Question about DWC Feeding

[overmind1632]

I am a soil grower but started to look into hydro methods of growing

The hempy bucket methods makes sense to me since its like a soil grow but with a one bucket DWC grow, the stationary water has me asking myself some questions that I can't seem to answer.

1. Does the water in a DWC grow need to be changed regularly?

2. How does one feed the plant? Just put nutrients into the water?

3. After feeding, does the water need to be changed for fresh water or are all the nutes just extracted out of the water by the plant?

Thanks

 

[LessIsMore]

I am a soil grower but started to look into hydro methods of growing

The hempy bucket methods makes sense to me since its like a soil grow but with a DWC grow, the stationary water has me asking myself some questions that I can't seem to answer.

1. Does the water in a DWC grow need to be changed regularly?

Yes and No, You can top regular with R/O water tell the same amount of water has been replaced to your rez.
IOW a 20 gallon res of nutes needs to be swapped out when 20 galls of R/O HAVE BEEN put back into it.

The other Rez management routine would be to top with 1/3rd strentgh nutes daily and monitor rez temps,ph, ppm's.

2. How does one feed the plant? Just put nutrients into the water?

Yes.

3. After feeding, does the water need to be changed for fresh water or are all the nutes just extracted out of the water by the plant?

In DWC the plant roots live in the nutrient solution 24/7, they take what they want when they want it. The key here is ample DO in the rez and water temps under 78, 65 ideal.
Thanks

Do a search for "Lucas" he has some very easy K.I.S.S methods of rez management.

hth's!

 

[overmind1632]

Thanks lessismore,

Is there a tutorial or thread that teaches one how to build and grow with a dwc methods?

 

[tjo]

hi
look at blazeonup thread.recently i made one sustem based in this
tutorial.im doing my first attempt in dwc with 6 buckets.
im using lucas but im not happy with this schedule.my plants are
not sto well and next week i l try one other schedule who
gives me a ic friend.
good start and search...im not familiar with english languange and also
so i live in a small country in europe.no hydro shops no nothing here.
for you is more easier to build it and to make it work.
good luck

 

[overmind1632]

To be clear, I am talking about a bucket dwc/bubble bucket system

I think you guys are directing to me towards other forms of dwc

 

[spadedNfaded]

I recently turned into the world of DWC just to test the results i get.

1.) People who use DWC recommend a full-replacement of nutrient solution every 6-9 days. This does not mean it is necessary, but it is a great way to guarantee that the plant has what it needs at all times.
*Theoretically*!!, if the plant uses 40ppm N, 36ppm K and 100ppm, you COULD replace them and it would be become the same environment as if you had changed the water out completely but this is a very difficult method because you'd have to look at the chemistry of your solution, figure out how much of any given nutrient to add to the solution to replenish the 40/36/100.
It is much easier to empty the bucket out, clean with a anti-bacterial cleaner, dry, and replace with a fresh solution.

2.) DWC or any hydro system's use the nutrient solution you pour into a soil plant. Say you have a 1gal DWC bucket and you just mixed up 1gal of solution for your soil plant. Basically what you would do with that is adjust the pH to 5.5-6.0 and dump that into the bucket. The roots will float around in the solution(with an airstone to supply oxygen!!) and only pull from it what they need. This is tricky because you can develope deficiencies or create a mixture that is just plain "too hot".

3.) The plant stays in the sealed enclosure of the DWC bucket for the duration of days. The plant uses the mineral IN the water AS WELL AS the water itself.

- SubN

 

[FreezerBoy]

the stationary water has me asking myself some questions that I can't seem to answer.

1. Does the water in a DWC grow need to be changed regularly?

2. How does one feed the plant? Just put nutrients into the water?

3. After feeding, does the water need to be changed for fresh water or are all the nutes just extracted out of the water by the plant?

I don't now if that was a typo or a semantic glitch but, NO STATIONARY WATER allowed! You want lots of movement, either with a waterfall or, more commonly, massive amounts of air bubbles.

1. No. Once or twice in a 20 week grow. I wait for visible signs of distress.

2. Yes, just put nutrients into the water BUT, mix up solution in a separate tub and then add to the tank to avoid root shock. You'll want to measure the EC (Electrical Conductivity) strength of res and water supply to know how much, if any, food to add.

