Pros and Cons Of DWC?

Miracle Smoke

Miracle Smoke

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking of going to DWC,
but i would like to know a few things.

Is yield substantially higher with DWC than soil?

Will i need to fill/change the water
every day if so how many hours
can it go before i have to fill it up
with more water?

How much water does it use?

Can i get rid of that chemical
taste.

And if you can what are the disadvantages and other
advantages with DWC.

Thank you.
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
Miracle Smoke said:
I'm thinking of going to DWC,
but i would like to know a few things.

Is yield substantially higher with DWC than soil?
yes
Will i need to fill/change the water
every day if so how many hours
can it go before i have to fill it up
with more water?
that depends on the size container you use, plant size, and number of plants per container. i like to use big res's, because they are easier to get and keep everything stable, but you can use smaller containers if they fit your space better. i have used a 50 gallon res with 50 small plants (SOG) and had to top off once a week,, ive also used the same res with 12 big plants (4' or so) and had to add water every 3 days.
and i always completely change my water every 2 weeks.
 How much water does it use?
see previous answer
Can i get rid of that chemical
taste.
yes just flush and cure
And if you can what are the disadvantages and other
advantages with DWC.
the biggest disadvantage to DWC over soil and most other hydro setups is keeping water temps right. DWCs are very picky about res temps. and IMHO the biggest deciding factor on high yields and happy plants for most DWCs growers. if you cant keep your res temps in the 60's i wouldnt mess with a DWC.

a big advantage to DWCs are the fast growth rate and there really arent to many ways for it to mess up. the only thing that can (and will) go out are the air pumps. just try to keep at least 1 pump for a backup and your set. some people like to use 1 big air pump, but im not much of a fan of that. when you use just 1 if it goes out you have to notice and replace it fairly fast or the plants are goners. in the 50 gallon res i was talking about before i use 4 dual outlet a outlet pumps so if 1 burns out my plants will be fine for days without replacing the pump.
 Thank you.
Click to expand...
hope this helps and good luck:peace:
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
if u go with multi dwc, its best to use a control and res. if the plant is huge and you have a small bucket, you'll have to water every 2-3 days, especially at the near end of flowering cycle. everything else is good, just make sure that it has enough air bubbles to support the amount of plants you put into the dwc, and the temps will correct itself when you correct the temp of your grow space.

another con is when a plant gets way too big you'll have to support it and its a lil bit annoying when you have to lift the lid to a huge ass plant and watering it, but its doable.
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
wafflehouselover said:
if u go with multi dwc, its best to use a control and res. if the plant is huge and you have a small bucket, you'll have to water every 2-3 days, especially at the near end of flowering cycle. "everything else is good, just make sure that it has enough air bubbles to support the amount of plants you put into the dwc, and the temps will correct itself when you correct the temp of your grow space."

another con is when a plant gets way too big you'll have to support it and its a lil bit annoying when you have to lift the lid to a huge ass plant and watering it, but its doable.
Click to expand...
could you explain that alil better please? it sounds to me like your saying if you have enough bubbles your res temp will stay cool. im prolly just misreading.
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
ill have to disagree on that point. your water will be whatever the average ambient temp is. if your rooms temps stays at 80 youll have water that is 80. there are other factors like what kind of flooring, type and size of container, and things like that, but in most cases the water will be really close to the rooms avg temp.
water that is 70+ in a DWC is just asking for probs and more work than there should be. water at 65 will hold almost 30% more oxygen than water at 75. that mean almost 30% more pumps and air stones. algae has a hard time coping with the cooler temps aswell.
a chiller of some sort really is a smart investment. there are tons of DIY chillers out there so its not something you have to go nuts and drop a few hundred bucks on. and as a side bonus when you have a good chiller you can crank up the heat in your room. i keep mine in the low to mid 90's when im flowering, and my res temps holds at 66.
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
Where did you read that from lol.

Anyway look in my gallery, that room was at 85 degree throughout the grow with 2 dwc, and not only that the 2 dwc i had 1 264pump in there each to circulate the water(so that pump puts on more heat). So obviously you feel victim to the water chiller company that probably put it out there that your res temp has to be 70- degree. And i do agree with you that the water in the res will eventually be the same temp as the ambient temperature, but when its nighttime the water cools and when the lights turn on and the room heats up the water temp will take awhile till it get to that temp this is because plastic isn't a heat conductor.

70degree? i think fdd would call this BS!
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
wafflehouselover said:
Where did you read that from lol.
where did i read what exactly from?
Anyway look in my gallery, that room was at 85 degree throughout the grow with 2 dwc, and not only that the 2 dwc i had 1 264pump in there each to circulate the water(so that pump puts on more heat). not to bad, but could be much better. a few small tweeks and you can replace those beer bottle sized colas with footballs sized lol. So obviously you feel victim to the water chiller company that probably put it out there that your res temp has to be 70- degree. i never said it "had" to be less than 70, i said 70 plus is asking for trouble. and i also said that there are tons or DIY chillers out there, so dont go buy 1 when you can make 1 much cheaper. And i do agree with you that the water in the res will eventually be the same temp as the ambient temperature, but when its nighttime the water cools and when the lights turn on and the room heats up the water temp will take awhile till it get to that temp this is because plastic isn't a heat conductor. it also isnt much of an insulator either. and i said the average ambient temp. if you run 90's in the day and 80's at night your res will average around 85.

