# Questions About DWC



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 5, 2011)

lol


----------



## Lemon Jack (Oct 5, 2011)

xRedkiller03x said:
			
		

> Hey guys i really want to try hydro for my next grow since soil is abit expensive. i wanna do the drip system with 4 5 gallon buckets, a 5 gallon resevoir with a air pump and ait stone's N Hydroton in 3 inch air nets. With advanced Nutients jungle juice.
> 
> Ok my first question is about the water timer or timers. not sure what to buy and how they work, how long do i keep it on and of? *They sell multi setting timers that you plugh your pump into. With my drip system in veg it drips for 30 min 4 times a day.*
> 
> ...


:48:


----------



## pcduck (Oct 5, 2011)

> Ok my first question is about the water timer or timers. not sure what to buy and how they work, how long do i keep it on and of?



24/7



> How many times do i water my plants?



continuously 



> I can stick the germinated seed right in the hydroton, maybe with rockwool?



I like using rockwool or rapid rooters



> How many times do i change the water?



I change my nute solution every 7-10 days


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm confused.....are you doing drip or are you doing DWC?


----------



## pcduck (Oct 5, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I'm confused.....are you doing drip or are you doing DWC?



So am I THG, now that I reread the OP's original post.

My original post is for DWC in single buckets


----------



## akhockey (Oct 5, 2011)

Skip the drip. Spend the money that you would have otherwise spend on that stuff on a good pH and ppm meter. Germ seeds in rockwool cubes and after they pop let them grow a day or 2 and put them in your netpots and into the buckets. Fill the bucket with PLAIN pHed water (seedlings dont need nutes at first)  just up to the bottom of the RW cube so that it stays wet until you get a few roots trailing then keep it withing an inch or so throughout the grow. Put a decent sized 6" or so airstone in each bucket with adequect air supply (water apperaing to boil) and you are now growing hydro. When what and how much nutes are another topic to be duscussed later.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 5, 2011)

akhockey said:
			
		

> Skip the drip. Spend the money that you would have otherwise spend on that stuff on a good pH and ppm meter. Germ seeds in rockwool cubes and after they pop let them grow a day or 2 and put them in your netpots and into the buckets. Fill the bucket with PLAIN pHed water (seedlings dont need nutes at first)  just up to the bottom of the RW cube so that it stays wet until you get a few roots trailing then keep it withing an inch or so throughout the grow. Put a decent sized 6" or so airstone in each bucket with adequect air supply (water apperaing to boil) and you are now growing hydro. When what and how much nutes are another topic to be duscussed later.



:yeahthat:


----------



## Hushpuppy (Oct 5, 2011)

First, I wouldn't use 3"net pots as they just seem to be unstable. I used the buckets for awhile with the 5" net pots that were made into a lid that locks onto the bucket and still had stability issues. The bigger the net pot you can get the more stable they will be. Right now I actually use 2liter nursery planters that I drill lots of 1/4" holes all in the bottom of them and set them in holes cut in 10gal rubbermaid tote lids. 

If you want to use the 5gal buckets (and the bigger 2liter nursery planters)that you can get from Homedepot or lowes, just get the lids with them and you can cut them to fit the bigger pots. The plants do great in them and are very stable.

You have a choice on the DWC versus top feed. You said you want to use DWC but that doesn't involve top feeding the plants. With DWC you would get some of the giant, round air stones and glue them into the bottom of the buckets(with "Marine Goop") and connect a strong air pump to that and let the boiling water do the action of watering the plants from the bottom, and let them run constantly.(for that process you would have to go with the net pots as they allow bottom watering better than the nursery pots).

If you want to top feed (as I do) then you would either get several little submersable aquarium pumps and a decent air stone (I use a 6" round stone in mine) and put both of those into the bottom of the buckets. The air stone would be connected to an air pump to keep the water aerated, and the water pump would connect to a small (1/4-5/16") hose that would go through the lid to hang into the pot so that the pump would top feed the plants. I run that on a timer where it runs on for 15 minutes for each hour. But I also run into coco.

The choice is yours but I don't think you will come out much cheaper with hydro than with soil, IDK


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 5, 2011)

If you are running DWC--an air pump and air stones--the top drip is not necessary at all.  I cannot see it really being of benefit.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 5, 2011)

lol


----------



## Hushpuppy (Oct 5, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> If you are running DWC--an air pump and air stones--the top drip is not necessary at all.  I cannot see it really being of benefit.


I started out with a top feed system and have stayed with it as it has worked well with what I do.   In the DWC does it have to be done in the netpots to be effective or will it work using the nursery planters with lots of holes drilled in them? I can see the advantage of not having a submerged  pump always risking clogging or failing to run.

