# Help With DeepWater Culture Grow



## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

Hello, 
I have decided to break out the old rubbermaid hydro system and try to put it to good use... ill post some pics later tonight.. but my question is this... 
Once i fill the water up in the system,and add the proper mix of nutes... how often should i change that water... once a week?? once every two weeks??? im going to add this to my grow journal once i find that old equipment and document what i have...


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

Ok, Im back from digging... ill post pics of what i have right now.. went to walmart and bought some other airstones etc.... 

Upping pics right now..


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

I have four of these little pumps.. 






This is my container... 






This is the top with six net pots...


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

I have two of the smaller air stones..and the wall of bubbles is a two pack.. so four stones total.... 





I bought this assuming that it would work on hydroponics just like a fish tank... is this the right stuff?? 






I also took a pic of the nutes i plan on using.. they are smaller containers.. im going to pick up a bigger jug once i know for sure they are the ones i want to use...


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## MJ20 (May 30, 2007)

Looks cool...how do those wallstones operate?Can you take pics of your bubbles?? I use fish tank PH adjuster..but it takes alot to move the PH..


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

Im going to clean everything up real good.. then fill it with normal tap water.. after installing the bubble stones... i looked at the one i thought was a two pack is really a long *** one that wont fit.. so i went back and bought another two 6" so i have a total of 4 6" airstones... im not sure about those pumps.. but i might try to get a gang valve to make like 4 6" air stones and 3 floating 89c wal mart air stones.... 

Maybe a mod can melt this with my grow journal for me.. since im a stoner and i keep making mad threads all over the place..


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

Ok so heres my next question... my containers i think are a bit short.. they are only the 37.5 litre model... and i realize at least have it going to be mesh pot.. and im suppose to keep an inch or so away from them... so im guessing around 25litres of water each time... will this be enough space.. i assume the roots will just twist and grow in the bottom????


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## kasgrow (May 30, 2007)

That container should be fine for now but may be a little small later. You can always add a barb fitting to it and add a seperate res later. The air stones will be good but you may need a bigger air pump or more air pumps. You should change your nutes every 7 to 10 days. When I was running a 7 bucket dwc system I had 6 buckets for growing and hoses from each of them to a 7th bucket res. I also put a long hose attatched to the res. When it was time to change the res I would just lay the hose out the door and into a planter. When all 7 buckets were empty I would just roll up the drain hose and put it over a hook high above the res. Now I just use a small fountain pump with a hose to pump out my 25 gal. res (flood and fill system)


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

I am planning on trying to keep them short and stocky.. so would this container size suit my needs???? my real intention is to do a SCROG method of training the plants to maintain within my height restrictions...


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)

So here are some pics of the bubbles that i got from four 6" stones... being walmart bought stones of course one of them broke.. so ill take that back tomorrow sometime and get a new one.. the wall bubble thing sucks compared to the 6" stones... so i wouldnt recommend it... i got 16litres of solution in the Reservoir and its just about an inch maybe 12/16" from the bottom of the mesh pots.. i assume this is still enough??? tomorrow we silicone the air stones to the bottom and sides..and test it out again with them totally secure and not flopping around... i assume again that i want them just below the top of the solution so they make the best bubbles?? or do i want them near the bottom so when the solution level drops..they are always below the surface???


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## RatherBBurnin (May 30, 2007)




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## allgrownup (May 31, 2007)

where are those bubble stick things???

those things succ huh?  i tried those to with very poor results.  those 6" airstones are the best.  the foot long ones don't bubble as well either.  My opinion of DWC is 30-60 gal air pumps (i use whisper) and a 6" airstone glued with LIQUID NAILS under each plant.

don't get any valves, they will just hinder your airflow.  and also don't get any floating stones.  the money is better spent on another pump and two more stones.

That container looks a little small for 6 plants.  I would only plant 5 and leave the center front hole for accessing your resevior.  fill the netcup though so no light gets in.

