Can DWC be done without all the expensive meters?

I really want to try DWC or some other type of hydroponics but I don't have the budget for all the expensive meters (TDS / EC / PPM / pH, etc.)
Obviously I at least need to get my pH and PPM fairly accurate so I was thinking that I could measure the pH of my water source once (with strips or a borrowed meter) and then figure out exactly how much ph up / down I need to add to every gallon of water or whatever. And for nutes, most products tell you exactly how much to use per gallon on the packaging so I can start with something a little lower than the recommendation and work my way up.

Is this a common practice? I'd really like to reap the benefits of hydro but stay within my budget... which is - spend as little as possible.

Thanks

Only required thing would be the PH. And you can get a package of like a tube of ph up/phdown/text vial/testing solution all for like 20 dollars that will last ya a long time if you are just running 1 reservoir.

PPM may be necessary if you are coming across unsolvable problems but most people say tap water has worked just fine.

Kookiemonsta said:

Only required thing would be the PH. And you can get a package of like a tube of ph up/phdown/text vial/testing solution all for like 20 dollars that will last ya a long time if you are just running 1 reservoir.

PPM may be necessary if you are coming across unsolvable problems but most people say tap water has worked just fine.

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You don't think that I could just measure my water's pH once, measure the amount of pH up/down needed, then just add that amount to every refill from then on and never need to measure it again?

... The only problem I can think of is how nutes may effect the pH levels... damn

You can drive with a blindfold on, but it's not recommended.

At minimum, get yourself a digital pH meter.

Bob Smith said:

You can drive with a blindfold on, but it's not recommended.

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Well put. Note taken.

Also, wanted to clarify that DWC generally doesn't involve water circulation (with pumped and such) correct?
It's usually just a tub (or more) of water + nutes with possibly some airstones (and air pumps supplying the air) right?
Another random DWC question: how close to the water should the bottom of the net pots be? (How high should you fill the water?)

Check out Roseman's tutorial for DWC shit - pretty informative for newbies.

Honestly man i have done DWC without meters twice and had to crop early both times due to not knowing if my plants needed nutes or if they had to many. Save yourself the heartache and headache and spend a little money on meters... you will thank me in the long run i promise. Also with DWC if your PH or your nutes are off just a hair it is very very unforgiving, mostly because the roots are always submerged in nute solution. The distance of the water from the cups depends on a few things really. The size of the resevoir, the stones you're using, and how deep you put your seeds in the grow medium. A good rule of thumb though is to keep your water about an inch or an inch and a half away from the bottom of the cups. Make your babies go to the water dont bring the water to them. This helps build a strong root structure and plant. Hope this helps.

Cool. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
In Roseman's tutorial he has a diagram of a DWC setup and the caption says the the lid (or platform) is floating on the water. This doesn't seem like the best idea to me. I think I'll take your advice and keep the water about 1" from the bottom of the pots.

Also u dont have to spend the money on expensive meters you can find some cheap china made ones on ebay and honestly i would rather have those then nothing at all because even if they arent 100% accurate atleast you still get a basic understanding of how strong your solution is. you can spend about 70 dollars and get 2 cheap meters and the solutions for them off of ebay. thats what i did and this gives me the ability to alter the nute solution strength without having to change the resevoir completely.

pobo said:

Cool. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
In Roseman's tutorial he has a diagram of a DWC setup and the caption says the the lid (or platform) is floating on the water. This doesn't seem like the best idea to me. I think I'll take your advice and keep the water about 1" from the bottom of the pots.

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Nah dude, you need to take another look.

Why am I labelled as a stranger? =P
Do I need to post more or get +rep?

Bob Smith said:

Nah dude, you need to take another look.

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Perhaps a direct link to the tutorial would be helpful as there are quite a few by Roseman.

Thanks

Here is what I just did:https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/285111-my-diy-dwc-system-ak.html

As far as what Roseman said, that is gold. Look at his results, crazy. All the info he posts is great knowledge.

You want your media to be wet until the roots hit the water. Unless you want to manually water the sprout a few times a day.

I just bought a digital meter at my local hydro shop. It was $70 but so worth it. I thought my FloraNova was adjusting the ph on my filtered water. Tested it with the meter and it was 4.8...ouch. Dialed in my tap water with nutes too. The res ph changes daily plus, when you add nutes the color of the water changes so it makes it hard with drops or strips. Its really worth.

Good luck with everything!

yarddog35 said:

As far as what Roseman said, that is gold. Look at his results, crazy. All the info he posts is great knowledge.

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Yeah, for sure. Clearly the guy knows what he's doing =)

Did you pay $70 for just a pH meter or was it a combo TDS / pH / EC / PPM?
Do you use a TDS meter?

Did you buy storage solution for it too? It seems like you really need to take care of these meters well.

Yeah $70 for the meter and it does ph only, worth every penny. A ppm meter is going to be my next investment, right now I am going by what Roseman wrote about not having a ppm meter:

Every 7 to ten days, you DRAIN AND REPLINISH.

FEEDING IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PPM METER.
You will daily add one gallon of pH water TO REPLACE THE ONE GALLON MISSING. If the water in the tank tests a pH of 7.0 (too high for example) and you know you want it lower, make one gallon of 5.0 water, (or 5.6, or 5.7, or 5.8,) and it will make the tank about 6.0 or in that neighborhood. ALSO, in that one gallon of water added daily, add 1/6 packet or dose of new nutes.
If they drank 1/6 of the tank's water, they ate 1/6 of the nutes, so you need to replace that 1/6 that was consumed.
IF the grow area is VERY HOT, add back a little less than 1/6 nutes, the plant is just drinking and needing lots of water.
If the grow room is cool, or NOT VERY HOT, use the full 1/6 dose.


I just adjust the gallons for my application.

As far as storing the meter the instructions say to use storing solution for long term storage. I use mine daily and my local hydro shop said to bring it once a month or so to calibrate it. They do it and the packet they use is only a $1. They do need to be taken care of like anything else, this one came with a one year warranty also. That is very important.

Good luck!