Starting my first DWC grow, looking for some advice.

Hello Everyone ,


Hope everyone is staying safe from covid. While we are under lockdown I figured; just like everyone else who has interest in growing that now would be the best time grow right? Although cannabis is legal here in Southern California , I never thought I could smoke to the point where it would makes sense to grow it myself. My wife finally came around and has ok'd me to put up a grow tent in our little enclosed patio. Anyway , below is the setup I will be putting together this weekend but I am stuck on a few questions . I've done countless hours of research and found much conflicting answers , hoping some experts on this forum can shed some light.


Tent: Quictent SGS Approved Eco-Friendly 48"x24"x84" (4 by 2 by 7)
(originally ordered a 60" height but returned it for a more after being on this forum)

Lights: Spider Farmer SF-2000 (shipping from Alibaba )

Ventilation: iPower 4'' Inline Grow Tent Ventilation Air Ducting Carbon Filter Fan Set
- VIVOSUN Patented 6 Inch Clip
- Trellis Net ( for LST?)

DWC - 3 X 5 Gallon Black Bucket Setup w/ Water Level Indicator
- 3 X 6" Hydrofarm Net Pots
- 3 X 4" Circular Air Stones

Grow Medium: 10 L Hydroton

Air Pump: General Hydroponics Dual Diaphragm Air Pump

Testers/Kits: VIVOSUN pH and TDS Meter Combo
- iPower Hygrometer

Seed starters: 1"Rockwool

Seeds Ordered: 11 Feminized Seeds from Seedsman.com'

9 Autoflower Seeds from Pacific Seed Bank (Due to the Pandemic figured ordering from a local seed bank would be faster, but I immediately regretted ordering from PacificSeedBank after reading about them in this forum. they have sent an email saying my seeds should be delivered soon, since I am in CA it should of been here already, ordered 8 days ago)

Nutrients: GH 3 Part Flora Series

- Cal Mag Plus by Botanicare (after much research online between different forums I can't decide if I should be using CalMag or CaliMagic)

- Great White Mycorrhizae ( I read that this is as good or better than hydroguard? )

- Big Bud (flowering stage)

I plan on using RO water so the water definitely will need some sort of Cal Mag right?


Below are a list of questions I have regarding my 1st grow, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. Do I have the proper nutrients for growing Hydroponics or If I should add anything else to my list?

2. After germinating the seed using the paper towel method, should I take the Sprout and put in a Rockwool cube then place it in the net pot with Hydroton ?
- I read on rollitup some people put seed directly in Hydroton?

3. When changing the nutrients in your res , do you take out the airstone and clean the bucket , or just a simple rinse with the air stone still in the bucket ok?

4. Does Cal Mag or CaliMagic go first before Micro?

5. Is Big Bud only used during flowering stage?


I know I'll have more questions, but this what I can think of for now. I'll post some picture of my setup tomorrow evening.

I apologize if this post is not in the right place. If you are an admin reading this, please let me know a better place to post this if this section is not ideal.


***PS , this is my first ever Forum post of my life. I just wanted to thank all the people around the world who use forums to post so much valuable information. I have never been a forum contributor but I have always used them through my life for different interests.

Welcome, I'm new to this myself but I can help with a few questions in regards to how I grow. I'm only on my second and the first was... shameful.
Definitely need the cal-mag with RO water.
I use the same base nutrients, but none of the others and everything is going great.
Don't try to sprout directly in hydroton, there is nothing to stop the seed from dropping into your res.
When I change solutions I wash each basin/ tub completely with dawn.

Can't much help with the other questions but I hope I helped a little.

These are my girls right now, 18 days into their flower cycle. Rain water, gh flora series and homemade calcium solution.

Johiem said:

Welcome, I'm new to this myself but I can help with a few questions in regards to how I grow. I'm only on my second and the first was... shameful.
Definitely need the cal-mag with RO water.
I use the same base nutrients, but none of the others and everything is going great.
Don't try to sprout directly in hydroton, there is nothing to stop the seed from dropping into your res.
When I change solutions I wash each basin/ tub completely with dawn.

