I NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING THE INS AND OUTS OF DWC

kulp456

kulp456

Member
Hi buds, I really am interested in growing hydro, dwc . But I have no idea how. I know how to set up a nice dwc set up, but after that I'm lost . Could someone please explain to me exactly how everything works. Like nutrients, how much how of them how to add them to the water, I know I read bout how you need to change the water and what to grow in? Everythng . Thanks guys
 
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Spanky84

Active Member
Well, you take a clone or a seed, put it in a netpot with hydroton and let push its roots down into the bucket. Hydroton has to be kept wet untill roots reach the water level. Often water bubbles are enough to keep the medium moist enough (you can add extra water pump, but then be careful not to drown your plants, specially if you are using rokcwool cube). Bucket should at first be filled with pure water at first, and later, when embryonal leaves start dying, nutrients should be added. Nutrient solution should be changed optimaly every 7 days. At first, you'll be throwing up a lot of it, later on when plants get bigger, they will drink up to 3/4 of the water available in 20 L bucket. You need a lot of air (1 litre of air per minute per gallon minimum), your setup has to be kept light proof (if any light enters into your bucket, you'll end up with large problems), and the water should be kept at about 18 to 20 C. Never EVER add anything organic to your res, just pure inorganic nutes (forget about aditives).

Also, all the way from the begining go with some EWC tea as explained in heisenbergs sticky topic.
 
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goodgrows

New Member
Spanky84 said:
Well, you take a clone or a seed, put it in a netpot with hydroton and let push its roots down into the bucket. Hydroton has to be kept wet untill roots reach the water level. Often water bubbles are enough to keep the medium moist enough (you can add extra water pump, but then be careful not to drown your plants, specially if you are using rokcwool cube). Bucket should at first be filled with pure water at first, and later, when embryonal leaves start dying, nutrients should be added. Nutrient solution should be changed optimaly every 7 days. At first, you'll be throwing up a lot of it, later on when plants get bigger, they will drink up to 3/4 of the water available in 20 L bucket. You need a lot of air (1 litre of air per minute per gallon minimum), your setup has to be kept light proof (if any light enters into your bucket, you'll end up with large problems), and the water should be kept at about 18 to 20 C. Never EVER add anything organic to your res, just pure inorganic nutes (forget about aditives).

Also, all the way from the begining go with some EWC tea as explained in heisenbergs sticky topic.
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would fox farm grow big, tiger bloom and big bloom, cal mag, SM-90 work as base nutes for a beginner DWC? I am thinking about getting out of soil and into dwc. well i just got a cheap 5 gal bucket set up recently.
 
Tone5500

Tone5500

Well-Known Member
goodgrows said:
would fox farm grow big, tiger bloom and big bloom, cal mag, SM-90 work as base nutes for a beginner DWC? I am thinking about getting out of soil and into dwc. well i just got a cheap 5 gal bucket set up recently.
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Yes a three part nute line and cal- mag wil be fine but seriously not trying to be rude all your questions can be answered with a simple search . G/l
 
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goodgrows

New Member
thanks very much, i usually research something quite a bit before jumping in w questions, like when i first started growing in soil, i watched probably 300 hours of content and read a lot to weed through the bs. Youre not rude at all, truth.
 
Tone5500

Tone5500

Well-Known Member
goodgrows said:
thanks very much, i usually research something quite a bit before jumping in w questions, like when i first started growing in soil, i watched probably 300 hours of content and read a lot to weed through the bs. Youre not rude at all, truth.
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Yea I no what yea mean bro I have a problem with over thinking a lot of stuff and with the Internet it makes it ten times harder , cuz once ya think you got a soild plan of action you read something that say something totally differnt and ya feel like ya taking a craps shot with what ya choose . But if ya want a nice a simple approach two the first few weeks of dwc use a three part nute line like fox farm or general hydro that is what I went with and some cal-mag ,. G/l
 
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goodgrows

New Member
Tone5500 said:
Yea I no what yea mean bro I have a problem with over thinking a lot of stuff and with the Internet it makes it ten times harder , cuz once ya think you got a soild plan of action you read something that say something totally differnt and ya feel like ya taking a craps shot with what ya choose . But if ya want a nice a simple approach two the first few weeks of dwc use a three part nute line like fox farm or general hydro that is what I went with and some cal-mag ,. G/l
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thanks brotha ! I know what you mean when you over think it, same here. lol.
 
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Spanky84

Active Member
goodgrows said:
would fox farm grow big, tiger bloom and big bloom, cal mag, SM-90 work as base nutes for a beginner DWC? I am thinking about getting out of soil and into dwc. well i just got a cheap 5 gal bucket set up recently.
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Products you named are organic. Never put organics into DWC. Go with synthetic nutes. And I'd definately use benneficial bacteria, not SM-90.
 
neo12345

neo12345

Well-Known Member
kulp456 said:
Hi buds, I really am interested in growing hydro, dwc . But I have no idea how. I know how to set up a nice dwc set up, but after that I'm lost . Could someone please explain to me exactly how everything works. Like nutrients, how much how of them how to add them to the water, I know I read bout how you need to change the water and what to grow in? Everythng . Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Just try and keep it simple Kulp, the worst thing you can do is over complicate things.

Feeding your plants is the same as in soil, take it slowly with the nutrients to start and listen to what your plants tell you. Start with quarter strength, and then half etc. The advantage with hydro is you can change any mistakes instantly by replacing your nutrient solution, it's useful to have a ppm meter to help guide you but don't let it rule you.

I know hydro can look complicated but it really is easy to get great results, and once you make the change to the dark side you'll wonder why you ever bothered with soil!
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
DWC can be a grower's worst nightmare when water temps are too high and there is not sufficient DO 24/7

I have developed a SWC (s= Shallow) that is quite effective

Drop by my thread to see it in action, as well as my unique top feed system
 
3squared

3squared

Well-Known Member
I changed to what I think is the simplest system in the word for DWC. 25 gal marine coolers so there is no need for a res and the water stays within a 5 degree zone changing the water/nutes once a week. The cooler lid has a small door for grabbing soda's/beer so it gives me easy access for checking ph levels, topping off and water changes. One air pump/12 stones and a light is all that's needed.
 
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goodgrows

New Member
so, i personally just made a 12 site dwc cloner w 4 gallon res for fun. havent started 5 gallon dwc yet. my dreams of using fox farm nutes up first, all but shot down. my biggest problem, res temps i anticipate will be 70-90f depending on heat, and the frozen 2liter in my res would last maybe an hour before melting. im searching for more answers how to have high res temps and no algae. hopefully i can hit 100 degree res temps w a simple solution that is not a/c inside tent, thats not really an option right now, not enough space.

my project: not technically started, im playing with my new cloner this past week and going to go to the store to pick up the correct nutes for 5 gallon dwc.

thanks for all the help suggestions etc etc.
 
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Hydroburn

Hydroburn

Well-Known Member
with ambient temps above 85 you wont get a very fat yield.... and hot water doesnt hold enough oxygen for roots to thrive. most likely you shoukd try a more forgiving method.

but.... 3+ layers of reflectix is pretty bitchin insulation and I used 1L bottles for 5 gallon buckets once a day with good results. Run bennies and you should be fine up to around 80 where you just wont have enough o2 in the water.
 
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