I've Done DWC For 17 Years!

William Wonder

Well-Known Member
Here's some things I've learned. Actually I do SWC or shallow water culture. 5 gallons of solution in a 7 gallon sterlite tub. The only substrate I use is a 4x4x4 rockwool cube. Roots grow directly in water with no air layer. Rockwool cube sits above the water. I get about 6-8 oz per plant. 2 weeks veg in the bubbler from clone and then 7 weeks flowering. One cycle in 9 weeks. No veg room needed except for a 4 foot florescent. Clones root in two weeks in rockwool with no rooting powder or anything. Subcool quality pot.

I've found DWC is dependent of water quality. You need very clean and steril tap water with clorine in it from the city. Good water is crucial to keep ph stable. I like lime green...or about 6.2 ph. Books say to go lower. I find 6.2 to work best until last 2-3 weeks of flowering and then can go down to 5.5 ph. I use GH 3 part formula. Most of time I run 15 ml of each in 5 gallons of water and top off with ph adjusted water. I change water every 2 weeks. My whole system costs about $17 per tub at Walmart. All I need is 1/4 inch tubing, a sterlite tub, an aquarium pump and rockwool cube and a plastic stand to hold the cube. NEVER use any stone so I always break water surface tension, very important.

17 years....never one failure.
 

bagada

Active Member
I am worried to use pumps as they add heat and more heat = less oxygen. even though it may seem like your getting more oxygen by breaking surace tension you may be adding heat which limits the amount of oxygen the water can hold in the first place. I havent tried them yet though so its just a theory, the proof is in the pudding
 

HSA

Well-Known Member
Bill, Bagada and anyone else who's interested: Since we're holding school, we can do it in a lot of different ways. Originally, I learned on Aerogardens; the self contained table top positive hydroponic growing system. A friend bet me $100 I couldn't grow with any thing else. I figured I'd better do it with something costing less than $100 just in case I failed, but I didn't. I took the easy way out with DWC.

Compared to Rubber Maid tubs I think Sterlite tubs are crap but they have a nice little 10 gallon storage tub that I only fill with six gallons. They're only $5 and it's the same tub Stealth Hydro uses. My bubble tubs are DIY knock offs of Stealth Hydro's unit you can see in their video on their website. I don't feel too bad copying theirs because I think theirs is basically a knock off of Aerogarden's idea, just on a larger scale.

I do use a pond pump to top feed the nutes and for circulation. I do use an aquarium air pump and two air stones. The pond pump is especially useful when the plants are just getting started. With my system you're going to need an air pump forever. I tried Wall Mart's air pumps but I found the ones at the Hydro store to be worth the little extra you have to pay. I especially like the one with the two outlets and the adjustable air flow rate.

I had the same experience with The Home Depot's pond pumps. They look heavier with their three wire cord and plug and the ones from the Hydro store cost a little more but they lasted longer. From the pond pump I go up a 1/2" black plastic drip irrigation line double tie wrapped to a barbed adapter that goes into a drip irrigation head with six outlets. Whether you get the one with the adjustable outlets doesn't seem to make much difference. I use the heavier black plastic 1/4" drip irrigation line to go to the six 5" net baskets rather than the clear air line you see in the Stealth Hydro video. I poke them into the baskets just far enough to feed the babies and reach the starter plugs. I also make sure they're covered with Hydroton to prevent mold forming. I also wrap the pump in a short nylon sock that women wear with flat shoes. Those socks cost about $2 a pair at Wal Mart compared to the pump socks at the Hydro store that are $7 to $15 and they both do the same thing. They keep crap out of your pump.

I also use the 1/4 black plastic drip irrigation line to feed air to the two air stones I put in each tub. It doesn't crush or kink as easy as the clear plastic tubing you see in Stealth's video. I also use a one way check valve in the air line to protect the pump. I like the better quality, fat thicker 'cylindrical' air stones from the Hydro store. They cost a little more but put out more air in smaller bubbles and they don't seem to plug up like the cheaper stones that look like sticks.

The tub is capable of accommodating six net pots to start; two rows of three. Harbor Freight Tools has a great hole saw kit that makes neater looking holes. When the plants get bigger and start to over grow the first tub I get two new tubs and put three holes in each lid. I remove the pump and irrigation lines from the first tub and they go into storage. The second tub only needs an air pump and two stones, like the first. I'm sure you could operate on a larger scale but I'm limited to six flowering plants in my state.