What is the downsides if any to running DWC?


----------



## pcduck (Oct 5, 2011)

Once the roots hit the rez, the top drip does nothing.

As long as you have enough holes and enough roots hitting rez, does not matter.

I see no downside.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 5, 2011)

lol


----------



## pcduck (Oct 6, 2011)

Can be make for a whole lot cheaper by doing it diy.

Black buckets can be found for free.

Can make your own lids just by buying netpots and cutting holes in lids.

Then it is just air stones and a pump.

I like separate buckets as they are easier to move around and different strains different feeding habits


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 6, 2011)

I also see no downside.  The duck and I have very similar growing methods.


----------



## stevetberry (Oct 6, 2011)

I looked at the link and I do not see that this is a top feeding system.  I have a Waterfarm from Gen Hydro and it is basically a DWC with a top drip ring.  The ring may be of no use after the roots hit the resevoir but by the end of my grow I have almost an inch of roots in the bottom of the inner bucket in addition to the roots in the resevoir.  My system does not use net pots, it uses buckets with holes drilled in the bottom.  As stated you cannot give one plant this and one plant another thing if you use a controller but I have found that the biggest down fall was that the system does not recirculate.  Because it does not recirculate you end up with the ph and ppm in the controller where you check being different from the buckets because of nutrient and water uptake.  This can be cured by making the system recirculate as I have done with mine.  Every system has some down falls.  My latest struggle has been with algae.  The DWC that THG and Duck mentioned sure seem to be simpler than my system but I can let my system run for several days now that I have it dialed in, however I do check it a few times a day as things can go wrong.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 6, 2011)

lol


----------



## pcduck (Oct 6, 2011)

xRedkiller03x said:
			
		

> I was thinking about DIY but then i stumbled on Stealth Hydro, i really like theyre set up and its cheaper. Also gonna get i more pump with a 10 inch airstone.
> hXXp://www.stealthhydroponics.com/product.php?xProd=16&xSec=53




All that is, is a $7.00 tote with 6 $1.45 netpots a $12 air pump and a $2.00 airstone. I would save my money on more important items like a pH meter and ppm meter, but there again that is just me.


----------



## getnasty (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm with duck. Just seems like you're trying to avoid the extra effort is all. I personally think creating my own something out of nothing is a lot more rewarding than buying it, unpacking it, and setting it up. Also, I hope you're growing all the same strain in that stealth hydro setup. One strain's going to hate you if the other doesn't, in most cases, if you don't.


-nasty


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm not crazy about systems like this with water pumps--it simply complicates things and is not needed.  The submersible pump sitting in the res raises the water temps, things clog up.  If you have an air pump and air stones--the water pump part of this is unnecessary.  That system would also only be good for a short while--you could not bring 6 plants to harvest in something that small.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 7, 2011)

lol


----------



## akhockey (Oct 7, 2011)

xRedkiller03x said:
			
		

> So hemp u think the first one i poset wit h5 gallon buckets is better? i liked that one but didnt understand how the tubing works? and 5 gallon resevoir cycle everything? do i need 4 timeres for each plant?


 
5 gal buckets is definitely the way to go growing different strains. they can also be moved around as needed and plants can get better lighting than a tote.
5 gal buckets $5 x 4 or free?
Air pump with 2 ports $12 x 2
Large airstones $2 x 4
net pots $2 x 4
pH meter $20 (off ebay)
ppm meter $20 (off ebay)
pH down $10
The ONLY timers you need are for your lights.
No pumps needed either.
nutes depends on what you want to use and the way you want to run them.
I use GH 3 part but only use 2 parts...micro and bloom using Lucas Formula
when selecting an airpump IMO 2 pumps with 2 ports is better than one with 4. My big pump is loud and 2 pumps is insurance that if one craps out the other will continue to provide O2 to your roots.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 7, 2011)

akhockey said:
			
		

> 5 gal buckets is definitely the way to go growing different strains. they can also be moved around as needed and plants can get better lighting than a tote.
> 5 gal buckets $5 x 4 or free?
> Air pump with 2 ports $12 x 2
> Large airstones $2 x 4
> ...



:yeahthat:

Don't forget calibration fluids for your meters.  I use all 3 parts of the GH 3 part for vegging, but go to the Lucas Formula for flowering.


----------



## akhockey (Oct 7, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> :yeahthat:
> 
> Don't forget calibration fluids for your meters.  I use all 3 parts of the GH 3 part for vegging, but go to the Lucas Formula for flowering.


