nipple's DWC grow

[Guest]

This is gonna be a long one, so if you like popcorn you better pop a big big bucket

First thing, I've grown maybe 20 crops using coco coir in a wardrobe, drip feed and a delicious Northern NSW Purple-Strain (touted as Mullumbimby madness but have no way to tell whether that was true or not, other than every time I smoked her I hallucinated like a mofo).

No pics of these girls unfortunately, I was full=blown hippie and not into technology.

That was 7yrs ago and I've grown nothing since.
I've smoked nothing since.
I've been raising my Autistic son and studying.

I'm ready for my next build, so here we go


Last Week I ordered a packet of Verite's Holy Grail seeds from Seedbay, after spending a couple of weeks scanning hundreds of pages on this forum, trying to find a nice Head Smoke. I'm pretty happy with my choice.

3 days ago I went to a Hydroponic Supplier, who is a farm supplier, and I felt so uncomfortable there that all I bought was a little cloning envro-tray and some rockwool

I've spent alot of time online this past week seeking a decent Australian Supplier, and I may be on the right track.

Today, I went to local Garbage Dump, to grab some building materials, to help me construct my grow room.

Why Garbage Dump? Well, I've seen alot of renovation work going on around here and some great 3" x 2" pine lengths going into a recycling shredder, and our local govt doesn't mind if we recycle timbers and such, so...

My Growroom will be located in a great position. Under a 10 inch concrete slab I have a room 18' x 32' that I currently use as a storage room but I'm gonna convert the inner-most part of it into something wonderful :friends:

I'm gonna need alot of guidance in this one, though I have some good basics, I haven't gone DWC before but after reading SoEx's Newbie hydroponics grow, need help getting started/selecting equipment! thread, I really want to try it out.

 

[Guest]

600W HPS for Flowering

I've read this will give me a growing area of 5' x 5'. Ideal for 4 plants?

Although I have space for more lighting, I don't have the funds to buy more lighting (for flowering).

I've seen how SoEx did ok using Dutch Master I believe I'll go with them too, as availability of product in NSW, Australia is nowhere like what I'm seeing you guys having access to.

I have a multitude of questions on the subject, and I saw some really great advice shared by Don Cotyle, FreezerBoy, Military, eLiguL and other good people in SoEx's thread so I'm feeling optimistic that some of you with DWC knowledge can join me on this little adventure too.

Right now, I'm wondering if there is a DWC guide?

I liked all the info in SoEx's thread and I'm reading through Don Cotyle's Orange Diesel Grow now.

Will post back tomorrow

 

[FreezerBoy]

Try the Advanced Search for DWC under Titles Only. This will give you pages of DWC threads to read through. The Link-O-Rama in the Growroom forum is also a great resource http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637

SoEx's thread is a great place to start as he knew nothing in the beginning and look at him grow now.

Beyond that, learn to listen to your plants. They won't lie to you. A good EC meter and pH tester may not be "Required" but, they make life a LOT easier. Start your nutes at 1/2 to 1/4 the bottles recommended dosage until you know what your plants like.

While not a sterility freak, the idea of junk yard timber kinda freaks me out. I have no idea how you'd clean such a porous material. I'd at least use a sealant and paint the @#$%* out of it.

Break a leg.

 

[Guest]

Try the Advanced Search for DWC under Titles Only. This will give you pages of DWC threads to read through. The Link-O-Rama in the Growroom forum is also a great resource http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=40637

SoEx's thread is a great place to start as he knew nothing in the beginning and look at him grow now.

Beyond that, learn to listen to your plants. They won't lie to you. A good EC meter and pH tester may not be "Required" but, they make life a LOT easier. Start your nutes at 1/2 to 1/4 the bottles recommended dosage until you know what your plants like.

While not a sterility freak, the idea of junk yard timber kinda freaks me out. I have no idea how you'd clean such a porous material. I'd at least use a sealant and paint the @#$%* out of it.

Break a leg.

Thanks for that FreezerBoy.

Not sure what's happening world-wide with this but in the land of OZ our dumps are broken into separate areas, and one area is dedicated to green waste and construction materials. These materials are then broken down into reusable mulch, sold on to the general public, for their gardens etc.

The building materials I scabbed are clean and in no way contaminated by the general trash at other end of the dump :smile:

Yes, I understand young plant requirements regarding nutes, and there's plenty of discussion in SoEx's thread I can use as a guide if I need to.

