dwc questions

So I been growing for some time now and I want to try new things. I just got a dwc setup and was thinking of getting some operation tips.

First, I know I need beneficial bacteria like Hydroguard. Next, I nute my plants once a week and I water them about every 2 or 3 days (in my past soil grows). Since the water is already in the buckets, would I just drop the nutes directly into the water? If so, once the nutes are in I assume I would PH the water. is there anything else I need to know?? Anything helps

Add water to bucket, add nutrients to your desired feed level, ph water until youget a solid reading. Do nutrient add backs and check your ph everyday. If you see it dropping atart at 6.1 and let it ride down to 5.5. If its rising start at 5.5 and let it ride up to 6.1

I feed a maximum of 1.5 EC

Make sure you wash your clay pellets/ grow rocks before using them if you dont there will be alot of clay dust in your res

Make sure you get a decent air pump to aerate your solution properly (if water isnt splashing out of the bucket or wetting the stalk then the more air the better imho). I use 1900gph for 14 2 gallon buckets but its kinda overkill. Also monitor your water temperature you dont want that temp too high or too low (sorry for being vague i just dont have exact numbers but the info is on this site for sure). You're gonna want to make sure you have no light penetration into your nutrient solution also.

if you intend to run a maximum ec of 1.5 (i would call that safe for most strains) then you may want to start off with an ec of .5 - .7 and slowly build it up each time you change the res and mix a new batch of nutes
hope that helps happy growing!

DWC enthusiast said:

Make sure you wash your clay pellets/ grow rocks before using them if you dont there will be alot of clay dust in your res

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Get QUALITY clay pellets. The crap i just got, IDK what it is..something the hydro store repackaged into smaller bags, will not flush out. I want to try river rocks..heard they are good and easily reusable because they don't have nooks and crannies for shit to grow in

WeedFreak78 said:

Get QUALITY clay pellets. The crap i just got, IDK what it is..something the hydro store repackaged into smaller bags, will not flush out. I want to try river rocks..heard they are good and easily reusable because they don't have nooks and crannies for shit to grow in

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Yes name brand Hydroton/hydrocorn is easier to clean as they are spherical but there is also irregular shape rocks made from slate that take more time to clean initially from my personal experience. i had to clean 30 liters of slate and 50 liters of clay for my current grow and it took longer to clean the slate

DWC enthusiast said:

Yes name brand Hydroton/hydrocorn is easier to clean as they are spherical but there is also irregular shape rocks made from slate that take more time to clean initially from my personal experience. i had to clean 30 liters of slate and 50 liters of clay for my current grow and it took longer to clean the slate

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yeah i had one bag of name brand Hydroton..and that shit was clean with like 2 rinses and it was mostly whole pieces..the cheap crap was mostly broken bits...I'm bitching next time i go back to the store..I spend enough there..they should be able to throw a bag or two of decent clay my way..if not..well find a new shop..IDK.Im not thinking rationally lately..

WeedFreak78 said:

yeah i had one bag of name brand Hydroton..and that shit was clean with like 2 rinses and it was mostly whole pieces..the cheap crap was mostly broken bits...I'm bitching next time i go back to the store..I spend enough there..they should be able to throw a bag or two of decent clay my way..if not..well find a new shop..IDK.Im not thinking rationally lately..

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On the left is hydroton on the right is the slate alternative. The slate had more grit for sure and is a variety of sizes where as the clay is much moee uniform.

DWC enthusiast said:

Make sure you get a decent air pump to aerate your solution properly (if water isnt splashing out of the bucket or wetting the stalk then the more air the better imho). I use 1900gph for 14 2 gallon buckets but its kinda overkill. Also monitor your water temperature you dont want that temp too high or too low (sorry for being vague i just dont have exact numbers but the info is on this site for sure). You're gonna want to make sure you have no light penetration into your nutrient solution also.

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Hey DWC enthusiast.. Im running a 4 bucket DWC set up, and the pump that I have isn't bubbling my water at all any suggestion on a pump... i need a HUGE quite pump if possible lol...

BlackHIppy said:

Hey DWC enthusiast.. Im running a 4 bucket DWC set up, and the pump that I have isn't bubbling my water at all any suggestion on a pump... i need a HUGE quite pump if possible lol...

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Look for Active Aqua commercial air pumps. My 45L per minute Active Aqua pump is about 740 gallons per hour and comes with a 6 way adjustable valve spliter. Each of the 6 valves can be adjusted independently which i find useful for making all buckets bubble evenly.
740gph would have 4 buckets FLOODED with air and they would love it. and you could always step up to 6 or 8 buckets without buying another pump.

DWC enthusiast said:

Look for Active Aqua commercial air pumps. My 45L per minute Active Aqua pump is about 740 gallons per hour and comes with a 6 way adjustable valve spliter. Each of the 6 valves can be adjusted independently which i find useful for making all buckets bubble evenly.
740gph would have 4 buckets FLOODED with air and they would love it. and you could always step up to 6 or 8 buckets without buying another pump.

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My bad I forgot to mention that I'm using 27gal totes

BlackHIppy said:

My bad I forgot to mention that I'm using 27gal totes

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740 gph is more then you need if you want real overkill and room for expansion I recommended this but it's not very quiet

DWC enthusiast said:

740 gph is more then you need if you want real overkill and room for expansion I recommended this but it's not very quiet

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Dizzzam, now that's a pump bro lol...nice imma check them out thanks...

BlackHIppy said:

Dizzzam, now that's a pump bro lol...nice imma check them out thanks...

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I use that pump and my 740+ gph in unison to run 15 airstones but i am confident that each bucket would still bubble plenty if i just had my big pump

I ended up running multiple small pumps, plumbed into a common manifold. It's more power..but WAY quieter than a big single, and adds some redundancy..that's how I'm selling myself on it..I just don't like the space they take up..

WeedFreak78 said:

I ended up running multiple small pumps, plumbed into a common manifold. It's more power..but WAY quieter than a big single, and adds some redundancy..that's how I'm selling myself on it..I just don't like the space they take up..

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My active aqua (740 gph) is very quiet for a big pump I can hardly hear it over the sound of my buckets bubbling. My big pump (1157 gph) is loud as hell but it was only $10 more then my 740 so you get what you pay for. My 740 also only has a 4x4in footprint