dwc or stay with soil

joe godbud

Member
hey i keep hearing hydro makes more light green crystal buds with more wieght but is a 3 gall dwc any good or have to get 5 gal
 

Spanky84

Active Member
Hydro plants gow faster, and perhaps yield a bit more. On the other hand, it takes daily pH adjustments and weekly res changes. I personally like doing DWC but I understand people who stick with soil.

Bucket size depends on how large a plant you plan on growing. On my last grow, 5 gall was barely enough.
 

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
You'll want a 5gal, which I doubt is even really 5gal. I can fit about 3 gal of water in my 5gal and some plants I have grown go through that in less than 4 days

Bigger res the less ph swings you'll have.

I've never grown soil so I cannot advise on any comparisons. DWC is nice though. Quick growth.
 

twistedwords

Well-Known Member
I don't know where you are hearing this from OP? What are you asking? If you took a outdoor plant growing in soil at 15 feet high I can assure you it will outgrow any hydroponic setup. On the other hand if you are growing indoors and have small space then hydroponics is the way to go.
 

BruceBudz

Well-Known Member
Op I hope this helps you. I have 2 Cinderella 99 in 5 gal's in a DWC set up and 1 in soil 2.5gal . These were 3 clones picked, rooted and veged for 3 weeks prior to these pictures . These 3 clones we Monster cropped thats why they look funny in the first pic.

1-9.jpg
8 Days later
1-18.jpg
5 days later
1-23.jpg
By this time it was apparent that I must pull the plant in soil, it was getting swallowed up by the other 2.
1-27.jpg
She is nice in soil..1-26.jpgI took this pic the same day as the one above. She is mean in water. These pics are over a 18 day period of VEG under a 400 watt MH. You can see for yourself the growth difference. I use FoxFarm OF soil and complete nute line, and for DWC I use Advanced Nutrients GROW,MIRCO,BLOOM.
 

joe godbud

Member
hey is that a dwc from like amazon? looks like it and i was gonna get one a try.. if the roots are in water how does it not get root rot i just never tried it.. wanted to grow my alien og in it i have
 

BruceBudz

Well-Known Member
hey is that a dwc from like amazon? looks like it and i was gonna get one a try.. if the roots are in water how does it not get root rot i just never tried it.. wanted to grow my alien og in it i have
Nope , you can buy them there though. I paid 12$ for bucket and lid. 25$ for air pump, get yourself some quality air stones 10$. Root rot is caused by an organism that is already present in every system. You just cant let that organism thrive. You do this by keeping you grow area clean, water temps between 64 - 72 ( they dont like cold water) and having a good air pump for plenty of dissolved oxygen is key. I could go on for hours about root rot.
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
why don't you try a Hempy bucket? simplest form of hydro. give you an idea if you like it or not. it's more hands-on than dirt i.e. bad things can happen really quickly.

to give DWC a fair shot, invest in a chiller. keep your nutes at 68F and you will really enjoy it. if not, you'll be fighting root issues the whole grow.
 

BruceBudz

Well-Known Member
why don't you try a Hempy bucket? simplest form of hydro. give you an idea if you like it or not. it's more hands-on than dirt i.e. bad things can happen really quickly.

to give DWC a fair shot, invest in a chiller. keep your nutes at 68F and you will really enjoy it. if not, you'll be fighting root issues the whole grow.
He said it all.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
try living organic soil. why use all those chemicals to grow your pot. When you go to the grocery store do you ask for the Chem grown veggies. Yield will depend on genetics. And pot size and veg time. Quality will be better than anything you have ever had
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
whats a chiller and whats difference from hempy and dwc
a hempy is a 5 gal bucket with a hole drilled about 2" inches up from the bottom. so you get a built in reservoir and you can't overwater it. simple huh?

a chiller is an aquarium chiller. will keep your nute temps at whatever you set it.

alot of people try DWC in a 5 gal bucket and either give up or hate it because high root zone temps lead to root issues which lead to plant death.
 

DrCannaPath

Well-Known Member
Dude I grew in soil then I tried a DIY DWC and now I grow in modified waterfarms. I don't want to say water farms are a must (because that's just my personal opinion from little experience with it) but I will say look into it, brother!
 

Vumar

Well-Known Member
why don't you try a Hempy bucket? simplest form of hydro. give you an idea if you like it or not. it's more hands-on than dirt i.e. bad things can happen really quickly.

to give DWC a fair shot, invest in a chiller. keep your nutes at 68F and you will really enjoy it. if not, you'll be fighting root issues the whole grow.
Not many people understand that you don't need a chiller. I switched from h202 to hydroguard and have never had better success. Heat stays under 75, always, and I have not had a problem thus far. This is key to note if you are only doing a single DWC or just starting DWC. Chillers are designed for RDWC/larger systems.
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Not many people understand that you don't need a chiller. I switched from h202 to hydroguard and have never had better success. Heat stays under 75, always, and I have not had a problem thus far. This is key to note if you are only doing a single DWC or just starting DWC. Chillers are designed for RDWC/larger systems.
i'd never use h2o2 in my reservoir. my 2 cents.
what happens when your room is 85F? the water temp will eventually reach the ambient temp in the room.

chiller will always be a worthwhile investment
 

Vumar

Well-Known Member
i'd never use h2o2 in my reservoir. my 2 cents.
what happens when your room is 85F? the water temp will eventually reach the ambient temp in the room.

chiller will always be a worthwhile investment
My room temp never reaches 80. Im running 1600w, 4 plants, x4 27gal totes. With 18/6 I can run water temps as high as 76/77. So why do I need a chiller again when Im just going to flower from here on out?

My system is very small and I make it work well without a chiller.

I agree that anything larger than what I have needs a chiller. But theres better investments for $300/$400 for the beginning grower. This thread was originally about that, yes?
 
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