DWC for beginners

crazy7605150

Well-Known Member
yeah i grew soil once it worked out good till i had to get rid of it... then reading a hightimes mag i say a diy dwc and was just amazed at how easily one of these could be made... and so i looked it up on here and other sites for info and saw the massive roots that people end up with. i decided that was it im going hydro... it took me maybe 2 hours to make my grow bucket... cost maybe... 80-120 to get it set up but i know im ganna use this for info and make a bigger and better one.... i have to plants same age where about same size... one went to hydro one went to bigger soil pot ......

pic1 :leaf: babys on 9-6
2:leaf: soil- 9-30
3:leaf: 9-23 went into hydro
4,5&6:leaf: hydro 11-6
7&8:leaf: soil 11-6

soo IMO DWC is GREAT and easy
 

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onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Yea hydro especially dwc seemed the best way to go. Just like u said its so simple to set up a bucket especially if u have some of the stuff just laying around.
Thats a nice grow crazy im definitely looking forward to seeing the outcome! Dont get me wrong i still mess around with the soil a lil, only when i run out of room in my bubblers lol. Or clones for family i guess.
 

BunOne

Active Member
i am currently starting a new DWC set up , i plan on keeping a journal.

i plan on growing 3 plants each in its own bucket using 6" net pots with 2 air stones per bucket running on 3 seperate pumps (have extra's standing by incase of a faulty pump) i will be using a SECRET JARDIN DARKROOM DR60 with a 250watt HPS bulb and running a 4" Can-fan for extraction purposes.

i will post my progress as i build, currently am waiting on a couple things such as my tent and light kit from better grow hydro .com
also waiting on 15 seeds from attitude seed bank (ALL Dutch Passion FEM. -> master kush, blueberry, mazar)
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Awesome man.Thats how i start most of my seedlings. 3 per 6 inch pot, been getting lucky lately with female to male ratio.U will most likely end up with a couple females in each bucket.
Cant wait to see man! Keep us posted. Sounds like a well thought out plan and im sure u are going to have an amazing grow! Just some advice i guess, if u end up with more than one female in ur buckets. I wouldnt veg them more than a foot tall.Not sure how tall dutch passion strains end up but some plants tripple in size during flower and 2 plants are going to fill the buckets up fast with root mass. But im sure ur gonna do just fine. Deffinetely keep us posted! Welcome aboard haha cant believe how many peeps are having such good results with dwc!
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
If you are going to have any type of root mass submerged in water in any type of hydro setup u are deffinetely going to want to add a stone.U dont want roots sitting in stagnate water. Most peeps they run drip and aero put stones in there reservoirs from what i can see.
 

caddy

Well-Known Member
Well.. I'm in motion now, seeds are germ'ing.. Got the initial veg room setup as I need it.. Now my next question.

I've gone through about 6 different airpumps now and NONE can seem to get the type of air to 10 buckets like I need. I don't want to keep buying more and more and have one for each bucket since the efficiency of that would be rather silly.

Has anyone ever used the 18 or 20watt pumps like this one? Maybe not this one from this supplier, but in general there are quite a few of these around on the net for decent prices. Considering a basic aquarium pump at $30 (TETRA 100GALLON) cannot push jack for air to 10 stones in 10 buckets.. this must be decent?

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=51179

There a number of these on HTGSupply, The Big Tomato as well as ebay.. my question is how loud and obnoxious are these things? I've never heard one.. Seems to be what I need to pump this much air but am curious if this thing sounds like a lawn mower idling... I think this is important for the thread because many people might very well be under powering their water aeration and bubbling .. have an idea of how many gallons of water are in buckets can determine the best pumps to be using for beginners.. I know i've been through 6 and returned them all due to lack of what I consider to be bubbles that are worth a crap in 10 buckets.
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Whisper pumps have been the best for me. They run quiet.Go online to petsmart cuz they dont carry the big boys in stock and try one of those out. For ur 10 buckets i would say ur going to need at least one 30 gallon air pump per bucket.If you x that by 10 ur looking at something capable of handling at least a 300 gallon tank. I would say if ya ran 2 200 gallon whisper pumps and 2 stones u will be setup nice.Look for whisper pumps on ebay actually u will prolly pick one up on there for wholesale.
 

Bullethead21

Well-Known Member
They also have the 4ft flexiable airstones that are like flex hoses that are suppose to be awsome! I have one on order and will let you know how well it works in a few days when it arrives.
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Yea do that, im going to check the dro store today on these 4 foot flexible stones, if they work i could see lining a whole entire bottom of a 20 gallon tub with one.
 