I burn a 'tight' 1/4" hole about 1/4" below the lip of the net pot with a hot ice pick and that's where I stick in the drip tube to feed the babies. It works great until their roots reach the nutes below. When their roots reach the nutes I remove the pump and the rising air will circulate the nutes sufficiently.

As far as pH and ppms are concerned, I don't worry about ppms because I change my nutes about every week to ten days. But I do monitor the pH closely. I'm growing the same bag seed I picked out of a wedding present 27 years ago. I've kept the two obviously different strains going but they like a much more acid environment. I readjust to 5.8 every morning and by the next day they're up to 6.3 or 6.4.

My bubble tubs cost about $54 each to build and they work great for me. You can hang any kind of light over them you like but I chose a cooler four tube rack of T-5's. I can hang them close and they cover my garden nicely. I'd appreciate any constructive criticism, comments or suggestions. HSA
 

sqydro

Active Member
i 3rd the photos, 2 weeks veg 6-8 oz? sounds like a nice pull what lighting u use for flowering? i use the waterfall effect for my DO one 3000lph pump for 3 trees, have a look in my thread see them donkey dicks a swingin, do you top or fim ur plants in anyway lol 17 years u must have a dwc blackbelt lol
 

HSA

Well-Known Member
Bill and Bagada and anyone else interested: Since we're holding school, we can do it in a lot of different ways. Originally, I learned on Aerogardens; the self contained table top positive hydroponic growing system. A friend bet me $100 I couldn't be successful with any thing else. I figured I'd better do it with something that would cost less than $100 just in case I failed, but I didn't. I decided on the easy way out with DWC. Compared to Rubber Maid tubs I think Sterlite are crap but they have a nice little 10 gallon storage tub that I only fill it to six gallons. They're only $5 and it's the same tub Stealth Hydro uses.

My bubble tubs are a DIY knock offs of Stealth Hydro's unit you can see in their video on line at their website. I don't feel too bad copying theirs because I think theirs is basically a knock off of Aerogarden's idea, just on a larger scale. I do use a pond pump to top feed the nutes and for circulation. I do use an aquarium air pump and two air stones. The pond pump is especially useful when the plants are just getting started. With my system you're going to need an air pump forever. I tried Wall Mart's air pumps but I found the ones at the Hydro store to be worth the little extra you have to pay. I especially like the one with the two outlets and the adjustable flow rate.

I had the same experience with The Home Depot's pond pumps. They look heavier with the three wire cord and plug but the ones from the Hydro store are a little more but they lasted longer. From the pond pump I go up a 1/2" black plastic drip irrigation line double tie wrapped to a barbed adapter that goes into a drip irrigation head with six outlets. Whether you get the one with the adjustable outlets doesn't seem to make much difference. I use the heavier black plastic 1/4" drip irrigation line to go to the six 5" net baskets rather than the clear air line you see in the Stealth Hydro video. I poke them in the baskets just far enough to feed the babies in the starter plugs and I make sure they're covered with Hydroton to prevent mold forming. I also wrap the pump in a short nylon sock that women wear with flat shoes. Those socks cost about $2 a pair at Wal Mart compared to the pump socks at the Hydro store that are $7 to $15 and they do the same thing.

I also use the 1/4 black plastic drip irrigation line to feed air to the two air stones I put in each tub. It doesn't crush or kink as easy as the clear plastic tubing you see in Stealth's video. I also use a one way check valve in the air line to protect the pump and the better quality, bigger 'cylindrical' air stones from the Hydro store. They put out more air in smaller bubbles and they don't seem to plug up like the stones that look like sticks.

The tub is capable of accommodating six net pots to start. I burn a 'tight' 1/4" hole about 1/4" below the lip of the net pot with a hot ice pick and that's where I feed in the drip tube in to feed the babies. It works great until their roots reach the nutes below. When their roots reach the nutes I can remove the pump and the rising air will circulate the nutes sufficiently.

As far as pH and ppms are concerned, I don't worry about ppms because I change my nutes about every week to ten days. But I do monitor the pH closely. I'm growing the same bag seed I picked out of a wedding present 27 years ago. And I've kept the two obviously different strains going but they like a much more acid environment. I readjust to 5.8 every morning and most days they go up to 6.3 or 6.4.

