Largest dwc ever??

Outdoorhydro

Well-Known Member
I keep having this dream, of my backyard scrogged out from a single plant, all stemming from a 55 gallon deep water culture drum.

My question is, what is the largest deep water culture reservoir for a single plant anyone has seen so far?
 

Outdoorhydro

Well-Known Member
My fingers hurt just thinking about trimming that. That's very interesting I didn't even think about multiple 55 gallon containers, I figured one would be more than enough. Can you imagine the water bill!!
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
My fingers hurt just thinking about trimming that. That's very interesting I didn't even think about multiple 55 gallon containers, I figured one would be more than enough. Can you imagine the water bill!!
i'm thinking one harvest of those monsters would cover expenses for a year. lol.

if you buried a large container up to the lid, the ground temps would help cool it if you do try one outdoors.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
Hydro outside gets to be problematic, water temp above 70 an shit grows in the water an the roots die. So you spend money on water chillers.
I did 45 gallon dwc inside, was a huge waste of money and effort. Res change sucked, used up so much nutrients. For me a 5 gallon dwc was all I needed
 

Outdoorhydro

Well-Known Member
I'm doing some trial and error at the moment in my backyard with a small plant, trying to see what can go wrong and how to fix it Outdoors. Keeping in the ground is definitely helping to keep the temps good.
 

Outdoorhydro

Well-Known Member
Hydro outside gets to be problematic, water temp above 70 an shit grows in the water an the roots die. So you spend money on water chillers.
I did 45 gallon dwc inside, was a huge waste of money and effort. Res change sucked, used up so much nutrients. For me a 5 gallon dwc was all I needed
Do you have any pictures of this 45 gal setup?
 

Indacouch

Well-Known Member
i'm thinking one harvest of those monsters would cover expenses for a year. lol.

if you buried a large container up to the lid, the ground temps would help cool it if you do try one outdoors.
There's a guy on here doing this in a 5 gallon bucket. He sank the bucket in a hole like you mentioned. Seems he's having algae issues and having to drop a frozen bottle of water in to cool the water in hot days. It is growing though.....lol
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
Do you have any pictures of this 45 gal setup?
No it was like 6 years ago. It was just really large totes with holes cut in the lid an net pots though, hydroton media, and I had like 4 of these really expensive micropore bubble stones that were like 56$ each.

A 5 gal dwc with those same stones would grow a plant as big as would fit indoors anyways, so it ended up just kinda being one of those dreams that didn't pan out. I think most people have this type of goal after they go hydro an see the amazing results
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Hydro outside gets to be problematic, water temp above 70 an shit grows in the water an the roots die. So you spend money on water chillers.
@Jypsy Dog has put up pics of a outdoor dwc cucumber grow. 90+ water temps. he's the one that got me hooked on SouthernAg garden friendly fungicide. i use it in my indoor waterfarms that get up to high 70's with no chiller. same strain as hydroguard but a million times stronger
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
I'm doing some trial and error at the moment in my backyard with a small plant, trying to see what can go wrong and how to fix it Outdoors. Keeping in the ground is definitely helping to keep the temps good.
check above post. ebay has the GFF for about 15 bucks a pint. i use maybe a mL per 2 gals once a week. and that is way more than i need.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
@Jypsy Dog has put up pics of a outdoor dwc cucumber grow. 90+ water temps. he's the one that got me hooked on SouthernAg garden friendly fungicide. i use it in my indoor waterfarms that get up to high 70's with no chiller. same strain as hydroguard but a million times stronger
Ya that's a good solution I guess. Idk.. after seeing how simple outdoor soil is I dont see the reason to run hydro. It would cost more to run hydro, create a situation that opens the door to failure. I mean, it's easy to get a 3 lb plant outdoor in the ground, how much bigger does it really need to be lol
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Ya that's a good solution I guess. Idk.. after seeing how simple outdoor soil is I dont see the reason to run hydro. It would cost more to run hydro, create a situation that opens the door to failure. I mean, it's easy to get a 3 lb plant outdoor in the ground, how much bigger does it really need to be lol
very true. my season is a bit too short to do much outdoors. that and the deer around here eat anything green. lol.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
very true. my season is a bit too short to do much outdoors. that and the deer around here eat anything green. lol.
Where are you located vaguely? There's lots of tricks to pull harvest in short seasons! I've been able to pull up to 3 outdoor cycles a year if you want some pointers, but it does become work and planning
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Where are you located vaguely? There's lots of tricks to pull harvest in short seasons! I've been able to pull up to 3 outdoor cycles a year if you want some pointers, but it does become work and planning
west of colorado springs. elevation is almost 9000ft. i tried one 3 years ago in my greenhouse and it got to be a decent size but then the temps dropped below freezing for a few nites in a row. it had just started flowering too which sucked. was mid to late september if i remember. didn't fell like running an electric heater in an non-insulated g'house.

it's just easier for me to run indoors and do 2 or 3 pulls a year.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
west of colorado springs. elevation is almost 9000ft. i tried one 3 years ago in my greenhouse and it got to be a decent size but then the temps dropped below freezing for a few nites in a row. it had just started flowering too which sucked. was mid to late september if i remember. didn't fell like running an electric heater in an non-insulated g'house.

it's just easier for me to run indoors and do 2 or 3 pulls a year.
I agree indoor is nice an easy.

Since CO is legal, you can really go for it though if you wanted! I'd personally consider blacking out the greenhouse, looking for a pallet jack on craigslist for around 250 they pop up commonly or less, lay down sheets of plywood so you can move it around in and out of the greenhouse, get pallets, get 100 gallon-200 gallon smart pots an goto town. You could easily pull a killer midsummer harvest if not 2. Yes you'll be tied to the house every 12 hours but there's worse things to do with your life lol
 

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
I agree indoor is nice an easy.

Since CO is legal, you can really go for it though if you wanted! I'd personally consider blacking out the greenhouse, looking for a pallet jack on craigslist for around 250 they pop up commonly or less, lay down sheets of plywood so you can move it around in and out of the greenhouse, get pallets, get 100 gallon-200 gallon smart pots an goto town. You could easily pull a killer midsummer harvest if not 2. Yes you'll be tied to the house every 12 hours but there's worse things to do with your life lol
i agree, outdoors gets some huge harvest.

but i've got my waterfarms set up as auto feed drain to waste. i can go away for 2 weeks and not worry which is awesome.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
i agree, outdoors gets some huge harvest.

but i've got my waterfarms set up as auto feed drain to waste. i can go away for 2 weeks and not worry which is awesome.
Water farms are nice, I used to rock a set of em.

I miss my hydro days, it was really fun. But I also spent a lot more on nutrients, had failures, and the noise from the pumps and stuff got into my brainstem eventually
 
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