how hard is it to grow in DWC?

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Just to chime in late, i never experienced as easy a growing method as DWC. I was required to refill the buckets once a week which took all of ten minutes and other than that i would not even look at them. They just did their thing. I did indeed get ppm and ph fluctuation, and you know what i did about it? Nothing. Yet i got harvests of the same yields regardless of how much i fiddled and kept things in check or just left to do as they wanted. DWC rocks in terms of simplicity and maintenance :) People will try and convince you you have to buy this and that and check A and B and sterile sterile sterile. All a laod of bullshit if you ask me. Never had so little to do when growing cannabis as when growing with DWC. Just don't be silly and use a tiny res :)
 

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
Just to chime in late, i never experienced as easy a growing method as DWC. I was required to refill the buckets once a week which took all of ten minutes and other than that i would not even look at them. They just did their thing. I did indeed get ppm and ph fluctuation, and you know what i did about it? Nothing. Yet i got harvests of the same yields regardless of how much i fiddled and kept things in <a class="inlineAdmedialink" href="#">check</a> or just left to do as they wanted. DWC rocks in terms of simplicity and maintenance :) People will try and convince you you have to buy this and that and check A and B and sterile sterile sterile. All a laod of bullshit if you ask me. Never had so little to do when growing cannabis as when growing with DWC. Just don't be silly and use a tiny res :)
Did you use any nutes at all? what size bucket? what size light? what was the strain?
 

Fergman

Member
Sounds like tip top and me do the same thing. I use 5 gallon bucket, 250w hps, technaflora nutes. Strains are bagseed, great white shark, chiesel, power plant, a local bubba haze, ect.

Technaflora's kit is great. Comes with a recipe that is almost foolproof. Mix it up for a 2 gallon setup and give it a half gallon extra water. Recipe is a little strong for my liking.
 

oceangreen

Well-Known Member
i think i am the only person who failed at dwc.... and was king kong at every thing else...

maybe my airstone or something...10l air stone not enough maybe? lucas sucked maybe, you never know.... But i dislike dwc

NFT is King Kong
 

GreenThumbSucker

Well-Known Member
i think i am the only person who failed at dwc.... and was king kong at every thing else...

maybe my airstone or something...10l air stone not enough maybe? lucas sucked maybe, you never know.... But i dislike dwc

NFT is King Kong
DWC is susceptible to root rot.
 

kingruar

Member
DWC is susceptible to root rot.
You can avoid root rot by keeping your temperatures down in the reservoir.
Some use a chiller for this, others put a frozen bottle of water in the reservoir to chill it.
It is mainly the combination of a humid and warm atmosphere that is a suitable environment for rot. Take away one of these and the chances of rot is reduced.
You obviously can't take the humid atmosphere in the reservoir away but you sure can take the warmth away!

Temperatures in the reservoir should be 18 - 21 degrees Celsius, at this temperature the water and nutrients are also able to absorb more oxygen which in turn is fed to your roots, which promotes better growth.
 

JJFOURTWENTY

Well-Known Member
Almost everyone here always says deep water culture is the best way to go. What they don't tell you about however is the reservoir temp issue. If you can't keep that rez below 70 degrees F, then you are definitely headed for trouble.

Ebb & Flow can sustain high temps in the grow room (90+) not to mention prolonged power outages/pump failure. Try that with DWC!

If it's a big $$$ operation however, then I can see going the RDWC route...
 

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Almost everyone here always says deep water culture is the best way to go. What they don't tell you about however is the reservoir temp issue. If you can't keep that rez below 70 degrees F, then you are definitely headed for trouble.

Ebb & Flow can sustain high temps in the grow room (90+) not to mention prolonged power outages/pump failure. Try that with DWC!

If it's a big $$$ operation however, then I can see going the RDWC route...
I have never had a water thermometer let alone a standard thermometer. I never encountered an issue. I was at about 80-90C in my grow cab with a 400w hps, i upgraded to a 600w and nothing changed except the increased yields :) Never checked temps and never plan to, complete waste of my time. And a prolonged power outage with ebb n flow means no water at all, with dwc they still have water it's just not oxygenated. Niether seems ebtter than the other, they can go days without adding o2 to thee water in the same way they can go days without power to get water to the girls under ebb n flow. I firmly believe that it is swings and roundabouts. Bothe habve pro's and cons and from my research i think they're probably both great, and both piss easy. Growing cannabis is the easiest thing in the world, it does it itself, you just make suyre it has water to drink and job done :)
 

BigBuddahCheese

New Member
Treat your water like you would soil, - temp, nutes and air. Proper tools and knowledge DWC is easy and hard to argue the results.

