[DeadBaby]

I"ve been growing in soil for 4 years now never had any real issues other then a random herm here and there. Id really like to switch up to hydro maybe dwc set up. Is dwc the same as a flood and drain technique ? What are my pros/cons in hydro to soil?

More yeild ?
Less stress?
Faster nut intake ?
More efficient?

I do feel confident with my grow skill to partake this on but i would really like any other input.
Ill be running 3 1000w, roughly 15-20 plants, big bud(fem) from sensi seed, 1 month veg/ 2 months flower.

p.s. Ive been growing under 600w hps and can pull close to a lb per lamp which i was told is pretty good.
Should i expect to meet a 1.5 to 2lb return on a 1000w lamp?
How likely is it to get the full gram per watt on 1000's?

Thanks for any info or tell me i said something wrong anything will help

[paranoidnz]

Hiya Dead,

We are in the same pool, I Just recently moved from soil to hydro.
I am not in anyway a master of either,

1st grow outside in soil, 2-3 oz off 2 plants (no idea what I was doing)

2nd grow inside under lights in soil 1.4x1.4 tent, 600hps and 400 true watt led, 14 - 15 oz dry off 6 plants (which I think is great for first time indoor)

current grow, coco/perlite 80/20 ratio, 1 gal pots, drip with the same gear above. 9 plants in a 1x1 metre catch tray, close to 4th week of veg.

did look at DWC, but I imagined having to check 9 res 2x a day, correcting 9 res 2x a day, then emptying and refilling and adjusting 9x res every 7 - 10 days, major hassle.
unless its RDWC, slightly less hassle, but then it opens up different hassles.

" Is dwc the same as a flood and drain technique"
No, very different
DWC is roots living in a closed bucket (which is its res) of nutrients & water with a supply of constant air to stop roots from drowning,
thinking its a pain to adjust water and what not

RDWC is the same as above but there is like a connector between buckets and they kinda loop going to a main res which has a water pump pushing water from res into first bucket which the water self levels and moves to the second bucket to the third etc
what a hassle

Flood and drain / ebb & flow, is exactly what it sounds like, you have a big tray or buckets set higher then your res, water pump kicks on when you tell it to, it fills up the tray or bucket (filled with a hydro medium) to a set level, then pump turns off, water drains back down to your reserve. (imagine the res you need for this)

(The above is a very basic explanation and the concept of them, filled with spelling mistakes, no need for anyone to get all butt hurt and respond like I personally offended you.)

I also wanted to do this, what made me go for a drip system was the amount of water I needed in my reserve and the amount of nutes I would need, when I think of nutes, I think of $$$

I have a 2 gallon res which feeds 9 plants 3x a day, all I do when I get home is check one bucket to see if PH is good, and maybe add a litre or 2 of water, maybe a bit of nutes every 2-3 days,
every 5 days I empty the res (not that I think it really needs to be emptied) and put that into my outside hempy pots,
circle of life is good

Only thing on my mind that I want to get right is how the water hits the medium, I want to get a even saturation from the top.
So im using 4mm flexi tube, connected to a 4mm X pipe, with 2cm of 4mm tube on the end of the 3 crosses, then a small hole on the original 4mm 2cm back from the cross, all open ended. This seems to be working.

Major tip for any drip new comers, don't be cheap get 3 Filters
One straight after the pump, one before you hit your main water inlet, and one on the return, I have even wrapped my pump in a mesh, a little bit of hassle in the beginning to stop major hassle halfway through.

I think about everything that could go wrong then plan accordingly, don't use the she'll be right attitude, neglect anything and she dam as hell wont be right

Ive noticed that all blueprints for diy builds you find look very simple, but theres the finer things they don't mention which will frustrate the hell outta you

Buying from the shop is going to cost far to much, making it yourself still costs, but you can set it up to what you want, Lets be realistic, if your a normal joe like the most of us, your not gonna build a masterpiece diy system, but you will work out exactly what works and what doesn't, the second one you build will be much better

I would be happy getting close to a pound dry off 600w hps, that's ALL good, no ones gonna say anything wrong about that at all.

