Thinking of doing DWC, Need questions answered

lulutheblack

lulutheblack

Active Member
Can someone link the best thread that explains DWC / bubbleponics in detail for a noobie like me? I want to try some sort of hydro and bubbleponics seems to be the simplest, from what I can tell.

I "think" bubbleponics only requires ONE single tub total, right? And the entire process is just maintaining fresh water with a consistant ph and feeding nutes correctly while keeping an air stone pumping air into the water to keep it oxygenated at all times, right?

Hydro requires reserviors as well as at least 1 tub, correct? Not sure how this process works at all...

Aeroponics / misting or whatever the term is also requires a reservior and at least 1 tub correct? (this seems much like bubbleponics to me)

What does DWC stand for?

:weed: Thanks for the info!
 
A

angelsbandit

Well-Known Member
DWC stands for "deep water culture".

You can build a DWC system for just a few dollars with a 5 gallon bucket, an air pump, air lines, and air stones - very easy.
Cut a hole in the lid of the bucket to fit your net-pot, put the net-pot with plant in the hole and let her go.
A second 5 gallon bucket makes water changes quite easy - mix nutes and water in 2nd bucket, adjust PH, then simply transfer the lid with your plant onto this new bucket.
 
kingofqueen

kingofqueen

Well-Known Member
Usally once a week sometimes longer u have to get dialed in to see how long u can go per your conditions .I built one out of an 5 gallon bucket you can buy net pot made to fit the top of a bucket too then u dont have to cut a hole in a lid or buy one. I run a tomatoe plant in mine with ionic nutrient, ro water changed it out every week and a half worked great wanting to try some pot in it soon!
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
You are on track but I did spot one thing... You don't want to shoot for a constant PH level, but rather a consistent Ph range. You will want to set the water to something like 5.5 and then expect it to drift up over time. The amount of time it takes to drift upwards will be different at different times. You will want to let it get somewhere around 6.2 before you adjust it back down. This is because different elements of your nutrient solution are available at different Ph levels. After a while you will get a feel for how fast your PH should drift, and you will be able to spot potential problems if it goes out of whack.
 
lulutheblack

lulutheblack

Active Member
Heisenberg said:
You are on track but I did spot one thing... You don't want to shoot for a constant PH level, but rather a consistent Ph range. You will want to set the water to something like 5.5 and then expect it to drift up over time. The amount of time it takes to drift upwards will be different at different times. You will want to let it get somewhere around 6.2 before you adjust it back down. This is because different elements of your nutrient solution are available at different Ph levels. After a while you will get a feel for how fast your PH should drift, and you will be able to spot potential problems if it goes out of whack.
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Yeah after much reading I did find that is correct, Thanks!
 
K

kimber45acp

Member
The important thing about using a DWC system is even though it's easy and inexpensive to setup, you will have to monitor it daily. Things can go out of whack very quickly. Just make sure you have all the necessary supplies handy and the correct nutrients. And of course visiting forums like this and reading books and magazines won't hurt either.
The best advice I can give is to have a decent ph meter, TDS/EC meter, dark buckets or containers (to prevent algae) and a good airstone (more oxygen for your roots.
One of the things I notice is once your plants get bigger and their root systems get big, they consume tons of water. So you may have to refill the reservoir every 1 or 2 days. If you go too long without adding more water you could get nute burn since the nutrients get more concentrated as the water evaporates.
 
lulutheblack

lulutheblack

Active Member
kimber45acp said:
The important thing about using a DWC system is even though it's easy and inexpensive to setup, you will have to monitor it daily. Things can go out of whack very quickly. Just make sure you have all the necessary supplies handy and the correct nutrients. And of course visiting forums like this and reading books and magazines won't hurt either.
The best advice I can give is to have a decent ph meter, TDS/EC meter, dark buckets or containers (to prevent algae) and a good airstone (more oxygen for your roots.
One of the things I notice is once your plants get bigger and their root systems get big, they consume tons of water. So you may have to refill the reservoir every 1 or 2 days. If you go too long without adding more water you could get nute burn since the nutrients get more concentrated as the water evaporates.
Click to expand...

