1st DWC Setup...Pic

So as the title says this will be my first attemp at dwc. Ive had a few sucessful grows in soil, but nothing like Id like. Anyways the idea of a perpetual dwc has been my motivation to get this badboy running. The goal is to be able to harvest every week or two. Please forgive my total dwc noobness, any and all comments more than welcome.

I want to run 8 five gallon buckets under a 400w in a 2'x4'x5' tent. So for Ive got a rough set up going, I think it has potential. The buckets have 6in net pots in the lids and tiny airstones soon to be upgraded to 4in airstones. I still need to draw up a mom/cloner box, any ideas that use a 2'x2'x4' space?

The setup looks good and workable if going with running small clones through.

Hey I know five-gallon buckets are 12" in diameter so in theory you can fit 8... not sure if it's so practical though to do more than 5 for a couple of reasons: you'll need a little space between buckets to be able to lift the lids and access their reservoirs and this gets extremely more difficult to do as the plants get bigger. Also, might want to check the true dimensions of the tent. On mine, the frame on the inside takes off a couple of inches around the edges - and that's all it took to not be able to fit more than 5 in a staggered line instead of side-by-side. Your tent may have different true dimensions of course and your tolerance for working in cramped spaces higher than mine and all that, just sharing my personal experiences trying to see how many would fit in my 2'x4'.

Random idea for your mom/cloner box - you could run one 3-gallon bucket for a mom (soil or DWC). Along-side of that another 3-gallon bucket setup like a daisy-cloner for rooting the cuttings and early veg. Simple, small and would let you stay with DWC throughout (and use the same nutrients and such) and save on some expense.

Anyway, enjoy setting everything up how you want it. Keep updating and/or start a journal so we can see the grow when done.

+REP on the VERY solid advice, and dead on too TaoWolf !!
Couldn't have said it better myself. View attachment 1522891


Another option is to not keep mothers, but instead a perpetual clone operation.

welcome to dwc growing!
I know you'll love it

Thanks a lot TaoWolf, thats the kinda of info im lookin for! Excellent point about the space. My set up is still a total prototype, I want to have it as dialed in as I can before I put anything in there. So with 5 5gl buckes in a 2x4 tent, i could harvest every 2 weeks with a 8-9week strain right? Anyone have a recommendation of a strain that does well in DWC and can handle begginer mistakes?

Im diggin your mom/cloner idea small yet effective.

Flo Grow- How do I keep clones coming with no mom? I know my noob is showing...sorry.

I run 4 buckets under a 400 watt light on a rdwc set up and I have more floor space than you and it gets tight on space in the end for me,if I didnt have my grow area set up the way I do it would be very hard to move around in there,4 plants is plenty for my space.I limit my space to 4x4 because the light can only cover that amount of area,its haveing the added space around the plants that helps me to maintain them,my actual size is 6 1/2 x 8 and 8 1/2 high