from your 600 watts you were pulling .74 grams a watt (roughly)
for 1000 watts you will need to pull .89 grams a watt (to hit 2 pound)
Ive heard 1 gram per watt is the magical number, over that is someone who knows what he is doing
and I BELEIVE IN YOU :-)
but I would be banking on 1.5 pound per 1000w to be safe (which I still think is good), since your gonna have a bit of a learning scale, imagine driving a WRX, then jumping into a F1 race car, you got a very good idea, but it will take adjustments to work it right etc...

sorry for the long rant about nothing, im at work and trying to do anything other then.......................... ...Work

keep me updated with what you went for and your reasoning

[Douglas.Curtis]

DWC, main concern there are reservoir temperatures and air supply.

Get an R/O filter for your water, because it'll mean you only have to learn hydro once. Moving won't mean you're switching to a water supply which behaves differently. Read up on Lucas, the formula AND his reservoir management methods (they're a set). I've been using a modified version of his nute recommendation for 15 years now. Grows great cannabis.

Read, read, read, read, read. You'll thank yourself. Read until you're answering your own questions. This is the point you want to start growing hydro, because the questions you come up with at this point will be fielded easily by the folks on the boards. Smart/educated questions are always welcome.

I love hydro

[FireIn.TheSky]

What a horrible username.

[DeadBaby]

Originally Posted by paranoidnz

Hiya Dead,

We are in the same pool, I Just recently moved from soil to hydro.
I am not in anyway a master of either,

1st grow outside in soil, 2-3 oz off 2 plants (no idea what I was doing)

2nd grow inside under lights in soil 1.4x1.4 tent, 600hps and 400 true watt led, 14 - 15 oz dry off 6 plants (which I think is great for first time indoor)

current grow, coco/perlite 80/20 ratio, 1 gal pots, drip with the same gear above. 9 plants in a 1x1 metre catch tray, close to 4th week of veg.

did look at DWC, but I imagined having to check 9 res 2x a day, correcting 9 res 2x a day, then emptying and refilling and adjusting 9x res every 7 - 10 days, major hassle.
unless its RDWC, slightly less hassle, but then it opens up different hassles.

" Is dwc the same as a flood and drain technique"
No, very different
DWC is roots living in a closed bucket (which is its res) of nutrients & water with a supply of constant air to stop roots from drowning,
thinking its a pain to adjust water and what not

RDWC is the same as above but there is like a connector between buckets and they kinda loop going to a main res which has a water pump pushing water from res into first bucket which the water self levels and moves to the second bucket to the third etc
what a hassle

Flood and drain / ebb & flow, is exactly what it sounds like, you have a big tray or buckets set higher then your res, water pump kicks on when you tell it to, it fills up the tray or bucket (filled with a hydro medium) to a set level, then pump turns off, water drains back down to your reserve. (imagine the res you need for this)

(The above is a very basic explanation and the concept of them, filled with spelling mistakes, no need for anyone to get all butt hurt and respond like I personally offended you.)

I also wanted to do this, what made me go for a drip system was the amount of water I needed in my reserve and the amount of nutes I would need, when I think of nutes, I think of $$$

I have a 2 gallon res which feeds 9 plants 3x a day, all I do when I get home is check one bucket to see if PH is good, and maybe add a litre or 2 of water, maybe a bit of nutes every 2-3 days,
every 5 days I empty the res (not that I think it really needs to be emptied) and put that into my outside hempy pots,
circle of life is good

Only thing on my mind that I want to get right is how the water hits the medium, I want to get a even saturation from the top.
So im using 4mm flexi tube, connected to a 4mm X pipe, with 2cm of 4mm tube on the end of the 3 crosses, then a small hole on the original 4mm 2cm back from the cross, all open ended. This seems to be working.

Major tip for any drip new comers, don't be cheap get 3 Filters
One straight after the pump, one before you hit your main water inlet, and one on the return, I have even wrapped my pump in a mesh, a little bit of hassle in the beginning to stop major hassle halfway through.

