DWC vs Fill and Drain

zer0ed

Active Member
I have a couple of questions, if anyone with experience can share their input, it would be greatly appreciated

I haven't built my set up yet, after all my research i was leaning towards a fill and drain system. but after further research, DWC sounds interesting.

Fill and drain system.
What i like about this system, it sounds easy enough. i could build a customized flood table of any size, and it would be very flexible, i could add and take away plants easily, with out changing the system. just put them on the table, and it would be done. also, i would be able to change, clean, flush the reservoir with out disturbing my plants. they would just be sitting on the table, not knowing whats going on. (lol)
so that all sounds great to me.

DWC
ok, DWC sounds intresting, i was going to go with the 5gal buckets with the mesh basket lids. i think a single plant could be very happy this way, and could grow pretty big. and i could experiment with different nutrients, and additives with out messing up all the plants at once.

But this is my question. How do you change the water in the DWC with out making a mess, and disturbing the plants/roots? i would think lifting the plants and changing buckets, ect. would be a pain in the butt? How difficult is resavoir management with DWC? and how do you all go about it?
i was shooting for individual 5gal bucket method. also is linking the buckets with tubing, and doing the "brain bucket" worth it? does that make it easier? and how do you drain out a connected system?
 

zer0ed

Active Member
No one?

anyone use DWC? is it a pain to change out the water?
am i better off with a fill and drain?
 

jrinlv

Well-Known Member
With the five gallon bucket idea I think it would be hard to keep the water under 75 degrees. just a thought.....JR
 

zer0ed

Active Member
the drip systems don't appeal to me. i've seen problems from clogged tubes, and algae from light and they dont seem as flexable. add a plant, take away a plant, and u gotta mess with the little tubes.

so far no one has convinced me that DWC isnt a pain in the butt.
 

jayww

Member
+1 would like to know as well

thinkign of going with a undercurrent dwc system, just like 4 buckets tho
 

zer0ed

Active Member
still nothing?
come on all you DWCers share your experience with us.

i just want to know if having to pick up your plants to get to the resivour is a pain in the butt, and if anyone has found a simple way of doing it? do u prepare a bucket, and then just swap it out? or do you pour it out and refill. how do you go about it?
 

pftek

Active Member
dwc is the easiest shit in the world. shit you don't even have to change the water. i didn't for 4 months. the roots still smell like alfalfa fresh. no problem.

if you want to clean it out or change the water what you can do is a couple of things. the way i do it is make a tub with 6 holes in it. and only fill 5 of them with plants. the 6th hole is where you keep a net pot and you can fill it with just hydroton (to block out the light). remove that one net pot and refill the water or use a tub and drain it out. i prefer never to completely remove all of the water. just to much hassle for a few months and i don't care what people say it's not really needed. water seems to do alright without a change.

i pretty much just set it and forget it.
 

howdyguhk

Well-Known Member
you should post this in the hydroponics section, not newbie central. youll most likely get a better more detailed answer there.
 
Top