DWC scrog help

Ok so Ive just bought 5 gallon buckets for dwc and some 2" net pots. It looks like i can fit around 25x 2" pots in 1 bucket (buckets are wide)

The plan is to grow only one strain of plant (big buddha blue cheese) all fem 100%, I have the mothers all ready to go 8 cuttings taken couple days ago...roots have began on them all looks good they are in a aero-pot with mister in 2" net pots with the neoprene collars.

Now I want to get the dwc buckets ready for transplant... and I had planned on putting 8 plants per bucket in 2" net pots, then a friend told me I should grow only 1 plant in each bucket because apparantly a plant needs 5 gallons of nutrients I hesitated then thought to myself..."this must be bull****, I've grown plants in coco coir in 2 gallon pots for years producing good bud..." and they were full of coir! so I looked online seen a few people say the same 1 plant per 5 gallon this cant be correct, can it??

so im using per pot:

ceramic air stone discs 6"
15L/per min air pump
Pots are coverd in foil insulating tape
0.5m sq. scrog net

The lights:

Veg room: 200w CFL (blue spectrum)
Bloom room: 600W HPS in cool tube

Nutrients:

Vitalink max A+B (soft water)

I plan on budding when they have filled the scrog net 1/3 (probably 4 weeks from cutting) im only doing 2 buckets for now and each will have its own scrog net.

I also went for the black PVC air hose as not to let light into the buckets, also insulated with foil tape.
Ventilation is all good temps are constant.

So the help I needed was:
How many plants per bucket is recommended?
Whats the most I can put in each bucket?
Is this setup good or bad? (any tips would help as I've only ever grown with coir)

If all goes well I'll post a Journal on here, already began documenting.

Thanks in advance
Lucy.

I would only put 1 or 2 max in each bucket, reasoning behind this is so there is more room for the roots......more roots, more bud. however, im far from expert and have only 1 dwc grow nearly under my belt (on day 53 of 56).
an example of 1 plants root mass in dwc......

this is my effort, 1 plant.

Right, if you want a SCROG grow, you'll want a larger plant (I vegged 2 plants for 2 months to cover square meter of grow space), and 5 gallon bucket will barely fit one such plant. Also, if one plant gets sick, dies, goes hermie or gets into any other kind of trouble, having them in the same bucket with roots tangled together will present a problem.

I'd never go with multiple plants in a single bucket unless they are very young plants just begining to root.

Heres my bucket, it looks a lot bigger than the one in the video and the one you got, you all sure you've got 5 gallon buckets?

You're in the UK aren't you Lucy? A US gallon is different to a UK gallon, a 5 gallon US is 18.9 litres where as a proper gallon is 22.5 litres. So that could be why they look smaller?

I agree with Spanky and i'm sure others will too, you only need one plant per hydroponic nutrient centre (bucket). They will grow very big and very quickly in a DWC if you look after them, so you don't need as many plants as you think.

Good luck with your grow.

I have zero experience with DWC so I guess Im going to put 2 plants in the bucket veg for 4-6 weeks with larger area scrog net and curve the scrog net so I have same amount of light all over the net surface.

My bucket is actually 25L Neo or 6.6043 gal US just used google so I guess that answers that question, always thought a gallon was 5L guess not lol.

Whats the situation with nutrient change in DWC? will once a week be ok?
Same go for PH?
Anyone tried Advance Nutes PH perfect with dwc?
What are the common problems with DWC that I could encounter?

WIth 2 plants in a bucket, you might be changing nutes every 3-4 days in flower. Mine drink most of the res in 5 days and they each have a 20L bucket.

pH should be checked daily.


I think root rot should be your bigest concern.

I'd only do 1 per bucket as recommended above. Also install something so you will be able to drain the buckets and monitor your nute levels.

Whats would cause root rot?
Can this happen even with good air supply to the bucket?
What should I do if begins?

Probably best to take all the advice and go with one plant per bucket then I guess.
I'm going to assemble the buckets today... I'll take some photos later.

Warm temps,bacteria,ph too far outta whack.thats why u don't wanna put all your eggs in 1 basket.

lrobs said:

Whats would cause root rot?
Can this happen even with good air supply to the bucket?
What should I do if begins?

Probably best to take all the advice and go with one plant per bucket then I guess.
I'm going to assemble the buckets today... I'll take some photos later.

Click to expand...

As toaster said, not enough air, temperatures too warm, presence of organics in the res or just bad luck. There are two schools of thought on the subject of preventing root slime. One says keep everything sterile and keep adding sterilizing agents like H2O2 or chlorine, and the other one (one I'm all for) that says it's damn near impossible to keep everything sterile enough and that the better route is to continually add benneficial microorganisms in order to inhibit the development of bad ones. You can look for more info on bellies on Heisenbergs sticky topic.

Spanky84 said:

WIth 2 plants in a bucket, you might be changing nutes every 3-4 days in flower. Mine drink most of the res in 5 days and they each have a 20L bucket.

pH should be checked daily.


I think root rot should be your bigest concern.

Click to expand...

starting with the dreaded slime..... AAAARRRGGGHHH

"VitaLink BioPlus is made up of an assortment of key vitamins and hormones which are proven to initiate fast and healthy root growth. Tests prove that when used alongside a diluted grow or young-plant nutrient, such as VitaLink PlantStart, VitaLink BioPlus delivers much larger white roots than when a nutrient is used on its own. These extra roots will promote the best possible plant results in growth and flowering."


"The hormones and vitamins that VitaLink BioPlus contain have regenerative properties, which is ideal when your plants are sick. In fact, even plants that look like they cannot be restored will be revitalised by the regenerative abilities of VitaLink BioPlus. VitaLink BioPlus also contains a range of 'plant-friendly bacteria' to further promote plant health."

Will this stuff be ok?

Hate it when plants get problems, had ventilation fan fail last time caused massive mold in 3 days lost most of the plants it was on the walls and everything like fluff, temps were double what they should have been and the humidity was over 90 it was a nightmare.

Just found some Cannazym unopened from previous grow must have forgot about it...

lrobs said:

"VitaLink BioPlus is made up of an assortment of key vitamins and hormones which are proven to initiate fast and healthy root growth. Tests prove that when used alongside a diluted grow or young-plant nutrient, such as VitaLink PlantStart, VitaLink BioPlus delivers much larger white roots than when a nutrient is used on its own. These extra roots will promote the best possible plant results in growth and flowering."


"The hormones and vitamins that VitaLink BioPlus contain have regenerative properties, which is ideal when your plants are sick. In fact, even plants that look like they cannot be restored will be revitalised by the regenerative abilities of VitaLink BioPlus. VitaLink BioPlus also contains a range of 'plant-friendly bacteria' to further promote plant health."

Will this stuff be ok?

Hate it when plants get problems, had ventilation fan fail last time caused massive mold in 3 days lost most of the plants it was on the walls and everything like fluff, temps were double what they should have been and the humidity was over 90 it was a nightmare.

Click to expand...

No. Stay away from aditives. I seriously doubt any of them can do any good in DWC setup, and will potentially feed microbes and lead to slime problems.

even cannazym?

If you are planing to use benneficial microorganisms, then I'd stay away from it definately.

well i though id use a+b and cannazym is this not ok in dwc?

It might work, but I wouldn't go that way. I thing microbe teas are most reliable way of preventing root problems.