Quote Originally Posted by Da1KrayzieThug
Okay,

I need to clarify a few things on this system as I am looking into getting into this style of growing as apposed to soil.

These are for a single DWC system:

1. How are the nutes added if the lid is not to be opened due to roots not liking light?

2. What's the difference from adding a control bucket to circulate the water as apposed to simply having one bucket with an air pump/air stone?

3. What's a good sized bucket for a plant to grow about 3-4 feet tall?

4. How often are nutes added to the water mix?

5. Does the water ever need to completely be replaced at anytime in the plant's life? (On a single DWC system)

I'm asking all this for a single because I want to setup only 1 for now even if it turns male to see what the rage is about hydro.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
1: The nutrients are change in the control bucket that maintains the nutrient level in the grow bucket.

2: with out a control bucket you would need to change the water everyday. The PPM will change as well as the Ph everyday. The plant will use up some nutrients and discard others. It will drink up to several gallons a day and a single bucket runs a good chance of running out of water. That's a bad thing when you run a hydro system.

3: A 5-gallon bottom bucket with a net pot or PVC piece in the bottom to support the top bucket weight if you go that route. If you use 8" net pots you only need to secure the air stones. A good grow is a 5 gallon bottom bucket with a lid cut to support a 3 gallon bucket with lots of holes drilled in the bottom and sides. You hold it up with the lid from the 5 gallon bucket but you still need support from the bottom to hold it up over the life of the grow. Fill either the 8" net pot or the 3-gallon bucket with 100% grow rocks. If you want to grow bigger ones like trees you need to use larger lava rock so the roots can get better support and hold up bigger plants.

4: A full nutrient change and cleaning should be done every 7-10 day's. If you run low on the water before you do a full change you only add back Ph adjusted water to the control bucket to bring the level back to normal.

5: see #4

You may want a Bio-Bucket system. It's not my favorite way to grow but they don't change the water. That may answer a few of your questions I hope. I have grown hydro for many years and I hope you find it as fun and rewarding as I do. Once you have a successful hydro grow under your belt (and the start up cost is high compared to dirt) you will not grow in dirt anymore. Hydro is so much quicker to grow, quicker to fix problems, and easer to manage too.