First ever grow, dwc, succeed, fail.. what ever it will entail

Yes a big reservoir helps with less topping up of water - should be more stable for PH and EC, too as its a much bigger volume of water.

I think mine holds 120 litres max, which is about 32 gallons.

limp biffskit said:

Holy shit thanks mate really? I didn't even consider 500g or 1lb. And after the hurdles I've over come they only issue I am having is topping up the reservoirs constantly I think you're right getting an extra large reservoir that holds lots of water is probably my best option because apart from topping the water up I've basically had to do nothing the entire grow which has been great. What do you do about reservoir changes or is it ok to just top it up for the whole grow with such a large reservoir?

Click to expand...

I'm either lazy or a baller, pick what you like, but I only change out my rez once in a grow, when switching from veg, to bloom feeds.

Unless something goes wrong, I can get away with just topping up either food or plain water depending on what my EC & PH is doing.
Saves a fortune in feed aswell!

it's probably not ideal, but it works with a big resevour.

futurebanjo said:

I'm either lazy or a baller, pick what you like, but I only change out my rez once in a grow, when switching from veg, to bloom feeds.

Unless something goes wrong, I can get away with just topping up either food or plain water depending on what my EC & PH is doing.
Saves a fortune in feed aswell!

it's probably not ideal, but it works with a big resevour.

Click to expand...

Nice mate that sounds abit of me tbh and I've not really had issues with the cost of feed because my tanks are tiny plus I'm just topping up with nutrient feed but id rather be able to leave it for a week or so if need be because I'm in the tent daily with how much they're drinking but being able to just set and forget would be great. I'd like to be as lazy as possible.. I'd rather be in Spain for a week in my pool every day rather than topping nutrients up everyday instead.. literally missing out on holidays because of these little bugger haha

limp biffskit said:

Nice mate that sounds abit of me tbh and I've not really had issues with the cost of feed because my tanks are tiny plus I'm just topping up with nutrient feed but id rather be able to leave it for a week or so if need be because I'm in the tent daily with how much they're drinking but being able to just set and forget would be great. I'd like to be as lazy as possible.. I'd rather be in Spain for a week in my pool every day rather than topping nutrients up everyday instead.. literally missing out on holidays because of these little bugger haha

Click to expand...

It's easy enough to work your grow around your schedule if you can cope with say 5 months at a time between trips away, thats plenty of time to grow, harvest, shut down and dry & jar up your crop.

For example these https://www.rollitup.org/t/anesia-elementz-dwc.1104333/ have been going about the same time as yours, and will be chopped down probably in a week or two.

DWC gets a lot easier once you find your feet a bit, and get things a bit more dialled in.. its just experience, really... you'll start to intutivley know what needs doing, and how long you can go between checks.. I'll quite often not even open my tent for 4 or 5 days at a time becouse I just 'know' there won't be anything urgent to do.

I wouldn't want to go on holliday though just incase - power cuts, pump failiures etc. can all be a problem, and you needs to be able to fix that pretty quick.

You've kinda jumped in at the deep end (pun intended ) doing DWC for your first ever grow, but the plants look good!

futurebanjo said:

It's easy enough to work your grow around your schedule if you can cope with say 5 months at a time between trips away, thats plenty of time to grow, harvest, shut down and dry & jar up your crop.

Click to expand...

I like to go for 6 days every month give or take i'd be happy doing 5 but I like to get away alot! I have a villa out there so I like to make the most of it

limp biffskit said:

I like to go for 6 days every month give or take i'd be happy doing 5 but I like to get away alot! I have a villa out there so I like to make the most of it

Click to expand...

Thats kinda tricky... a pump failiure the day after you leave, and youll be comming back to dead plants.
Even worse, a water leak in the wrong place and you could end up with 100l of water dumped onto your floor!

futurebanjo said:

For example these https://www.rollitup.org/t/anesia-elementz-dwc.1104333/ have been going about the same time as yours, and will be chopped down probably in a week or two.

DWC gets a lot easier once you find your feet a bit, and get things a bit more dialled in.. its just experience, really... you'll start to intutivley know what needs doing, and how long you can go between checks.. I'll quite often not even open my tent for 4 or 5 days at a time becouse I just 'know' there won't be anything urgent to do.

I wouldn't want to go on holliday though just incase - power cuts, pump failiures etc. can all be a problem, and you needs to be able to fix that pretty quick.

You've kinda jumped in at the deep end (pun intended ) doing DWC for your first ever grow, but the plants look good!

Click to expand...