My rigs cost about $54 each to build and they work great for me. You can hand any kind of light over them you want but I chose a four tube rack of T-5's because they cover my garden nicely. I'd appreciate any constructive comments or suggestions. HSA
 

BigBuddahCheese

New Member
LOL. OP drops bomb then scadattles!!! WE WANT PICS! :bigjoint:

I think he meant that he was seventeen years old and doing dwc also with his first harvest he got 6-8 oz er plant weighing wet with roots and all.

OLOLOL.
 

massah

Well-Known Member
LOL. OP drops bomb then scadattles!!! WE WANT PICS! :bigjoint:

I think he meant that he was seventeen years old and doing dwc also with his first harvest he got 6-8 oz er plant weighing wet with roots and all.

OLOLOL.
Don't be a douche...he hasn't logged back in since he made that original post ;)
 

William Wonder

Well-Known Member
Can we upload pics to this site for one thing? All my pics are on an old computer in another city that I posted on Overgrow. I'm sure Subcool can tell you I'm the real deal until you see the pics. We're the fruity potency brothers. I grow an F-1 hybrid of my 10 year worked wonder pure breeder times Cindy 99.25. Mr. Souls last cube of Cindy 99. The cut is about 11 years old. The hybrid freaking EXPLODED like I knew it would. You'll see, no jokes, no exaggerations here at all. Make no mistake about it, my yield is matched by taste and potency and would win a cup as easily as Subcools best stuff. Subcool and I have very similar tastes from way back.
 

massah

Well-Known Member
We want to see your current grow...how you do it...etc...so take a camera and go take some pics and post em up! There is an insert image button and you can upload pics straight to the thread here for us to see :D
 

burrr

Active Member
I do a similar setup. rockwool over DWC. here is a root wad.



Roots seem to like dwc more than rockwool when given a choice..
 

William Wonder

Well-Known Member
What I like is the extreme simplicity and ease and maintance between cycles. I'll never fight lave rock or little orange pepples I'll tell you that! lol. I take a 4 inch plastic pot about 4.5 inches tall and cut the bottom out, turn it upside down and set the 4 inch block on top. I don't like growing roots through pots like most people do. It hinders the roots. At clean-up I toss the cube with roots and rinse the tub, 1/4 inch tubing and rockwool stand and that's it! I refill and I'm repopped to go again.

Now listen up. I root a 3 inch clone in two weeks with no hormone. THEN I place the clone in the bubbler for 2 weeks veg. Then I flip for 7 weeks. 9 weeks in the bubbler gives me 6.5-8 oz of dry Cindy 99.25 X Wonder F-1 Hybrid. One hit wonder. Outdoor up North up to 3 pounds per plant (10 foot ball plant) by Sept 23.

Now this is important--->I'm a Sativa freak like Sub, so it's a very sativa high. I think the best. Earliest Sativa Dom I know of thanks to both Cindy and Wonder. Harness the power of the F-1.
 

William Wonder

Well-Known Member
Here's comparison. When I grew my Wonder true breeder I'd typically go 3 weeks veg and 6 weeks flower for 4 oz of dry and clean. Cindy 99.25 was also wound up very tight and only produced 1 oz! under the same time frame.


So--->1 oz and 4 oz. in 9 weeks compared to 6.5-8 oz in 9 weeks for the F-1. Follow me?


What you do as a breeder is wind up your true breeders by inbreeding for years. Then you cross two wound up true breeders for an F-1 explosion. Try it, it's fun.
 

Flo Grow

Well-Known Member
How are ya WW !?
Glad to see you dropping in and sharing your skills.
+REP
I have some Grape Krush x William Wonder by Heaven Scent Farms but have yet to grow them.
That hybrid vigour your experiencing is always a great thing.
Really wish I could fill that buzz from smoking it bcuz I know it has to be good ! lmao
 

Flo Grow

Well-Known Member
If you can, we'd like to see a pic of how you set up that pot and rockwool cube.
Very interested in no more roots growing through the net pots bottom and sides.
Pain in the ass cutting thick ass roots while trying not to damage the pots for reuse.
 
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