Questions about First grow using DWC

Hello, I have never grown before and iv'e talked to a few caregivers at compassion clubs in the area and they all said that I should not start growing using DWC. They said my best bet is to start in soil because the mistakes are more forgiving in soil and it is easier but I really do not want to deal with soil and the amount of time it takes to harvest.

My questions are:

should I start with soil first before I try DWC?

On a scale of 1-10 is it easier to use DWC to grow VS Soil?

How forgiving are the mistakes with DWC?

Thanks

My first grow is with a dwc system i built myself..so far so good, as long as you read up and know your stuff before you begin, any problems im sure theres loads of people who can help you on here, personally i would grow some bag weed before buying any decent seeds.

Your best bet is to make sure u got everything you need before you start (ph up/down, 3 part nutes, ec/ph meter, your medium etc)

Just my .02

Thank you for your .02

I am going to get all the necessary equipment. Thats not an issue as I have roughly 2000 saved up for this. I just want to make sure that I can actually do this because some people say its really easy, some say dont do it as 1 mistake could kill all my plants. I was thinking about purchasing a DWC system off ebay. Check this link out and let me know what you think

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320546230908&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

If possible, try to build your own. (its really simple and there are tons of tutorials on t) Any premade dwc/aeroponic system is usually marked up by as much as 200-300 percent.

My first grow was DWC its pretty easy as long as you focus on reservoir temps, keeping light out of your reservoir, PH and PPM's.. Pay close attention to those and you should be good. Be patient at the end of the day it's a "weed" ...

endofwed said:

If possible, try to build your own. (its really simple and there are tons of tutorials on t) Any premade dwc/aeroponic system is usually marked up by as much as 200-300 percent.

Click to expand...

Your right, I seen a few of the tutorials but I suck when it comes to building things and I would rather spend a little extra money to get a system already together thats got tons of positive reviews. I can afford the price of that system as I have a good amount to play with. My only concern was if I should try to use it with no prior growing experience.

BeaverHuntr said:

My first grow was DWC its pretty easy as long as you focus on reservoir temps, keeping light out of your reservoir, PH and PPM's.. Pay close attention to those and you should be good. Be patient at the end of the day it's a "weed" ...

Click to expand...

Ok thats good sound advice. Thank you. How did your first grow turn out and how long did it take you from start to harvest?

Growing in any medium amounts to following directions. In DWC, there are more directions to be followed. Do your research, read through a DWC grow tutorial, and be diligent about res maintenance. Learn how to use a PH and PPM meter, and to keep records. The accumulative data will tell you all you need to know about your plants progress. Your biggest challenge will be root disease, so learn what proper res conditions are, and learn how to use beneficial microorganisms. Use only synthetic chemical nutes and additives, keep the nute schedule simple, and you should be fine. After a few grows you will learn how to read your plants and you can experiment with enhancements.

View attachment 1222637

I have to agree that the markup is ridiculous.

1. Bucket $2
2. Net Pot $1
3. Air Pump $10
4. Air Stone $5
5. Air Tube $3
6. Medium $2 (Cocotek Chip Brick)
Total _$23.

Some growers balance the PH, some growers never do.

Some growers never let the reservoir go unchanged for more than two weeks, some growers never change the reservoir.

It's kind of a personal choice. Maybe it's a reflection of the aggressiveness or passiveness of the grower. As long as you try to keep it simple you will be ok.

PurpleRhinoceros said:

View attachment 1222637

I have to agree that the markup is ridiculous.

1. Bucket $2
2. Net Pot $1
3. Air Pump $10
4. Air Stone $5
5. Air Tube $3
6. Medium $2 (Cocotek Chip Brick)
Total _$23.

Some growers balance the PH, some growers never do.

Some growers never let the reservoir go unchanged for more than two weeks, some growers never change the reservoir.

It's kind of a personal choice. Maybe it's a reflection of the aggressiveness or passiveness of the grower. As long as you try to keep it simple you will be ok.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your response. I plan on changing the water and checking the PH. I want it to be good quality smoke so whatever I need to do to make good yields & quality smoke, I will do it. I have priced a few ph meters, air filters, lights etc. Just debating if I should try soil first but im really leaning towards dwc.