I've learned so much this first run and I know for sure my veg time would be cut in half given a second chance and I've not had any issues with pH swings or anything like that the canna nutrients have pretty much set the pH and they stay stable it's just the topping up of the water thats stopping me going away hence the reason for potentially moving to autopots no air pumps ect ect however I do like the idea of a huge dwc resvervoir which I can just leave with out having to top off every couple of days. I can't find a bucket that will fit my grow space suitably so I might just make one of out stainless which will give me the best of both worlds?

limp biffskit said:

I've learned so much this first run and I know for sure my veg time would be cut in half given a second chance and I've not had any issues with pH swings or anything like that the canna nutrients have pretty much set the pH and they stay stable it's just the topping up of the water thats stopping me going away hence the reason for potentially moving to autopots no air pumps ect ect however I do like the idea of a huge dwc resvervoir which I can just leave with out having to top off every couple of days. I can't find a bucket that will fit my grow space suitably so I might just make one of out stainless which will give me the best of both worlds?

Click to expand...

Mine is an oxypot DWC - it has it's advantages (big rez without having to set up an R-DWC type system) and disadvantages - roots get intertwined so you cant relly remove individual plants etc..


This video sums up how they operate pretty well:

limp biffskit said:

Holy shit thanks mate really? I didn't even consider 500g or 1lb.

Click to expand...

Yes.

I've found the yield estimates from seed vendors to be accurate/conservative. Typical values are 400-600gm/sq meter which is roughly 1 pound from 9 square feet of grow space and it's assumed that the canopy fills the grow space.

You've got a tent that's 1 sq meter± and a canopy that fills the grow space. Seeing that you're giving your plant good amounts of light (and have done so over the course of the grow), you're on track to hit that yield estimate.

"on track" - used very intentionally. It ain't over 'till the crop is dried and cured and that's why I'm a proponent of LTFA.

limp biffskit said:

And after the hurdles I've over come they only issue I am having is topping up the reservoirs constantly I think you're right getting an extra large reservoir that holds lots of water is probably my best option because apart from topping the water up I've basically had to do nothing the entire grow which has been great. What do you do about reservoir changes or is it ok to just top it up for the whole grow with such a large reservoir?

Click to expand...

I've attached two document re. res management.

The CannaStats document has some interesting info, including the 3 gals per square foot datum, but it also talks about res management.

The Bugbee paper covers a much broader variety of topics. He doesn't provide advice, per se, on how to manage a res but the data in it is very informative.

CannaStats advises adding RO, tracking the amount of water you've added, and then swapping a res when you've added back a volume equal to the volume of the reservoir. I used that approach for a few grows and it works fine.

At the 5 minute mark in the video below, Bugbee gives the "add back nutes" approach. I use that strategy for my most recent grow and saw no negative impacts.



Re larger res — lots of options. The res I've got is great for my specific needs but I don't think it's appropriate for most growers.

If you want to stay with buckets, a lot of growers use 5 gallon buckets. They're cheap but only 5 gallons.

PA Hydro sells a system then call Stirponics which is a 5 gallon bucket (or 3.5) with a second bucket acting as an external res. That might be an option for you to explore.

The Fallponics systems from PA Hydro are a step up. If I were to upgrade my current system, I'd go with a 2 plant Fallponics.

Speaking of "current system", Current Culture has top of the line multi-plant grows with 8 and 13 gallon buckets and they also sell the 8 and 13 gallon buckets designed for one plant.

Delps8 said:

Yes.

I've found the yield estimates from seed vendors to be accurate/conservative. Typical values are 400-600gm/sq meter which is roughly 1 pound from 9 square feet of grow space and it's assumed that the canopy fills the grow space.

You've got a tent that's 1 sq meter± and a canopy that fills the grow space. Seeing that you're giving your plant good amounts of light (and have done so over the course of the grow), you're on track to hit that yield estimate.

"on track" - used very intentionally. It ain't over 'till the crop is dried and cured and that's why I'm a proponent of LTFA.


I've attached two document re. res management.

The CannaStats document has some interesting info, including the 3 gals per square foot datum, but it also talks about res management.

The Bugbee paper covers a much broader variety of topics. He doesn't provide advice, per se, on how to manage a res but the data in it is very informative.

CannaStats advises adding RO, tracking the amount of water you've added, and then swapping a res when you've added back a volume equal to the volume of the reservoir. I used that approach for a few grows and it works fine.

At the 5 minute mark in the video below, Bugbee gives the "add back nutes" approach. I use that strategy for my most recent grow and saw no negative impacts.

Re larger res — lots of options. The res I've got is great for my specific needs but I don't think it's appropriate for most growers.

If you want to stay with buckets, a lot of growers use 5 gallon buckets. They're cheap but only 5 gallons.

PA Hydro sells a system then call Stirponics which is a 5 gallon bucket (or 3.5) with a second bucket acting as an external res. That might be an option for you to explore.

The Fallponics systems from PA Hydro are a step up. If I were to upgrade my current system, I'd go with a 2 plant Fallponics.

Speaking of "current system", Current Culture has top of the line multi-plant grows with 8 and 13 gallon buckets and they also sell the 8 and 13 gallon buckets designed for one plant.

Click to expand...

Thanks mate! I would be over the moon if I achieved that but I totally agree it isn't over until it's over. I'm prepared for failure and I know the last 3-4 weeks are the absolute most important which I am dreading. From your experience consider I make it past the drying stage with out any issues would you consider grove bags or jars I've heard mixed reviews from both.

