first time DWC room setup

[chrisWeeder]

Hello fellow growers!
im new to this site and i would like to ask you for your opinion!
till now i was in soil growing which is ok
i thiking to change to DWC whick seems cost effective and more productive!

The setup i allready have is 4 x 600W HPS with cooltubes inclosed within a 3w x 2d x 2h meters grow room.
for the ventilation i have 4x ruck fans 125mm 330m3/h
2 for the tubes ad 2 for the in/out with filters

the thought is to move on to DWC using this setup
at first i think ill start with a non cirqulated system and 190lt reserve osmosis filter

The questions
What nutricient plan would recommend?

What temperatures are used mainly for room and water?

details perhaps of what i should be carefull with my setup?

ppm and EC how can i balance them during the whole crop? what i mean is when i check the pots and find that the numbers are out do i correct them and how? or i leave them until i change the water every week?

how many plants can i put in my room with my specs to get the most off yield in terms of space and things go normal in a DWC crop?
Lets say in soil AK48 and White Widow 37 plants in 20litre pots gave me 1kg which was normal.
as far as i read about hydroponics and DWC i think my room can get more efficient
and what pots is best to use deppending on the number of plants...

i know i ask to much but i really want to hear some expert opinion about all these
Any suggestion help is much appreciated

chrisWeeder Reviewed by chrisWeeder on 03-28-2013. first time DWC room setup Hello fellow growers! im new to this site and i would like to ask you for your opinion! till now i was in soil growing which is ok i thiking to change to DWC whick seems cost effective and more productive! The setup i allready have is 4 x 600W HPS with cooltubes inclosed within a 3w x 2d x 2h meters grow room. for the ventilation i have 4x ruck fans 125mm 330m3/h 2 for the tubes ad 2 for the in/out with filters the thought is to move on to DWC using this setup Rating: 5

[low_rdr]

Since you only have an estimated 4' of verticle grow space, I'd suggest using a SCROG, and vegging for at least 2 months per plant. The amount of space you have you can surely get 15 in there of decent size, scrog them, and have a decent harvest.

Problems with DWC vs RDWC when your dealing with multiple plants is the swapout and feeding. I realize that going from DWC to RDWC is a pain in the ass, and I understand that, but when your looking at your growroom that consists of 15 DWC plants, and you have to do water and nute swaps.... well.... I'd rather be in soil at that point.

So, to answer your other questions - If your doing a weekly swap out, just monitor your PPM and add feed as needed. I typically don't, but my PH can fluctuate and cause some plant stress (just lost 2 because of it) as far as water temp, if your doing that many DWC's under those HPS lamps in an enclosed room, if your ambient temp is around your mid 70's, you can expect the same of your water, the warmer your water, the more at risk you are to microbes and bacteria. I like to keep my water around 60-65, this is usually done with a chiller.

Long story short, your grow is too large for a DWC, unless your going to go with totes, in which case you might as well go with an RDWC that way you can do your swapouts via your res.

[chrisWeeder]

so lets say that 16 plants with SCROG will work fine in my room!
i concider the RDWC but is it the same or i should look for flood and drain systems which
come out with 24 plants and its full automated but much more expencive?
is this method better than DWC for so many plants??
or i should stick with the RDWC?
and as far as SCROG i havent tryied yet ...

[Mal420xl]

well would you rather change water/nutrients and chase ph etc. in 16 containers or in just one that feeds them all.

[low_rdr]

so lets say that 16 plants with SCROG will work fine in my room!
i concider the RDWC but is it the same or i should look for flood and drain systems which
come out with 24 plants and its full automated but much more expencive?
is this method better than DWC for so many plants??
or i should stick with the RDWC?
and as far as SCROG i havent tryied yet ...

Ebb and Flow isn't quite flood and drain. So I would first recomend looking at the different setups, figure out what you can do yourself, and what will work for you. Honestly, I can build a 4500 RDWC system for roughly $450 and it takes about 4 hours to setup from start to finish. I've never built an Ebb and Flow, but I know the system, and honestly I could do an ebb and flow table for roughly $155, including the pump and halos. I've just seen the most vigorous growth in rdwc and DWC.

[chrisWeeder]

when i said drain and flood i meant ebb and flow... ive reading a lot of stuff lately ad they get kind of confused!
the reason i began saying about DWC is that it is supposed to be the most stable and productive! time to maintain i have so the only
thing i have to look for is either cirqulated or not which is a great deal since i dont have any experience with hudroponics!
the other thing that bothers me is the 700 ppm scale. where can i find a schedule that can get me started?

[LOC NAR on probation]

For that setup I would suggest ebb and gro. If you look around you can get a 12 pot system for under 400. Then 6 pot add on for about 60 bucks. You can expand to 48 pots on a 55 gallon rez. Only one rez to keep a check on and an over all consistant harvest. If you need the I can tell you where I found the cheapest. The cost can seem alittle high but will pay off well. Depending on where your at you will need a heater and maybe a chiller. Well worth it for easy operation.
We started with GH flora for years and then tried Technaflora recipe for success with very good results and alot less salt build up.