Your going to love growing in DWC.  Eazy for Sheezy

good luck


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

I was actually considering doing just 4 plants on the outsides.. and covering the inside two with mylar so no light gets in... the four pumps dont sound that bad actually for noise.. so i see myself just using the four pumps and forgetting the valves for added bubbles... four 6" stones  should be enough for what im doing tho???


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## allgrownup (May 31, 2007)

[four 6" stones should be enough for what im doing tho???]

that would be a 1/1 ratio  and that will be very NICCE


Drill some 1/4" in holes at the top of your box to run your air hoses through.  No pinches and your going to want to be able to easily disconnect from pumps to get out and drain water.

cuz idont see a drain and its gunna be a heavy box full of H2O..LOL......


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

Yea i was thinking about making a drain and or a level indicator on the outside... im just waiting on some cuttings, because there is no need to grow seed and not know, when i could wait and know for sure... 

For the first couple weeks i should feed them from the top until the roots have grown enough to reach close to the solution in the bottom correct??? 

could i purchase a small water pump and set it on a timer to keep my rockwool moist... maybe with normal hosing.. small holes near the rockwool sites??


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## allgrownup (May 31, 2007)

just mist them  whenever you think about it.

the moisture from the bubbles bursting and humidity will be enough to attract the roots down.  Growth will seem slow at first after transplant but they will be establishing root growth.  then they'll come to life.

lowes has a rubber gromet looks like a donut with slit oround outside.  then get a 1/2" barbed fitting to polk though that.  non leaking drain will set ya back a buck fidy.

you wont need a level indicator.  if your like me you'll be peaking in the container to see how much the roots have grown and also checking the PH daily.  you'l know exactly how much water you have/need.

c ya round man


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

Sounds like a plan... i have two bins.. or im thinking as long as they both are good and clean.. i can just switch out the solution easily by using the other container....


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

What is the prime humidity and temperature for this type of system...


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## DLtoker (May 31, 2007)

I really love the look of bubbling water  haha.  Good looking setup man.  The size of the air stones don't really make too big of a difference to sweat over it.  The air pump can push only a certain amount of air, you know?  

Water temp should be around 70 for best growth and the room humidity for veg should be around 60%...  Flowering?  I hear the best is 35%.

GL RBB.  Once kickoff, your set-up should treat you great!


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

What is an easy way to increase the humidity??? i am lower then 60% for sure, i think maybe the fact i am in the basement + the air exchange is moving new air every min might be taking a lot of the moisture out... should i maybe run my exhaust on a timer and have it working 6 on 6 off 6on 6 off for the veg duration????


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## DLtoker (May 31, 2007)

If your plants look healthy I really wouldn't worry about it...


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

The new growth looks great... i think that they were stunted because of high temp and no fresh air.. but since i installed the air exchange.. they have been looking much better... i have a jug of rain water in the room, hopefully some evapourates and increases the humidity... 

is there easy ways to increase humidity even a little bit.. like maybe misting the room or something???


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## DLtoker (May 31, 2007)

Misting and an open container of water like you are doing.  You also can hang a wet towel up in your area to raise the relative humidity.


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

Wet towel sounds like a great idea.. ill give that a try tonight when i get home...  can you take a look at my grow journal.. let me know if you see anything else i should have done...


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

So i went to get some silicone to stick the air stones to the container.. and it said not for underwater purpose... so i went to petsmart and got some aquairuim sealer.... i assume this should work just as well... i basically just told them i didnt want to kill my fish.. figuring if fish were safe.. my plants were safe.....  does that logic make sense to you guys??? 

Also.. how do you suggest i mount these air stones... across the bottom... height wise standing up???? or a mix of both???? what promotes the most bubbles??


