Here goes.. after going through a series of unfortunate events 3 grows in a row and after receiving tons of help from the afn community, getting advice on proper dwc equipment, npk values and other good important stuff, I'm hoping this grow will go as smooth as possible in order to help other dwc growers alike or growers wishing to dive in to a new medium.
I want to give a big thanks to those who have helped me along the way, as you have played a major part in providing all the proper knowledge I needed to do this. You know who you are. (repsonrepsonreps)
I regularly award max reps for following along and providing advice/critique.
This will be a highly detailed, step by step guide. Feel free to ask questions between each other as I'm not a know it all and have learned 90% of what I know from this community.
Lets begin..
RO water does not have any minerals. It's dead. It will register next to 0 on the ppm/ec meter. It must be ph buffered to avoid swings and then calmag must be added, raising the ppm to 50-100 for the seedling stage. As your plant grows, calmag needs will change, just watch your plants and feed accordingly.
As I've just now learned, autoflowering plants need high P (phosphorus) in the seedling stage in order to promote rapid root growth...
More information on autoflowering nutes in these guides:
Autoflowering Cannabis and Phosphorus
Autoflowering Cannabis Nutrients
Equipment
Lighthouse Hydro 3'x1.7'x5' Tent
TD-150S silent 6" Silent Duct fan w/6inch Carbon Filter
Alita 40LPM air pump
10" Double XL micro-pore diffuser 'criss crossed' to fit
Cidly Apollo 10 Custom spectrum LED unit - 370w
2x Hydroponics Hut pro grow 180 units 160w each unit/320w total
Remember DWC users, don't make the same mistake I did. Pick a pump that will output more air than liters being used in your reservoir!!! For example, 5 gallon is filled to 3.5gal/13 liters, so a 25lpm+ air pump would be sufficient, I got 40lpm which can power two buckets, but oxygen at this rate won't hurt, just don't add anything too powerful which can create a geyser in your res Pair it with a big ceramic diffuser and you're set.
Nutes
General Hydroponics: FloraDuo A+B, Calimagic, Liquid Koolbloom, Diamond Nectar, Rapidstart, Floralicious.
Dyna Gro- Pro Tekt (silica/silicon)
Botanicare: ZHO root inoculant, Aquashield.
^ Bennie tea ingredients + Oregonism XL, Earth Worm Castings, Unsulphured Molasses. (scum,slime preventative)
Read this on Tea for DWC users: TEAS FOR DWC BUCKETS
Bucket water mixture for week 1
3.5gal/13L RO 5.5ph buffered water to 50ppm w/calmag
1/8th strength Flora Duo B to 150ppm/.3ec
Day 1
Seeds:
Auto X
Royal Queen Royal Cheese
-currently soaking in 5.5ph buffered RO water with calmag to 100ppm
Tip on how to buffer RO water before using
New hydroton is being used. You must soak, soak, soak and soak again! Some growers recommend boiling it. I soaked in hot water with h2o2, rinsed off again and made sure little to no rock residue was left over in the water. Now I'm aerating the hydroton in 5.5ph/100ppm calmag'd ro water and letting it sit until sprouts are ready.
Added 2 rapid rooters into the same water solution with VERY little zho and aquashield for beneficial microbes as a preventative for scum. Don't worry, they are beneficial to seedlings. The rapid rooters, when bought, already contain beneficial microbes to promote 'rapid rooting' hence the name. I'm just stretching out that microbial activity onto the rocks and the rest of the medium to keep things consistent... Seeing as root growth explodes in those rapid rooters..
Wish me luck. Feel free to use this as a guide if all goes well!
P.S the royal queen autopot info will be on the next update with pics.
I want to give a big thanks to those who have helped me along the way, as you have played a major part in providing all the proper knowledge I needed to do this. You know who you are. (repsonrepsonreps)
I regularly award max reps for following along and providing advice/critique.
This will be a highly detailed, step by step guide. Feel free to ask questions between each other as I'm not a know it all and have learned 90% of what I know from this community.
Lets begin..
RO water does not have any minerals. It's dead. It will register next to 0 on the ppm/ec meter. It must be ph buffered to avoid swings and then calmag must be added, raising the ppm to 50-100 for the seedling stage. As your plant grows, calmag needs will change, just watch your plants and feed accordingly.
As I've just now learned, autoflowering plants need high P (phosphorus) in the seedling stage in order to promote rapid root growth...
More information on autoflowering nutes in these guides:
Autoflowering Cannabis and Phosphorus
Autoflowering Cannabis Nutrients
Equipment
Lighthouse Hydro 3'x1.7'x5' Tent
TD-150S silent 6" Silent Duct fan w/6inch Carbon Filter
Alita 40LPM air pump
10" Double XL micro-pore diffuser 'criss crossed' to fit
Cidly Apollo 10 Custom spectrum LED unit - 370w
2x Hydroponics Hut pro grow 180 units 160w each unit/320w total
Remember DWC users, don't make the same mistake I did. Pick a pump that will output more air than liters being used in your reservoir!!! For example, 5 gallon is filled to 3.5gal/13 liters, so a 25lpm+ air pump would be sufficient, I got 40lpm which can power two buckets, but oxygen at this rate won't hurt, just don't add anything too powerful which can create a geyser in your res
Pair it with a big ceramic diffuser and you're set. Nutes
General Hydroponics: FloraDuo A+B, Calimagic, Liquid Koolbloom, Diamond Nectar, Rapidstart, Floralicious.
Dyna Gro- Pro Tekt (silica/silicon)
Botanicare: ZHO root inoculant, Aquashield.
^ Bennie tea ingredients + Oregonism XL, Earth Worm Castings, Unsulphured Molasses. (scum,slime preventative)
Read this on Tea for DWC users: TEAS FOR DWC BUCKETS
Bucket water mixture for week 1
3.5gal/13L RO 5.5ph buffered water to 50ppm w/calmag
1/8th strength Flora Duo B to 150ppm/.3ec
Day 1
Seeds:
Auto X
Royal Queen Royal Cheese
-currently soaking in 5.5ph buffered RO water with calmag to 100ppm
Tip on how to buffer RO water before using
New hydroton is being used. You must soak, soak, soak and soak again! Some growers recommend boiling it. I soaked in hot water with h2o2, rinsed off again and made sure little to no rock residue was left over in the water. Now I'm aerating the hydroton in 5.5ph/100ppm calmag'd ro water and letting it sit until sprouts are ready.
Added 2 rapid rooters into the same water solution with VERY little zho and aquashield for beneficial microbes as a preventative for scum. Don't worry, they are beneficial to seedlings. The rapid rooters, when bought, already contain beneficial microbes to promote 'rapid rooting' hence the name. I'm just stretching out that microbial activity onto the rocks and the rest of the medium to keep things consistent... Seeing as root growth explodes in those rapid rooters..
Wish me luck. Feel free to use this as a guide if all goes well!
P.S the royal queen autopot info will be on the next update with pics.
Last edited:
... & I run a higher ppm ,Again nute range related .Maybe some other deep water culture growers will look in & share how they do things in week 1 ?