A good EC and ph tester? Do you think this el cheapo is good enough? ebay linky

I know they need to be recalibrated regularly.

Or this ph tester? ebay linky

Or this multi one that does both? ebay linky hmmmmmm

I think I need to find an aquarium supply shop and see what they've got to compare. This is gonna be fun.

Thanks for dropping by champ

 

[BudLove]

Hey Nipple,

Welcome to DWC land... I love this growing method way more than any of the others I've worked with (EF, Aero, Soil). I began knowing zippo and ended up with a multi-bucket recirc DWC setup that I could leave for close to 7 days without having to worry about. Great results as well.

One item you will want to really consider though is water temps... these can really screw up a perfectly good grow. I ended up using the ole water-cooler conversion thread (Klutter?) and worked like a champ... way cheaper than going with a hydro-based water chiller.

As far as the testers you listed:

First link - was only an EC tester and kinda lame at that
Second link - shrug, looks ok
Third link - probably my top choice out of the three

Personally I prefer combo units to keep down the amount of crap I need to maintain. The other thing, and the main one, that I would consider is: How hard is it to find replacement parts for the meter. Cause probes go all the time....

BL

 

[Guest]

Good words of experience there BL, may be a better idea to talk to a local supplier and be able to replace parts that die, than find I can't from some el cheapo Chinese ebay test kit.

Will definitely contact local Aquarium Suppliers for this one.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Just to confuse the hell out of you, I respectfully disagree with BudLove. The EC stick is a knockoff of the BlueLab Truncheon. The Bluelab is a highly respected instrument (though who knows about the knockoff) pH testers seem to be a complete crapshoot. People love them as perfect or loathe them as useless. There's little inbetween. I use the three drops in 5 ml kit from the aquarium store. I avoid phone/fax/copier/floor wax/dog poop pickerupper combo units whenever possible. Standalone units can be replaced as needed. With a multiuse, if your EC unit goes out, you have to replace a fully functional thermometer and pH tester as well. Plus, they're locked in to one grow. With handhelds, you can test upstairs, downstairs, the garage, Mom's roses ...

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that Chilly, I always prefer a multitude of use experiences before making a decision, so....

I'm giving Dr. D's Cheap and Simple Hydro Setup a serious bit of consideration, as a good basis for this grow.

I'll surely do lots more research prior to building my flowering room setup, and modify as necessary, to suit my specific grow.

Back to an earlier question....

A single 600 HPS for Flowering should offer me a 5' x 5' growing area?
4 plants would be an ideal for this wouldn't it?

Thanks for any shared knowledge champs

 

[FreezerBoy]

Dr D's is a beautiful setup, esp for beginners. My only warning would be the small size of the bucket keeps you somewhat housebound. I haven't seen it personally but, have read claims of individual plants drinking as much as 2 gal a day. Consider larger buckets.

5x5 may be pushing it for a 600. Optimal lighting is 50 watts (or higher) per sq ft. 600/50=12 sq ft. You have 25 sq ft. Beware of stretch. Due both to low light levels and HPS. How many plants depends on your methods. I used to SOG 24 plants in a space smaller than 2x3 under a 150 HPS. Then I saw this place and realized my grow was sad and puny. Now I'm doing a one plant Scrog under a 250 CMH and expect to yield at least as much if not more than my old 24 plant SOG.

 

[Empathy]

Mullumbimby madness! havnt heard that one for awhile. Nice to see there are some aussies around. .

Emps

 

[Guest]

Yep, 4' x 4' seems a better size then. I was just going by something I'd read recently *ouch*

When I grew previously, I would keep a single mother plant alive and constantly in VEG, and from her I'd take my clones. I timed it so the clones had grown enough in this VEG section of my grow area, so when I harvested my FLOWERED crop, I'd clean the coir and then move the clones ready to FLOWER into the flower cabinet. Then take more cuttings in preparation for next crop.

My intention is something similar but as DWC is medium-less, I'm wondering if anyone sees any problems with my using Grodan to prepare my girls for flowering.

- clones into the small cubes
- clones in small cube then transported into larger 6" cubes to VEG
- then....
- VEGGED plant and 6" cube moved into a DWC pot for FLOWERING

I know I could create a bubble clone environment but for now I'd like to keep it super simple until I feel more comfortable with how DWC works.

Sound feasible?