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## kasgrow (May 31, 2007)

Your setup looks good. You can change out your whole res if you want. It will get old pretty quick though. I just use a $10 pump from harbour freight and some 1/2 tubing to **** out the water in my big res. 
You will have more than enough air for 4 plants and plenty of room growing from clones. I use hygromite rocks in my baskets and run the water level up to the baskets until the roots grow down into the water. I have never used rockwool for dwc so I don't know about that. It holds a lot of water though. I like the rock because it doesn't and it holds the plants better when they get heavy. I have grown dwc without net cups. I just used a 2" neoprene insert.
It worked well until the plants got heavy, then you need to support them.


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## kasgrow (May 31, 2007)

Lay your airstones down flat to get the best spread of bubbles. I don't even glue them down. The weight of the stone keeps them down.


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

Hey that sounds great... i just got home from my buddies house with some cuttings... they were taken off a mother that is dying at an alarming rate..and its 3 weeks into bud.. this guy basically has it inside with no air circulation under desk lights.. i give it a couple weeks and its dead... lucky he waters it and it gets natural sunlight through the window.... 

Anyway.. on with the show... Here are the cuttings i took.. i took 5 from him.. hoping 4 stick... or worse case at least one to make my mother from... 

any suggestions.. they are too big for the dome.. i have them in the rockwool.. hoping to put them outside in my greenhouse tomorrow once the sun hits it..and it heats up a bit... bringing them inside each night to put them back under the light....


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## RatherBBurnin (May 31, 2007)

I forgot to mention the two empty rockwool cubes... they are just there for extra water... also.. does rockwool get worse over time.. that rockwool was out in the elements around the house for about 5 yrs or so..


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

So now i have two broken air stones that i will be taking back to walmart... so once my batteries charge ill post a pic of what i did... basically along the bottom i have three 6" air stones then attached to the sides at either end where two plants will be i have a single little air stone... i plan on setting this up like 202 for the six spots...  Heres where my problem comes in..and its not really a problem... i have four pumps.. it doesnt say psi.. but they are 3w each... what i am thinking about doing is... have a dedicated pump for each 6" air stone... and use a "y" air adapter to split the four pump to power each of the smaller air stones...  OR would i be better to go buy a new pump that pushes serious bubbles to run the whole system.... 

how do they rate these pumps anyway.. i always thought air stuff was rated in psi...


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## DLtoker (Jun 1, 2007)

The serious air pumps are rated with a PSI.  The pumps at walmart don't really have much umph so they won't post that.  It is very cost effective to spend $80 on ebay for a pump that can run 10 stones rather than doing a bunch of smaller pumps.  Plus, having a bunch of pumps around just gets annoying  .  

Those clones are going to need a lot of lovin' for a looong time to grow some roots.  First, they need to be reveged.  Secondly, they have serious health issues, as you stated.  GL, but don't be suprised if it's a month before you are using that DWC...


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

A month is fine with me... i think i might have a lead on some other clones... but i took these ones because i figured more is better... im going to leave them under 24/7 CFL light and see where that takes me.. i am feeding them with normal rain water... and nothing else.. is there any rooting nute i should be giving them???? 

Serious health issues doesnt even really begin to describe the mother... i really wish this guy would listen to me.. but he is content with letting it die because he sees like a 1/4oz of bud on the plant... meanwhile the mother is easily 3ft high and 3ft wide... could be a half pound or more plant...


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

Im right back like i forgot my keys... 

I went and purchased a dual output pump from walmart today.. it was the biggest one they stocked, and it looked serious enough.. so that means i have more then enough pumps to run everything now.... 

Now to finish construction of all my other DWC for bud,mother and cloner..


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## kasgrow (Jun 1, 2007)

I agree with DL toker. It is better to buy a good air pump. I used to use a bunch of small air pumps and they worked for about a year or so. They were noisy and weak. They also used up a bunch of power strips. I took my dad's advice and got a general hydroponics pump(with 4 gang valves built in) for about $60 or so and it really works a lot better in my opinion. I have 2-6" stones in my cloner and 2-12" stones in my res. It has plenty of power to add more stones. They are also rebuildable with a simple kit. I still have my small pumps for back up. Your air pump is very important in dwc because if it dies your plants die if you don't catch it in time. I have lost a few plants over the years by having pumps go out while I was away for the weekend. I am using a flood and drain system right now for the summer because it gets too hot here in the summer. My res temps get too hot in dwc. I also have a fan blowing across the base of my plants to keep the wet roots cool and adds some humidity. With this system I don't have to worry about my air pump going out, only my fountain pump.


