Dwc watering schedule

[little butch]

I,ve been soil growing for over 40 years , but now I am going to try DWC. I have done a lot of research but have never seen a watering schedule for the top drip for the little ones. I have built a 6 plant tote system with a pumped top drip system,I have several sizes of emitters, 1, 2,and 3 gal per hour per plant. lots of air circulation in the reservoir, 2 large 2 outlet pumps with 2 large beer can type air stones. really boils the water. I'm good on nutes and lights and all the extra stuff. I really need to know if the pump for the top drip should be constant, or an off and on schedule, and also which emitters to use for the flow rate. If there is someone out there that can help, please do. Thanks, little butch

 

[jonboy30]

Leave the top drip emitters running constant (1 gph should be sufficient). Once the roots reach the resevoir the top drip isn't necessary any longer.

 

[allybam]

I've never used a drip, rockwool holds lots of water and the bursting bubbles on the surface keep it well wet and after 1-2 days the roots are into the water, remember to underfeed, 1/5 strength nutes

 

[LivingCanvas]

If you're in straight hydroton/clay pebbles you can leave the drip running constantly.
As Allybam said, with rockwool you'd want a different timed schedule. I'd say 4mins,
twice a day. Once at lights on, once before lights out.

I personally use a repeat cycle timer and do 2 mins every 6 hours, so 4 feeds a day.
I prefer to use hydroton oly, but am currently veggin in Delta 10 blocks (rockwool 4x4x4) to transplant
to a DIY UC setup I'm working on.

 

[little butch]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Has anyone out there used sure to grow with dwc ??what results? I'm planning on hydroton, but nothing is written in stone. Also, if anyone has advice on a high performance breed for dwc ?

 

[jonboy30]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Has anyone out there used sure to grow with dwc ??what results? I'm planning on hydroton, but nothing is written in stone. Also, if anyone has advice on a high performance breed for dwc ?

Sure to grow? Never heard of it sir...if you're just starting out in dwc, please search other threads, stickies, etc., you'll study up on a lot of already asked questions. Also, my most important piece of advice I can try and pass along to others in dwc....please, please, please...keep it simple. Less is more. Hydro isn't forgiving like soil grows. Judging on your 40 years of growing you have an experienced knowledge of botany and horticulture. Apply the same techniques utilized in prior grows and expand your horizons. You'll be amazed at the finished results, the truly amazing speed in development with hydroponics. Do not over analyze ever cotton-picken minut detail and you'll be fine.
Sorry to chew your ear off, but as far as strain goes: do some research on RIU and check out peeps journals etc. you be the judge. It also depends on the profile of cannabis that you enjoy. Are you in an area that clones are available? If not, read the characteristic profiles for each strain that is listed on reputable seed banks.
I'd be glad to help u out on any other questions you may have, but I hate being redundant in advising things that people on here have been tutoring for years. I've been on here for four years and homies been helping me for four years prior to that! I wish you all the luck in your next level of continuum and journey as an experienced horticulturalist. ~JB

 

[BlackMesa]

The absolute best method to start plants in DWC is to run a water pump to a multiport irrigation manifold that will allow you to control the flow as needed. Next and here is the important part, hook the pumps power to a 8 event timer that spreads 8 separate 20 minute watering sessions through out a 24 hour period!

You end up with a system that is 100% impossible to over water and shaves veg time. I veg only 2.5 weeks from seed max with this method and get far, far, far above average results. You get precision controls with the irrigation manifold. I also recommend starting at 25PPM of nutes at seed pop and an increase of 25PPM every 7 days to shave off even more veg time.

 

[Malevolence]

If you use 2" or 3" neoprene collars and net pots you don't need hydroton or top feed.

Cuttings can go straight into the collars and into a cloner... seedlings can be started in rockwool / rapid rooter / etc and then into the net pot with collar in dwc after about a week. The little 2" puck can be easily transplanted to a 5g bucket or anything with a 2" hole really. You will also most likely get a faster start since the roots will be in the dwc immediately as opposed to having to push through a gallon of clay balls and top feed for 2 weeks. I used to use hydroton but I just find this way simpler for me to work with.

Setting up complex top-feed systems is money and effort that could be better spend converting to undercurrent.

