my first 2 gallon DWC

[capncrunchn420]

I finally made the jump this week, setting up my first hydroponic "system".
I put it together at first just as something to do, I had a two gallon bucket, some net cups, little rockwool cubes (similiar in size to grow rocks) and a bottle of Mother Earth Grow, and an air pump, air hose and stone.
I bought all of these items when I first started growing but abandoned hydro at the time till I learned the basics.
I put an extra blue berry clone in the bucket, and after I saw how it really kicked off I decided to head to the store to buy some more items.
Now I have a ppm meter, ph testing kit, ph up/down, and for nutes I have advanced nutrients bloom/grow/micro.

I just got done setting everything up, the pH is at about 5.5-6 and I mixed the nutrients at half strength so the ppm is 650.
I have it under a 65w compact fluorescent until my 400 is free.
Does anyone think that I'll run into container problems with my small bucket?
Does the ppm sound right at this point? The roots aren't even poking out of the net cup and I just dumped the old solution out and added the new one....

Any help would be appreciated... as soon as there is something more than a clone sized plant to photograph, I hope to be posting some pics.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I started with DWC pretty much the same way. I switched to an 18 gallon tub for my official grow and pulled 4 oz from a single plant. Hard to imagine anything easier.

You may want to consider keeping Rockwool to a minimum. While the bubbles will keep the upper rootball moist, the idea of DWC is to flood the upper rootball with air.

650 sounds like a good starting point. In case you haven't seen this yet, EC up, pH down = nutes too strong. EC down, pH up = nutes too weak. I used quarter strength GH nutes till I saw roots. Half strength till they hit the water. Full strength from there.

 

[Cannabean]

sounds great bro!

be careful though, dwc is addictive! I started my own little bagseed bubbler to see if i was ready for hydro and she turned into a monster!

 

[TheOneWill]

Where did you get the 2 gallon bucket? I'm been trying to find some buckets for a dwc hydro.

 

[satanikmekanik]

I too am going to do a dwc for a first time attempt! I have an 18 gall res, six 3" net pots, air pump, hose, stone, I have two lights that I used for my reef tank ( haven't dug them out of storage yet unsure if mh or hps, but I do have the sockets and the power unit can always get new lights), hydroton.
Now the nutes are where I am a little lost. So many to chose from and I'm not sure on the ratios yet.
Good luck on your endeavor there capn I hope it takes of for you!
Wow cannabean! I hope I can pull a plant off like that! Is that scrog you got going? I've really been intrigued about hals 12/12 from seed, but they keep saying it's rough for newbs so maybe not yet.



Keep growing guys!

 

[house]

PPM's are good and the container should be fine. Keep an eye on the airstone so it doesn't get rootbound further into the grow. DWC done right will nicely surprise you with the results.

satanikmekkanik: A very simple and easy way to start is with floranovabloom at 8ml/gal the entire grow. Monitor ph and ppm's and you will get excellent results time and time again.

 

[satanikmekanik]

thanx house, floranovabloom and nothing else? no need to supplement during flower or nothing huh?

 

[rule35sub1]

nice plant cannabean, dwc is fun.

 

[house]

FNB is all you need. During flowering I sometimes add a little extra if the plant is a heavy feeder with no signs of nute burn. I start with 5ml/gal and move up to 8ml/gal during flower. No res changes. It's super thick so you'll have to premix with some water before it goes into the res. Various supplements and additives may help but that might be something you want to experiment with later. For your first grow I'd keep things simple and safe.

thanx house, floranovabloom and nothing else? no need to supplement during flower or nothing huh?

 

[satanikmekanik]

For your first grow I'd keep things simple and safe.

Thanx house, k.i.s.s. got ya

 

[GET MO]

Right on man, I plant on experimentn with DWC real soon, good shit!

 

[capncrunchn420]

In case you haven't seen this yet, EC up, pH down = nutes too strong. EC down, pH up = nutes too weak..

Could someone clarify on that?

Cuz I mixed 3gallons of distilled water at full strength and the bottle said the PPM should be approx. 950 but it read out in the 500's, then when I put 3quarts of tap water with 3quarts of my nutrient solution I had to add about half a teaspoon of pH down and now the PPM reads out the 380, but my little BB seems to doing fine for the last couple of days, it seems like everyday the root mass more then doubles.

I got the 2-gallon bucket from home depot, it was white so I had to spray paint it black, then white. It also has 16 little rectangular holes spaced evenly around the lid so it's working perfectly for LST.


HAHAHA.
I just checked the bottle and realized I mixed the nutrients completely wrong, the Grow and Micro I mixed in enough for 2 gallons at full strength and the Bloom at enough for 3-gallons.
I'm about to go fix that stat.
I should probably stop smoking so much....hmmm which means I shouldn't try to grow so much.... and if I did that I would have no need to not smoke so much, which means I would have to grow that much....
seems like a paradox.

 

[mr freez]

ME 2

ME 2

i will be turning my ebb and gro bucket system in to a hybrid. I will add oxygen to all 36 of the 2gal buckets and have the water drain back to the res every 2 hours to mix and refresh the nutes for 15mins.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Could someone clarify on that? ( "In case you haven't seen this yet, EC up, pH down = nutes too strong. EC down, pH up = nutes too weak.")

Sorry, brevity sometimes gets in the way of information. In this scenario pH up or down does not refer to a product but whether the reading is higher or lower. Whatever direction pH moves, EC goes the other way. Until the solution is "dialed in" plants will absorb water and nutrients in unequal measures. If the solution is too strong, the plant will drink more water than nutes and EC climbs. If the solution is too weak, the plant drinks more nutes than water and EC drops.