Grow Mediums First DWC

[Whitetrash]

Hey all. I'm getting ready to start my first DWC grow. Just gona rock a beginner set up. 2 5gal buckets found an awsome video of how to build the set up. They will not be recirculating . I'll be running green planet Medi one and Ocean magic. So I've watched a good few videos and I've searched the internet but I'm not finding all the information I need. I'm trying to figure out how the feedings go. Is there a rule of thumb in how often to add nutes. Or change water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Or if you know of a link or site that's a little.more in depth that would be sweet. Cheers!!

 

[Sabelter O Adoob]

Hi and good luck @Whitetrash theres a few of us doin DWC here you'll never be short of help :smoking:

 

[Whitetrash]

Howdy do. I have 3-4 left to.my gorilla glue in super soil. Once that's done I'll be trying my hand at dwc. I'm pretty pumped .. should be cool. So my main thing is the feeding and the water change. How do you run yours?

 

[woody]

Hey @Whitetrash there are a few different ways growers like to run dwc feeding/res changes. Personally i like a full change every 10 days. But with 5 gallon youll find after week 4 or so youll be needing to top up before then anyway

 

[Whitetrash]

I've ready a bunch f contradicting info out there. I read somewhere that if ph stays ok i may not even need to change the water. Does that seem right ? When I do top ups. Am i supposed to just check ppm and add enough nutes to balance out what the start up ppms were? I'm planning on starting seedlings with 1/4 strenght the recommended nuts. And slowly progress from there. Should I germinate in rockwood in the buckets or start 3m in a dome to get them to root properly? Thanks for the input. Cheers!!

 

[MMMi]

It's funny, I'm going in the total opposite direction. Ditching nutes, pens, ppms, phs for organic.

Anyhow...

* Top up as often as you can/want. I tried to keep them topped off, but lots of people let it ebb and flow (so to speak).
* I usually went several weeks in veg without changing water. They just don't drink that much until they are big. If PH is stable and everything looks and smells good. I would make a reservoir for topoffs.
* I started seeds in rapid rooters, domed them for a bit -- then straight into the DWC. Top water until roots hit the water.
* Use the largest buckets you can. I used 5g with net tops. They only held 3g of solution. In flower this can be very challenging when they drink over a gallon/day. When I was in flower I had a res and a pump on a timer to try and keep up. I eventually moved to RDWC mid-cycle.
* Some people use the add plain water back strat, I always added nutes. If EC was dropping in the bucket, I'd add nutes with a higher EC.
* Run either beneficial bacteria or sterile.
* I didn't change solution on a schedule, it was more of a feel thing. If PH starts acting funny, or it becomes hard to get stable EC, or something smells a bit off, or something just isn't behaving like it should. Like I said, in flower they should drink > 1 gallon a day. If your bucket holds 3g, you are effectively changing 30% of res every day (sorta).

 

[Simplicio]

Hey all. I'm getting ready to start my first DWC grow. Just gona rock a beginner set up. 2 5gal buckets found an awsome video of how to build the set up. They will not be recirculating . I'll be running green planet Medi one and Ocean magic. So I've watched a good few videos and I've searched the internet but I'm not finding all the information I need. I'm trying to figure out how the feedings go. Is there a rule of thumb in how often to add nutes. Or change water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Or if you know of a link or site that's a little.more in depth that would be sweet. Cheers!!

There are many different, but correct ways to do this.
Ignore feed charts because they will cause you to overfeed.
The best feeding method is to start at about 1/4 the recommended dose, then slowly increase.
Too-green, downward clawing leaves, and orange leaf tips are all signs of too much fertilizer.

The plants will tell you what they want:
1. If ppm goes down, the plants are eating more than drinking, so increase ppm.
2. If ppm goes up, the plants are drinking more than eating, so reduce ppm.

Personally, I use larger, mulit-plant reservoirs which get topped off automatically daily with the full strength nutes I use.
I remove 1/2 gallon daily from each of 2 15 gallon reservoirs for testing, then discard it.
Other than that I never change the reservoirs.

If I go above 450 ppm (EC=0.9) nute burn ensues.
But following the Vapor Pressure Deficit chart requires less food.

 

[Whitetrash]

Great in

There are many different, but correct ways to do this.
Ignore feed charts because they will cause you to overfeed.
The best feeding method is to start at about 1/4 the recommended dose, then slowly increase.
Too-green, downward clawing leaves, and orange leaf tips are all signs of too much fertilizer.

The plants will tell you what they want:
1. If ppm goes down, the plants are eating more than drinking, so increase ppm.
2. If ppm goes up, the plants are drinking more than eating, so reduce ppm.

Personally, I use larger, mulit-plant reservoirs which get topped off automatically daily with the full strength nutes I use.
I remove 1/2 gallon daily from each of 2 15 gallon reservoirs for testing, then discard it.
Other than that I never change the reservoirs.

If I go above 450 ppm (EC=0.9) nute burn ensues.
But following the Vapor Pressure Deficit chart requires less food.

Great info. I'm defenetly gona have to ask alot of questions and do alot of reading to make sure I stay on track. My tap water has high ppm. Should I use bottled water? I'll be using Green planet Medi one and Ocean magic wich is sold as organic. But I'm still ph cause currently ph out the tap is high 7 and doesnt change much even after adding the nutrients

 

[Whitetrash]

It's funny, I'm going in the total opposite direction. Ditching nutes, pens, ppms, phs for organic.

Anyhow...

* Top up as often as you can/want. I tried to keep them topped off, but lots of people let it ebb and flow (so to speak).
* I usually went several weeks in veg without changing water. They just don't drink that much until they are big. If PH is stable and everything looks and smells good. I would make a reservoir for topoffs.
* I started seeds in rapid rooters, domed them for a bit -- then straight into the DWC. Top water until roots hit the water.
* Use the largest buckets you can. I used 5g with net tops. They only held 3g of solution. In flower this can be very challenging when they drink over a gallon/day. When I was in flower I had a res and a pump on a timer to try and keep up. I eventually moved to RDWC mid-cycle.
* Some people use the add plain water back strat, I always added nutes. If EC was dropping in the bucket, I'd add nutes with a higher EC.
* Run either beneficial bacteria or sterile.
* I didn't change solution on a schedule, it was more of a feel thing. If PH starts acting funny, or it becomes hard to get stable EC, or something smells a bit off, or something just isn't behaving like it should. Like I said, in flower they should drink > 1 gallon a day. If your bucket holds 3g, you are effectively changing 30% of res every day (sorta).

Thanks for the info. I was planni g on doing 2 5gal buckets in one of my 2x4 tents. I figure I'll get the hang of regular dwc before I try recirculating. Also dont have much room for a top off nin but I'll figure that out as I go forward. I guess alot of this like any other grow is going to be trial and error. Look forward to giving her a go

 

[Chris Stroupe]

I do a complete bucket change once every 7 days. I check buckets 2 times a week if I need to add water I do so with a funnel I put in a little hole I made in lid of the bucket. If you want to be accurate and avoid overfeeding or under feeding and pH problems you need to have pH meter and ppm meter.