Solo Cup Hydro Challenge setup

I thought it'd be cool to make a hydro setup with a Solo Cup. This one DWC with a reservoir and water pump that can be set in intervals and how long it pumps the nute solution in the solo Cup.

Just need a small airstone from Walmart and figure out later how long for the pump to run as the baby drinks in each growth phase.

Pardon the ignorance, but how is this going to work?

TCH said:

Pardon the ignorance, but how is this going to work?

Click to expand...

The bottle is nute reservoir. The water pump in the middle has an in and out line. You can set the intervals when the pump runs from seconds to hours. Also you can setup how many times in a 24 hour period it comes on. So to make it self watering. I can adjust it as needed through each grow phase. That's the tough part.

I actually have a GH air pump that has adjusters on it to control air flow so I'm use that. Just need a small airstone then.

So, do you just have to physically dump the cup out every so often? Or does the small stone go in the solo cup and then it refills whenever that level drops?

Or does the pump pump back-and-forth like a recirculating system?

TCH said:

Or does the pump pump back-and-forth like a recirculating system?

Click to expand...

The water pump will suck water from the bottle and pump it into the cup based on the timer settings.

This way it doesn't go dry as it gets bigger cause I'm gone for 12hrs a day when working. In the beginning it won't be on until roots go into the cup and the plant starts drinking.

The air stone will be connected to an air pump that can adjust airflow since the solo Cup is small compared to a 5 gal bucket setup.

I can put all nute mix plus hydroguard into the water reservoir.

Here its done. Had to buy a small air stone at the store.

Mini DWC

Should work but the real question is will the dixie cup last.

So what was the outcome?
I'm guessing not good since the thread was never updated?

Hollatchaboy said:

So what was the outcome?
I'm guessing not good since the thread was never updated?

Click to expand...

They're still going in flower.

The DynaGro girl still showing pinkish purple trichromes. She's 21.5" tall. Classic Xmas tree structure.




The Element Nutrients girl finally stretched suddenly and is taller than the DynaGro girl. She's 23" now. Classic Xmas tree shape. Now the bud size is smaller compared to the DynaGro. Maybe it's because she stretched later plus her buds aren't pinkish purple so highly likely they are different phenotypes as the only difference is the fertilizer being used. Lighting and environment has been same for all 3.




Lastly the Alaskan Fish Fertilzer. She is 12" tall. She is showing the ruderalus structure if 2 bottom branches and a single cola. The buds are standard color and bigger than the Element Nutrients girl. To note leaves on bottom started to show Calcium and Magnesium deficiencies. So I now use calmag when watering.



A group picture for comparison

So did you scrap the DWC plans and change to soil then? Plants look good

TCH said:

So did you scrap the DWC plans and change to soil then? Plants look good

Click to expand...

Oh I was just putting that together for a test. The concept seems to work ok. I was planning on trying it after this traditional solo cup grow.

Gotcha.