Topher89
Active Member
I have been running the bubbles all the time with this setup, and it works great! Normally you always keep your bubbles running in a DWC setup!
Happy Holidays all!
How to build an easy DWC reservoir for little $ + perfect nute solution + PICS!
- Thread starter snutter
- Start date
I have been running the bubbles all the time with this setup, and it works great! Normally you always keep your bubbles running in a DWC setup!
Happy Holidays all!
snutter
Well-Known Member
I wanted to mention one thing:
Do NOT use clear reservoirs. This will allow light to hit your roots. That is a quick way to problems like root rot. I know you probably want to be able to see your water levels. If you use a light enough colored tote, like green or yellow, you can see the water levels through them no problem. What i did was I filled up my reservoir 1 gallon at a time. I marked the 9, 10, 11, and 12 gallon points on the inside of the reservoir. But then I noticed I could see the water levels on the outside, so I now make the same marks on the out side of the tote...
-S
Do NOT use clear reservoirs. This will allow light to hit your roots. That is a quick way to problems like root rot. I know you probably want to be able to see your water levels. If you use a light enough colored tote, like green or yellow, you can see the water levels through them no problem. What i did was I filled up my reservoir 1 gallon at a time. I marked the 9, 10, 11, and 12 gallon points on the inside of the reservoir. But then I noticed I could see the water levels on the outside, so I now make the same marks on the out side of the tote...
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
Sorry I missed this question.. The answer is most definitely yes!!!
24/7 I hope all is going well for you!
Hey man really simple question, when you change your nute solution every 12 days are you putting all new water and cleaning out the res or what? If yes, what do you do with that root ball mass while youre cleaning? Also if I use RO water would I have to change the nutes? I already have a similar cloner (made it a few months ago out of the same exact rubbermaid tote) but I want to build one of your units to sit next to my flood and drain table because I love trying new shit out.
snutter
Well-Known Member
I don't really bother cleaning out the reservoir. What I do is pretty simple. I leave the plant in the mesh pot of course. I lift the lid, and then slide it to the side a little bit. It will rest on top of the tote, and allow me enough space to do anything I need to do. Check pH, make pH adjustments, add water, etc... I use a small pump to pump out the old nutes. While I'm pumping out the old nutes, I fill up a spare tote that I have with 12 gallons of fresh water. Then I mix in the nutes, and set my pH to around 5.5. Once I'm done with this, the reservoir with the plant is usually about done being drained. I then switch the pump over to the fresh batch of nutes and pump them in to the reservoir.
During this whole process, the rootball is really not disturbed. Like I said, the lid is just off to the side a bit, so the roots are over to the side as well..
As to using RO water, i believe that even if you use RO water, you would still have to change out the nutes. The plants need fresh nutes throughout their entire life cycle. I'm not what kind of difference using RO would make...
I hope I was able to help out a little bro!
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
Yeah thanks a lot, I am building my tub tonight and I MIGHT put in a 5 month vegged monster sized Ogre bush from my F&D table. Should help my overcrowding problem. Maybe Ill post pics to show you how it turned out.
yeah man, put them pics up!! I'd love to see the plant. Here' a few pics of a bushy bitch I just moved in to my flower room. She's purdy...heheh.
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hairyrabbit
Member
Howzit man, i've just started reeding up about this DWC system and by the looks of things on this thread its great . Couple qustions tho #Do the roots allways sit in water and if so is ther a depth limit? why do you use a pump to put the nutes in instead of just straite tiping them in?
Hiesman
Well-Known Member
Yes they do always sit in the water, and no they dont have a depth limits. Also the pump is an 'air' pump... which aerates the reservoir. The nutrients are added to the reservoir. The pump simply supplies oxygen to the roots, which are sitting in the nutrient rich H20
snutter
Well-Known Member
The reason I pump the fresh nute batch in to the res's is because 12 gallons weighs too much to simply lift up and pour in...
Once it gets down to about 2 gallons of water, I stop pumping and pour the rest in.Also, yes the roots always sit in the water and there is no depth limit. They grow as they will throughout their entire life cycle...
Thanks for stopping by dude.
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
There's no need for me to use the Flora Gro.
By using the Flora Micro, and the Flora Bloom together, I am giving my plants every thing they need, and also everything that is contained in the Flora Gro. So, they actually are getting vegetative nutes and at the same time they are getting the nutes they need for flowering. It's called the "Lucas Formula." Google: lucas formula and read all about it. It's a very simple and VERY effective way to grow. It works perfectly. All I have to do is make sure to keep my temps, humidity, and pH correct, and everything turns out great.
The nice thing about the lucas fromula is the ease of use, but even better is the money saved. A gallon bottle of the Flora Micro, Gro, or Bloom costs $36.00 at my local grow store. By being able to cut out the Gro, I save that money. It adds up VERY fast since I buy new nutes every couple of months or so...
-S
bloatedcraig
Well-Known Member
Hello all,
I was going to send this to a friend on this site, but then decided to post it for all to see. This is how I build my reservoirs. It's simple, fast, cheap, and very effective!!
Pics 4, 5, and 6 show what you will need. An 18 gallon bucket with lid, some 1/4" flexible tubing and airline T's, airline holders and Mesh Baskets (sorry no pic, but you know what they look like). You will also need an aquarium air pump, which I didn't take a picture of. Sorry. I suggest you buy one for a 20 gallon tank. They are $10 dollars at any PETCO or PETSMART.
1) Drill a 1/4" hole on the side of the reservoir near the top for your flexible tubing to be fed through. cut a peice of tubing about 3 feet long and feed it through the hole.
