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DWC question on flush maintenance

S

steviebrutal

New member
I am an experienced soil grower that is going to be making the switch to hydro in the near future, only I have not yet decided which method to use. All of the methodd seem fairly simple, but I have been initially attracted to DWC as sort of an "entry-level" hydro crash course due to its supposed simplicity.

However, I was reading that the reservoir (in the case of DWC, the bucket itself) needs to be dumped every 7-10 days. How much maintenance does this actually require? Are roots damaged easily in this method when you take the lid off containing the net pots? Has anyone out there set up a pump method for a more automated flush?

Any guidance that you all can offer would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Standaman

Standaman

Member
Hey StevieB me personally i just have 2 waterpumps in my res one for recirculating the system and then one i use to pump my old nutes out and i do that every 7 to sometimes 14 days. I find it rather low maintenance IMO but this is my first grow.

You don't need to disturb your roots or nothing like that, just open lid attach hose to the pump switch the pump on and away you go then add fresh mix get a rough ph reading ignore if its within 5.5 to 6.5 for 24 hours then adjust ph to what you require.
Through the week e.c will rise slightly if there are too much salts building up then i will just flush
 
socialist

socialist

Seed Killer No More
ICMag Donor
Been growing in DWC for a few years now, have done other hydro systems. If this is your first go with hydro then DWC is the way to go. changing your nutes is as easy as placing the net pot with the plant in it into a empty 5 gallon bucket and dumping the old nutes down the drain. you will only need to put about 3 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket anyways.
 
FreezerBoy

FreezerBoy

Was blind but now IC Puckbunny in Training
Veteran
I wait until I see a reason, say 12-15 weeks but, I grow a single plant in an 18 gal res (12 gal of nutes) I keep a small water pump in the res and "drain" out the top.
 
L

lysol

I saw the thread a few weeks about about the sink siphons from wally world, these would work for pulling nutes from one bucket to another right? When I had my fish tank I think the tank had to be higher then the drain bucket, would this work or if they were both on the ground could it still drain? Or do you have to run it all the way to your sink? If you get those fountain pumps at lowes do you have to mcguyver them to get em working for our purposes?
 
S

steviebrutal

New member
Thanks for the input all, definitely sets my mind at ease a bit (less maitenance is one of my goals in this upgrade).

My plan is to run a 6 site DWC in a 30 gal rubbermaid. Probably use 3-5 airstones for that big of a res. Because of my lack of experience in hydroponic nutrient schedules, I am going to apply the Lucas formula in earnest as a point of guidance.

Any recommendations for the reservoir? I have heard varying stories of random leakage occurring in certain rubbermaids, is there a specific model that people typically use?
 
njayjay

njayjay

Member
Have u considered building a rDWC with multiple buckets I just decided on it vs. regular DC for my first hydro grow. Far less work to actually grow the plants.
 
FreezerBoy

FreezerBoy

Was blind but now IC Puckbunny in Training
Veteran
Excuse me but, you mean far more work. RDWC is more complicated and work intensive than a single bucket.
 
TGT

TGT

Tom 'Green' Thumb
Veteran
Is it nessisary to PH your water and nutes with DWC? With \promix I never have to, just curious if it is that important. My tap water is low 7's and with nutes in the 6's.

TGT
 
Standaman

Standaman

Member
My tap water comes in at 7.5 ph when i mix all my nutes in it comes in at 6.0 so then i ph down to 5.5 then let it do what it wants within reason. So i would also say yes you need to ph down at some point.

Today though for the 1st time it's dropped, so i'm gonna be watching what it does
 
M

Mickymouse

Member
Any recommendations for the reservoir? I have heard varying stories of random leakage occurring in certain rubbermaids, is there a specific model that people typically use?

Dont use rubbermaid they are to flimsy.Go to Lowes they have a heavyduty one,Forget the name. I think its 27 gal black ribbed sides yellow lid.Think it will hold 600lbs or something on top without breaking.
 
S

steviebrutal

New member
Ill go check out the Lowe's down the road from me and see what they have in stock.

