Zero f**ks given first time dwc grow/bet with friendfriend!

So my friend and i have a bet, he says its impossible to have an "almost" maintenance free hydro/dwc setup, "He grows all organically and only gives them water throughout his whole grow via a dripper system". He claims that its "too much effort to do hydro" and "it costs way more because you need water chillers". Well to prove him wrong i have started my very first dwc grow that i will pretty much give zero f**ks about. No water cooler, no thermometer, im not even going to check my ph or ppm. (I will say this though, the water ph where i live is 7.0 from the tap)

So here are the details:
4- 3 gallon diy dwc buckets =$26
2- large aquarium air pumps =$55
4- 4 inch net pots =$5
1- 8 foot air line tube =$4
4- large air stones =$8
1- canna aqua vega ab =$26
1- bag of aquarium gravel =$7

PLANTS:
2- sincity powernap seedlings
2- true og seedlings
3- misc. Bag seedlings

LIGHTING:
400 true watt self made cob led

FEEDING:
28ml aqua vega per 2 gallons of water
Res. Change every friday.

2nd pic from the top:
sincity power nap seedlings, 3 weeks after sprouting, been in dwc for 2 weeks

3rd pic:
3 random bagseed plants in the same pot lol. 3 weeks after sprouting, been in dwc for 2 weeks

4th pic:
2 true og seedlings. 1 in soil the other in dwc. 3 weeks after sprouting, 1 has been in dwc for 2 weeks

I grow both hydro and organic, proper done organic isn't just water only your friend has a lot to learn.

I feel everyone has a lot to learn lol, no mater how long they have been doing things. He composts his own "super soil" and he claims its better than bottled nutes, i will say his nugs are always super tasty but his plants definitely lack the gurth im used to seeing at harvest time. I have a few plants in his home made soil and they do grow really good in it, but i add some nutes to those pots during watering time lol.

Corvette kidd said:

I feel everyone has a lot to learn lol, no mater how long they have been doing things. He composts his own "super soil" and he claims its better than bottled nutes, i will say his nugs are always super tasty but his plants definitely lack the gurth im used to seeing at harvest time. I have a few plants in his home amde soil and they do grow really good in it, but i add some nutes to those pots during watering time lol.

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Any good organic grower will tell you , best way is to use a rich living organic soil and use enzyme and compost teas with molasses to get the best flavor and yield. Sounds like he's using old methods and making super soil with water only, kinda flushes your flavor out, that's how I started my organic.

Well, if your changing the res every week you are already investing more time than I do in mine. Have you done a DWC before?

Ive have never done a dwc before. i forgot to add that i have small water pumps at the bottom of the buckets to pump my water out and in. All i do is flip a switch and my buckets drain the old nutes out and fill up with new nutes from a reservoir. Been also thinking about making it a recurculating dwc system but im not sure if there would be any benefits

So far though its been a lot less effort and mess than soil pots. Less watering and spilling and dirt lol

This is also my first time growing from seeds. I have a 15 pack of sincity power nap seeds, ive only popped the 2 of them so far though, the others were given to me by some growing buddies

I also have this sfv og that i just put into flower two days ago. and i have this minature seedling that is growing and developing nodes at the same pace as the other seedlings, but its literally like 1/4 the size, its one of the true og seeds that my friend gave me. The other two true og plants are massive but this one is a literal miniature, it was in a larger pot until i decided it wasnt worth wasting the space, im going to keep it in this cup until it decides to grow or something haha

Corvette kidd said:

So far though its been a lot less effort and mess than soil pots. Less watering and spilling and dirt lol

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I avoided DWC for that opposite reason... I would rather get some dirt on my hands a couple times then then deal with my roots in water the entire grow.

From what I've seen on hydro is that you get much bigger yields.

First time DWC also, and nothing but positives, i feel its easier to correct mistakes because u can see the roots and change res. I have soiless mix also and just seems plants grow quicker in DWC or hydro.
Soil for seeds

I just checked my water temps for the first time today, 76 degrees f. Probably to hott but fudge it. Im probably just going to rig it up to recirculate through all the pots and the main res.

Corvette kidd said:

Ive have never done a dwc before. i forgot to add that i have small water pumps at the bottom of the buckets to pump my water out and in. All i do is flip a switch and my buckets drain the old nutes out and fill up with new nutes from a reservoir. Been also thinking about making it a recurculating dwc system but im not sure if there would be any benefits

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The pumps sound a lot easier than hand dumping like I do. I should probably get a pump when I start things back up again.

Recirculating it is a good idea because when you have a bigger res, the ph doesn't swing as much. With hydro you have to keep an eye on the ph or things can turn bad quick.

Just found this old post here on roll it up. I laughed my flipping ass off

Corvette kidd said:

Just found this old post here on roll it up. I laughed my flipping ass off

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Thats funny! Wife said "oh my gawd!" when she asked me what I was laughing at.

Zspy1985 said:

Thats funny! Wife said "oh my gawd!" when she asked me what I was laughing at.

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i googled what happens when you inject nutrients into the stalk of the cannabis tree and that was the first link that came up haha.

Hydro can be as simple or as complex as you make it. I keep it very simple with basic tools like ppm & ph meters w/ temp and temp/hygrometer for the room. I run drip buckets very similar to yours that were built for real cheap and they work wonderfully with root balls that take shape of the bottom 1/2 of a 5 gal bucket at harvest. I have a master res that I keep mixed up and propped up on milk crates and use gravity to feed my individual buckets with vs a pump. I have no bubblers in my buckets since its continuous drip system and more air pumps = higher temps. I dont run chillers but seem to maintain bucket res temps under 73*F. Like I said it can be as easy or complex as you make it. I've never encountered slime/discoloration/root bugs etc in years of running this system. Your grow looks good so far!

Last year i was to lazy to transplant the last 200 tomatoes in my ebb n flow that were still in 1 inch cubes. Said fuck let it roll so i never changed rez in green house temps in the 90s and above used one part ionic 600 pounds of cherry tomatoes. Youll do fine.