My first shot at DWC

Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Okay, so I am almost done with my first soil grow... so much fun, I had to come back for more.

Thought I would try DWC due to fast growth and big yeilds... Sounded fun...why not?

So here's my setup:
A decent grow area with veg/flower area
1 root spa 5 gallon plumbed bucket
netpot
hydroton
rockwool
air pump with donut airstone
small aquarium chiller
ghetto cooling system of my design
GH nutes
H202
Dutchmaster zone
Earth Juice Cal Mag
Will probably splurge for some advanced nutes additives later on...(big bud, ect)

I will only be growing 1 plant in 1 bucket. Im not selling the farm until I see the results!

Strain is Northern Lights Autofem from Nirvana. Seed is sprouted in rockwool awaiting roots large enough to start pumpin water.

Will post pics when I get out of class.

:bigjoint:

Oh, any help or constructive criticism is welcome, but please no bickering about what lights are best, what soil, blah blah...Chill...just grow guys!
 
kmog33

kmog33

Well-Known Member
What's the rockwool for? Rockwool retains a lot of water, so it's not always great in dwc.


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Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
I germinated my seeds in rockwool. Never done it before, so i wanted to try. Next time ill do rapid rooters... Im trying to diversify my brotha!

kmog33 said:
What's the rockwool for? Rockwool retains a lot of water, so it's not always great in dwc.


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Click to expand...
 
kmog33

kmog33

Well-Known Member
Mr.Hush said:
I germinated my seeds in rockwool. Never done it before, so i wanted to try. Next time ill do rapid rooters... Im trying to diversify my brotha!
Click to expand...
Cool, just make sure you watch to make sure the cubes don't stay completely soaked in your dwc buckets or you could have problems. Should en fine though once they're established.


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Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Okay... seedling is looking good. Taproot already peeking. Unfortunately the rockwool I got has the holes in it... I was stoned when I ordered...lol. I will make it work, once I get her in the hydroton she'll be fine. 20160203_105024.jpg 20160203_105030.jpg

DWC bucket is clean and ready. 250gph pump with the stones under my led that made my last girl frosty...
20160203_104039.jpg
20160203_104010.jpg


Last, and most important my cooling station. I have a small aquarium chiller that is the heart of the system. Roughly 10 feet of intake and exhaust hose go from the chiller, through a cooler i plumbed, and into the bucket.

The chiller water is seperate from the cooler... What I do is freeze several milk jugs of water... pop a new one in every day...Presto! 60-65 degrees easy. This takes a ton of stress off the chiller, extending its life and making mine easy. I have ran it for a week with consistent temps that make me and roots happy.
Essentially,I made a cooling coil. Don't knock it - - it works!! 20160203_104054.jpg
20160203_104157.jpg
20160203_104248.jpg
 
Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Oh, and i will be taping the lines that are exposed to light black...no algae please!
 
kmog33

kmog33

Well-Known Member
Mr.Hush said:
Okay... seedling is looking good. Taproot already peeking. Unfortunately the rockwool I got has the holes in it... I was stoned when I ordered...lol. I will make it work, once I get her in the hydroton she'll be fine. View attachment 3600122 View attachment 3600123

DWC bucket is clean and ready. 250gph pump with the stones under my led that made my last girl frosty...
View attachment 3600124
View attachment 3600125


Last, and most important my cooling station. I have a small aquarium chiller that is the heart of the system. Roughly 10 feet of intake and exhaust hose go from the chiller, through a cooler i plumbed, and into the bucket.

The chiller water is seperate from the cooler... What I do is freeze several milk jugs of water... pop a new one in every day...Presto! 60-65 degrees easy. This takes a ton of stress off the chiller, extending its life and making mine easy. I have ran it for a week with consistent temps that make me and roots happy.
Essentially,I made a cooling coil. Don't knock it - - it works!! View attachment 3600128
View attachment 3600129
View attachment 3600130
Click to expand...
Dude those are massive blocks. I thought you said you had rockwool cubes. Like 1". You need to chop most of that off. Use part of what you take off to fill in the hole. That will definitely cause problems in a dwc system.


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kmog33

kmog33

Well-Known Member
If I were you I would tear the whole cube up and use a few small pieces of it to keep your seedling in place until it established itself in he hydroton.


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Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
kmog33 said:
If I were you I would tear the whole cube up and use a few small pieces of it to keep your seedling in place until it established itself in he hydroton.

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Click to expand...
already started... lol
 
Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Prepped the water in my bucket...

2.5 ml of all three GH nutes


2ml cal mag, 6 ml h202, 4 drops of superthrive, and 5ml of dutchmaster gold zone.

ppm is 150, ph is at 5.2
 
kmog33

kmog33

Well-Known Member
If you're going to keep the cube in one piece you're better of getting a top feeding hose and watering it once every 4-6 hours like ebb n flow. Having a cube that large will cause root problems in dwc.


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Larry {the} Gardener

Larry {the} Gardener

Well-Known Member
I'm in from the start on this grow. Good luck with the DWC. I ran a few peppers in a homemade DWC for a few weeks. I decided it was easier for me to grow in soil, but then I'm allergic to spending money. If I were to buy a nice setup like that, I might do better.

Speaking of not liking to spend money, really dig your cooler. I tried to grow a clone from my CP/DA plant in a little cardboard box grow cabinet. I had a real heat issue, and before I gave up and took her outside, I used half gallon jugs of ice changed out twice a day. My fans were not up to the job and even with the ice it got too hot. But we had a really late frost last fall, so I got a little fire off of her.
 
Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Haven't forgotten about this grow, been busy trying to save a plant in veg that foxfarm nuked with over 2100ppm...in the midst of trying to do that i broke the taproot on my DWC bean...yikes! :wall:Will have the DWC up and running shortly.

Shit happens. No biggie.
:wall:
 
Mr.Hush

Mr.Hush

Well-Known Member
Yesterday was the first for her in the bucket... things are going well ...lotsa oxygen going to the roots...they are white and growing fast...20160214_172609-1.jpg

20160215_111159.jpg
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