What is a TDS/EC meter? And thanks for that info.
 
lulutheblack

lulutheblack

Active Member
I've decided to go small and do 3 plants in a 5 gallon bucket. I got a dual output pump and 4 5inch airstones. Each output on the pump will push 2 airstones since they are linkable. It should cover the bottom and spread the oxygen output adequately. Can't wait to get started!
 
Heisenberg

Heisenberg

Well-Known Member
TDS meter measures total dissolved salts. It measures this by the electric conductivity of the water, so is sometimes called an EC meter. In America, we think of it as PPM (parts per million). This will basically tell you how concentrated the nutrients are in the water. Beginers use a meter to help ensure they don't over feed the plants and cause nute burn. Your nutrient line should provide a chart that tells you where the PPM should be in your paticular stage of growth. It is also very useful if you can keep records of the PPM taken every 12-24 hours. Over a few days you can get an idea of how much your plants are eating, and how fast. This lets you adjust the PPM for what they need. You'll have to do a little more reading to get the idea but basically, if your PPM is higher than it was the day before, you know that your plants drank more water than they ate nutrients, your PPM is perhaps too high. If your PPM is lower than the day before it means your plants ate more food than they drank water, and they would like a little higher PPM. Ideally, over 24 hrs, you will want to see your water drop a bit, your PH rise a bit, and your PPM to stay the same. Trying to reach this balance is part of what they mean when they say "dial in".

It is possible to get mislead by the PPM if you are not careful. The PPM can not tell you the concentration of each element available. After a while if you don't change the water, your nute balance can get out of whack, even if your PPM meter says everything is fine. Plants will at times use their roots to deposit things back into the water, which can also throw off the PPM. That is why it's good to change the water regularly, 1-2 weeks depending on res size, so you can ensure the proper balance of your nute solution.

BTW personally if it were me, I would add a second dual outlet air pump.
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
I've found buckets (bubblers) to be very much a pain in the ass to check ph and tds. I liked the aerospring idea which sprays the roots , of course I also implement air pump and oxygenators as in a dwc system since in the end the roots WILL be in the water. Attached are some photos of a tote I designed and built , all parts but the water pump are bought from home depot. home depot is uppity with their water pumps and charge an arm and a leg, funny how they had a bunch of them right next to the totes though, someone must know whats going on. See photos, much time and labor went into building these . They have this hinged lid in the front thats real handy for checking/adding/changing water. The last photo with the roots showing was my first design on the same tote, didn't work well, lid wasn't strong enough, my answer was to build a lid support into the plumbing, its a major pain in the ass to put together but the results are great. I'm building a few more of them soon, they run about 60 dollars in parts.I did one site units but I vegged for 30 days and had some 5.5 foot monsters. You'd have to modifythe plumbing/sprayers a bit but I bet it would make a nice 3 or 4 site unit if you like to keep them small.
 

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Mylar

Mylar

Well-Known Member
No matter what you know, you must be cognizant of TWO things! Water Temps below 70 deg is pivotal in your grow!! Absolutely NO Light can enter the bucket/container!! Not even thru the plastic tub. Don't even ask why (you dont want to know). Just make sure you can achieve this before you start throwing plants in. These two things will make everything you do with your plants heaven!!
Going thru my first grow, learning the hard way but still having fun! Good luck bro!
 
dbkick

dbkick

Well-Known Member
I've also found that water and room temps have to be in check but with a little h2o2 and co2 the temps can actually be very high and you'll still do fine, before I got my temps under control (bought a portable AC and kept the room at 72-74 F which kept the rez at 70 f or below) my water temps got up to like 87 F and room temps to 93 F. My first harvest(Colorado amendment 20) came out pretty good even though my temps were way too high throughout much of the grow.
 
BoomerBloomer57

BoomerBloomer57

Well-Known Member
Mylar said:
No matter what you know, you must be cognizant of TWO things! Water Temps below 70 deg is pivotal in your grow!! Absolutely NO Light can enter the bucket/container!! Not even thru the plastic tub. Don't even ask why (you dont want to know). Just make sure you can achieve this before you start throwing plants in. These two things will make everything you do with your plants heaven!!
Going thru my first grow, learning the hard way but still having fun! Good luck bro!
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This should be the dwc growers mantra,,,,

No Light,
Cool Waters

Mylar,
truer words have never been spoken.

Kudos and a +rep to ya!
 
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