 

[Guest]

Hi Empathy, nice to meet you

You're an Aussie too? *wink*

 

[Guest]

When I grew previously, I would keep a single mother plant alive and constantly in VEG, and from her I'd take my clones. I timed it so the clones had grown enough in this VEG section of my grow area, so when I harvested my FLOWERED crop, I'd clean the coir and then move the clones ready to FLOWER into the flower cabinet. Then take more cuttings in preparation for next crop.

My intention is something similar but as DWC is medium-less, I'm wondering if anyone sees any problems with my using Grodan to prepare my girls for flowering.

- clones into the small cubes
- clones in small cube then transported into larger 6" cubes to VEG
- then....
- VEGGED plant and 6" cube moved into a DWC pot for FLOWERING

I know I could create a bubble clone environment but for now I'd like to keep it super simple until I feel more comfortable with how DWC works.

Sound feasible?

 

[Suby]

Things have changed in 7 years

Things have changed in 7 years

Good to see you putting your hands back in the green

Alot has changed IMO on the best way to achieve the best yields and the easiest way to get a paydirt of weed easily for cheap.
I feel that coco medium is the way of the future of MJ .

You get identical if not better results in a pure Canna coco medium, you just hand water until you get a little runoff, no pumps, no airstone, no res changes, no wasting water or having to purify it, easy peasy periode.

The better hydro shops are pushing it too, they will work well with grodan starter cubes, coco is VERY porous so you can't overwater, it's more resistant to heat and pythium caused by warm root zone temps (Aussie temps are brutal).

Hanna brand ph meter and ppm meter are great (buy seperately, 2 in 1 I don't like hate), you just adjust all your nutes and water to 6.5 and water with any type of nute, GH seems to be a popular one with the hydro heads.

Coco also can be setup in a run to waste system with a dripper feeding 3 times daily and recycling back to a res, I've had good results with hand watering for 4 plants though.

Check out Gr3atfulh3ads thread on coco, it's in his signature, he does a good job and laying out the details, there are a few minor things to watch out for but nothing too complicated.

No pumps, airstones, no noise from these, no cords or power to run these, no dependancy on power other than the light, I love it really.

I'm not looking to confuse your project but I wouldn't be much of a grower helper if I didn't help you make the right choices from the start.

Peace

Suby

 

[ogatec]

go 3x3 for the 600, or 4x4 for 1000w,you can always do 1 600 ,& another 1 down the road.

my opinion on meters is they all suck so just go with 1 that you like cause its gonna break in a year anyway...i have had problems with all types so make sure you kep it calibrated.

 

[Belthane]

Hi there nipplecrippler.

I had to drop in and say hi since we are in the same boat. I to have just started again after 8 years off, due to raising family. Now I live in a great place, and finally own my place. But am about as sick as I can get of searching for weed, to make some smuck some pennys for a weak sack.

Anyways I started some old seeds I had in a dressor for 8 years. Germ rate was about 15%, better than I thought with no care taken to preserve them. I didnt find this site till after they were up and growing, but I must say WOW has it been helpful. A week or 2 from harvest and my girls look better than they ever did before, hehe like riding a bike.

I have a couple clones im going to toss in a DWC this week as a side project to check out some hydro.

So good luck to yas bro, enjoy your rewards

 

[FreezerBoy]

- clones into the small cubes
- clones in small cube then transported into larger 6" cubes to VEG
- then....
- VEGGED plant and 6" cube moved into a DWC pot for FLOWERING

If you use big cubes (3"-6") you MAY be able to forgo Hydroton and net pots altogether. Just cut a square hole in the bucket instead of round. My DWC test run was done this way for 6 weeks but then turned male so I didn't finish the grow.

Because I didn't finish, my concern is a larger cube may oversaturate the rootball depriving it of oxygen. A starter cube will eventually get shredded apart as the plant grows. Not so with a larger cube. Soil, rockwool, coco use water movement to force out old oxygen and suck it new oxygen. Rockwool will grow algae on the top which may prevent the water in it from transpiring sufficiently to suck up oxygen from the tub.

If you're growing indica's with an 8 week flower period, you can probably pull it off. I'm growing a 17+ week flowering Sativa so I stuck with starters in hydroton and net pots. If I could get the bubble clone thing to work, I'd grow them naked.

 

[Guest]

Good to see you putting your hands back in the green

Alot has changed IMO on the best way to achieve the best yields and the easiest way to get a paydirt of weed easily for cheap.
I feel that coco medium is the way of the future of MJ .

