couple dwc bucket ?'s

[Vdub818]

Gonna be using 5 gallon buckets with hydroton as my medium.
First off, I normally use soil and go with pbp. And I was just planning on using pbp with cal mag, liquid karma, thrive alive and sweet in flowering. Does this sound like a decent setup for my dwc?

Second I grabbed an oxygen shield air stone designed for a 5 gal bucket. It's made by deep water innovations. Does anyone on here have any experience with this stone?
http://www.deepwaterinnovations.com/Products/OxygenShieldAirDiffuser.aspx

And any reviews on the hanna primo tds meter? definitely need a tds meter but am on a budget. Is it a waste of time with that meter?

 

[Vdub818]

I keep hearing about silica blast.would this be worthwhile or will I be pushing it with the nutes im already planning on running?

 

[stoney917]

pbp works in hydro to i used to use it and have nothin bad to say. just a quick warning when using this in a 5gal bucket. it being organic and a small res probs come up much faster then if u used some sort of chem nutes. the pbp worked great when i was runnin a large res as it is easier to keep cool but once i switched to 5gal the res temps + organics wasnt workin right. just keep this info in mind.
them airstones are cool i never seen em before i also use deepwaterinnovations mut have the micro-pore ceramic stones.

 

[Vdub818]

My room stays at about 74 at a max temp so I know not much cooling will be necessary. Would taking a bigger rubbermaid say a 15 gallon and filling it up with water and ice mix to bring it down a little bit?
Or I have seen people take 20 ounce bottle of frozen water and put it in the res, but being a 5 gal bucket would that get the solution too cold?

 

[Throwgar]

I run RDWC bottom drain buckets with hydroton. All you need to do is to keep your water temps below 70f. Use a cup (or bottle, you can't overdose with a dilution of H@O@) of H2O2 when you have problems, and you'll be amazed.

 

[HempAlchemist]

DWC is awsome if you can keep rez at a propper temp. 74 is the high end of the sweet spot, but can done. ideally you would want to keep rez around 68-72. what i did to cool my lil tubs was to keep a gal of my mix in the fridge, and when my temps got high, i took out 1 gal from my dwc, and then added the one from the fridge. this brought my temps back down to the low 60's. i then put the gal i took out of the dwc into the fridge and saved till i needed to drop temps again.
i tried a bunch of airstones when i ran dwc, but endded up using the cheap 2" bar style. they seemed to create more bubbles and lasted longer. plus when they do start to get clogged just throw them out and buy new ones.
TDS is importaint, but the need to use one really depends on your skills as a grower. i started out using one, taking good notes, constantly checking and adjusting. but as time went on i started to notice how my plants responded to the nutes and i started to adjust the formula i was using to suit my plants. now i just mix my formula and dont worry. IMO a pH meter is more useful of a tool. TDS only tells you how salty your mix is, but not what salts are in the mix, or how much of a salt is in the mix. but pH controls how the plant eats as well as how salty your mix is. for me my sweet spot for my formula is 6.1 any lower then i know i need to add water. any higher and i add more nutes

 

[Vdub818]

Thanks guys I really appreciate any help. So if my temps should get warm I can throw some h2o2 to help things out? If so how all that effect my ppm and ph

 

[HempAlchemist]

h2o2 is used to kill microbes in the rez. this can be used as a quick fix to a warm rez/over-watered/low o2 situation, but adding more o2 with a stronger air pump would be more helpful. h2o2 will raise pH slightly, but not much and not for long. will kill any microbes, good or bad, and will burn the fine roots of the plant.

 

[FreezerBoy]

definitely need a tds meter

"TDS" and "PPM" are both Electrical Conductivity converted to nonsense. If you've yet to make a purchase, do yourself and the hobby a favor, stick with EC.

 

[Vdub818]

Yea I already purchased the tds meter. And as far as the pump is concerned I got com3 pump from eco plus to power 3 buckets at the moment. So I should have enough air. Any thing else you dwc guys could help with, I.e. tips and tricks. Would be greatly appreciated.thanks again

 

[superduperweed]

How long can plants live in a 5 gallon container dwc style? 3 weeks veg and 2 months flowering will work? Planning on two 5 gallon buckets, hydroton and airdome.

 

[HempAlchemist]

as long as you pay attention to the plant it can live in DWC indefinitely...

i just also saw that the TDS is a hanna primo pen...
if you can return i would. i had nothing but problems with that pen. very inaccurate. i could never get consistent readings. try calibrating the pen a few times and you'll see what i mean. hanna makes good products, but that is not one of them.

 

[Throwgar]

Ive had mothers in DWC live for years.

 

[pokergod]

Ive had mothers in DWC live for years.

I imagine you had to trim the roots from time to time.

 

[superduperweed]

thanks good to know Throwgar!

 

[Throwgar]

I imagine you had to trim the roots from time to time.

It probably would have been good for the plant, but no, I didn't do any root pruning. The DWC was a single 5 gallon bucket with 2 air stones in it. I changed out her res about every couple of months. I trained the hell out of her... I think I have a picture somewhere ... Still need to keep an eye on the nutrient concentrations and pH.

These pictures are of the mom from 2 months - 6 months. I can't find any from 2 years, but you get the point.

 

[BrainSellz]

http://www.getbluelab.com/shop/Bluelab+Truncheon%AE+Meter.html

 

[pokergod]

It probably would have been good for the plant, but no, I didn't do any root pruning. The DWC was a single 5 gallon bucket with 2 air stones in it. I changed out her res about every couple of months. I trained the hell out of her... I think I have a picture somewhere ... Still need to keep an eye on the nutrient concentrations and pH.

These pictures are of the mom from 2 months - 6 months. I can't find any from 2 years, but you get the point.

Thanks for the info, wow you only changed the res every couple of months, talk about a low maintenance type of girl.

 

[Throwgar]

Thanks for the info, wow you only changed the res every couple of months, talk about a low maintenance type of girl.

Of course i topped off the res a few times a week, nute changes were every few months. H2O2 is your friend.

 

[pokergod]

Of course i topped off the res a few times a week, nute changes were every few months. H2O2 is your friend.

Thanks for the H202 tip!