2) at the end of the tubing inside the reservoir connect an airline T
3) Cut a piece of tubing about 8 to 10 inches long. Connect this tubing in a circle to the airline T. this will make a small circle as seen in pictures 7 and 8.
4) super glue your airline holders to the inside of the reservoir. I taped mine down because I use the reservoir in my pics for mixing nutes. These airline holders are to hold your airline to the side of the reservoir where it enters, and to hold the circle of tubing you made earlier to the bottom of the reservoirs. Just like you can see in the pictures. DO NOT super glue the tubing to the holders. Situate your tubing until it sits in the reservoirs just like my pictures.
5) Pull the tubing out. You now need to drill 3 VERY small holes in the circle portion of the tubing, at equal spacings. This is where the oxygen will come out to feed your roots. I used a 1/16" drill bit for this.
6) place tubing back in to the reservoir. Connect it to the holders.
7) You now need to trace out your mesh basket on to the lid of the reservoir. Cut out the hole, and place the basket in. It should fit firmly in the hole, and not fall through, so don't cut the whole too big around... You can always cut more off later if you need to. I use hydroton rocks for my planting medium.
the last picture shows the tubing coming out of the side of the reservoir and connecting to a box. The box is there to simulate the pump, I hope you get the idea. I just let my pumps sit on top of my reservoirs. This way if the electricity went off for some unknown reason the water can't back up and ruin them!!!
There you go. Pretty simple. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I attached a few pics of what my girls look like as well.
Now about Nutrients, here is what I now do:
I use general hydroponics Micro Flora and Micro Bloom only.
I use 8ml/gal of water Micro, and 16ml/gal of water Bloom in 12 gallons of water. Do not mix nutes together in same measuring cup. Measure them and pour them in to the water separately. If you mix them together, you can cause certain nutrients to bond together, or lock each other out and then they won't feed your plant. Not good...
I USE THIS FORMULA ALL THE WAY THROUGH. THAT MEANS DURING VEG AND FLOWERING. IT NEVER CHANGES. And it works. And it's simple. Simple is good.
I give my girls a fresh batch of nutrients every 2 weeks, or if they've drank 12 gallons of fresh water. Whichever comes first. That is to say that each day I add water to my reservoirs to keep them topped off at 12 gallons. I keep track of how much I add each day and once it hits 12 gallons, I drain my reservoirs and give my plants a fresh batch of nutes. Right now my girls are drinking about 1 gallon a day, so I'm changing nutes every 12 days. That's VERY reasonable to me, and really not that much work. And not very expensive either.
I hope this helps some people out. Try it. it really is easy to build and maintain.
Good luck and happy growing!!!
-Snut
Nice advice, do you think that changing nutes every two week is enough. I have been doing mine evry week and it tell ya it get Fking expensive because i seem to be throwing water with nutes away.
So if you think that every two week is good i might try that.
+rep
SCbud831
Member
Sweet. I'll be trying this shortly. If I'm using a 5gal. reservoir should i use the same strenths of nutes you mentioned in the first post? Also I do have to say that I tried the holes in the tubing method today and I seem to get many more bubles with 6" air stones instead. Maybe I just did something incorrectly though.There's no need for me to use the Flora Gro.
By using the Flora Micro, and the Flora Bloom together, I am giving my plants every thing they need, and also everything that is contained in the Flora Gro. So, they actually are getting vegetative nutes and at the same time they are getting the nutes they need for flowering. It's called the "Lucas Formula." Google: lucas formula and read all about it. It's a very simple and VERY effective way to grow. It works perfectly. All I have to do is make sure to keep my temps, humidity, and pH correct, and everything turns out great.
The nice thing about the lucas fromula is the ease of use, but even better is the money saved. A gallon bottle of the Flora Micro, Gro, or Bloom costs $36.00 at my local grow store. By being able to cut out the Gro, I save that money. It adds up VERY fast since I buy new nutes every couple of months or so...
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
Yes, 2 weeks is fine. That's pretty much the schedule I keep now. I use to do 12 days, cause my girls were drinking 12 gallons of fresh water in 12 days, maybe 13. I decided to just switch to every 2 weeks though, and it seems to be working just fine. Save yourself some money and switch to 2 weeks too.
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
You will 8ml's/gal water Flora Micro and 16ml.s/gal Flora Bloom... So that's 40ml's Micro and 80ml's Bloom.
Yes, airstones will put out more bubbles. But they clog up and have to be replaced, sometimes with a bunch of roots stuck to them, or draped all over them. I didn't like that, so I switched to my method. You don't need tons of bubbles, you only need to deliver oxygen to the roots... how ever, in a 5 gallon reservoir, you should have got pretty decent bubble action. I do in my 5 gal res's...
-S
snutter
Well-Known Member
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me any time. I'll be happy to help in any way I can! Glad you liked my post. I think that once you get settled in to this DWC method, you won't go back...
Of course there is nothing wrong with soil growing, especially when done correctly! Good luck to you brutha!-S
bloatedcraig
Well-Known Member
Cheers for the advice, probabl buy some booster with the saving.Yes, 2 weeks is fine. That's pretty much the schedule I keep now. I use to do 12 days, cause my girls were drinking 12 gallons of fresh water in 12 days, maybe 13. I decided to just switch to every 2 weeks though, and it seems to be working just fine. Save yourself some money and switch to 2 weeks too.
-S
AgentWiggles
Well-Known Member
Awesome, dude. I was thinking soil for my first grow and I think you've converted me. +rep as soon as I figure out how to do it.