Afternoon All, Some DWC Tips and advice:)

Hi Everybody!

Finally signed up to this site, Have been visiting this site for a long time and have at long last decided to sign up:)

I am fairly baked at da moment so any thing you think does not make sense, you are probably right:rasta:

Anyhow, reason I have signed up are firstly most people here are great, the combined knowledge on this site is amazing and thirdly I have noticed that some of the info on DWC is misleading or absolutly false. I thought I would write a bit of my experience down and possibly help a few out:) :jointsmile: -I hope- !!

14 DWC grows so far for personal:) not a single failure, my average is around 14 ozies per plant from a Sativa bush strain.

Some peopls are going to certainly laugh about some ways I do things but they work for me, starting in soil for example...!

I usually plant three seeds in a light sandy soil ( I am pathetic with rockwool, always either underwater or drown da poor things:( lol) and let them germ and veg until there fourth leaf pair under a 20w flouro in a small box then flush them free of soil and transplant in hydroton.

( I built a three pot DWC inwhich I screw down three 4" net pots to a wooden cover, When sex is app. I unscrew the pots containing males and if only one male I remove the weakest lookin fem. To be left with one plant...)

Reading through the forums I have noticed most peoples probs are root rot (pytheim) which apparently destroys em kinda quick...

I have never suffered from this and here is what i do...

I use a liquid ph test kit and never needed a TDS,

Water temperature 25Deg C (I know alot of people will say I am crazy but it has always worked for me. It is true that algae etc. will grow faster in warmer water, tho it CANNOT and WILLNOT grow without light.) I drop the water temp by two deg for each week after the third into flowering.

I have done alot of experimenting and 25Deg in my opinion promotes fastest growth, by far...

I wire a ceramic 3" airstone to each net pot so as it hangs by about four inches below pot, then I connect airlines and mount airpump to top of plywood res cover. (so I can lift pots airlines everything out together to do a res change.) I think it also helps keep stones clean rather than sitting in the clay dust etc in the bottom of res.

I use a twin out pump to run all three stones. Anyone able to help me in quietening the noisy thing down? haha not much i aint tried, no luck so far!

The most important thing other than Airating the solution with DWC is the res. It MUST be 100% light tight otherwise you WILL get pytheim (root rot)

Get your res, hold it towards the sun whilst looking through the sides and bottom, if it does not look black and you can see light then it is not good. About five coats of black spraypaint and panda film is good, better yet get a black plastic container... best option...

Cover each and every pot with black plastic and weight it down... light will get through hydroton and into the res through the net pot holes...

Once you think your setup is light proof, check a second and third time, better yet smoke a fattie and study your system for probs and improve it... I find if i build something when im stoned but not too far gone:) it helps me think about possible future probs and modify, rebuild, or fix it.

If your sys is ABSOLUTELY 100% light proof and well airated, 25 Deg will be no problem...

My res holds 12 liters and I change it weekly.

I also use 2ml's of 50% H202 every two days as a safeguard as well as the extra oxygen it provides.

Nutrients, I find a basic hydro nute is good. I use plantastic grow for vegin and the first two weeks of flower... It is cheap and great! 45ml a and 45ml b. works out about 75% strength...

Never had tip burn and my plant is very healthy:)

I sometimes laugh at newb's purchaing expensive growth enhancers and additives, in my experience most of these (probably different if you are an very exp. grower) just drain your wallet with none or little difference at harvest as well as problems with possible incompatibilities with current nutes etc etc...

My opinion if you are new to hydro, SAVE your money for a better light or something rather than purchasing this stuff. Buy a cheap nute from a reputable company and all is good... ( Providing the chem balance is satisfactory for your type of plant:-) )

I check ph and top up when necesary, top up THEN check ph! I usually top up res when water is 1" from bottom of pot and fill to 1" above bottom of net pot. Dont worry about ph that much, with DWC it will deviate, usually alkaline by one point by top up time... Simply top up and then add ph down if required...

PH up and down must be diluted before adition to res, otherwise it will have little effect and destroy your nutes. I usually guess amount, put in bucket of fresh water, top up and then check to be sure. Once you get the hang of it you wont need to check it that often

If your plants ever look overwatered, (leaves droopy) first check airstones and if they are fine you probably topped res too much, simply wait for em to drink it up and they will go back healthy lookin again:)

I only add water when topping up res, no nutes. Nute change every week. Old nutes in a waterin can do wonders for your other plants or garden:)

Other than that I use a 400w hps for flower and a 250w mh lamp for veg.

I do the same for flowering tho I use ionic bloom for nutes and LST rather than pruning after plants show pre-flowers.

Also in the last week of flowering when flushing, throw a frozen bottle of water in da rez daily, gets em really wet and sticky (especially if u in a warm climate) for harvest

Anyhow, I hope someone finds this info helpful:) . Good day to yal. gone for a smoke :jointsmile:


Disclaimer:

Everything I wrote here is either fictional or simply suitable methods of growing vegetables, I do not condone the use, manafacture or cultivation of illegal drugs, never tried em, blah blah blah. Any images I post on this site are freely available on the internet.

welcome aboard, I enjoyed reading your methods, especially liked the ice-flushing in last week tip ... I'm on my first hydro grow, and so far, all is well ... :jointsmile:

Personally.....I'll stay with the tds meter.....QUITE a bit more accurate ....but interesting way of doing it and I'm glad it works for you.