 

[little butch]

thanks guys. black mesa...I just happen to have a couple 9 outlet manifolds that are fully adjustable. being new to dwc I thought that good pressure adjusted emitters that are all the same (all 1 gph or all 2 gph etc),would keep everything consistent without having to fiddle with manifold adjustments. have you tried emitters rather than the manifold ?? not trying to say you aren't right, I really wouldn't know. I think I will use the 2gph emitters to avoid serious accidental overwatering due to poor newbie adjustments, but also put the manifold on just out of the reservoir to be able to reduce the flow from the 2gph emitters if necessary during the grow. am I crazy and poorly assessing this ??? also have a good relationship with my hydro shop and after research and advice I am going to use a product new to me called GROWSTONE. After watching 3 different side by side tests by my store guy, and doing the research(comparing hydroton, coco, and growstone side by side) there was 20 to 25% bigger, healthier plants with the growstone. Also it delivers three and 1/2 times more water at saturation than hydroton, it has 40% more aeration than perlite and 4 times more aeration than coco noir. ph neutral, lightweight, don't crumble, flushes easy, lasts forever, fully washable and reusable, and sterile. since I am a save the planet kind of guy, it is 100% recycled, repurposed glass. totally eco-friendly and no pit or strip mining like hydroton,perlite, vermiculite, pumice,and basalt. this stuff is pretty cool, and was 8 bucks cheaper than hydroton in a 25lb bag, so here I go. Also for jonboy30, sure to grow is another pretty cool product. google it or search it on ebay. It is another soilless media that works remarkably well, FYI. thanks again, all comments welcome.

 

[BlackMesa]

thanks guys. black mesa...I just happen to have a couple 9 outlet manifolds that are fully adjustable. being new to dwc I thought that good pressure adjusted emitters that are all the same (all 1 gph or all 2 gph etc),would keep everything consistent without having to fiddle with manifold adjustments. have you tried emitters rather than the manifold ?? not trying to say you aren't right, I really wouldn't know. I think I will use the 2gph emitters to avoid serious accidental overwatering due to poor newbie adjustments, but also put the manifold on just out of the reservoir to be able to reduce the flow from the 2gph emitters if necessary during the grow. am I crazy and poorly assessing this ??? also have a good relationship with my hydro shop and after research and advice I am going to use a product new to me called GROWSTONE. After watching 3 different side by side tests by my store guy, and doing the research(comparing hydroton, coco, and growstone side by side) there was 20 to 25% bigger, healthier plants with the growstone. Also it delivers three and 1/2 times more water at saturation than hydroton, it has 40% more aeration than perlite and 4 times more aeration than coco noir. ph neutral, lightweight, don't crumble, flushes easy, lasts forever, fully washable and reusable, and sterile. since I am a save the planet kind of guy, it is 100% recycled, repurposed glass. totally eco-friendly and no pit or strip mining like hydroton,perlite, vermiculite, pumice,and basalt. this stuff is pretty cool, and was 8 bucks cheaper than hydroton in a 25lb bag, so here I go. Also for jonboy30, sure to grow is another pretty cool product. google it or search it on ebay. It is another soilless media that works remarkably well, FYI. thanks again, all comments welcome.

The emitters your talking about almost accomplish the same task but I just prefer a decent stream for 20 minutes X 8 for a few reasons, 1. I believe that a much larger stream is a benifit to the plants at something that would equal 6 gallons per hour and 2. Since your dealing with a larger flow when it comes time to drain the rez, you can just re-route the flow into a jug or tote for quick rez changes. Your method will work good but it would be nice to be able to by-pass the emitters for rez changes. If you have a drain port directly on your rez then I guess it wouldn't matter.

A DWC system gives just about all benefits for growth when the roots hit the water so hydrotron is really only there to anchor the plant to the system, I'm not sure using anything different would make a difference except for the inital period young seedling of course, But I will check out that growstone. =)

 

[Malevolence]

thanks again, all comments welcome.

DWC is simple, cheap, fast and you are making it complex, expensive, slower. The whole point of DWC in the first place is to have roots directly in cold highly oxygenated super charged nute solution. If the roots have to noodle around in a basket of rocks for 2 weeks looking for the res, not only are you losing speed, you are throwing your money away and putting in additional wasted effort maintaining a slower and less efficient drip feed system. You do not have to worry about over watering with hydroton or in DWC, unless you fail to provide enough bubbles. I won't say anymore about it and I know you will go with what works best for you.

 

[Pinworm]

Dudes. Very helpful. Many thanks. Also, I did some research on "growstone", and I'm totally blown away. Something I may consider here very soon.

 

[constructionpig]

Well I took the plunge from soil to DWC about 8 months ago! "I now believe soil is great outside!" I had no idea how awesome DWC was going to be.
One thing keep it simple do what you think is best. Oh you have to get a good PH meter if nobody said. Have fun and practice practice practice

 

[nameno]

I read Heath's thing and I ran a line from a 40gph water pump in 5 gl bucket up to the plant,line must be about 3/8 or so I leave it running 24-7 he said keep the water level up to the plant not under the net pot and it explodes for the first part of the grow,then it doesn't help as much.
GL&HY