Can't much help with the other questions but I hope I helped a little.

These are my girls right now, 18 days into their flower cycle. Rain water, gh flora series and homemade calcium solution.

Click to expand...

Hey Joheim,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I was starting to get discouraged, maybe I made my initial post too long ‍ lol. Though I'm no expert yet, but your plants look like what I would think are healthy plants. Anyways I will try to be more brief as everyones time is important (though covid got new mofos like me on here lol ) . I've done countless hours of research and I think I have everything I need to start minus my ink bird humidity controller which should be here tomorrow.

Is It safe to use dawn to clean your Res?
From what I've read through many forums people are using hydrogen peroxide.


I am going to start the germination process this weekend and wanted confirm the questions I posed initially, hoping you could shed some since you have started already.

[2. After germinating the seed using the paper towel method, should I take the Sprout and put in a Rockwool cube then place it in the net pot with Hydroton ?
- I read on rollitup some people put seed directly in Hydroton?]

Should the Rockwool be soaked in PH water for 24 hours with light nutes ?
How did you germinate your seeds?


I've attached some pictures of my grow tent setup. Please feel free to criticize, I am aiming to become a great grower in time.

Things I will adding / adjusting this weekend.

- INKBIRD Humidity controller to control my humidifier and exhaust fan. (is it necessary to leave exhaust on 24/7 ?)
- Additional fan near the lower vent (does oscillating fan work better ? any recommendations )
- The duct will be going out the back window once the window kit arrives

Also, how do you go about checking on your plants?
Is there a right time, like when the lights are off ? It is it bad to go in and out of the tent when the lights are on?


I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue , but that's all I can think of for now. Hope you're having a great weekend so far!

Your set up looks tighter than mine. I don't have an ink inkbird or anything beyond a couple timers that is automatic yet.this is my whole tent, I don't have filters on my exhaust,and your light is sweet! I'll stop drooling now. I don't know much about rock wool. I've heard they need wrinsed out but I don't know about a soak.
If you are watching for them to pop and get them into their cube while their first root is small a bit of perlite should hold the seed in place then hydroton for her to grow around. Are you using the 6" wool blocks? I've heard it can be hard to keep them properly damp without them getting too moist. Again, I don't know. I have a bucket net lid and block I just am leery of messing up again.
The only way I would put a seedling directly into hydroton alone is if the root is long enough to keep to from washing out.
As far as starting my seeds, 1-3 hour soak in peroxide, 24 hour soak in ph'ed water, then into the wet paper towel and ziploc. Don't know if it helps but I always blow into the bag before sealing. Typically they'll pop in 3-7 days, some quicker, some slower. I've seen them pop the next day. Then they are into solo cups with perlite, coir, and a full covering layer of perlite to top, and a couple of them are still in them. Don't forget drainage, two of their root systems were already through the drainage holes so I widened the holes and left them in them.
Most people do use this more like an instant messenger than a email like system. It is harder to be a troll with longer messages.
As far as washing your buckets with dawn? It is safe. just rinse it well. If any is left in the bucket it will act like a surfactant lowering water surface tension. Hope it goes well. I'm on here fairly regularly but if you prefer email that's fine too.

Forgot to mention, and I say this emphatically, Do Not Interrupt the Dark Cycle. Interrupting what the plant sees as night will cause all sorts of problems, odd growth, re-veg, hermie, etc. Lights out? Leave them till the next light cycle. Play with them all you want when the lights are on.

Welcome, AKTG
It looks like you have a nice rig coming together.
My advice would be to run two buckets in that space. Two plants will overrun that space so I'd be hesitant to run more than that.
I also germinate on paper towels and then transfer the seedling into a rapid rooter until I get a strong seedling.
Then it gets transferred into a 4x4 grodan cube in the netlid and trained into the structure I want.
I try not to go into the grow when it's dark-try not to disrupt the light cycle if possible.

AKTG said:

Also, how do you go about checking on your plants?
Is there a right time, like when the lights are off ? It is it bad to go in and out of the tent when the lights are on?