I grow hydro precisely so that I can maintain accurate controls of my grow. Guessing (for me :)) is for soil.

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

Personally.....I'll stay with the tds meter.....QUITE a bit more accurate ....but interesting way of doing it and I'm glad it works for you.

I grow hydro precisely so that I can maintain accurate controls of my grow. Guessing (for me :)) is for soil.

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same here ... I enjoyed that original post, although I didn't agree with all of it, (like the meters, for example, and I'd put an airstone in every container, they're very cheap), but I enjoyed reading it (this is my official disclaimer, so others won't say "Reaper knows better than that, he's losing it, smokin too much bud" :D) ... :jointsmile:

Well I growl but my way certainly isn't the only way either.....just the RIGHT way...:S2:
i grow hydro this way so that when I have a problem (not IF ...WHEN) I can spend a LOT less time wondering and troubleshooting and a lot more time straightening the problem out since I have very good idea of my grow's parameters at any given time.

Whatever works for one is great.....I have a very good friend who hate all the numbers etc associated with hydro....but she isn't getting 14 oz a plant either as this person is.

I would also like to know the rest of the specs as well ..lighting? C02? I would hate to judge this person's crop on one thing alone.

** same here ... I enjoyed that original post, although I didn't agree with all of it, (like the meters, for example, and I'd put an airstone in every container, they're very cheap)

Sorry man, probably didn't explain to well, kinda bent when i wrote that. I do use one airstone per pot. I mount each airstone to hang under each pot. The point i was trying to make was you NEED good airation:)

Reason I never worried with TDS was cause with a TDS it will tell you the total disolved salts. A plant enjoys some chems at a different rate than others. Topping up with nutes could therefore cause an unbalanced solution I prefer just to change regually. Has always worked for me. Otherwise with a 12litre res I would be going crazy trying to keep it constant. Any other hydro sys, of course. This post was ONLY to do with DWC, do not try this with an nft or ebb n flow etc!!!

I use a CO2 controller with 1000ppm dosing. It shuts off int and ext. fans for 15 mins whilst going through a 10min dosing cyc 8 times during day. If temps rise above 30 fans come back on immediataly. During night ex. and int. fans are shut off (gets blo0dy cold here) to conserve temp and dose is held at 1200

Lighting, I use a 400w hps horticulture light in flower and through veg I use a 250w mh

Occasionally I screw up and flower too late and they get too big, then I gotta get both lights going to cover the area.

Thing I like about my sys is low maintinance, I work 12hour days six days a week. Growing is just one hobby outa many and my free time for measuring etc. is nil

I hear ya on that ... my only complaint so far, with the hydro, is the way it ties me close to home (not like I have a real life anyway :D, but it's nice to be able to bitch like something is hindering me) ... lol ... good growing :jointsmile:

man, 14oz A PLANT???

thats almost a frickin pound man! your a god

How long is your veg, what wattage lights do you use, what strain, and how many?

That is an incredible number...then again I only veg for 3-4 weeks and use a 600 digital and pull around that total yield.

Ahh you never mind I see you use a 400 watt light....your pulling more than 2g/watt assuming you have 2 plants at least, thats more than I have ever seen ANYONE pull with that wattage.

Sounds like the C02 system is pretty kick ass as well. How much do you think that thing ups your yield by? Dayamn........must be nice setup.. :thumbsup:

Since da CO2 and better airflow yields went from about 7.5 to 14 average. Sorta get looked at funny having my welding gas refilled once every few weeks tho... haha! Jeez, I musta left da valve on again. haha rolf!

You must do ALOT of welding...

What exactly does the bottle of freezing water do? Do you literally mean freeze a bottle of water solid then throw it in? Do you uncap it?

I get a 600ml coke bottle, fill it half full with water, freeze it and then cap it.

Lowers nutrient temp lower than ambient temp, a rez temp below 14 deg c during last week of flower aids the production of resin within the plant.

Really stoned, peace

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Originally Posted by SantaClawz

You must do ALOT of welding...

What exactly does the bottle of freezing water do? Do you literally mean freeze a bottle of water solid then throw it in? Do you uncap it?

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i throw in a bottle every day as well it just cools down the res nute temps a cheap way instead of spending money to do it

Same here, during the summer. No need now.

I freeze small Gatorade bottles, fill them about 95% full with water, freeze with the top off the first time, then put the top back on. After that you can freeze and thaw as often as you want with the top on.

PC :smokin:

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Originally Posted by CookiMnsta

Since da CO2 and better airflow yields went from about 7.5 to 14 average. Sorta get looked at funny having my welding gas refilled once every few weeks tho... haha! Jeez, I musta left da valve on again. haha rolf!

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It's not welding gas it is CO2 for Beer and Soda? Correct I just purchased a Propane unit with a spark plug intead of pilot light or Glow Plug a few sparks and she lights up