Its really quite simple to do and requires only a few tools. Here is the list:
1) reservoir
$5
2) air pump (~3w per res is sufficient)
~$8/res
3) air stones or diffusers and airline
~$5/res
4) net cups
~$1.50-3.00/res
5) hole saw or dremel
~$40+
6) nutrients
~$40+
7) ph and tds/ec meter (ppm here is read from an HM meter, I think they use hanna conversion)
~$40+
water
~$0?+
9) plant starts (preferably in plugs)
10) lights (50~80w HID per square foot of canopy is minimal)
11) measuring utensils: (syringes, graduated cyllinders, or spoons), pitchers, extra reservoirs,
In soil the primary root stem grows straight down, creating a thick stalk which grows directly downward. DWC, on the other hand, has roots growing out the bottom and sides and while no one root is as thick as the main one would be in soil, the volume of roots is something that could not be achieved in a similar volume of soil, simply because of the volume the soil occupies. This is why DWC is so effective, efficient, and easy.
Step one:
Take your reservoir lid and drill evenly spaced holes the diameter of your netcups in it.
Step two:
Insert netcups, be sure they fit snug.
Step three:
Evenly space airstones or diffusers so air bubbles are pumped preferable directly beneath the netcups.
Step four:
Fill with water, nutrients, plants, and place beneath light.
Nutrients
For veg-
Lucas formula is 5ml bloom, 10ml micro and provides approximately 900ppm of nutrients for plants. This should be supplemented with kelp molasses and plant success, if possible. Superthrive is nice too.
Typically plants will like to have a ppm of 900-1300 once they have grown a couple sets of leafs. Clones which were flowering will re-veg much faster if put in a full strength veg solution right after rooting.
For flowering-
Micro and bloom should be used along with additives such as floralicious, pk 13/14, molasses and plant success, sugardaddy, koolbloom, floranectar, or other equivalent bloom boosters. Also MagiCal or cal-mag or some other magnesium/calcium supplement is helpful. Ppm should be around 1100-1300 and should be about 200ppm below the burn point once it is established. If you do this
carefully you can figure out the burn point without doing any damage to the leaf tips, if the burn is minor and the ppm is corrected quickly enough it recovers.
The first part of flowering should be run on vegetating nutrients, so don't change them for the first week or so. Once pistils emerge the nutrient solution should be switched to one with more pk. The common 8ml micro 16ml bloom can be used or a more effective mixture with bloom additives can be made by continuing using 5ml micro and 10ml bloom and also including organic and non organic bloom enhancers (rich in Phosphorous and Potassium).
The water you use is important. Water with a ppm of over 200 needs to be filtered before being used in hydroponics. My tap is 40-50 ppm and I have no issues using it at any stage of growth.
pH is usually buffered by the general hydroponics micro but may fluctuate slightly. Superthrive is a great all-natural and beneficial pH down, but shouldn't be used too excessively as it is expensive. pH down is typically a necessity but should be used sparingly.
The accepted range of pH in hydroponic plant growth is 5.5-6.5.
If possible it is always a good thing to flush plants at the end. Flushing with pure water is generally accepted as the best method. I will use plant success mycorrhizae up until 2 weeks from harvest and then use molasses and organic big bloom until harvest.
Tips for managing your reservoir:
*Try to keep ppm below burning point.
*Know how much solution you have in your reservoir. Say your ppm raised from 1250 to 1400 and about 2-3 gallons are missing. Add a gallon of 700ppm solution, see where it is, add another adjusted gallon, and another to reach your 1250.
*Keep track of what you put in it as to not forget anything. If you have yellowing leaves down below, add some micro to your next top-off.
*pH does not have to be below 6.0! It does need to be below 7.0, but 6.2 is a fine pH. Use as little pH up and down as possible. I add a little diluted pH down when my pH gets to be 6.4.
*Always dilute your fertlizers before adding them. A cupful or pitcherful of diluted nutrient.
*Try to keep the waterline high. The higher it is kept, the more space the roots will occupy, and volume correlates to surface area which correlates to nutrient uptake.
*Being able to change your reservoir is a plus.
*The DWC method is all about creating conditions, don't abuse this power.
*Higher temps, less oxygen = more root rot. There are products you can add so that rotting roots will be decomposed and used as fertilizer for the healthy roots such as Cannazym, if you have root rot problems.