For my first grow... I decided to go with dwc just because I didn't want to deal with the mess of handling soil. Regardless of which one more difficult, I thought growing in water was a neat idea..

Yes it is a neat idea, one of the resons i started DWC. I now gro all my weed, plants and vegetables VIA DWC and can be very awarding!

Like one of the other posters said i would recommend buiulding your own, its easy as 1,2,3

Good luck!

If you read the threads going on on the DWC forum you will find many of us using 5GA buckets, some of us are using coolers & team water coolers (jugs) these are insulated and help maintain a constant temperature the only thing you have to do is add a frozen water bottle to cool down temps after 1 day. My daily maintenance includes:

After lights are on I get to plants on my way to the room I grab a frozen water bottle for each bucket. I add PH'd plain tap water to top of water level in the reservoir, check PPM's to make sure they are in range.

Each week I do a reservoir change just because of how much the ladies are drinking now. I was able to go 1-2 weeks just depends once I put back in ~ 4 GA in my reservoir I know it is time to mix up a new batch. Because I am in flower now I am adding 1-2L of water / container per day.

Ok so is it better to have seperate buckets or a system with 6 spaces in 1 reservoir?

tsboss1 said:

Ok so is it better to have seperate buckets or a system with 6 spaces in 1 reservoir?

Click to expand...

The reservoir you must have for 6 spaces would be like 30 gallons, the issue you will first run into is space for your ladies. I would run 6 separate buckets and either hook them together or have 6 stand alone buckets. If your growing different kinds of seeds then probably best to have them in separate buckets so you can adjust the PPM for each plant as needed and the opposite is true, if they are the same seed or from the same mom then run a recirculating dwc because you can run a steady PPM for all 6 plants these are optimal conditions and of course it can work both ways but that is your choice and makes it fun because every grower does something a little bit different.

Ok also my last question, will the yield be higher in DWC VS. an organic mix soil? I know it could depend on various conditions but lets just say in near perfect room & temp conditions

Thanks

Welcome to DWC world TSBoss1 !
It's not as hard as that club makes it sound.
DWC is actually THE EASIEST of all forms of hydroponics !
TRUE DWC that is !
Bucket(s)
Air Stones
Air Pump(s)
Net Basket(s)
Medium
PH Up/Down
Nutrients
PH and PPM meters

Look up some ppl who are using coolers with success for DWC :

BoomerBloomer57 (120qt/30gal Igloo)
Weedler (5gal sport coolers)
BeaverHuntr (5gal sport coolers)
Flo Grow (48qt/12gal Igloo)

There are more ppl too, that are using coolers now. There's a Deep Water Cooler Club thread just started too.

In my experience with DWC, IMHO these are essential in order of importance :
1) Rez Temps
2) PH
3) PPM's

1) EVERYTHING relies on the water temps being correct FIRST and FOREMOST ! Water too warm/cold affects available oxygen and PH fluctuations. ROOT ROT caused and fed by warm water which is the ideal breeding ground for this bacteria !!
2) PH fluctuations affect available nutrient uptake, which affects yield and causes more time than neccesary to be spent in the garden due to constant adjusting.
3) See all the above.

If you read or have read a good number of DWC grow threads of ANY forum, you will immediately notice that the NUMBER 1 problem ppl are having are with rez temps !
Then PH and PPM probs !
Then some complicate the situation by trying to go "organic" in DWC !
Not hydroponics, but DWC !
Pro-Mix, Roots Organic, SunShine, Fox Farms, Oceans Forrest, Coco Coir, Croutons, and etc. soilless are STILL hydroponic, just other forms.
THOSE are for organic hydro, not DWC.
The only DWC for organic is bubbling compost teas for the above soilless mediums !
DWC for THAT reason is THE simplest form of hydroponics.
1 - Veg nute; 1- Bloom nute; 1 - Bloom Booster and nothing more.
Start simple first.
See what the "basics" can actually do while learning your plants, especially if you plan to learn/run clones.
THEN add something new here and there to see a NOTICEABLE difference.
Not what other ppl say or tell you or even show you in a picture.
Believe half of ALL you see, read and hear UNLESS you were there the WHOLE time !!
SO many ways to grow this incredibly easy and tough plant.
None of it will matter until you start applying applications that interest you, after research and asking questions.
Find a couple growers that you can support and who will support you.
Too many trolls on these grow forums, and fewer true individuals who want to learn and teach.
I'm done rambling ! lol
JillyBean got me....................................lmao