LonghornFan

Well-Known Member
Well.. I'm in motion now, seeds are germ'ing.. Got the initial veg room setup as I need it.. Now my next question.

I've gone through about 6 different airpumps now and NONE can seem to get the type of air to 10 buckets like I need. I don't want to keep buying more and more and have one for each bucket since the efficiency of that would be rather silly.

Has anyone ever used the 18 or 20watt pumps like this one? Maybe not this one from this supplier, but in general there are quite a few of these around on the net for decent prices. Considering a basic aquarium pump at $30 (TETRA 100GALLON) cannot push jack for air to 10 stones in 10 buckets.. this must be decent?

High Tech Garden Supply

There a number of these on HTGSupply, The Big Tomato as well as ebay.. my question is how loud and obnoxious are these things? I've never heard one.. Seems to be what I need to pump this much air but am curious if this thing sounds like a lawn mower idling... I think this is important for the thread because many people might very well be under powering their water aeration and bubbling .. have an idea of how many gallons of water are in buckets can determine the best pumps to be using for beginners.. I know i've been through 6 and returned them all due to lack of what I consider to be bubbles that are worth a crap in 10 buckets.
Caddy,

I have a pump just like that. It pumps 8 of the four foot airstones at one time and it is hardly noticeable. I have this in my office, on the phone all the time, and people can't hear it while I am on the phone. The fans make more noise than my pump.
 

LonghornFan

Well-Known Member
I have been using 4 foot flexible airstones for about 8 months now and I love them. Not only does it bubble, it supplies enough air that the water in my buckets roll..They are really easy to clean and dont get all nasty like a regular airstone
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Where do u get these 4 foot stones lol. that just only makes sense to me now. Could really save alot of space as well.
 

gr33nz

Active Member
The general hydro dual diaphram air pump is worth the money around $60 but you can also buy replacement parts to rebuild it. Seen it used for 20G res and 2 5G D/W buckets with 2 round airstones and 2 18 inch air curtains with plenty of bubbles. Comes stock with the GH 6 site setup. Not any louder than one of the cheap ones from walmart or petsmart.

Anybody have expeirence with the eco+commercial pumps?
 

caddy

Well-Known Member
Where do u get these 4 foot stones lol. that just only makes sense to me now. Could really save alot of space as well.
Try this one - Flexible Air Stone (Bottom of that page, won't let me link directly to the product)... Comes in 24", 36" and 48".

You're gonna need one hell of a pump like LongHornFan and I have been discussing to push a good stream of air through that thing hehe.

LongHornFan:

Thanks for the info, I guess I'll have to go that route, there's no other option for me to push 10 buckets. Honest to god I've tried every pump local pet stores have up to 300gallon deep water TetraTec's and so on... None have the power to even come close and there is no way i'm buying a pump for each bucket, thats not efficient.

I use a 30 Gallon tub as my vegetation chamber with the 5" net pots and even those other basic 100 gallon pumps have a hard time really giving the hardcore bubbles through 3 air stones in 30 gallon tubs.

Can ya tell i'm not vegging them small? LOL

Will keep you guys posted and maybe do a journal in regards to this thread with a true DWC beginner starting from ground up. Thanks for the responses gentlemen.
 

onthedl0008

Well-Known Member
Caddy im really looking forward to ur grow. Im going to get some of these 4 footers as well for sure just makes sense to me!
On another note, If ur going to push 10 buckets, U have to keep in mind that the only way u are going to get everything ur pump has to offer is by keeping the distance of ur pump as centrally located to the buckets as u can.The more air hose u run to the buckets, the more air loss ur going to get from the pumps over distance.
Otherwise, like it or not the only way ur going to achieve frothy bubbles in each bucket is by either getting a couple big boy air pumps capable of handling 5 or 600 gallons or by running a line from a 40 gallon pump located directly next to each bucket.

Im just curious why u feel u need the 10 buckets. I am currently flowering 12 plants at a time in a 24 gallon rubbermaid tub?
 

caddy

Well-Known Member
Im just curious why u feel u need the 10 buckets. I am currently flowering 12 plants at a time in a 24 gallon rubbermaid tub?
Well, I have the room to grow some pretty tall and decently wide plants so I figured take 10 and do those.. now that I have two 30 gallon rubbermaid tubs with eight 5" net pots in each, one will probably do 8 at a time as well in flower while the other just remains clone reproduction in the future as well as new grows.

How are you fitting 12 plants in one 24 gal, are you putting multiple plants per pot? Do you have any pictures of these 12 in flower in your tub? I would love to see them to get an idea of how your working the size of the plant. Do you lollypop or such to keep them thinner?
 
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