 
Ive found a cheap way to calibrate meters is just using distilled water. Its roughly 7.0 pH and 0 ppm. I do use them for my pH meter but have also used D H2o


----------



## stonedagain714 (Oct 8, 2011)

ive been thinking about going dwc.the set up that thg and duck are talking about is probably what most people use and are cost effective.people seem to over do things when they start out.companies know this and want to take advantage of that to sell you overpriced stuff that is not necassary.most of the dyi things here are not hard to make,and people put them on this site to help others.do what you want but people that have been doing this for a long time are trying to save you a nice chunk of change to get the same results that you will get with the expensive set up.a freind of mine has the 5 gallon  bucket set up and it works very well


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 8, 2011)

lol


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 8, 2011)

Yes, the Lucas Formula is basically just micro and bloom in a 1-2 ratio.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 8, 2011)

lol


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 8, 2011)

No--the formula is the same for both veg and flowering.  I do not use it during veg because I believe that vegging plants need grow nutrients.  The Lucas Formula is 1 part micro, 2 parts bloom regardless of whether you are in veg or flower.


----------



## xRedkiller03x (Oct 8, 2011)

lol


----------



## stonedagain714 (Oct 13, 2011)

looks like everyone wasted time on helping this one


----------



## Budsterman (Oct 13, 2011)

If this individal isn't going to take Ak's & THG's advice then
he's a goner for sure!


----------



## Lemon Jack (Oct 13, 2011)

Can you believe he took the time to go back and edit every single post he posted he musta been really bored.


----------



## Hick (Oct 13, 2011)

Lemon Jack said:
			
		

> Can you believe he took the time to go back and edit every single post he posted he musta been really bored.



http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58542
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58434

there ar more IF... anyone is interested :rofl:


----------



## Hushpuppy (Oct 13, 2011)

:confused2: He must have had a security breach and was tryin to cover his trail.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 13, 2011)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> :confused2: He must have had a security breach and was tryin to cover his trail.



No, he got mad and left because he had a post about sports deleted.  I just love these kids who break the rules and then get mad at us and leave....

 He indicated that he was going to the toolbox in another post.  It just might be his kind of place :giggle:.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Oct 13, 2011)

Sounds pretty childish, but I guess there are those who want to do things their own way. When he creates his own forum then he can do it his way


----------



## YYZ Skinhead (Oct 29, 2011)

stonedagain714 said:
			
		

> looks like everyone wasted time on helping this one


Actually *nobody* who replied wasted their time as far as I am concerned.  I was actually going to ask what DWC was (when you type it into the search function it says in essence that a three-letter term is too short).  Laugh unmercifully.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 29, 2011)

DWC--deep water culture.  That is a stupid search requirement isn't it?


----------



## SmokeMyPiece (Oct 29, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> No--the formula is the same for both veg and flowering.  I do not use it during veg because I believe that vegging plants need grow nutrients.  The Lucas Formula is 1 part micro, 2 parts bloom regardless of whether you are in veg or flower.


I think it goes like this:
Lucas (ml/Gal)
            ...............G-M-B
    Veg..........0-5-10
Flower......0-8-16


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 30, 2011)

SmokeMyPiece said:
			
		

> I think it goes like this:
> Lucas (ml/Gal)
> ...............G-M-B
> Veg..........0-5-10
> Flower......0-8-16



This is not really the Lucas formula nute formula, but it is a common misconception.  The actual formula is 0-5-10 for low light conditions and 0-8-16 for HID lighting (according to Lucas himself).  You are to use the same concentration throughout the grow (which I do not really agree with).  There is no nute regime that is correct for all plants.  Some will be efficient in their nutrient uptake, others will need a higher ppm to meet their needs.  So, I just tend to use the Lucas formula in a 0-1-2 ratio and feed the ppms the plant needs, regardless of what some nutrient schedule informs me my plants _should_ need.

Here is more info on the Lucas Formula:  hXXp://lucasformula.com/


----------



## LEFTHAND (Oct 30, 2011)

*I run the GH3 at
veg (ml per gal)
G....M....B
15 -10 - 5
flower
G....M....B
5 - 10 - 15

seems to work wonders.. but thats also me and my growing methods...
LH*


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Oct 30, 2011)

That's pretty much GH's nute schedule that is on all the Gh Flora series bottles.  I use the _same ratios_ in veg, but always adjust the amounts to what my girls are asking for--I up the nutes until they show a little nute burn and then back off a little.  The Lucas formula is a different kind of nute schedule that does not use the grow part of the 3 parts.


----------

