kingjobber
New member
great thread. Im doing coco right now but definatley want to try this hydro thing. Looks very nice. thanks Dr. D...
One for the newbs: cheap and simple hydro, but very effective
- Thread starter Dr. D
- Start date
W
WeldFlash420
Got this thread tagged as I'm about to make the jump as well. Peace and shine on Doc D. for the thread.
M
MacGyver420
checkin in to this thread
when i decided to try hydro i went with dwc on the advice of some old dude at the grow store... he told me everythin i need to know!
heres my version of it
id say a big bonus to DWC is that you dont have to water everyday (even more so if you add a controller bucket)
and its sooooo eassssyyy
black 5 gallon bucket
8 inch net pot
hydroton (or w/e medium of choice)
black tubing for pump
4inch airstones
45 liter/min air pump
some buckets get 2 airstones per bucket some get 1
i think you really only need 1 but if the plant is big id give it 2
to avoid pumping my buckets full of warm water i run a small fan that blows directly onto my air pump it reduces temperatures drastically i would recommend this to anyone
usually i let my water temp sit right at 68 F
use a lighter lucas forumla + liquid and dry koolbloom
florakleen inbetween nutrient changes
change nutrients every 1-2 weeks
set ph at or slightly under 6 (i use the drops so its hard to be exact)
all i can say about nutrients is go lighter than what you think you should and your plants will like you for it, some plants ive noticed uptake more nutrients than others when in bubblers.. might help someone out
lets see i planted this one as seed july 11th so its gettin old but i only had one light at the time and i was trying to veg out plants and clones that kept arriving
i flipped her about 2 weeks ago give or take a few days i dont remember should keep track but i dont anyway she is very big
bagseed
there are 2 airstones somewhere inside of here: they do work still lol but nothing i can really do about it now needs more than 5 gallon bucket!
when i decided to try hydro i went with dwc on the advice of some old dude at the grow store... he told me everythin i need to know!
heres my version of it
id say a big bonus to DWC is that you dont have to water everyday (even more so if you add a controller bucket)
and its sooooo eassssyyy
black 5 gallon bucket
8 inch net pot
hydroton (or w/e medium of choice)
black tubing for pump
4inch airstones
45 liter/min air pump
some buckets get 2 airstones per bucket some get 1
i think you really only need 1 but if the plant is big id give it 2
to avoid pumping my buckets full of warm water i run a small fan that blows directly onto my air pump it reduces temperatures drastically i would recommend this to anyone
usually i let my water temp sit right at 68 F
use a lighter lucas forumla + liquid and dry koolbloom
florakleen inbetween nutrient changes
change nutrients every 1-2 weeks
set ph at or slightly under 6 (i use the drops so its hard to be exact)
all i can say about nutrients is go lighter than what you think you should and your plants will like you for it, some plants ive noticed uptake more nutrients than others when in bubblers.. might help someone out
lets see i planted this one as seed july 11th so its gettin old but i only had one light at the time and i was trying to veg out plants and clones that kept arriving
i flipped her about 2 weeks ago give or take a few days i dont remember should keep track but i dont anyway she is very big
bagseed
there are 2 airstones somewhere inside of here: they do work still lol but nothing i can really do about it now needs more than 5 gallon bucket!
Harvest Time
Member
wow...still weary on nutrient cost and availability to me... really debating on making the switch... i started reading but am tired and got to like page 9 or so and cant go further tonight... also i would need these semi pricy meters... i do have a question that may have a variety of answers but i really only want one...the right one... lol of course...what i mean is that im sure many have opinions on this but i really want someone to kno the answer as a definite fact and answer the question once and for all... of course some of you will say there is none and its dependent on this and that...w/e i just gotta know...ok here it is, you ready??? that wasnt the question i romise...this is...
in DWC, and hydro in general, i am convinced by others that the rate of growth is faster... does this imply simply that the plant can get bigger in a shorter time...which i expect, AND/OR... now heres the important part... does it being "faster" actually make the plant finish earlier????????????
also i have been told yeild is generally the same between hydro and soil, non vert,...equally acheivable i should say... but is it actually easier with DWC to acheive 1g/w or more???
sorry for the suspense but if someone could throw me these answers it would be much appreciated!
in DWC, and hydro in general, i am convinced by others that the rate of growth is faster... does this imply simply that the plant can get bigger in a shorter time...which i expect, AND/OR... now heres the important part... does it being "faster" actually make the plant finish earlier????????????
also i have been told yeild is generally the same between hydro and soil, non vert,...equally acheivable i should say... but is it actually easier with DWC to acheive 1g/w or more???
sorry for the suspense but if someone could throw me these answers it would be much appreciated!
C
csedge
you are the man i just made my first hydro bucket because of this thrad thank you very much!
M
MacGyver420
use GH 3 part nutrients they are DIRT CHEAP and CLEAN!!!!!!!
then search this forum for "lucas formula"
and hell yes DWC plants finish much faster than dirt-- very very fast
i would have to say the DWC should yeild you at least 20% more than soil as well assuming your doing it right
WhiteShark
New member
Very sticky thread m8
great work
VERY NICE ROOT BALL TOO
great work
VERY NICE ROOT BALL TOO
psychogrowing
New member
I GROW WITH A DEEP WATER CULTURE, THE SAME AS YOU HAVE. WORKING VERY WELL FOR ME!! JUST FIGHTING MITES.
