Prospective DWC Mother

[Mr. Clandestine]

Well, I've been giving a lot of thought to trying my hand at a hydro setup. And seeing as how I plan on converting a 3.5 x 3.5 x 8' closet into a mother-only grow area (eventually), I'd like to get some feedback from the experienced hydro guru's and novice hydro growers alike as I begin my journey. Any and all advice is welcome, as this will be my very first time working with a hydroponic system. This setup will be for one single mother plant, maybe two.

STRAIN:
Testing out an AK47 or 48 hybrid as we speak. So far, I have nine seedlings...all growing in soil. The strain is mostly sativa. Would it be advisable to choose an indica strain instead for use as a mother, so that I can train/top it and make it nice and bushy? How difficult is it to get a sativa to do that?

SYSTEM:
I'm not quite ready to even attempt an elaborate ebb & flow table for multiple plants, so I'm leaning towards growing a single mother in either a 5gal DWC, drip system, or a combination of both. I'm really intrigued with the concept behind the custom buckets in this grow (http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/117030-how-build-maintain-your-own-custom-bubbler-dwc-grow.html). I also plan on using Hydroton. Does anyone have any pros or cons they can think of with the setup? Or separate advice on individual large-plant setups?

LIGHTS:
The grow area dimensions are listed above, and I'll be using a single 400w Agromax Metal Halide that's roughly 38,000-40,000 lumens. I only have plans to keep one mother at a time in this space initially.

VENTILATION:
More than adequate intake & exhaust to keep room at 75-80° pretty much constantly, even with a plain light-wing reflector.

NUTRIENTS:
Here's where I become 'Uber-Noob', because I've read all sorts of postings and advice about certain nutrients, PPM, electrical conductivity, pH, etcetera x1000...but since I will only be growing it in veg as a mother, I'm not sure what would be a suitable nutrient/package to use continually. Also, while using these nutrients, how often would it be recommended that I do a flush?

ACCESSORIES:
I'll finally be using a digital thermometer/humidity meter in my grows. Rarely used these things in the past, but I've grown dependent on them as I've started cloning more often. Now one will be in each grow room, as well as my makeshift clone/seedling chamber.

I know it's generally recommended to get an electronic PPM meter. So is it safe to assume that this is pretty much mandatory equipment? If so, does anyone have any brand-specific recommendations on a product that's a) durable/accurate/reliable, and b) not the most ridiculously overpriced gadget on the market?

Any other thoughts cross your brain that you think I should be aware of? This is a learning process for me, so I'm sure there will be some mistakes along the way...but I'm looking to prevent them from happening as much as possible! :jointsmile:

[Mr. Clandestine]

Alright, I suppose I'll be winging it.

[JackHerer]

I flush once every ten days in my NFT system, but I'm trying to do the opposite Mother in soil grow in Hydro. The mothers I ept of the skunk I fed very little utes maybe once a fortnight a very low dose & the rest plain water as I was trying to stop them growing much.

Although that could be totally wrong & doesn't help you in the DWC most DWC plants I have seen get very big & I personally would keep that for a crop plant.

[Mr. Clandestine]

The mothers I ept of the skunk I fed very little utes maybe once a fortnight a very low dose & the rest plain water as I was trying to stop them growing much.

I love that I'll be able to have that kind of control over the specific needs of the plant. I've been entertaining the idea of getting started with hydro for years, but I suppose I've always considered it a little too complicated to jump right into. (I still do!) I have a friend who has a very complicated and elaborate e&f system, and every time I see it in action, I always assume that I'm better off sticking with soil, namely because of how far less technical it is. But I always change my mind about it when I look at my harvest, and then look at his. His is the exact same quality, often heavier than mine, and grown in less amount of time. I'm convinced now that it's definitely worth my time learning more about it than I ever have before.

If I were able to maintain a vegging mother and keep her healthy, I'd like to use the system that would ensure unlimited growth. Would you say that a single DWC would do this for me? Thanks for sharing some of your NFT techniques with me, by the way. Advice is all I seek, and I'm happy to get it...especially from someone who knows how to use it.

[Opie Yutts]

You could use any system to keep a mother, but in general people don't use set ups known for fast growth. Mothers are usually kept more simple. And yes a DWC would be great to keep one or several mothers. I keep mine in soil and under fluorescent lights because I don't need them growing real fast and I don't want to put any work into them. I just water them occasionally with my nutrient solution when I mix it for my hydro plants.

Hydro does not have to be complicated. I am very certain it is overall much easier for me to achieve good results in hydro. Just look at the Emily's Garden. Plants will grow much faster in that than in dirt, and it's so simple even a cave man could do it. It's probably more simple than growing in dirt.

I highly recommend hydroton and not rockwool. Rockwool is not for beginners.

[Mr. Clandestine]

I highly recommend hydroton and not rockwool. Rockwool is not for beginners.

Hydroton it is then. Another reason I decided to start with just a single plant was just to keep things simple, but still get my hands wet, so to speak. I'm also hoping for her to grow to a decent size, and to maintain a pretty vigorous growth at all times. I want to have a go at turning my entire flowering area (roughly 8 x 6') into a SOG...and I'll need a fast-production mother that can facilitate all the clones I'm bound to slaughter! My success has been limited in the past, so I'll have no choice but to get better at it now! :jointsmile:

Thanks for the advice & encouragement.

[JackHerer]

If you want a nice big plant I would also agree DWC seems a good way to go. A lot of the plants I think are toppers have a bubbling bucket below them. There is a couple of good DWC logs in the grow section so you should find plenty info available. Look forward to watching how your log goes as Ive considered the jump from NFT to DWC before and will no doubt have to add more hydro kit not to long from now.