You get identical if not better results in a pure Canna coco medium, you just hand water until you get a little runoff, no pumps, no airstone, no res changes, no wasting water or having to purify it, easy peasy periode.

hehe the irony is this was the method I used to employ. Maybe I was a man ahead of my times

The better hydro shops are pushing it too, they will work well with grodan starter cubes, coco is VERY porous so you can't overwater, it's more resistant to heat and pythium caused by warm root zone temps (Aussie temps are brutal).

I'm very fortunate there Suby (Subiaco??), in that I live on the side of a mountain and the garage is on a 10" slab of concrete, and directly beneath the garage I have a storage room, also built on a 10" slab, with double brick walls.

This means I've found that this storage room is extremely well insulated against both heat and cold. With proper ventilation I foresee a very favorable growing environment

Hanna brand ph meter and ppm meter are great (buy seperately, 2 in 1 I don't like hate), you just adjust all your nutes and water to 6.5 and water with any type of nute, GH seems to be a popular one with the hydro heads.

GH? Expand please, it's been a while =)

Coco also can be setup in a run to waste system with a dripper feeding 3 times daily and recycling back to a res, I've had good results with hand watering for 4 plants though.

Yes, I used dripper for VEG and have hand watered before. it's been a while though, considering coir holds so much liquid, how often to feed if hand watering again?

Check out Gr3atfulh3ads thread on coco, it's in his signature, he does a good job and laying out the details, there are a few minor things to watch out for but nothing too complicated.

I can't seem to find this user via Search tool, will do a search on coco grows....

No pumps, airstones, no noise from these, no cords or power to run these, no dependancy on power other than the light, I love it really.

Yes, I definitely enjoyed the simplicity of a coir grow.

it did seem aero and dwc were good options for faster grow and higher yield though.

Will need to continue my research, besides if I go coir today, it's not alot of equipment to lose if I decide to move to some other system later, or maybe compare a 4 plant coir grow to a DWC grow, when I can afford a second 600W hps setup.

I have plenty of room

I

'm not looking to confuse your project but I wouldn't be much of a grower helper if I didn't help you make the right choices from the start.

Peace

Suby

you didn't, it was really nice to see coir is still a viable option, even after all those years =P

 

[Guest]

Hi there nipplecrippler.

I had to drop in and say hi since we are in the same boat. I to have just started again after 8 years off, due to raising family. Now I live in a great place, and finally own my place. But am about as sick as I can get of searching for weed, to make some smuck some pennys for a weak sack.

Anyways I started some old seeds I had in a dressor for 8 years. Germ rate was about 15%, better than I thought with no care taken to preserve them. I didnt find this site till after they were up and growing, but I must say WOW has it been helpful. A week or 2 from harvest and my girls look better than they ever did before, hehe like riding a bike.

I have a couple clones im going to toss in a DWC this week as a side project to check out some hydro.

So good luck to yas bro, enjoy your rewards

Thanks for the encouragement and for letting me know where you're at in life.

I had to stop smoking for a while, I think I was too young in some ways, and while I smoked I wasn't exploring other things in life. I just loved it too much.

Now I'm a bit older I believe I can have those other things, and enjoy a nice smoke too

Keep in touch man.

 

[Guest]

If you use big cubes (3"-6") you MAY be able to forgo Hydroton and net pots altogether. Just cut a square hole in the bucket instead of round. My DWC test run was done this way for 6 weeks but then turned male so I didn't finish the grow.

Because I didn't finish, my concern is a larger cube may oversaturate the rootball depriving it of oxygen. A starter cube will eventually get shredded apart as the plant grows. Not so with a larger cube. Soil, rockwool, coco use water movement to force out old oxygen and suck it new oxygen. Rockwool will grow algae on the top which may prevent the water in it from transpiring sufficiently to suck up oxygen from the tub.

If you're growing indica's with an 8 week flower period, you can probably pull it off. I'm growing a 17+ week flowering Sativa so I stuck with starters in hydroton and net pots. If I could get the bubble clone thing to work, I'd grow them naked.

Thanks for sharing your experience Chilly.

I have seen that algal growth before, on the smaller cubes. i've never actually used the big ones, it just seemed a way to VEG without needing to move the clones, needing a bit more room, into a bigger grow area, without going to effort of creating a bubbler for VEG.

Any way anyone can see that I could VEG my clones and then move them to a Bubbler FLOWER bucket when they're ready?