dwc bucket size?

was appenin people hope all gd ive been growing in rockwool for years but am starting to see th ebenefits of dwc.. i was wondering about knocking up my own system,, i have a plastic 36litre storage box with sealy lid i intend to put 2 plants into.... however im wondering if they are deep enough/. they are about 400mm or 17" deep. is this enough for the roots and still have gd aeriation , im worried the roots will touch bottom of container at the end when root mass is heavy? how deep is the ideal container?.. i have seen the 6 plant systems and they dont seem no deeper than 12" or so i jus cant see how they work....

That's plenty of depth and there is no problem with roots getting to the bottom and spreading out from there. You might want to read the link below for some ideas.

will do that, thnx illegal , so if the roots lie on the stones thats fine? gunna have a gd read in a min

Illegal Smile said:

That's plenty of depth and there is no problem with roots getting to the bottom and spreading out from there. You might want to read the link below for some ideas.

Click to expand...

thnx m8 i had already read that thread last nite trying to get a gd understanding. v helpfull..
i think im nearly there as far as acomprehensive understanding of dwc, i still cant fathom how u maintain nute levels,,,,
do u check every 2 days or so? and if the ppm has dropped from say the originall 1000ppm to 600ppm do u then top up th eres so it reads 1000ppm again by adding a stronger mix of nutes? i was under the impression frm gen hydro that if ya bucket is half empty but still has the original ppm then the plant doesnt want nutes yat and so the next mix should be a lower ppm.etc

or maybe u just leave ya res set at 1000ppm for two weeks and watever the ppm sinks to it stays there untill nxt res change???

basically do u A adjust res every few days to maintain a ppm reding

B leave it alone till res change,,

thnx for ya time m8 i hope u get the jist of wat im asking, im a bit under the weather at the mo so may nt make sense

I do a step on my nutes I work them up from 600 all the way up to 1700 . Every couple days I add fresh water with no nutes then I add enough to take it 100-200 beyond what I had the previous time(writing shit down helps too) this way I don't fall to nute deficiency and when I add enough fresh water to my res to completely change the water ( add 5 gal of water to my 5 gal res) I switch out the water with fresh and don't nute it for 2 days then get them back. I love dwc

Here's my simple advice for newbs on nutes in dwc. Forget about ppms and meters. The most important thing is to pick a nute product you trust. I use Humboldt butothers are good too. Study their products and pick a base for hydro, like Humboldt Master A & B, maybe cal and mag supplements, maybe a growth/bud enhancer. Study the company's feeding schedule. Not what's on the bottle, what's on their website.

Now make a list of how many mls of each you will add per gallon for week 1, week2, etc. If you veg for 5 weeks and flower for nine that's a 14 week schedule. Add those amounts with a weekly res change and then just keep the water level steady withplain pH'd water. Thel logic here is that you are giving them the right amounts of everything they need for a week, so you don't care at what rate it is taken up. In a week they will get a whole new feeding.

There might be much disagreement with this, but newbs have too many things they are already stressed with and nutes don't need to be another. Remember, the key is starting with a good product.

thnx illegal, im assuming the amount of bubbles as u described (ie feel them pop 2 inchs above water level),,, is meant for the whole surface area of the water! only i seen a set up the other day that had very minimal air dissipation, the bubbles only really covered the centre of the bucket, and didnt seem very aggressive for want of a better word.
i imagined a gd active stream of bubbles agrrevating the water , and constantly airiating it, am i going off on one again lol it has been known

sweetsmoker said:

thnx illegal, im assuming the amount of bubbles as u described (ie feel them pop 2 inchs above water level),,, is meant for the whole surface area of the water! only i seen a set up the other day that had very minimal air dissipation, the bubbles only really covered the centre of the bucket, and didnt seem very aggressive for want of a better word.
i imagined a gd active stream of bubbles agrrevating the water , and constantly airiating it, am i going off on one again lol it has been known

Click to expand...

In the end it doesn't matter what it looks like or feels like. If the netpots are getting splashed enough that the top of the cube is the correct dampness then fine, if not then make adjustments to water level and/or bubble action.

im thinking about for when the roots are completly submerged, surely u will need a gd air flow to stop em drowning,, and the cube becomes irrelevant.. if anything better dry yes?? when i water my pots i always water away from the starter cubes more around the edge of pots to encourage root movement ang growth, surely hydro has the same principles of when the roots are in the solution the starter cube stays dryish.

thnx 4 ya time m8 gd 2 iron these things out beforehand

Once roots are well in the water the bubbles are for oxygenation only, and the bubble action needed for that is less than for feeding so it should not be a problem.

really? well ill be fuct i was gunna bubble the balls out my tub.. so a gentle flow will suffice? shud be able to land a cheaper pump if that is the case.
take it easy illegal, can u post a pic up of ya tub bubbling for me?