Click to expand...

When the plants are in the flower phase of growth, the dark period should not be interrupted unless completely unavoidable. Do all of your plant work when the lights are on.

I prefer to do all of my plant maintenance as soon as my flower tents go lights-on (currently 7 PM. In summer, I move that to 8 PM).

Johiem said:

Your set up looks tighter than mine. I don't have an ink inkbird or anything beyond a couple timers that is automatic yet.this is my whole tent, I don't have filters on my exhaust,and your light is sweet! I'll stop drooling now. I don't know much about rock wool. I've heard they need wrinsed out but I don't know about a soak.
If you are watching for them to pop and get them into their cube while their first root is small a bit of perlite should hold the seed in place then hydroton for her to grow around. Are you using the 6" wool blocks? I've heard it can be hard to keep them properly damp without them getting too moist. Again, I don't know. I have a bucket net lid and block I just am leery of messing up again.
The only way I would put a seedling directly into hydroton alone is if the root is long enough to keep to from washing out.
As far as starting my seeds, 1-3 hour soak in peroxide, 24 hour soak in ph'ed water, then into the wet paper towel and ziploc. Don't know if it helps but I always blow into the bag before sealing. Typically they'll pop in 3-7 days, some quicker, some slower. I've seen them pop the next day. Then they are into solo cups with perlite, coir, and a full covering layer of perlite to top, and a couple of them are still in them. Don't forget drainage, two of their root systems were already through the drainage holes so I widened the holes and left them in them.
Most people do use this more like an instant messenger than a email like system. It is harder to be a troll with longer messages.
As far as washing your buckets with dawn? It is safe. just rinse it well. If any is left in the bucket it will act like a surfactant lowering water surface tension. Hope it goes well. I'm on here fairly regularly but if you prefer email that's fine too.

Click to expand...

Thanks Johiem , the tent is almost complete. Your tent is looking nice bro, I can't wait til I have some plants growing! I appreciate the noob advice lol, gonna drop the email format keep it more like IM. I got the INKBird humidity monitor today and a bigger better Humidifier. Old Huey was not pushing the ink bird passed the 60% threshold to 61% to kick on my exhaust fan smh. Once I put the new Huey on, it easily pushes the RH to 61-62% , even though the controller shuts it off at 60%. Now the exhaust fan is turning on for 25 - 30 seconds every 2-3 minutes , once the RH reaches 57% the process repeats. Anyway I think I figured out my humidity problem, but now wondering if running the fan every 2-3 minutes will be sufficient air exchange ?

Will post some pics in the morning and perhaps more ???s lol.

New Huey
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RQX4CJT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

GBAUTO said:

Welcome, AKTG
It looks like you have a nice rig coming together.
My advice would be to run two buckets in that space. Two plants will overrun that space so I'd be hesitant to run more than that.
I also germinate on paper towels and then transfer the seedling into a rapid rooter until I get a strong seedling.
Then it gets transferred into a 4x4 grodan cube in the netlid and trained into the structure I want.
I try not to go into the grow when it's dark-try not to disrupt the light cycle if possible.

Click to expand...

Hey GBAUTO, thanks for the welcome and for taking the time to comment. Initially I thought about running 3 buckets , but then after seeing the results some people can get even with 1 plant , I am convinced 2 will be the MAX for sure.
I think I will definitely stick to the Paper towel germination method as I have grown out vegetables and have always had good luck germinating this way.
I already bought 10L of Hydroton and am planning to use that as my primary growing medium .
I have 1" Rockwool Cubes, I was thinking once there is sprout I would place it in the small 1" Rockwool cube then cover it with Hydroton. Saw a bunch of videos on youtube like people putting Rockwool into Hydroton. I guess whatever works for most people that's the method they use ?
I am still learning about LST , I think I am going to stop at Home Depot tomorrow to grab 1/2 " PVC so I can make a nice ScrOG net.
Thank for confirming regarding the dark cycle. I think I have this engrained now, definitely won't be touching the plants during dark cycle unless emergencies of course.
Question, during the day when the LED lights are on, will it be an issue if there is sunlight coming into the grow tent from my patio windows while I'm checking on the plants for PPM /PH /Temp/Water level even though the LED Lights are on? Also there is small light leak coming through the power cord vent even though its tied, does it need to be 100% light proof? Also my vent in the back that's stretching in is the only one open, behind it is a wall and doesn't have much light there, but I'm sure a little bit might come in that I can see visually, will small light leakage be a issue?