3. No. Leave nutes in the tank at all times unless you're flushing at the end of the grow. The plant will take what it needs and this will tell you what the plant wants. EC and pH move in opposite directions. EC up-pH down is too rich. EC down-pH up is too lean. EC-pH stationary leads to lock out as no pH reading allows absorption of all nutes. Keep a journal with daily readings to see which way things are going. When you get pH to rise or fall 0.5 points over a week or two, that's as close to a perfect feed ratio as you could hope for.

It seems intimidating at first: new rules, new terminology. Once you see it in action, it's easy as pie. I often leave my grow unattended for weeks at a time. It's that stable once dialed in.

 

[jm420]

 

[overmind1632]

I don't now if that was a typo or a semantic glitch but, NO STATIONARY WATER allowed! You want lots of movement, either with a waterfall or, more commonly, massive amounts of air bubbles.

1. No. Once or twice in a 20 week grow. I wait for visible signs of distress.

2. Yes, just put nutrients into the water BUT, mix up solution in a separate tub and then add to the tank to avoid root shock. You'll want to measure the EC (Electrical Conductivity) strength of res and water supply to know how much, if any, food to add.

3. No. Leave nutes in the tank at all times unless you're flushing at the end of the grow. The plant will take what it needs and this will tell you what the plant wants. EC and pH move in opposite directions. EC up-pH down is too rich. EC down-pH up is too lean. EC-pH stationary leads to lock out as no pH reading allows absorption of all nutes. Keep a journal with daily readings to see which way things are going. When you get pH to rise or fall 0.5 points over a week or two, that's as close to a perfect feed ratio as you could hope for.

It seems intimidating at first: new rules, new terminology. Once you see it in action, it's easy as pie. I often leave my grow unattended for weeks at a time. It's that stable once dialed in.

Got it, and yeah I didn't mean like 100% stationary water, I knew about the air bubbles. I was mainly referring to the fact that the water stays in the bucket instead of being pumped in and out.

 

[FreezerBoy]

You can pump water in and out if you like. That's RDWC or, Recirculating DWC, where all the buckets are connected to each other and a control res. In that scenario, all measurements and additions are made to the control res as opposed to bubblers where you grow directly in the res.

 

[LessIsMore]

Personally IMO Id start with a basic DWC tub and run a cycle and get a feel for it. Recirc systems can be alot more work and are alot more complex. With a recirc system 1 mistake effects the intire system.
The easiest K.I.S.S method to DWC is a 25 gallon res with 18 gallons in it. Add a airstone and a airpump. Have it run 24/7.
Use R/O water and mix GH nutes at 0-8-16 "LUCAS" formula, once there under the HID's.
Under flouros run 0-5-10 GH nutes. Install a float and top the rez with straight R/O. When 18 galls of R/O have been added to the tub thru the float its time to dump the the nutes and mix a fresh batch.
That IMHO is the easiest/Safest way. From there it gets more advanced with doing nute add backs and so on.
But I will say this about DWC, Once you see the roots explode and the daily growth you'll be more then happy!!!

 

[overmind1632]

Personally IMO Id start with a basic DWC tub and run a cycle and get a feel for it. Recirc systems can be alot more work and are alot more complex. With a recirc system 1 mistake effects the intire system.
The easiest K.I.S.S method to DWC is a 25 gallon res with 18 gallons in it. Add a airstone and a airpump. Have it run 24/7.
Use R/O water and mix GH nutes at 0-8-16 "LUCAS" formula, once there under the HID's.
Under flouros run 0-5-10 GH nutes. Install a float and top the rez with straight R/O. When 18 galls of R/O have been added to the tub thru the float its time to dump the the nutes and mix a fresh batch.
That IMHO is the easiest/Safest way. From there it gets more advanced with doing nute add backs and so on.
But I will say this about DWC, Once you see the roots explode and the daily growth you'll be more then happy!!!

I agree, Thats the point, I wanted to try something simple like a hempy bucket or a bubble dwc bucket. I don't wanna do anything that includes pumps and etc.. lol

 

[Smokeone1]

Can you get away with under feeding your plant?? I fried some plants before and want to take it light on the plants this time. The yield I know will be effected but other wil the plant be ok!?

