I normally like to figure stuff out on my own without asking questions but this is relatively uncharted waters for my roommate and me and we dont have a lot of time to mess around. I am looking for some input on the amount of buckets and lights to do with my new recirculating DWC hydro setup that is currently under construction.

A new room has become available to me and its time to put it to use. The plan has been to do a recirculating deep water culture (DWC) setup with between 8 and 16 buckets. I got the inspiration from Snoop but we are pretty much copying a setup that is on cannagraphic, forgot the guys name.

Simply put, the setup uses a large rez (60gallons), with a smaller 20 gallon control rez (which pumps the nutrients around and where the water gets chilled), and then is pumped around 8-16 5 gallon buckets with a 300gph pump. The buckets are aerated with air lines and airstones from a large airpump. Essentially there is a feed in at the top of each 5 gallon bucket and a larger return line at the bottom which carries the nutrients back to the controller rez.

The room is about 10x11 feet with a 2x4 (wide x deep) foot closet for the rezs. The room is sealed. We are exhausting out of the ceiling. Air will be drawn from the open window which has a tiny room built around it to shield light and sound from prying eyes and ears. There is a dehumidifier. Due to cold temperatures we have, we are going to try to get away without an A/C for the time being (ambient temps in my other grow rooms are around 65-70). CO2 will also be used (tank, dripped from ceiling and fanned around, controller). There are 4 x 600 watt Lumatek aircooled lights, lots of exhaust. I do not have hoods yet, so the modelis open to opinion (the light spread for each is around 4.5x4.5 feet).

So enough of the background, the questions. How many buckets??! With 4 lights we were thinking that 16 would be a nice # of buckets, limiting 4 per lamp. That is 150 watts per plant (which is actually more equivalent to around 230 watts per plant when we compare 600 digitals to normal 1000 watt magnetic ballasts). We would like 1.5 pounds per light, so around 6 ounces per plant would be great. We do have a time constraint but they have time to veg for 4 weeks from very established clones (the clones will be in a small bubbler getting roots going in the netpots so I can potentially do over 5 weeks of veg and around 9 of flowering.

What would be the best way to utilize the light spread? If we do 16 plants, we were going to do 4 rows of 4 plants (with the rezs in the closet out of the way). Each light would sit over 4 plants, but over 2 different rows, 2 plants from each row. Sound alright? Can people give some input on the yields they experienced with DWC systems with the amount of veg they did? I have pulled over 2 ounces easily from a DWC plant that was vegged for 2 weeks and flowered for 9. It didnt get nearly the light and ventillation or water temps it should have so 6 ounces per plant seems conservative with twice the veg, better nutrients and control, and more light. I am open to screen of green and other suggestions.

We use Advanced Nutrients (Bloom, Micro, Grow, Vitaboost, Big Bud, Growth Excel). Temperature is not a problem. Really just want to know if this is a good plan (# of plants to lights). I have done larger scale ebb/flow systems but we had no water chiller and it was almost a disaster. I have only done small scale DWC setups, not recirculating. I am not interested in getting more then 4 lights, but if people feel I can get away with only 3 lights I always have use for the extra one.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

PS. I am a little lost on what I should grow for this setup. I have the following available to me (Purple G, Blueberry, Graprefruit, Cindy 99, Romulan, Purps, and thats pretty much it as Im done with Trainwreck for awhile). I know the heavy indicas will have the longest flowering time, but are they a good choice for 16 pots within a 110 square foot room? Cindy 99 has a shorter time but its a lot taller. Etc.
Racerx Reviewed by Racerx on . Recirculating DWC - # of Buckets / # Lights I normally like to figure stuff out on my own without asking questions but this is relatively uncharted waters for my roommate and me and we dont have a lot of time to mess around. I am looking for some input on the amount of buckets and lights to do with my new recirculating DWC hydro setup that is currently under construction. A new room has become available to me and its time to put it to use. The plan has been to do a recirculating deep water culture (DWC) setup with between 8 and 16 Rating: 5