spek9 said:

When the plants are in the flower phase of growth, the dark period should not be interrupted unless completely unavoidable. Do all of your plant work when the lights are on.

I prefer to do all of my plant maintenance as soon as my flower tents go lights-on (currently 7 PM. In summer, I move that to 8 PM).

Click to expand...

Hi Spek9, thanks for taking the time to respond. Definitely will be doing all maintenance on the plants during the LIGHTS ON cycle. I am starting with Autoflower as I want cut of my local dispensary as soon as possible lol, so for this first run I am goin to start with 2 Auto Flowers . I am planning running the 20/4 light scheduled , only reason won't run the 24/0 is because I live in southern CA and the temps definitely can get hotter in the tent (planning to keep the dark cycle during the hottest time of the day ) , I currently don't have a cooling system yet not sure if ill need it.

I will be using this thread as my grow journal moving forward.

I have found the answers to most of my initial questions through navigating this forum *thank you, and the internet of course.

Since last post I have updated my setup to include a better humidifier and 2 tower fans.

Returned the shitty oscillating tent clip fan that has fire hazard. Now have 2 hanging tower fans by Vornado (I have one above the light and one near the bottom of the net pot, is this correct?


1st Hydroponic Grow - Start 4/24/20

Seeds Ordered from Pacific Seeds Bank :
Jack Herrer - Sativa- Auto ( Breede Mendocino Farms)
Gods Gift - India - Auto (Breeder Orginal Kush)

Germination Date: Friday 11 PM , April 24th, 2020
- in 1 inch RW Cube pH to 5.8 (using method of YouTube: insidehydro )
- Lights at 30" according manufacturer's lighting guide for SF2000 Alibaba equivalent

Sprout Date : Monday - April 27th , 2020
Jack Herrer Sprouted 5 PM
Indica still dormant

10 PM - Indica Sprouted


Transplant Date: Tuesday - April 28th, 2020
Medium : 5 Gallon DWC Buckets w/ Hydroton in 6" net pots

1st week seedling Nutrient Feed: 3.5 Gallons RO water
- ArmorSi - 1 Tsp
- CaliMagic - 3 Tsp
- GH Micro - 1 tsp
- GH Gro - 1 Tsp
- GH Bloom - 1 Tsp
- Great White Mycorrhizae - 1/2 tsp

PPM Gods Gift - 330
PPM Jack Herrer - 345
Balanced at PH 5.88

Lights are currently on about 80% on the dimmer.

Please take a look at my setup and feel free to criticize if I can do something better or improve my space.

Namaste.

*** Forgot to Add:

Light schedule : 20/4 , Off from 12 PM - 4 PM (hottest hours of the day in SoCAL)
Light Distance : 24" According to manufacturer
Temp: 78 - 88 F
RH : Set to 60% for seedling/vegetative (should be higher according to VPD charts based off my temps, can anyone comment on this?

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a while , but I’m finally in towards the end of flowering stage.

week 6 flowering pics attached .

can anyone tell me why my indica is spotting ? The sativa looks perfect , both using same nutrients.

Jack Herrer and Gods Gift , both autoflowers from Pacific seed bank.

These are from a couple weeks ago

Nice, not sure on the spotting. You run a very tight ship so rather hard to troubleshoot. It could be age but I thought that started at the bottom. I think they look lovely.

Chopped and Trimmed 2 Autos in DWC yesterday.

seed to Harvest April 24th - August 30th 2020
Jack Herrer and Gods Gift

DAMN! Maybe I should be listening to YOU!