1) reservoir
$5
2) air pump (~3w per res is sufficient)
~$8/res
3) air stones or diffusers and airline
~$5/res
4) net cups
~$1.50-3.00/res
5) hole saw or dremel
~$40+
6) nutrients
~$40+
7) ph and tds/ec meter (ppm here is read from an HM meter, I think they use hanna conversion)
~$40+
water~$0?+
9) plant starts (preferably in plugs)
10) lights (50~80w HID per square foot of canopy is minimal)
11) measuring utensils: (syringes, graduated cyllinders, or spoons), pitchers, extra reservoirs,
In soil the primary root stem grows straight down, creating a thick stalk which grows directly downward. DWC, on the other hand, has roots growing out the bottom and sides and while no one root is as thick as the main one would be in soil, the volume of roots is something that could not be achieved in a similar volume of soil, simply because of the volume the soil occupies. This is why DWC is so effective, efficient, and easy.
Step one:
Take your reservoir lid and drill evenly spaced holes the diameter of your netcups in it.
Step two:
Insert netcups, be sure they fit snug.
Step three:
Evenly space airstones or diffusers so air bubbles are pumped preferable directly beneath the netcups.
Step four:
Fill with water, nutrients, plants, and place beneath light.
Nutrients
For veg-
Lucas formula is 5ml bloom, 10ml micro and provides approximately 900ppm of nutrients for plants. This should be supplemented with kelp molasses and plant success, if possible. Superthrive is nice too.
Typically plants will like to have a ppm of 900-1300 once they have grown a couple sets of leafs. Clones which were flowering will re-veg much faster if put in a full strength veg solution right after rooting.
For flowering-
Micro and bloom should be used along with additives such as floralicious, pk 13/14, molasses and plant success, sugardaddy, koolbloom, floranectar, or other equivalent bloom boosters. Also MagiCal or cal-mag or some other magnesium/calcium supplement is helpful. Ppm should be around 1100-1300 and should be about 200ppm below the burn point once it is established. If you do this
carefully you can figure out the burn point without doing any damage to the leaf tips, if the burn is minor and the ppm is corrected quickly enough it recovers.
The first part of flowering should be run on vegetating nutrients, so don't change them for the first week or so. Once pistils emerge the nutrient solution should be switched to one with more pk. The common 8ml micro 16ml bloom can be used or a more effective mixture with bloom additives can be made by continuing using 5ml micro and 10ml bloom and also including organic and non organic bloom enhancers (rich in Phosphorous and Potassium).
The water you use is important. Water with a ppm of over 200 needs to be filtered before being used in hydroponics. My tap is 40-50 ppm and I have no issues using it at any stage of growth.
pH is usually buffered by the general hydroponics micro but may fluctuate slightly. Superthrive is a great all-natural and beneficial pH down, but shouldn't be used too excessively as it is expensive. pH down is typically a necessity but should be used sparingly.
The accepted range of pH in hydroponic plant growth is 5.5-6.5.
If possible it is always a good thing to flush plants at the end. Flushing with pure water is generally accepted as the best method. I will use plant success mycorrhizae up until 2 weeks from harvest and then use molasses and organic big bloom until harvest.
Tips for managing your reservoir:
*Try to keep ppm below burning point.
*Know how much solution you have in your reservoir. Say your ppm raised from 1250 to 1400 and about 2-3 gallons are missing. Add a gallon of 700ppm solution, see where it is, add another adjusted gallon, and another to reach your 1250.
*Keep track of what you put in it as to not forget anything. If you have yellowing leaves down below, add some micro to your next top-off.
*pH does not have to be below 6.0! It does need to be below 7.0, but 6.2 is a fine pH. Use as little pH up and down as possible. I add a little diluted pH down when my pH gets to be 6.4.
*Always dilute your fertlizers before adding them. A cupful or pitcherful of diluted nutrient.
*Try to keep the waterline high. The higher it is kept, the more space the roots will occupy, and volume correlates to surface area which correlates to nutrient uptake.
*Being able to change your reservoir is a plus.
*The DWC method is all about creating conditions, don't abuse this power.
*Higher temps, less oxygen = more root rot. There are products you can add so that rotting roots will be decomposed and used as fertilizer for the healthy roots such as Cannazym, if you have root rot problems.