I'll check the video out on res management for sure I've had a few ideas for a res after being told to stay with dwc my only issue is the plant separation and the water levels from lack of res volume both which I can engineer to solve both solutions its not cheap but I need experience in growing first before spending £500, £20 a bucket was much better and more manageable especially for failure. But they're also 5 gallons like you have mentioned and only 5 gallons is my problem to having freedom I thought they would have been enough haha... Absolutely not. I am going to watch the video and make a decision because this grow has been so simple with the EC and pH management Vs some of the organic grows I've looked at with all the amendments ect it looks hard work. BUT I've had a lesson on the environment side of things in the last 3 weeks or so even after all my research and they have really taken off. So many knowledgeable people on here it's great Im so thankful from all the help from everyone. I'm going to watch that video now a couple of times to take in everything he has to say peace brother

limp biffskit said:

I know the last 3-4 weeks are the absolute most important which I am dreading. From your experience consider I make it past the drying stage with out any issues would you consider grove bags or jars I've heard mixed reviews from both.

Click to expand...

Probably the most important as that is when a lot of people lose patience and fuck something up...

In reality the last few weeks is just a waiting game... just don't rock the boat, because you don't want your boat to be rockin'.

I have both Kilner jars and grove bags.. both have their uses, on balance I prefer jars, but the bags do have some convinience factors.

limp biffskit said:

I need experience in growing first before spending £500, £20 a bucket was much better and more manageable especially for failure. But they're also 5 gallons like you have mentioned and only 5 gallons is my problem to having freedom I thought they would have been enough haha...

Click to expand...

You can buy the larger multi plant oxy-pots like mine for about £80-£100...
Yes that's a lot of money for what's essentially a plastic container, but it's purpose built, and not £500!

futurebanjo said:

You can buy the larger multi plant oxy-pots like mine for about £80-£100...
Yes that's a lot of money for what's essentially a plastic container, but it's purpose built, and not £500!

Click to expand...

I agree but if I weld one I can purposely make it fit into my tent/grow space with adequate amounts of water but we shall see I need to make it over the finish line with grow first hahah

futurebanjo said:

Probably the most important as that is when a lot of people lose patience and fuck something up...

In reality the last few weeks is just a waiting game... just don't rock the boat, because you don't want your boat to be rockin'.

I have both Kilner jars and grove bags.. both have their uses, on balance I prefer jars, but the bags do have some convinience factors.

Click to expand...

I was thinking jars but people say grove bags are the future but need to be in a temperature and humidity controlled room and other say not.. if they to it's kind of counterproductive because that would mean a controlled climate in one room when you can have a small jar in its own atmosphere being controlled

Finally entering week 6 from the switch to 12/12. According to the seed banks I've got 3 weeks to go but id say it'll be closer to 5... Better if it's 4 weeks because that would be 420

I've had a few problems over the last few days. Had serious issues with pH dropping from around 6 to 5 over night and EC raising from 1.4 to 2.2 at the same time.. dropped the EC to 0.8 just for a safety net and adjusted the pH levels but still jumped to 5.2 and 1.8ec in 12 hours and I've ended up with some nutrient burn. However I've consulted my magic dwc chart of problems and changed all the reservoirs and reset them to 6ph and 1.4 EC and everything seems stable again must have been the "acid rain effect". Hopefully all good now from here on out because for the last 3 weeks they've been very happy so I'm just going to keep the EC and pH as is for the rest of the grow until I start backing off the feed in the final 2 weeks or so.

---

Delps8 said:

950µmol? Congrats on feeding your plants well. It shows.

"And pH is 7.1 give or take" - why so high? (or did you already explain it and I didn't catch it 'cause I haven't read the whole thread?)

Even with the discrepancies noted by document at this link, 7.1 is very high for hydro. I've run 5.8 until recently but switched to 6.0 for my most recent grow.

[edit] Doh! You're using tap water. No way I'd run 7.

Click to expand...

Hi delps, sorry I've just been looking over my grow and going through previous information and looking at my current process. I was commenting on my tap water (80ppm and 7.1 pH) I'm running 5.8-6.2 pH in my res currently in flower starting it at 6.2 and letting it ride down to 5.8.. it's never getting tho 5.8 though at the minute because I'm topping off every couple of days so the standard tap water and the pH buffers in the canna aqua line are pretty much rebalancing the res at around 6.2 naturally. Cheers

limp biffskit said:

---

Hi delps, sorry I've just been looking over my grow and going through previous information and looking at my current process. I was commenting on my tap water (80ppm and 7.1 pH) I'm running 5.8-6.2 pH in my res currently in flower starting it at 6.2 and letting it ride down to 5.8.. it's never getting tho 5.8 though at the minute because I'm topping off every couple of days so the standard tap water and the pH buffers in the canna aqua line are pretty much rebalancing the res at around 6.2 naturally. Cheers

Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for the explanation.

The grow's looking great. Keep up the good work!