Weedler said:

The reservoir you must have for 6 spaces would be like 30 gallons, the issue you will first run into is space for your ladies. I would run 6 separate buckets and either hook them together or have 6 stand alone buckets. If your growing different kinds of seeds then probably best to have them in separate buckets so you can adjust the PPM for each plant as needed and the opposite is true, if they are the same seed or from the same mom then run a recirculating dwc because you can run a steady PPM for all 6 plants these are optimal conditions and of course it can work both ways but that is your choice and makes it fun because every grower does something a little bit different.

Click to expand...

Is there a thread here that teaches you how to build a recirculating dwc?

Flo Grow said:

Welcome to DWC world TSBoss1 !
It's not as hard as that club makes it sound.
DWC is actually THE EASIEST of all forms of hydroponics !
TRUE DWC that is !
Bucket(s)
Air Stones
Air Pump(s)
Net Basket(s)
Medium
PH Up/Down
Nutrients
PH and PPM meters

Look up some ppl who are using coolers with success for DWC :

BoomerBloomer57 (120qt/30gal Igloo)
Weedler (5gal sport coolers)
BeaverHuntr (5gal sport coolers)
Flo Grow (48qt/12gal Igloo)

There are more ppl too, that are using coolers now. There's a Deep Water Cooler Club thread just started too.

In my experience with DWC, IMHO these are essential in order of importance :
1) Rez Temps
2) PH
3) PPM's

1) EVERYTHING relies on the water temps being correct FIRST and FOREMOST ! Water too warm/cold affects available oxygen and PH fluctuations. ROOT ROT caused and fed by warm water which is the ideal breeding ground for this bacteria !!
2) PH fluctuations affect available nutrient uptake, which affects yield and causes more time than neccesary to be spent in the garden due to constant adjusting.
3) See all the above.

If you read or have read a good number of DWC grow threads of ANY forum, you will immediately notice that the NUMBER 1 problem ppl are having are with rez temps !
Then PH and PPM probs !
Then some complicate the situation by trying to go "organic" in DWC !
Not hydroponics, but DWC !
Pro-Mix, Roots Organic, SunShine, Fox Farms, Oceans Forrest, Coco Coir, Croutons, and etc. soilless are STILL hydroponic, just other forms.
THOSE are for organic hydro, not DWC.
The only DWC for organic is bubbling compost teas for the above soilless mediums !
DWC for THAT reason is THE simplest form of hydroponics.
1 - Veg nute; 1- Bloom nute; 1 - Bloom Booster and nothing more.
Start simple first.
See what the "basics" can actually do while learning your plants, especially if you plan to learn/run clones.
THEN add something new here and there to see a NOTICEABLE difference.
Not what other ppl say or tell you or even show you in a picture.
Believe half of ALL you see, read and hear UNLESS you were there the WHOLE time !!
SO many ways to grow this incredibly easy and tough plant.
None of it will matter until you start applying applications that interest you, after research and asking questions.
Find a couple growers that you can support and who will support you.
Too many trolls on these grow forums, and fewer true individuals who want to learn and teach.
I'm done rambling ! lol
JillyBean got me....................................lmao

Click to expand...

Thank you for your welcome and informative post!

So which brand/type of air pump, and air stone would you recommend? I see lots of different ones available its kind of hard to choose. Im looking for the best I can get. I want to grow between 12-24 plants so will I need an air pump and air stone in each bucket?

Can someone answer my question please?

Whats a good size air stone for a 5 gallon bucket and air pump?