70degree? i think fdd would call this BS! i think fdd or any other 1/2 way responsible member of this forum would know enough to not tell some1 thinking about trying a grow technique new to them that everything will be fine when it wont or could be much better with a few small tweeks.
Click to expand...
if your asking me where i read the desolved oxygen to water temp ratio im sure i can come up with a few links when i get the time to look.
 
W

wafflehouselover

Well-Known Member
well obviously you never grew dwc because algae doesn't grow in the bucket, oh wait its just really known that algae doesn't grow at all if light isn't present.
 
Miracle Smoke

Miracle Smoke

Well-Known Member
Alright,
but i plan on growing 4 plants maximum
under a 600w hid and possibly along
with 8 65w cfls for side lighting.

Is this overkill or should i try to fit
atleast 5-6 plants? (my space is 2ft
(width x 5.5ft length)

I don't know about mulitsystem
as i thought about just going
with individual system
for each plant.

Like this

GENERAL HYDROPONICS

Please feel free to
lend out any more information.

Thx
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
wafflehouselover said:
well obviously you never grew dwc because algae doesn't grow in the bucket, oh wait its just really known that algae doesn't grow at all if light isn't present.
Click to expand...
look im not here to argue. every1 has their own way of doing things. if you wanna keep your res temp at 200 i dont care. im just trying to help some1 that is trying to get a feel for what some of the pros and cons are of DWCs. if yould like to debate this in more depth make a thread and ill be glad to discuss it with you.


sorry for jackin up your thread man. it was not my intent.
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
Miracle Smoke said:
Alright,
but i plan on growing 4 plants maximum
under a 600w hid and possibly along
with 8 65w cfls for side lighting.

Is this overkill or should i try to fit
atleast 5-6 plants? (my space is 2ft
(width x 5.5ft length)

I don't know about mulitsystem
as i thought about just going
with individual system
for each plant.

Like this

GENERAL HYDROPONICS

Please feel free to
lend out any more information.

Thx
Click to expand...
IMHO that is a good kit, but you could do just as good for 1/4 the price if you made your own. with that system you could grow huge monster plants, but with just a 600 watt light your not going to get a huge harvest unless you do maybe a SCROG or something like that. the 600 watt light would be your limiting factor not the containers.
 
th3bigbad

th3bigbad

Well-Known Member
a 600 watt lamp will reach about a foot down into your canopy. that means good hard nuggs for the first foot then youll get lighter airy buds the closer to the bottom you get. the 600w will get a good 3'x3' footprint on the top of the canopy. so you want to plan your growing style around a 3'x3'x1' (LengthxWidthxDepth into the canopy) harvest. if you grow 4 plants 12' tall you will still only get good bud on the top foot of the plant. or if you grow 20 plants 2' tall your still getting good bud on only the top foot of them.
with the size of the buckets you posted you could grow a 12' tall plant, but your harvest wouldnt be all that great. you could grow alot more smaller plants in something like a 20 gallon rubbermade tote and have a lot better harvest.

unless you want to do a SCROG, then the outcome will change some. but with the long veg time it really wouldnt be worth it IMHO.
 
Miracle Smoke

Miracle Smoke

Well-Known Member
th3bigbad said:
a 600 watt lamp will reach about a foot down into your canopy. that means good hard nuggs for the first foot then youll get lighter airy buds the closer to the bottom you get. the 600w will get a good 3'x3' footprint on the top of the canopy. so you want to plan your growing style around a 3'x3'x1' (LengthxWidthxDepth into the canopy) harvest. if you grow 4 plants 12' tall you will still only get good bud on the top foot of the plant. or if you grow 20 plants 2' tall your still getting good bud on only the top foot of them.
with the size of the buckets you posted you could grow a 12' tall plant, but your harvest wouldnt be all that great. you could grow alot more smaller plants in something like a 20 gallon rubbermade tote and have a lot better harvest.

unless you want to do a SCROG, then the outcome will change some. but with the long veg time it really wouldnt be worth it IMHO.
Click to expand...
Well hell i don't want 12 ft plants anyway LOL!

My space is

7ft (height) x 5ft (length) x 2ft (width)

The tallest i want my plants is 5-6ft,
maybe go with what gardenknowm
suggested.

Forget cfls and just buy maybe another hid system.

I wouldn't want to go with a 600w as i already
got one and that will produce alot of heat.

Probably go with a 400w
and put it down to where it would
do side lighting.

The 600w would be shining above
and the 400 would be
vertical hanging down to middle
of the grow room to shine on
the open bud nodes eh.

I'm just looking to yield about a Qp to a half to a whole pound.
 
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