I think about everything that could go wrong then plan accordingly, don't use the she'll be right attitude, neglect anything and she dam as hell wont be right

Ive noticed that all blueprints for diy builds you find look very simple, but theres the finer things they don't mention which will frustrate the hell outta you

Buying from the shop is going to cost far to much, making it yourself still costs, but you can set it up to what you want, Lets be realistic, if your a normal joe like the most of us, your not gonna build a masterpiece diy system, but you will work out exactly what works and what doesn't, the second one you build will be much better

I would be happy getting close to a pound dry off 600w hps, that's ALL good, no ones gonna say anything wrong about that at all.

from your 600 watts you were pulling .74 grams a watt (roughly)
for 1000 watts you will need to pull .89 grams a watt (to hit 2 pound)
Ive heard 1 gram per watt is the magical number, over that is someone who knows what he is doing
and I BELEIVE IN YOU :-)
but I would be banking on 1.5 pound per 1000w to be safe (which I still think is good), since your gonna have a bit of a learning scale, imagine driving a WRX, then jumping into a F1 race car, you got a very good idea, but it will take adjustments to work it right etc...

sorry for the long rant about nothing, im at work and trying to do anything other then.......................... ...Work

keep me updated with what you went for and your reasoning

This was awesome thank you so much for all the input you added some new and refreshed me of grow knowledge . My Idea slightly changed a little. Ive been looking into big yield ( who hasn't ^^) but what I found was the "Capn Style grow " I gonna try and reduce my room to 6 plants and just veg a trees. Lots of topping not to out of control :p and possible scrog I have enough room to fit 4 maybe a 5th 4x4 plant canopy area the fifth my be more like a 3x3 area. Less plants and more weight sounds like my route if i can dial in correctly. I have post of it daily I would like to add my 2 cents back to the community instead of take it all lol. Thank you again for all of that!!

[DeadBaby]

Originally Posted by Douglas.Curtis

DWC, main concern there are reservoir temperatures and air supply.

Get an R/O filter for your water, because it'll mean you only have to learn hydro once. Moving won't mean you're switching to a water supply which behaves differently. Read up on Lucas, the formula AND his reservoir management methods (they're a set). I've been using a modified version of his nute recommendation for 15 years now. Grows great cannabis.

Read, read, read, read, read. You'll thank yourself. Read until you're answering your own questions. This is the point you want to start growing hydro, because the questions you come up with at this point will be fielded easily by the folks on the boards. Smart/educated questions are always welcome.

I love hydro

I would really like to jump in the dwc for that insanely fast root growth. I know it would so me amazing return no doubt!! Im just worried i might screw up and root rot myself or give my ladies other diseases I will experiment with it no doubt till i can dial it in and then maybe ill make the full switch . Soil will always be in my heart !! I will im gonna keep read read and reading till my brain pops!
Thank you for that info!!

[DeadBaby]

Originally Posted by FireIn.TheSky

What a horrible username.

Fire in the sky is equally as bad that would cause so much death and human waste would be left around this world. Im only a single dead baby ^^

Thanks for your kind words

[clown baby]

ebb & flow.

[Loc Dog]

Here is a complete guide to RDWC. One reservoir. Can be used for any size system, upto 12 buckets per reservoir. If you run strains with different feeding schedules, create more smaller separate systems. Anything with central reservoir would have the same problem. Only reason to do DWC is if you have many strains with unique feeding requirements.

One consideration is that hydro wants water between 66F to 72F. There are ways to get around that (heater and throw in frozen soda bottles filled with water).

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=267918

[FakeSunGrower]

I've been growing for 5 years now with DWC , I found jacks 5/12/26 with cal/nit ,PLUS HYDROGUARD to be the most stable with PH , I keep my reservoir insulated with bubble wrap and ductape or reflective tape , sides and top, that way temperatures stay between 66 and 71 , I never change the reservoir unless I find the PH out of wack on my WEEKLY PH CHECK. I find DWC as the cleanest , fastest method to grow , I don't even use hydroton,only BRAND NEW 2 inch net pots and 2 inch foam collars every single time to eradicate CROSS -CONTAMINATION. I know every situation is different when it comes to environment, I use cob led's to keep lower temperatures and my air exchange is constant and high .