Here we go, 1 day into Flower:
Strain is Chronic from Serious Seeds.
Strain is Chronic from Serious Seeds.
PhenotypeX
Member
Only downfall i see is, wouldnt that mean that i would need 1 pump per bucket? That might run me alot seeings how i can fit like 30+ buckets in my grow area. Is there a way i can buy 1 or 2 pumps that feed multiple buckets? Macgyver I masturbated to your picture of roots, thanks for the nut.
Yes you can. They make high powered pumps that can power air to 4 or 5 buckets. They cost more because they are bigger and more powerful but its better to spend 50 to 100 bucks on 1 than 20 to 30 on 4 or 5 different pumps that can overload a circuit.
The Ecoplus commercial air pumps are pretty good. That's what I used to use. My brother still has to send it out to me.
Ecoplus Commercial Air Pumps
They differ in size, the smallest one comes with a 4 outlet gang valve, the largest one comes with a 22 outlet gang valve assembly. These pumps are awesome and I wish I had mine again.
M
MacGyver420
get an aircompressor not an aquarium style air pump you should be able to run anywhere from 6-12 buckets on a single large air compressor
took a shot of some more root porn today im just growin a single tree / everything else im growing right now is going to be coco
ive been learning more about DWC and i think that with nutrients
less is truly more!!!
took a shot of some more root porn today im just growin a single tree / everything else im growing right now is going to be coco
ive been learning more about DWC and i think that with nutrients
less is truly more!!!
P
painroad
I'm very curious about this DWC set up and i have a few questions.
1. How cold can the temps be? I have a decent size room in the making in my garage, but it gets cold sometimes out there usually between 48-58 currently with no lights on.
2. How many plants per 1000k wat lamp can i grow? I have 2 but will start with the 1 until i feel like this set up is working.
3. Do i just top off the buckets or do i use a res and feed the buckets?
4. My equipment has been in the shed for almost 3 years after moving back to the bay area I had to rent an apt for a while. I think i have hard water but my meters need to be calibrated. Is having hard water a problem for this? If so can i do a 50/50 tap, filtered water there's a place right down the street to get filtered water for 25 cents a gal.
4. Can i use my GH nutes with this set up flora micro grow?
I think i had some other questions but i'm to burnt and can't remember when i wake up maybe it will come back lol.
Thanks for any replys this looks like a lot of fun, I'm so anxious to get back to growing indoors again hopefully in the next couple of weeks my room will be ready.
1. How cold can the temps be? I have a decent size room in the making in my garage, but it gets cold sometimes out there usually between 48-58 currently with no lights on.
2. How many plants per 1000k wat lamp can i grow? I have 2 but will start with the 1 until i feel like this set up is working.
3. Do i just top off the buckets or do i use a res and feed the buckets?
4. My equipment has been in the shed for almost 3 years after moving back to the bay area I had to rent an apt for a while. I think i have hard water but my meters need to be calibrated. Is having hard water a problem for this? If so can i do a 50/50 tap, filtered water there's a place right down the street to get filtered water for 25 cents a gal.
4. Can i use my GH nutes with this set up flora micro grow?
I think i had some other questions but i'm to burnt and can't remember when i wake up maybe it will come back lol.
Thanks for any replys this looks like a lot of fun, I'm so anxious to get back to growing indoors again hopefully in the next couple of weeks my room will be ready.
get an aircompressor not an aquarium style air pump you should be able to run anywhere from 6-12 buckets on a single large air compressor
took a shot of some more root porn today im just growin a single tree / everything else im growing right now is going to be coco
ive been learning more about DWC and i think that with nutrients
less is truly more!!!
Hell I didn't even think about getting an air compressor. That's why you are MacGyver hehe.
painroad, you can use an aquarium heater to keep the water temps constant. I set mine between 70 and 75 degrees. As far as how many plants per light well that depends on you. Do you want to grow trees, doing a SCROG or a SOG, tying them plants down and bushing them out. Also it depends on the strain. Some strains like to bush out and some like to grow single stalks.
I top my bucket off every 2 or 3 days with fresh RO water. You can use a auto top off system with a reservoir if you like, I do not personally trust these systems and cannot afford to flood my apartment so I just top off manually. I set up reef aquariums and a lot of the principles of water movement and consistency of nutrients are the same as growing hydroponically. If I didn't top off my tanks the salt content would rise and kill all my corals and fish. Same thing with plants, if you don't top off the nutrients(salt) build up and can cause salt build up in the plants and overfeed them. Balance is the key.
Try different methods and see which works for you. Also check Blazeoneup's thread about setting up a recirculating DWC system for larger grows. Hope this helps! Keep it dank!
Do an Advanced Search on Titles Only for rot, there are a ton of root rot threads here, try this one for starters
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=138925&highlight=rot
Wrap the bucket in reflective aluminum tape and the algae will die away. You can expedite the purge of the dead algae by rinsing in low ppm water for a few days afaik. Please take my advise with a grain of salt.