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## kasgrow (Jun 1, 2007)

Power outages are a problem for dwc also. I keep a portable rechargeble battery booster with a built in power inverter (for cars and portable power) around to plug my pumps into when the power goes out. It can run them for a long time until the power is back up and running. With my flood and fill system I just have to spray the roots down occasionally to keep the roots moist.


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

I dont think i will have a problem with the heat factor because it is in an air conditioned house... but i do feel you on the pumps... this one i got now is much better.. it pushes the air stones alot more quiet as well... but in my discovery i figured out that the small pump i had are not as small as i thought..they are like 15gallon pumps...so i think i should be fine...

Backup power is an idea to keep in mind.. but worse case.. i have a spare car battery and invertor as well in a crunch... 


I think the beauty of using more then 1 pump would be that if your pump does go bump in the night... there will be at least 3 other ones still keeping it alive..while i run to walmart to get the replacement... also.. walmart will replace any of their pump over the counter for 1 year...


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## allgrownup (Jun 1, 2007)

i like multiple pumps for the backup but agree if you can afford to get two good pumps and keep one for backup.

also man.... like i said before LIQUID NAILS!!!!!  LIQUID NAILS!!!

that aquarium glue is sheet...plain and simple...and in your flimsy tub..with no way to drain...as soon as you pick that up and it twists its going to pull all your airstones loose.  trust me.

listen to the advice your recieving from everyone on this forum as they have all done this before.

ditch that aquarium sealer uh i mean silicone and get yourself some real adhesive glue.  and put a drain on that resevior.

best of luck


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## allgrownup (Jun 1, 2007)

oh also, make yourself a bubble cloner since you may have an extra pump and it will help the process of rooting those clones.  Let the roots get about 6" long and  transfer to DWC

peace


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

Thanks for the advice.. i do listen to the people on here quite a bit... but when i go to get liquid nails and in big bold letters is says  DO NOT USE UNDERWATER... i decided it wasnt the best idea... the aquirium stuff is holding quite nice now that it has dried..... the drain i am going to use the other person advice..and just use the waterpump and some 1/2" hose to drain it out.. since i have that already kicking around here... 

Ive already started the process of making the bubbler cloner.. just gotta cut my holes in the top of the lid... and wait for it to dry.... 

Now im on to making my big single site DWC for my mother plant...

New clones arrive tomorrow anyway.. and they are rooted and ready to go in rockwool..................


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## allgrownup (Jun 1, 2007)

i have heard many use goop for adhesive with great results as well.

you are going to luv that bubble cloner man.  don't make to many clones LOL or you'll have those plants everywhere lOl and that could be a real problem if the wrong people show up   

your well on your way. check my updated pics

c ya round bud


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## RatherBBurnin (Jun 1, 2007)

I looked at goop too but it said the same thing.. i assume its just a warning.. but i didnt want to risk something that wasnt safe for the plants.. i figured if fish are safe..then the plants are... 

Lets knock on wood that the wrong people dont show up... funny you should mention that.. the fire dept was doing routine checks around my neighbourhood..asking to look in basements for illegal apartments.. 
For some reason they didnt knock and ask me.. i think it was the home of a spoiled rotten pitbull sign on my front door that may have deterred them...


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## MergeLeft (Jun 8, 2007)

Position the airstones to max out the time the bubbles spend in the water, as that's when the transfer of oxygen takes place. The longer the trip to the top, the more oxygen dissolves in the water.

Thanks to kasgrow, RatherBBurnin and allgrownup for the backup stuff, power outages are the curse of my existence...now I will be ready.


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