Dwc Vs Flood

[highman]

I am still undecided on which system to use i hear the DWC works really well for high yeilds but can be troublesome. the flood system is appealing to me becuase i have a good knowledge of it and have seen friends succed using the flood system. I got 12 free grodan rockwool cubes for free so i was thinking about just running a flood systemm i have a question for you all here. Everyone keeps telling me that the roots need to be out of the light at all times but i have personaly seen a q a plant from a flood system that the roots were exposed 24hrs a day they got as much sun as the plant did, how is this possible?

 

[ishnish]

that's interesting... roots got 24 hrs of light so the plants most have too?? how do you flower in a 24hr light cycle?
i gota know!!

 

[NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer]

that's interesting... roots got 24 hrs of light so the plants most have too?? how do you flower in a 24hr light cycle?
i gota know!!

He didn't say the plant and roots got light 24 hours a day, he said they wer exposed 24 hours a day and got just AS MUCH light as the plants. This is actually being debated right now in a thread over in general hydroponics, check it out.

 

[scatking]

exposing roots to light continuously is not a good idea. they are extremely delicate and will begin to limit nutrient uptake if exposed.

 

[highman]

He didn't say the plant and roots got light 24 hours a day, he said they wer exposed 24 hours a day and got just AS MUCH light as the plants. This is actually being debated right now in a thread over in general hydroponics, check it out.

will do!

 

[Shockeclipse]

I dont think it gets any easier than DWC. Easy to build and all you do is check your ph, top up with water every now and then, change res ( I do mine once a week) and watch em grow. My plants are crazy big after 35 days.

 

[The New Girl]

I dont think it gets any easier than DWC. Easy to build and all you do is check your ph, top up with water every now and then, change res ( I do mine once a week) and watch em grow. My plants are crazy big after 35 days.

Hey Shock,
I think you're right on. I have built many systems, mostly drip and aero. I have never built a DWC because it was too easy...haha. I still like the others but for a newbie it's almost - ALMOST foolproof. No water pumps to clog and fail, no drippers/emitters to clog, etc. Just spend the extra and get a good air pump (maybe a double) and good air stones. To make it easy for water changes I would install a plug/drain valve with a shutoff. This way you can just connect a garden house to drain if the tub is high enough or use a small pump to empty it. I know I can't lift any tubs with water, they're heavier than me!!! Horticulturesourcedotcom has great prices and quality stuff IMO.

hxxp://www.horticulturesource.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=air+pump&search_in_description=1&osCsid=83f2d54155d6a42445a759a46e80d8e1

 

[highman]

well i have been researching a deep flood system which uses 5 gallon buckets full of hydroton with a rockwool cube in the middle. This design seems as if it would work better than the typical "shallow system" the deep flood gives the roots more space to grow and it keeps the light off of the roots. my question is if i were to use this "deep" system when i was flooding my buckets would i need to bring the water level all the way up to the rockwool so it will soak or am i to bring the water level just short of the rockwool? I have a friend who is using a "shallow" system right now with his 6" rockwool cubes just sitting in an open tray taking a flood 3 times a day and he is producing very nice numbers with this setup. my question is soak the rockwool during the daily flood or keep it dry???? my rockwool cubes will be 6" as well.. i dont want to get root rot.

here is the design i mentioned

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...icrosoft:*:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7TSHB&sa=N&um=1

 

[Shockeclipse]

Hey Shock,
I think you're right on. I have built many systems, mostly drip and aero. I have never built a DWC because it was too easy...haha. I still like the others but for a newbie it's almost - ALMOST foolproof. No water pumps to clog and fail, no drippers/emitters to clog, etc. Just spend the extra and get a good air pump (maybe a double) and good air stones. To make it easy for water changes I would install a plug/drain valve with a shutoff. This way you can just connect a garden house to drain if the tub is high enough or use a small pump to empty it. I know I can't lift any tubs with water, they're heavier than me!!! Horticulturesourcedotcom has great prices and quality stuff IMO.

hxxp://www.horticulturesource.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=air+pump&search_in_description=1&osCsid=83f2d54155d6a42445a759a46e80d8e1

My plants drink so much water that by the time I have to do a change my buckets dont weigh all that much, thats even with topping them off. I built myself a mixing station where I mix all my nutes and adjust ph and let sit for a day or two before changing out my buckets. Easy breezy lemon squeezy. Plus mine are all indvidual five gal buckets so that makes it easier I think.

 

[NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer]

10 gallon DWC res's with 4-5 plants in each, I end up having to add a TON of water and nutrients when they get bigger. I wasn't paying attention once and had 5 plants drink all 10 gallons of water to the point that the res was bone dry and the stone was sucking air in 3 days.

