hydroMD
Well-Known Member
Choosing a reservoir.
First decide your style of grow. Small plants do great in 5 gal. buckets, but if you veg for a few weeks, expect to be changing water every day or two at the end of harvest.
I figure about 5 gal of res space ever two weeks of veg, or if your running a sativa maybe more.
Also, the bucket space your plant is growing in has less affect in dwc than say soil or cocoa. A massive plant can grow in a 5 gal bucket but id suggest an external reservoir so you can supply more water for less maintenance. (Basically u will never experience root lock in dwc)
Next is to decide if you want a stand alone setup, linked setup, or recirculating/under current.
Stand alone is simple and cheap. One bucket, one net pot, an air stone, air pump and soiless media is all u need. Works great for small number of plants and with a couple submersable pumps changing water is a breeze. This method is best for dialing in different strains.
If your running multiple plants linking your buckets can devide watering times in half. Drain from one bucket instead of each individually. If its not under current u will still need to look at ph and ec in individual buckets.
Recircualting kultiple buckets of the same strain is a must. I like to top feed from an external res and create a continous flow via gravity. Connect the bottom of your bucket to the bottom of your res allowing drainage back to your res from each bucket. I use a 3/8" pump connected to an air stone adapter. They come in 4,6,8,12, & 16 valves. Keeps all ph and nute levels consistent allowing you to only mess with one control bucket for your whole garden.
U can also plant two plants in one large tub. id recommend it being the same strain in case they prefer diffents ph or ec levels. Also make damn sure u keep both alive. If one dies after their roots have been established u wont be able to seperate them and the roots from the dead plant and start to rot in your reservoir causing problems. Ive used hygrozyme to battle this but it still had a negative affect. Ive actuall taken 2 buckefs with drain holes and put them in the tub submersed in the nutes inder the net pots. It will contain your roots in case things go wrong.
Just a quick read for the newbs. At work so its not very thorough. Chime in or ask questions, ill stop back by.
8 years of dwc info waiting to be unveiled!
First decide your style of grow. Small plants do great in 5 gal. buckets, but if you veg for a few weeks, expect to be changing water every day or two at the end of harvest.
I figure about 5 gal of res space ever two weeks of veg, or if your running a sativa maybe more.
Also, the bucket space your plant is growing in has less affect in dwc than say soil or cocoa. A massive plant can grow in a 5 gal bucket but id suggest an external reservoir so you can supply more water for less maintenance. (Basically u will never experience root lock in dwc)
Next is to decide if you want a stand alone setup, linked setup, or recirculating/under current.
Stand alone is simple and cheap. One bucket, one net pot, an air stone, air pump and soiless media is all u need. Works great for small number of plants and with a couple submersable pumps changing water is a breeze. This method is best for dialing in different strains.
If your running multiple plants linking your buckets can devide watering times in half. Drain from one bucket instead of each individually. If its not under current u will still need to look at ph and ec in individual buckets.
Recircualting kultiple buckets of the same strain is a must. I like to top feed from an external res and create a continous flow via gravity. Connect the bottom of your bucket to the bottom of your res allowing drainage back to your res from each bucket. I use a 3/8" pump connected to an air stone adapter. They come in 4,6,8,12, & 16 valves. Keeps all ph and nute levels consistent allowing you to only mess with one control bucket for your whole garden.
U can also plant two plants in one large tub. id recommend it being the same strain in case they prefer diffents ph or ec levels. Also make damn sure u keep both alive. If one dies after their roots have been established u wont be able to seperate them and the roots from the dead plant and start to rot in your reservoir causing problems. Ive used hygrozyme to battle this but it still had a negative affect. Ive actuall taken 2 buckefs with drain holes and put them in the tub submersed in the nutes inder the net pots. It will contain your roots in case things go wrong.
Just a quick read for the newbs. At work so its not very thorough. Chime in or ask questions, ill stop back by.
8 years of dwc info waiting to be unveiled!