I already have the net pots, hydroton, and vinyl tubing -- so I'm on my way now :)
 
M

*mistress*

Member
Veteran
steviebrutal said:
I am an experienced soil grower that is going to be making the switch to hydro in the near future, only I have not yet decided which method to use. All of the methodd seem fairly simple, but I have been initially attracted to DWC as sort of an "entry-level" hydro crash course due to its supposed simplicity.

However, I was reading that the reservoir (in the case of DWC, the bucket itself) needs to be dumped every 7-10 days. How much maintenance does this actually require? Are roots damaged easily in this method when you take the lid off containing the net pots? Has anyone out there set up a pump method for a more automated flush?

Any guidance that you all can offer would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
the bucket does not need to be dumped every 7-14 days.

can add back to bucket @ ~30% strength for entire grow, without dumping nutes/water. if using gh nutes, they should self-buffer, but if not, can adjust ph accordingly.

no real need to dump water/nutes in dwc bucket. some use 30% add-backs, some 50% (nute strength). some just add back @ bottle strength. can even add water daily, and add nutes weekly, to top off.

was old thread on og/cw about lucas formula in bubblers and add-backs. may be here somewhere.(?) ran bubblers in long ago imaginary garden. tried 33% strength (1 teaspoon per 3 gallons). effective, w/ no problems. led to awareness of waste that can be prevented+less pieces of gold being spent on npk, etc.
*edit*
for final 5-14 days, can add back only water. this is the 'flush'. if feeding in low ppms, can almost go w/out a 'flush'. depends on desired taste of fruit.
 
flashog

flashog

Member
*mistress* said:
the bucket does not need to be dumped every 7-14 days.

can add back to bucket @ ~30% strength for entire grow, without dumping nutes/water. if using gh nutes, they should self-buffer, but if not, can adjust ph accordingly.

no real need to dump water/nutes in dwc bucket. some use 30% add-backs, some 50% (nute strength). some just add back @ bottle strength. can even add water daily, and add nutes weekly, to top off.

was old thread on og/cw about lucas formula in bubblers and add-backs. may be here somewhere.(?) ran bubblers in long ago imaginary garden. tried 33% strength (1 teaspoon per 3 gallons). effective, w/ no problems. led to awareness of waste that can be prevented+less pieces of gold being spent on npk, etc.
*edit*
for final 5-14 days, can add back only water. this is the 'flush'. if feeding in low ppms, can almost go w/out a 'flush'. depends on desired taste of fruit.
Click to expand...
I second that. I'm on my first DWC and I haven't dumped the water once so far going on 6th week of flower with 2 weeks of veg for a total of 8 weeks. Roots and plants are looking healthy as can be!
 
T

the Corsican

Member
Same here.

I got lazy and decided to stop dumping my res every 10-14 days. The plants stayed healthy and ripened up nicely. I guess I should do another run, one DWC unit un-flushed the whole grow and another DWC unit that is flushed every 10-14 days. I don't think I'll see much of a difference between the two. The main argument that supports regular flushing is based on toxicity/deficiency. Supposedly, as the plant is taking up nutrients from the res the rest of the mix becomes unbalanced. It sounds very logical to me but I don't think it really affects the plants all that much. As long as the plants are taking up a lot of water and feeding on a regular basis and as long as you're adding back fresh water and nutes I don't see a problem running a res without flushing.
 
L

lysol

I was initially having problems with DWC. I have found I am needing to PH daily, swap out 2 water bottles a day, and change out weekly... but now my shits actually growing.

I'm switching to coco for lower maintenance, until I'm set up proper with a rez, chiller, PH controller, and auto top off. Otherwise its simply not been worth it as far as time invested. Too risky to have the roots sitting submerged with just the water bottle shuffle. IMO.
 
T

the Corsican

Member
Seems like your main issue is heat. I've been fortunate in this area (so far). The most extreme temp my res has seen is 75 degrees and the plants thrived. I think it's not only heat but maybe some contaminate running amuck in systems that don't do so good over 70 degrees. There must be a variable other then heat that is screwing things up for you (water quality?). I still haven't made up my mind about res changes. I think if a person is going to switch out the res every week or two then it's better to do during flowering. I didn't change my res once during my last veg cycle and the plants were very healthy. There's a variable somewhere that you aren't paying enough attention to (my guess) that is causing all of your problems. Look to the fundamentals to see what might be causing your problems. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
 
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