 

[Shockeclipse]

well i have been researching a deep flood system which uses 5 gallon buckets full of hydroton with a rockwool cube in the middle. This design seems as if it would work better than the typical "shallow system" the deep flood gives the roots more space to grow and it keeps the light off of the roots. my question is if i were to use this "deep" system when i was flooding my buckets would i need to bring the water level all the way up to the rockwool so it will soak or am i to bring the water level just short of the rockwool? I have a friend who is using a "shallow" system right now with his 6" rockwool cubes just sitting in an open tray taking a flood 3 times a day and he is producing very nice numbers with this setup. my question is soak the rockwool during the daily flood or keep it dry???? my rockwool cubes will be 6" as well.. i dont want to get root rot.

here is the design i mentioned

http://images.google.com/imgresimgu...icrosoft:*:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7TSHB&sa=N&um=1

Sounds like over complicated DWC to me. If I understand correctly that is. Do you flood it and then drain? How do you drain it?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Sounds like over complicated DWC to me. If I understand correctly that is. Do you flood it and then drain? How do you drain it?

:yeahthat: And why would you drain it?

 

[The New Girl]

well i have been researching a deep flood system which uses 5 gallon buckets full of hydroton with a rockwool cube in the middle. This design seems as if it would work better than the typical "shallow system" the deep flood gives the roots more space to grow and it keeps the light off of the roots. my question is if i were to use this "deep" system when i was flooding my buckets would i need to bring the water level all the way up to the rockwool so it will soak or am i to bring the water level just short of the rockwool? I have a friend who is using a "shallow" system right now with his 6" rockwool cubes just sitting in an open tray taking a flood 3 times a day and he is producing very nice numbers with this setup. my question is soak the rockwool during the daily flood or keep it dry???? my rockwool cubes will be 6" as well.. i dont want to get root rot.

here is the design i mentioned

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hydroponicist.com/hydroponic-systems/images/hydropod.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hydroponicist.com/hydroponic-systems/flood-and-drain.htm&usg=__rwcwa96GW3rwvwvFIb8na_B0l8E=&h=470&w=670&sz=83&hl=en&start=16&um=1&tbnid=Zu3mmTvS7ntU3M:&tbnh=97&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Debb%2Band%2Bflow%2Bsystems%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7TSHB%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

That looks like a nice system. If I were to go to the trouble to build that I would probably just do a drip system, though that one will work fine. You can flood the rockwool and not worry about root rot as it allows for a lot of air and the rockwool is not in the water all the time. You can make a DWC system for around $40-$50...Depends how big -veg time- you want your plants to get and how many. If it's your 1st grow I would do a DWC system for very little investment. You will still need a pH meter, very important, probably more $$ than the system. My Hanna pH/TDS was $180 though you can find just a pH meter for around $30 for a cheaper one. Depends on the light size/kind of light(s) too...a lot of factors to consider. If your friend's system works fine why not copy that one...though remember rule #1 - Tell No One...

 

[The New Girl]

:yeahthat: And why would you drain it?

Hi Hemp,
It just drains back into the reservoir to be used again...

 

[Shockeclipse]

So you have five gal buckets.... On top of a res..... How high is that? It takes more than 20l of hydroten to fill a five gal bucket.... I don't know it just seems like an over fancy way to do things. I would really not want to have another thing under my already tall buckets in my DWC.

 

[highman]

I like the design myself, but would agree with the over compilication of it. For a first time grow in a small space i dont think this would be the best option but if i had an unlimited space i would love to give this a try. Dammit i wish i could just run each plant in its own system and see which one works the best before i buy a big system.

 

[StoneyBud]

I dont think it gets any easier than DWC. Easy to build and all you do is check your ph, top up with water every now and then, change res ( I do mine once a week) and watch em grow. My plants are crazy big after 35 days.

Building an Ebb and Flow takes some effort.

Other than that, it's one step easier than DWC. You never have to change out your reservoir solution until the crop is finished.

That removes a weekly chore.

Here's the list of what you have to do with Ebb and Flow:

1. Every second or third day, you top off your reservoir and move your light up if needed.

That's it.

That makes it a lot easier than DWC.

 

[highman]

Building an Ebb and Flow takes some effort.

Other than that, it's one step easier than DWC. You never have to change out your reservoir solution until the crop is finished.

That removes a weekly chore.

Here's the list of what you have to do with Ebb and Flow:

1. Every second or third day, you top off your reservoir and move your light up if needed.

That's it.

That makes it a lot easier than DWC.

whats with all the manufactured flood systems not coming with a top to cover up the roots from the light? the blocks just sit in a tray. I quess my only beef with the flood system is that when the cubes are sitting in the tray it would force the roots to grow sideways out of the cubes as opposed to strait out the bottom. The thought of forcing the roots to do anything other than grow with gravity makes me second quess myself.

 

[StoneyBud]

whats with all the manufactured flood systems not coming with a top to cover up the roots from the light? the blocks just sit in a tray. I quess my only beef with the flood system is that when the cubes are sitting in the tray it would force the roots to grow sideways out of the cubes as opposed to strait out the bottom. The thought of forcing the roots to do anything other than grow with gravity makes me second quess myself.

You're supposed to cover the cubes with hydroton. That keeps the roots from hitting light. Roots don't know down from up. They grow wherever they can. Gravity has nothing to do with root growth.

 

[highman]

You're supposed to cover the cubes with hydroton. That keeps the roots from hitting light. Roots don't know down from up. They grow wherever they can. Gravity has nothing to do with root growth.

well i think im going to just use a flood system seems easier to me