Most people knock DWC and/or fail because the cut corners, don't want to learn or correct mistakes, and just basically cannot think if the plant doesn't do the work for them. They use liquid ph testers or not test at all, cannot measure nutrients or at least know and understand PPM and it's actions and reactions. It's a bit of work but the results make the work all worth it. Is it easy? Not so much, but its not rocket science.
 

oceangreen

Well-Known Member
Almost everyone here always says deep water culture is the best way to go. What they don't tell you about however is the reservoir temp issue. If you can't keep that rez below 70 degrees F, then you are definitely headed for trouble.

Ebb & Flow can sustain high temps in the grow room (90+) not to mention prolonged power outages/pump failure. Try that with DWC!

If it's a big $$$ operation however, then I can see going the RDWC route...
finally, some one on the right side, to doing it right.

no one is going to invest in a chiller with dwc unless its a larger rdwc.. Hence the better option to go with flood and drain.... for stated reasons
 

CROPALOTAPOT

Active Member
DWC is actually proven to be one of the best hydroponic methods for a few reasons. If a pump fails they are still living in still water that is being oxygenated and will survive until you get the system recirculating again. The water can become fully saturated in oxygen which is hard to achieve in other methods and extremely important for fast growth. Your roots live in oxygenated nutrient rich water that is recirculating (does it get better then that for a plant?). And best of all you can easily get over an inch of growth a day with that setup, ive seen it!.

Downsides would be the daily adjustment of pH (I've never minded, it only takes 2 mins), more expensive then other set ups because you use more nutrients and you need the best air pump that you can buy (Thomas air compressor or "The Pump" which they stopped making but is now called the "Ae-80", suppose to do 80 air stones but that's bull, I use it for anywhere from 1 - 10 buckets.)
You also need to buy expensive air stones that emit TINY bubbles because the smaller the air bubble the more oxygen it holds.

But get all that outta the way and DWC is the bees knees.

I do like ebb and flow tables for the ease and money efficiency though.
 

CROPALOTAPOT

Active Member
A 1/4 Horse Power Eco Plus water chiller is only 600 bucks and taxes which is well worth every penny. Also if you freeze two liter pop bottles full of water you can drop them in your rez and change em out daily if you only have 1 or 2 buckets that works great.

I "Highly" recommend DWC...
 

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
"use liquid ph testers or not test at all, cannot measure nutrients or at least know and understand PPM and it's actions and reactions" - Ummm...that's me, but I'm working on it.

I use aquarium air-pumps and cheap assed stones (1 per 5gal bucket), no res, no chiller just the basement floor. It's all entry level stuff, but it's easy to use and maintain, and I'm doing a damm sight bettr than I did with soil.
 

JJFOURTWENTY

Well-Known Member
..........

DWC is actually proven to be one of the best hydroponic methods for a few reasons. If a pump fails they are still living in still water that is being oxygenated and will survive until you get the system recirculating again.

Exactly how is the water still being oxygenated if the air pump has failed? Is your pump hooked up to a stationary bike or something??

A 1/4 Horse Power Eco Plus water chiller is only 600 bucks and taxes which is well worth every penny.


and it's also consuming an additional 480 watts...


Also if you freeze two liter pop bottles full of water you can drop them in your rez and change em out daily if you only have 1 or 2 buckets that works great.

Yeah that sounds great in theory, but who in the hell wants to constantly freeze, put in, and take out a bunch of friggin' water bottles all day long? lol, no thanks.

I "Highly" recommend DWC...

Sure you do. :-P
 

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
And that's exactly why it works out for you. Gotta remember though, there's a huge chunk of America where basements don't exist.
Good point.
Curious - got an idea on the cost and power consumption of a chiller good for...let's say 30 - 50gal? Next year I'm thinking of moving my buckets outside in the daytime.
 
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