Please read i have some questions about dwc

i really want to do a dwc but i have a few questions
1. how important is it to keep the water at around 65 degrees? im not sure if my small grow box will warm the water u some.

2. how important is it to keep the ph at 5.8-5.9. this would be pretty easy with some soultion but i would still like to know the facts before hand.

3. what about rock wool i have heard this contains lime which can be easily cleaned out by soaking in water over night.

Keeping water temps as low as possible within reason will lessen the chance of unwanted growth in your nute sollution.

It is important, and easy to keep PH level in line - no worries.

Soak your cubes in water PH adjusted to 5.5 prior to introducing plants.

ok what could the water temps be at a max and what about the ph? if thats a little wrong lets say 6.5 will it kill my plant?

what im trying to ask is how important is this.. if my temps are 2 degrees higher will it be a huge deal. as with the ph. how important is it? does it have to be perfect..

No - a few degrees won't matter, as I said just keep it as cool as possible.
You might try using a cooler as your res - it will stay cool longer.

PH between 5.5 and 6.5 would be fine. You want to keep water within range - not exact on a set PH value.

I need some more opinions anyone else?

Using a water cooler for a res is the easiest way to keep temps down. Things don't get really bad until you reach 72f and above. To help you tolorate higher water temps you can do two things. You can use a continuous sterlizing agent in the water, such as sm-90 or Dutch Master Zone. This will help kill off harmful microbes and works really well for most people. The other thing you can do is populate your water with beneficial microbes, which will displace harmful ones and effectively allow you to have water temps in the 70's. Either of these options can be researched further in this forum, or feel free to PM me.

Having your PH off could kill your plants if it's way way off, but having it be slightly off wont hurt them exactly. What it will do is keep them from eating as much as they want, which could dramatically reduce your final yield. When it comes to PH, you want to think of it as an optimal range, not an optimal level. Different elements of the nute solution will be available at different PH levels. Each strain likes a different range, but generally, for a DWC, you want to set the PH to something like 5.5ish and let it drift up until it hits 6.3ish before adjusting it back down. Typically for me, this takes about 24 hours.

Ideally, once your plants are established, each 24hrs you will want to see the res water go down, the PPM stay the same, and the PH rise slightly. This indicates the plants are eating and drinking very well.

Look into Igloo or Coleman coolers.
They come in different sizes and are best for temps without buying chillers and such.
Look now b/c Summer is about to end and there won't be such a large selection in stores soon.
Wal-Fart, Lowes and Home Depot.

water temps - 60F - 72F
ph = 5.5 - 6.5 (5.7 - 6.0 better)
ppm's = up to the phenotype/strain you're growing

If your rez water is low :

But ppm's up noticeably, then plants ate/drank more water than nutes
But ppm's are down noticeably too, then plants ate/drank more food than water

thanks man this helps me a lot and gives me a better opinion on if i want to do this. where can i get a good ph meter i dont have any local hydro shops or anything like that so would home depot have one? maybe even my local nursery?

htg supply has everything you need

using a DWC and other hydro setups are very very touchy when it comes to nutes. Even being off my a little will give you burnt tips and not having your resv. temp within a cool range you will get root rot. The growth and yield is amazing with DWC and other hydro's but they are touchy.

View attachment 1157496 This is the Milwaukee PH55 model ph/temp combo meter I have.
Can be had on EBay now for $50. Was almost twice that when it first came out not too long ago.
Calibration solution runs about $15/ea. For the 7.01ph and 4.01ph.
Don't need both solutions, but highly suggest it in order to calibrate the meter with more precision.

Honestly, EBay is a good place to start for grow equip like meters.

I don't worry about my res temps at all and I ph to 5.8. If you can't afford a ph meter get some of the solution, it's super cheap and effective. Urine yellow is your color!

Never found DWC to be touchy. If you can read the instructions on your nutrient bottle you shouldn't have any issue. If it's too strong, use half the amount next time.

People fear hydro and I've never understood why

jesus of Cannabis said:

htg supply has everything you need

using a DWC and other hydro setups are very very touchy when it comes to nutes. Even being off my a little will give you burnt tips and not having your resv. temp within a cool range you will get root rot. The growth and yield is amazing with DWC and other hydro's but they are touchy.

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Only touchy if :

1) Water/Rez temps are out of range and/or fluctaute TOO much

2)PH is not properly maintained and it can also be controlled/influenced by rez temps more than anything.

3)PH range MINIMUM - MAXIMUM is 5.5 - 6.5. Ideal range is 5.7 - 5.9. Perfect is 5.8 !

