First time DWC, what a mess :)

So Ive been legally growing in soil now for about 9 months and decided to try out a dwc bucket grow. It is mostly for fun so I am not overly concerned if I fail, however I think it would be great if I am able to complete the grow.

I bought a 5gal bucket + lid , 4inch net pot, 20-60gallon air pump, hydroton, and 2 air stones.

I had a small(8inch) plant in a solo cup(soil), it is a clone of blackberry kush. After rinsing off all the soil in the sink, I lined the bottom of the netpot with a layer of hydroton, put the plant in, and filled it the rest of the way up with hydroton.

I added some organic nutes and let it go. Ph was around 6. After 3 days the bucket stank so fucking bad I dumped all the water out, rinsed the roots off again, scrubbed everything, refilled the bucket with water and a small dose of inorganic granual nutes(10-10-10). Then put new hydroton layer, inserted plant, and topped it off with hydroton again. Ph was about 6.5.

After work today I stopped by grow store and got some PH up/down and a better kit to test PH. Got home and checked PH, it was at 8+. I added some PH down and it didnt seem to be doing much so I added some more and it dropped to less than 4. Added a couple drops until the Ph was about 5.5.

Anyways, I expect it will rise again between now and tomorrow due to new hydroton but a problem bigger than that is the plant looks dehydrated. It is dropping very bad.

Should I start over? Or is there any hope for this plant.

Start over, do it properly from the beginning. First u cant transplant a plant over to dwc. There plenty of info and videos on how to start.

Put the girl back in soil, I have gone from dwc and hydro to soil at all stages, you will fine dont let her die.....

https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/468072-how-dwc.html

Use this guide.

i strongly recommend buying a quality multi part chemical nute system for learning to use DWC or any hydro, and then adding organics or altering the mix later.

organic nutes are very hard to manage in hydro in my opinion, so i would at least give the chems a change and add extracts for flavor if you like once you get a better idea of how to work it.

unlike soil a 10-10-10 nute is not acceptable in hydro, water lacks the base micro nutes that soil has. these nutes are nearly if not just as important as your main ones but must be added in a hydro applications.

Well tiny plants don't really need a whole lot of food..so watch that nute levels...also make sure no light is getting into the bucket, and that your water is not too hot...and also at the right pH...I kill things in hydro..so once my green thumb gets wet it no longer works.

insan3 said:

Start over, do it properly from the beginning. First u cant transplant a plant over to dwc. There plenty of info and videos on how to start.

Click to expand...

Wow... Nice advice. I have transplanted to my dwc buckets from soil, perlite, coccolith etc all done and harvested never an issue. You need to do it properly and give it time to recoup.

Go buy some dynagro and watch your plants never die.

Ya dude, you may be able to revive it. If you use nutes make sure that your using 1/4 maybe even 1/8 str from the recomm on the bottle. Adequate ventilation, good temps sterile environment is important. Hydroton dust can fuck up your ph and so can your water. Do lots of research and dont stress the plant out too much and youll be having fun in no time

Organic nutes r juss a no no when it come to me lol seriously though unless ur jus gugho about organics I would get synthetic. I suggest humbolts nutes. You won't see many number like they produce

Thanks everyone for your comments/tips/advice. I forgot to mention my bucket is wrapped in aluminum tape to block out light. Water temp has been staying at a steady 70F as well.

When I got home from work today, the plant in my dwc bucket looks fucking dead so I pulled it out. Going to put it in some soil and see if it comes back to life. Ive got 1 more clone that I am willing to try this with. If that doesnt work out Ive got a few hundred seeds so I WILL figure this dwc out . Will post back tomorrow after I pick up some better nutes.

Ya man.. never give up. Maybe grow the plant in soil and then take some cuttings off that for DWC? Just track what you do, done or doing and then compare, adjust and learn. That's the cool thing about this hobby, there are tons of ways to grow, many ways to fail etc. The hobby is why I grow, getting my medicine is just a bonus.

insan3 said:

Start over, do it properly from the beginning. First u cant transplant a plant over to dwc. There plenty of info and videos on how to start.

Click to expand...

Im gonna beg to differOn that one...i tried it cause the plants i have werent doing much in soil, if anything....i washed off the roots as well and put them in the hydroton and sure as shit...within a week...plants trippled in size..

ive seen plants transplanted from and to all different media very successfully.

I've too also done the transplnt so safe to say it can be done jus gotta be careful