soil for DWC

[scratchie10]

HI folks need some pros and cons for a switch to a DWC set up.Been growing for 2 years now so I think its time to up my yeild.Will b doin 3 plants under 250w hps in 1x1x2 tent with 3 oxy pots.Any opinions good or bad would be appreciated.By the way been growin in soil up to now.

 

[Kushmaster216]

I was in soil also before switching to dwc. I like it better you can get a bigger yield and I think have some funwith the plant. make sure you can keep your res nice and cool. about 68 69 degrees is good for root growth. I try and stay away from darker nutes. make sure no light is inside the res so theres no root rot or other batciera growth. make sure you have enough oxygen to the roots. the more the better. and a good air stone from the per store. I alwas buy the best one you can. themore little bubbles the better. some people say keep your res topped but in my personal experiences I think lettering the plants drink the water down to about 3in to the bottom of my res makes the roots really grow fast. I also when my plants roots didn't reach the water yet would top feed about 4 times a day in veg until the hit the water then I slowed to about 2 and now just 1. make sure you check ph a lot until you get your system down. I personally when I add my nutes my ph is about 5.5 theni let it rise over about 3 or 4 days to about 6.5 then drop it back down and my plants are doing good. some people say not to do that but I find that it works for me. h2o2 at 3% 2tsp per gal works good to help keep bacteria away. hope I helped you out with some things. let me know if you got any more questions ill try and help or point you in the direction

 

[scratchie10]

Cheers for help but this is very old now.I decided on hempy's with coco and ive never looked back.

 

[p604]

i always did dwc and tried soil once.. FAIL...

 

[Treehorn]

So, to Kushmaster... Any value in introducing bubbles into the res?

 

[Kushmaster216]

If you mean what positives bubbles have to being in the res is a lot. The smaller and more bubbles the better. Going to a pet store and buying the best air stone is good to hVe and pay a extra 5 bucks oh well it's worth it. Al bubbles help move the water to keep it cooler. The cooler the water the better the roots can receive oxygen

 

[SWvoodoo]

So, to Kushmaster... Any value in introducing bubbles into the res?

O2 my friend. While the canopy of your plant will thrive on CO2 the root system thrives on a good supply of O2. The roots will absorb dissolved oxygen from within the water which aids in root growth and the oxygen in the water keeps bad anaerobic (non-oxygen thriving) bacteria like pythium (root rot) at bay.
I disagree with kushmasters theory on cooling the res though, it in fact helps heat the res if you are not careful where you are pulling air from and the simple friction and electrical heat is bound to warm the air being pumped into the res anyway.
What the air stones do achieve is circulation of the reservoir bringing deoxygenated water from the bottom to the top to be re-oxygenated at the surface along with increasing the available surface area of water contacting air hence the smaller bubbles being better, more surface area of air touching water the more oxygen being dissolved into the water.
Now what the h2O2 or hydrogen peroxide does is when introduced to h2o the extra oxygen molecule attached to the h2o2 seperates creating extra dissolved oxygen in the water and therefore better root growth and killing anaerobic bacteria in the process.
In finishing I will also add in that at temperatures above 70f waters capability of carrying dissolved oxygen is greatly diminished regardless of how much air you pump in there it simply cannot carry anymore which opens the door for all the afore mentioned nastys.
Best of luck and good growing to you all.

 

[Kushmaster216]

O2 my friend. While the canopy of your plant will thrive on CO2 the root system thrives on a good supply of O2. The roots will absorb dissolved oxygen from within the water which aids in root growth and the oxygen in the water keeps bad anaerobic (non-oxygen thriving) bacteria like pythium (root rot) at bay.
I disagree with kushmasters theory on cooling the res though, it in fact helps heat the res if you are not careful where you are pulling air from and the simple friction and electrical heat is bound to warm the air being pumped into the res anyway.
What the air stones do achieve is circulation of the reservoir bringing deoxygenated water from the bottom to the top to be re-oxygenated at the surface along with increasing the available surface area of water contacting air hence the smaller bubbles being better, more surface area of air touching water the more oxygen being dissolved into the water.
Now what the h2O2 or hydrogen peroxide does is when introduced to h2o the extra oxygen molecule attached to the h2o2 seperates creating extra dissolved oxygen in the water and therefore better root growth and killing anaerobic bacteria in the process.
In finishing I will also add in that at temperatures above 70f waters capability of carrying dissolved oxygen is greatly diminished regardless of how much air you pump in there it simply cannot carry anymore which opens the door for all the afore mentioned nastys.
Best of luck and good growing to you all.

Not saying your options are wrong or anything but moving water is cooler then sitting water.. Idk what type air pump ur using that's pumps hot air into your res but I would get a new air pimp.. Not water pumps do indeed heat your res but air pumps do not. If u take your stars air pump apart u can see how it actually works. Put a sitting bucket of water covered and then one with a pump and air stone or just a air pump and see what stays cooler in a grow room above 70 degrees

 

[SWvoodoo]

Ill agree to disagree on this one im afraid. feel the top of your air pump. hot isn't it? how much friction do you think those little rubber diaphragms compressing and decompressing create?the amount of heat would be marginal yes but it certainly isn't cooling it. yes stagnant water is warm but only on top. circulation will create an even distribution of temperature but it wont cool it down. I kept aquariums for over ten years and worked in a store for 3 ive pulled more pumps apart then yours has compressed a bubble out. but this is just my opinion im just a noob.
.

 

[Kushmaster216]

I'm not Tryna be a smartass or anything I love hearing other options but if you ever get the free and can run a test side by side try it out and keep data of your temp numbers you will see that the the air pump res is cooler. And my pumps don't heat up and I have them running all day every day but I also didn't by really cheap pumps my old one did get a little warm..

 

[Voltrom]

There is a point when you have such a vast amount of oxygen being injected via a commercial pump that no matter how hot the temp is in your res you will always have maximum Dissolved Oxygen. It was always have maximum saturation.

If you have a pump strong enough to make the water blow up and boil what that will do is circulate the water and oxygenate it. If you have a little floom at the top from your 7.8 l/min dual air pump then the second your temps go up you'll lose oxygen. Not to mention that if your pump isn't good enough it will actually create dead spots in the water.... Dwc=maximum air in water. If you don't have a good enough pump from day one you will absolutely have problems. Spend $40 on a commercial pump (30L a minute at least) and you will see that the water is so strong and turbulent that no matter what it will all have oxygen no matter what temp. The key is to never let bacteria take place. The roots have their own defense and good bacteria. Just for the love of good don't ever let that water stop boiling.

 

[Cultivator]

Not saying your options are wrong or anything but moving water is cooler then sitting water.. Idk what type air pump ur using that's pumps hot air into your res but I would get a new air pimp.. Not water pumps do indeed heat your res but air pumps do not. If u take your stars air pump apart u can see how it actually works. Put a sitting bucket of water covered and then one with a pump and air stone or just a air pump and see what stays cooler in a grow room above 70 degrees

air pumps can and do war res's for 2 reasons usually. 1 the friction of the moving parts in the pump and 2 the compressiong of the air both create heat. people also screw up by having pump in thier grow space which is warm, therefore taking in warm air too. to counter this always have pump in a place that is cool, below 70f.


i would grow jut 1 plant under 250w, u will get a nice bush, 3 would be overkill for that much light. i only run 4 plants per 1000w hps.

Dont use liquid o2 (peroxide) if u can help it. its good for helping fix root issues but not great for continuous growing. u can certainly complete a grow using it but imo it affects yield and quality. peroxide destroys organics, its true it adds more o2 to res, but it also damages roots and destroys enzymes. check out my grows on dwc for tips mate.