I Wanna Grow DWC --- Help for a First Timer ?????

Hi everybody

I am currently towards the last few weeks of my first indoor grow - a White Widow and a AK48 left out of the 4 I started. While growing in soil has been great, and easy, I feel I need to get more out of the time and effort I put into it.

So the more I read about Hydroponics, the more convinced I am that this is going to be the way I go for my next grow. I think DWC would be the easiest for me to start with and I should be able to source most things locally to get going for this.

The purpose of this thread is to seek advice from you guys as I go along building my setup. I will be documenting everything I do here as well in case it helps anybody else who is starting out on hydroponics.

Things I have:
400w HPS/MH
A Nice spacious grow space.
PPM/PH Meters

Things I will need:
Air Stones - Easy to get here
Air Pumps - Easy to get here
More Lights - Easy to get here
Rockwool for germination - Easy to get here
Nutrients - Can source Advance nutrients

Net Pots
Buckets
Hydroton/COCO husk/something else to fill the net pots
Reflective mylar or something for the walls which I didn;t have for my first grow

Now I have a few questions about some of these things:

1. Buckets and the design: What do you guys recon of the buckets in these pics below? This is what I can source to use as a reservoir. I plan to have one plant per reservoir, cut holes on the lids of these buckets and place my net pots there. Which of these do you think would be better? The TALLER one or the WIDER one?



2.NET POTS: I can only seem to find 55mm Net Pots - thats 2.12 inches - seems pretty small to me? thats hardly as big as a shot glass..how big should the net pots be?

3.NUTRIENTS: When you start from seed, what I understand is you can top feed with water and very mild nutes early on until the roots reach the nute+water solution in the reservoir, is that correct?

Also, do you fill the reservoir with the nute solution from day one?

How often do you change the water+nute solution ?

Also, when you change the solution, do you life the lid along with the plant and move it to a new reservoir? or do you drain the reservoir and just fill it up with a new solution?

Thank you all, peace

I would use the shorter/wider bucket. My net pots are 3.5", wouldn't get smaller than that. I water seedlings with 120-150ppm... leave them in a little rockwool cube germination tray with dome for 2 weeks and then put them in my DWC system. Probably change your buckets once a week... whichever way is easiest for you.

I use 2" net pots from clone to harvest in aero and dwc with some big plants. Never a problem, in fact its easier because of no media needed just a foam collar.

Hey man I would read the grow journals. Almost addicting watching people's plants develop. I have a dwc white widow grow journal I have going right now in the dwc/bubbleponics area. Although I am certainly no expert, you will be using the exact setup that I am currently using. People have posted a lot of great advice on my thread and it has been incredibly helpful. I am learning daily as I go. Just thought you might want to check it out, it would be a good source for you to figure out certain things on your first dwc. Good luck!!

-smokee

IMO- DWC is THE Easiest to set up--

Lowes/Home Depot 5-gallon buckets with a one-piece net-pot lid.. drill a hole for the air-hose VIOLA! DWC!

Use washed pea gravel for your medium- it's weight helps stabilize plants that get top-heavy!

Sprout in a rapid rooter then transplant into the stones ( I Am one of the few who hate rockwool- gets algae too easily)

Male sure you have good nutes AND a good DWC guide for those nutes-- you do not use the measures as a you do run-to-waste or soil... it is called "phasic feeding' you add each week without changing the solution- except between veg & 12/12... you just keep adding water as the levels drop...

good luck! Enjoy!

Guys is it important to start new seeds in a dome first?

another important question i have is about water: can I use tubewell/borewell water for hydro? or shoud I use RO water?

LadyZandra: like I said, i can get my hands on nutes by Advance Nutrients, so I recon that is sorted - however could you please tell me more about "phasic Feeding" ??? as the plants drink the nutes and the level in the reservoir drops, do I just top the levels with more nute solution or with water? arent you supposed to entirely change the reservoir solution each week?

You don't have to use a seedling tray/dome. Top up with plain water and change your buckets once a week. Once you get dialed in you can probably go longer without changing buckets.

if i use r/o water then i will have to use cal-mag i think? is that correct?

is it okay to use tubewell/borewell water for dwc?