Good point.
How To: DWC
- Thread starter VoidObject
- Start date
Poontanger
Well-Known Member
I'm still having trouble working out which is best
Only going to try one bucket dwc first time as an experiment hoping to learn heaps
I have read a lot about the topic in the last week or so,,
A few grey areas for me are
What do we put in our water to stop root disease?
And why is RDWC ,, better than dwc,, when you have two pumps running full-time,, or have I got it wrong
Only going to try one bucket dwc first time as an experiment hoping to learn heaps
I have read a lot about the topic in the last week or so,,
A few grey areas for me are
What do we put in our water to stop root disease?
And why is RDWC ,, better than dwc,, when you have two pumps running full-time,, or have I got it wrong
Wastei
Well-Known Member
RDWC systems normally only run one pump. Air stones/pump doesn't really count because you need i with both systems either way(maybe not at all if you run waterfalls).
RDWC is easier to operate because you have only one reservoir for all plants and only one point to adjust EC and pH. Also with greater water volumes you make the system more stable in terms of keeping EC and pH stable.
Bigger water volumes = Greater stability and less time fiddling with the system. In DWC you will have best result running the system sterile with an oxidizer. I've always used regular bleach, running chlorine at 3ppm from start to finish. Here's a dilution calculator: Chlorine dilution calculator
Poontanger
Well-Known Member
Wastei
Well-Known Member
Need to be unscented. Only sodium hypochlorite.
FlowerPower88
Well-Known Member
There’s got to be an easy way to change out the reservoir in regular DWC 5 gal bucket without actually switching buckets, or is there a benefit to switching the bucket and not just the solution?
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I installed a water level indicator, that seconds as a drain hose.
I wrapped some tape around a paper towel roll, and I keep it over the tube, so no light gets to it. Seems like algae will still grow even with the blue tubing.
DirtyJerzey
Well-Known Member
What I do when I run a single DWC is just remove the lid/ basket and place it on an empty bucket while i change the nutes/ water. Gives the root ball a little air. You could always ad a drain port, but removing 100% of the water is still an issue. Even when i run my RDWC setup ( i use same DWC buckets) i still wont get all the water out. But its minimal, and the left over PPM is negligible.
Single DWC's aren't efficient for grows with more then like 2-3 plants IMHO.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I had to do the drain, since I scrog, it would be difficult to remove the lid and put onto another bucket.
DirtyJerzey
Well-Known Member
Yea, that would be a PITA. Do you DWC and Scrog? I would set my RDWC up if I was gonna Scrog.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Yea, my growroom is on the second floor of my place. I don't wanna do rdwc, because the water volume is greater, and there's more potential for water leaks, so I just keep it to one 4 gallon bucket. It does suck having to top off twice daily though.
Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
Gots to have faith in your plumbing.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Lol yea I got faith in that. It's just the whole Murphys law thing that I can't get past.
Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
I know what you mean. Ive been looking into a leak sensor that will shut off what is plugged into it. My main worry is my return line clogging and supply pump is constantly running. 120$ for the sensor thing
amneziaHaze
Well-Known Member
You can buy pc psu they can keep a pc on for an hour.and airpump is 5w soo it will be more than a day
Canadian_Growing
Well-Known Member
All this DWC representation is using it in an inefficient way; tiny buckets, expensive heat chillers, etc. Instead of looking to manage the water in little buckets, just use a much larger reservoir and fashion your own lid with construction grade styrofoam. Drill some holes for the mesh pots. And you can't go overboard with the bubbles; the more bubbles bursting the surface, the better.
Artmann11
Active Member
I put a large grow tray (42" x 42" x 6" deep) on my floor because my room is short. I got a lid for the reservoir and cut holes in the top. I have a large reservoir in the other room. I use synchronized timers to move the water back and forth. I do have a chiller.
It's more of a modified recirculating deep water culture. The rez used to be under the traybut the girls regularly hit the ceiling. It was an ebb and flow. I gained 18" switching over.
One downside is I can't move the plants at all, but if one uses a scrog you can't anyway.
It's more of a modified recirculating deep water culture. The rez used to be under the traybut the girls regularly hit the ceiling. It was an ebb and flow. I gained 18" switching over.
One downside is I can't move the plants at all, but if one uses a scrog you can't anyway.
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FlowerPower88
Well-Known Member
I always was taught that multi site DWC with nutrient hungry plants like cannabis wasn’t good due to root competition. Have you ever experienced a more competitive plant dominate and stunt out a less vigorous one?
Canadian_Growing
Well-Known Member
Nope. That happens in soil/inert mediums with larger beds, but all the roots in a DWC seem to live in a happy symbiosis of entanglement.
