how hard is it to grow in DWC?

Rusty Shakelford

Rusty Shakelford

Well-Known Member
I ran two grows with RDWC 4 bucket systems and the constant need to check PH and PPM's, and topping up, and switching frozen water bottles, it just got to be an awful lot of work.

So I switched to Hempy Buckets, and so far, I am loving it. Only have to PH the water when I mix it, dont have to worry about the temperature, dont have to worry about root rot, no loud water or air pumps to fail, just water/feed whenever the bottom of the bucket is empty, and that's about it.
 
BigBuddahCheese

BigBuddahCheese

New Member
Rusty Shakelford said:
I ran two grows with RDWC 4 bucket systems and the constant need to check PH and PPM's, and topping up, and switching frozen water bottles, it just got to be an awful lot of work.

So I switched to Hempy Buckets, and so far, I am loving it. Only have to PH the water when I mix it, dont have to worry about the temperature, dont have to worry about root rot, no loud water or air pumps to fail, just water/feed whenever the bottom of the bucket is empty, and that's about it.
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I tried that also.. But the results from dwc trumped hempy so much the work seemed worth it... How much yield did you lose? I had 2.5 gallon hempys with 3/8 hole two inches up from bottom. Curious what results you seen.
 
Rusty Shakelford

Rusty Shakelford

Well-Known Member
BigBuddahCheese said:
I tried that also.. But the results from dwc trumped hempy so much the work seemed worth it... How much yield did you lose? I had 2.5 gallon hempys with 3/8 hole two inches up from bottom. Curious what results you seen.
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I haven't finished my Grow yet, and Yes, it took a bit to get them started, but the roots finally hit the res last week, and are really growing pretty fast. I am putting them into flower this weekend, so I will have to keep you posted on yield. This is also my first grow from seed, so its been interesting.
 
J

jokerindustries187

Member
I've been growing soil for some time and just this time decided to go sec after a little research because my clones werent doing very well in soil...I took them out of soil, put them in 4, 5 gallon buckets...put them in net 7 inch net pots, hydroton, tap water, general hydroponics nuts bio line up and throw afrozen water bottle in twice a day, change the water every week, and plants exploded...cheap! Easy! Why not?
 
BigLittlejohn

BigLittlejohn

Well-Known Member
For a large grow, I can see how DWC would be a major pain in the ass. However, for just a few plants, I think it is pretty easy. I am on my first grow ever and I am using DWC method with pretty good success. Sure checking PPM and PH daily are something like work, but my personality is such that I want to be an active participant in the growing process. I like being able to tinker and try shit out, so I rather enjoy the daily maintenance. And with just a few plants and adequate preparation you are talking 15-20 minutes of work.

I highly recommend DWC for a first timer, if you are committed to doing it right. There are also plenty of online resources that can walk you through set-up and maintenance including the DWC sub-forum here, but a search on youtube for DWC will reveal a lot of good information in a way you can visualize and apply to your own situation and circumstances.

When I first got into this hobby, I had to figure out which method I wanted to use based on my goals, so I did a ton of research. For me DWC was the no-brainer choice and I am happy I made it.
 
B

baskarz

Active Member
I find dwc quite simple. I'm on my second dwc grow now, my first was a micro setup in a PC case which got me 18grams . This grow is in my larger cab with 250w hps. I'm about 3 weeks from harvest and its doing very well. I only check Res level every other day and just top up with PhD water when needed. I do a Res change once a week and that's basically it. Only problem I've had has been a minor deficiency from lack of micro nutrients in the rainwater I used recently, mixing in some tap water seems to have corrected that.
although I plan on trying out mini hempys next round, but dwc is great in my humble opinion :)
 
CROPALOTAPOT

CROPALOTAPOT

Active Member
Advanced Nutrients Voodoo juice is the good bugs that you are suppose to be feeding to AN's Piranha if used, But i've used just Piranha with great results. And on the water cooling topic I wanted to mention that I've had great results putting your air pump right in front of the AC units out to inject cold air in to the water.
 
yourlocal420

yourlocal420

Chat room operator..ONLY!
With the right setup DWC is super easy. If you are new and want to just grow a few plants I think DWC would work very well. If you are looking for something easy I suggest building a 5 gal bubble bucket. There are a lot of tutorials on how to build a simple bucket. Make sure the outside is either foil taped or insulated with something white that doesn't absorb heat like a dark color. Make sure the bucket doesn't let in light and has an adequate air stone and air pump. If you want a simple nutrient setup that's hard to screw up I suggest GH Hydroflora Bloom one part. It has enough N to get you thru veg and has enough P and K to get you thru flower. If things are done correctly you can even run the same water/nute solution from start to finish. Keep the PH from 6.0 to 6.2 and don't get too heavy handed on the PPMs. 500-800 thru veg and 800 early flower and 1000 to 1500 in bloom depending on your plants' needs. Flush with straight RO water the last 10 days before harvest and you should have healthy plants that have good sized buds. I recommend at least a 600w HPS in flower or you will have to dial back a little on your nute solution strength. I have been growing for over 15 years and that is a baseline that I have started on when I started growing my first plants. I have since moved on to commercial growing but basics are basics. Remember everyone will have a different opinion on what is the best method to growing buds and what is the best nutrient line to use. This is just a very simple baseline to get you started thats somewhat fool proof until you get the basics down. Good luck.
 
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