DIY: Deep Water Culture System

Here is my guide to the system i use for growing my plants and it cost under £50, hope you like it. Btw im new to all of this and this is my first attempt at making Hydro systems

This system cost me £47.67 - Here are the items i used

- Elite Complete Aeration Set (£23.99)
- Delta Therm Aquarium Heater (£14.99)
- 6 x Pond Plant Pots (2.99)
- 4 x 4 Inch Pots (0.60)
- 10 Litre Container (5.00)
- Knife/Sissors (Around The House)
- Marker (0.10)

Then what i did was trased around 4 of the pots onto the plastic making 4 circular rings. Then cut out the area's i just trased making 4 holes, then cut a sheet of paper to fit around the circular lid (you can use anything you want, i used the paper because it was the only thing i had at the time you might want to use Mylar or Silver Tape), i placed the 4 pond plant pots into the lip with the paper sheet, i then punched 3 holes in the lid 2 for the air flow pipes and one for the heater to sit in the water.

here is my finished design, its nothing special.

I don't get it, or how it works. Haha.

The plants are suspended over nutrient rich water, it oxygenises the plants making them grow fast and more healthy.

gnarly you did good i gotta do now lol

Hey man things are looking good, only piece of advice would be to cover up all the clear parts of the container. The light will cause algae to grow and some other issues. Light proof duct tape or spray paint will do the trick.

Don't use spray paint. I heard it lets light leak through even though it may not seem like it. Use this stuff called Plasti-Dip. It's thick. The part I didn't get was why'd you buy pots if your not using em? haha.

thanks guys

What about the heater? I'm thinking about adding one to my system which is in a 10 gallon plastic container. Do you think it will burn the plastic being attached to the side?

To me, it seems like it would burn the side, but I'm no expert.

no it doesnt. it isnt that hot.

Sweeet! I'll be adding one. I was going to glue a piece of glass to the side of the tub to attach the heater to just in case.

yea, its just like a fish tank heater. they can't get to hot or they will burn the fish and no one wants cooked fish in their aquarium.


i see you used clones? how would i start from a seed. would i have to use rockwool or would it be easier to transplant the plant from a pot to the dwc later

why would you want to heat it up?

clones make roots faster when they have heat under em

winter growing, my room get pretty cold with the lights off at night. stunts the growth if it gets under 60

Yep, colder temps. Works great!

I have one (heater) in my twin mother CFL speaker box, it works great, does not burn the roots or the plastic.

colds only good for mid flowering purps, or in my case pinks. brings out color