 

[elito]

I don't now if that was a typo or a semantic glitch but, NO STATIONARY WATER allowed! You want lots of movement, either with a waterfall or, more commonly, massive amounts of air bubbles.

1. No. Once or twice in a 20 week grow. I wait for visible signs of distress.

2. Yes, just put nutrients into the water BUT, mix up solution in a separate tub and then add to the tank to avoid root shock. You'll want to measure the EC (Electrical Conductivity) strength of res and water supply to know how much, if any, food to add.

3. No. Leave nutes in the tank at all times unless you're flushing at the end of the grow. The plant will take what it needs and this will tell you what the plant wants. EC and pH move in opposite directions. EC up-pH down is too rich. EC down-pH up is too lean. EC-pH stationary leads to lock out as no pH reading allows absorption of all nutes. Keep a journal with daily readings to see which way things are going. When you get pH to rise or fall 0.5 points over a week or two, that's as close to a perfect feed ratio as you could hope for.

It seems intimidating at first: new rules, new terminology. Once you see it in action, it's easy as pie. I often leave my grow unattended for weeks at a time. It's that stable once dialed in.

I wait for visible signs of distress,

can u tell me what in particular would that be,im asking couse i dont plan on changing my water till the end of the grow

 

[FreezerBoy]

Can you get away with under feeding your plant?? I fried some plants before and want to take it light on the plants this time. The yield I know will be effected but other wil the plant be ok!?

Sure you can but, I wouldn't do it severely for obvious reasons.

Nute recipes on manufacturers bottles are not based on plant health but on how much stuff a plant can handle before it bursts into flame. The more you needlessly cram into your plant, the more you have to buy. Cute trick, huh?

Start with a 1/4 strength solution of what the bottle calls for. When roots can clear the air gap move to a 1/2 strength solution. Keep a journal with daily readings. Adjust the tank so movement exists but, as slow as possible (no single pH number allows absorption of all nutes, pH swing is GOOD). When pH rises or falls 0.5 over a 1-2 week period, you're in the magic zone.

I go the other way and slightly over feed with a slightly alkaline solution. Over two weeks EC climbs while pH drops and straight tap water drops EC and raises pH back to original numbers.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I wait for visible signs of distress,

can u tell me what in particular would that be,im asking couse i dont plan on changing my water till the end of the grow

In my case, it's been a wide spread yellowing of the garden. While it's easy to maintain an EC reading of any given number, that doesn't mean this weeks NPK ratio is the same as last weeks. Just as plants drink water and nutes at differing rates, they absorb NPK in differing rates. Our meters don't measure individual ingredients nor do our nutes come as pure N or pure P or pure K. As such, a drain and fill is the only way I know of to regain proper NPK ratios.

Things usually happen rather quickly with DWC. Just as the problem seems to spring up all at once, so too does the problem respond to corrections.

 

[LessIsMore]

In my case, it's been a wide spread yellowing of the garden. While it's easy to maintain an EC reading of any given number, that doesn't mean this weeks NPK ratio is the same as last weeks. Just as plants drink water and nutes at differing rates, they absorb NPK in differing rates. Our meters don't measure individual ingredients nor do our nutes come as pure N or pure P or pure K. As such, a drain and fill is the only way I know of to regain proper NPK ratios.

Things usually happen rather quickly with DWC. Just as the problem seems to spring up all at once, so too does the problem respond to corrections.

Id have to agree! Maintaining a certain PPM can be done with all kinds of stuff.
Knowing your NPK values is a whole other deal! Im just starting to wrap my head around it to as it relates to dumping a res or not!

Im cozy with single bubblers but Im about to step it up with 10, 25 gallon DWC tubs with /Aero and a recirc system. 250 gallons in the tubs and 2 control buckets attached to 2 55 gallon Rez's 5 tubs per rez! Im still not sure exactly which route would be the least amount of res management work! I know Ill be using FNB or GH Micro/Bloom, Lucas Formula.

Heres my road map! Not my room but I got the same tubs and aero set up.
Im doing 10 tubs and 5k watts. This system isnt a recirc. I dont wanna have to change out the tubs every 2 weeks if possible.