3)Raise the ppm's on your plants slowly if you don't "know" them. No more than 100 points at a time. It's easier to back off and notice slight over ferts.

theres alot more to hydro than most think,allthough its not rocket science there are things to cosider before setting up,1 thing some people dont consider is water,if you dont have a water supply in the room your going to grow in then you will have to carry water,res. changes and flushing will be a pain in the ass if you have to carry all that water,ventilation is another you need fresh air in and stale air out,now we have smell to deal with,ok so some fans a carbon scrubber will work but now you have noise,you can get alot of answers here but its up to you to choose the right spot and that to me is the most important thing of all, location is key the rest you will learn as you go.the longer you grow the more you will know. I could go on and on with my past exsperences and thats the best way to learn I have learned to not allways take someones advise as they may just be blowing smoke up ur ass,do some reading before you start and you will do fine. hope this helps and good luck

snocat said:

theres alot more to hydro than most think,allthough its not rocket science there are things to cosider before setting up,1 thing some people dont consider is water,if you dont have a water supply in the room your going to grow in then you will have to carry water,res. changes and flushing will be a pain in the ass if you have to carry all that water,ventilation is another you need fresh air in and stale air out,now we have smell to deal with,ok so some fans a carbon scrubber will work but now you have noise,you can get alot of answers here but its up to you to choose the right spot and that to me is the most important thing of all, location is key the rest you will learn as you go.the longer you grow the more you will know. I could go on and on with my past exsperences and thats the best way to learn I have learned to not allways take someones advise as they may just be blowing smoke up ur ass,do some reading before you start and you will do fine. hope this helps and good luck

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Everything this guy said is pretty much on point. I'm new to this too although my plants are 15 days into their DWC grow.
First thing I would recommend is do a lot of research first. Jorge Cervantes has a marijuana Horticulture growers bible you can buy at any book store. He even has videos you can down load on Net Flix.
Second thing pick a room you are going to grow in, figure out how many plants you want to harvest, start pricing equipment and things you will need. I would start there because some of this stuff gets pricey...

snocat said:

theres alot more to hydro than most think,allthough its not rocket science there are things to cosider before setting up,1 thing some people dont consider is water,if you dont have a water supply in the room your going to grow in then you will have to carry water,res. changes and flushing will be a pain in the ass if you have to carry all that water,ventilation is another you need fresh air in and stale air out,now we have smell to deal with,ok so some fans a carbon scrubber will work but now you have noise,you can get alot of answers here but its up to you to choose the right spot and that to me is the most important thing of all, location is key the rest you will learn as you go.the longer you grow the more you will know. I could go on and on with my past exsperences and thats the best way to learn I have learned to not allways take someones advise as they may just be blowing smoke up ur ass,do some reading before you start and you will do fine. hope this helps and good luck

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This is GROW advice, it has nothing to do with DWC

BeaverHuntr said:

Everything this guy said is pretty much on point. I'm new to this too although my plants are 15 days into their DWC grow.
First thing I would recommend is do a lot of research first. Jorge Cervantes has a marijuana Horticulture growers bible you can buy at any book store. He even has videos you can down load on Net Flix.
Second thing pick a room you are going to grow in, figure out how many plants you want to harvest, start pricing equipment and things you will need. I would start there because some of this stuff gets pricey...

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Jorge is very old school. I'd recommend reading on here anyday over Jorge. He can teach you the basics but the game has changed a lot and I've seen a few on here question some of his methods and reasoning

Flo Grow said:

Look into Igloo or Coleman coolers.
They come in different sizes and are best for temps without buying chillers and such.
Look now b/c Summer is about to end and there won't be such a large selection in stores soon.
Wal-Fart, Lowes and Home Depot.

water temps - 60F - 72F
ph = 5.5 - 6.5 (5.7 - 6.0 better)
ppm's = up to the phenotype/strain you're growing

If your rez water is low :

But ppm's up noticeably, then plants ate/drank more water than nutes
But ppm's are down noticeably too, then plants ate/drank more food than water

Click to expand...

Flo Grow is the man... this is killer info and should help you along just fine KIR... ppm's and ph are soooo important in DWC so make sure in addition to keeping your water cool to maintain both of those as well. Get yourself a ph meter and a TDS meter on ebay for cheap and check them daily or atleast every other day depending on the size of your res... i am personally gonna invest in a cooler so i can maintain exact temps rather then a constant fluxuation.. Like Flo said to summer is coming to an end and as the weather cools so will your room and water... think of your res like a glass of water, i heard this analogy on RIU and thought it was perfect, it comes out of your tap at like idk 68-72 degrees but if you leave that glass on the counter for an hour or two that water that was 68-72 is now room temperature... So keep that in mind.

My water in my buckets is usually at least 5ish degrees cooler than my room temp of 75

ColoradoLove said:

My water in my buckets is usually at least 5ish degrees cooler than my room temp of 75

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Then I envy you... maybe it's because i live in the desert, i'm not sure why but i am fighting temps in my grows... I am not sure if even a cooler would work for me and that is why i am just gonna break down and by a chiller so i won't have to worry about it... Where in Co. are you i am sure you are way cooler outside then where i am and i am sure alot has to do with the climate too in where you live... and maybe i am reaching forexcuses..lol but i do know that cooler is ideal though and as long as KIR can get cooler temps somehow or perhaps just running straight might be just perfect for him....