DWC Question?

Whats up! Im gonna try DWC for the first time and I need some help . Im growinig in clay rocks or pellets(Hydroton). When you change pot sizes from 4" to 10" do you just put the old pot inside the new one and cover it up with more rocks? Should the root stsyem still be pretty small when I transplant and how close should the water be to the botttom of the pots? I want some to go from DWC to drip or is that a bad idea. Would there be any advantage to running DWC and Drip at the same time? I hear DWC is more productive then Drip. What do RIU members think? Thanks for any input.

Any DWC gurus out their?

Bubba Kushman said:

Any DWC gurus out their?

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Hello mate, i have 4 plants in DWC (bubbler buckets) atm, try and keep the water about 1inch below the net pot at all times, hope that helps. GL DWC is a great way to grow.



Thanks, Kev.

Bubba Kushman said:

Any DWC gurus out their?

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I'm not a guru by any stretch of the imagination, but let me see if I can answer a couple of questions.

1st let me ask why you are changing pot sizes from 4" to 10"? I germ and veg my girls in a 6 or 9 site diy dwc tote in 3" net pots with the hydroton pellets. Also keep my mothers in the same setup.

If you are transplanting a plant that has significant root growth out of the 4" net pot, you will have to transplant the entire pot and try to feed as much of the root through the 10" net pot. Otherwise hold the 4" net pot inside of the 10" and fill around it with more hydroton until the plant is stable.

In the dwc have your water level 1 or 2 inches below the bottom of the net pots and be sure to add air to your rez.

You won't need a drip system if your dwc is built correctly and the water level and aeration are kept optimized. The roots will seek out the water and take off in days.

I use a bubble cloner for my cuttings, i just put them stright into the 10' net pot, i separate the root system
and work the hydroton around the root mass making sure some of the roots are hanging out the bottom.


Thanks, Kev.

I was goin to change pots because I thought I would have to flower in a bigger pot. Right now I do clones in a GroClone then put them in a waterfarm or soil. I want to eliminate the soil and dont have an intermediate set-up to put clones in before the farms. I keep reading how productive DWC is and wanted to give it a try. I made a 5 site 4" pot DWC out of a rubbermaid container. I only have room for them to grow about 10" then they can go to 5 gal buckets with the 10" ring till finish. I have never done it before and did not want to screw it up. I have tried Flood and Drain and did not like it. Too much work and I fried some of my best girls too. I have good luck with the waterfarms and figured DWC looked even easier. I still have the 40 gal res and thought I might put air stones in it and plump it to the buckets and run water through them while they drip. Kind of like DWC with a twist, so thats why I asked about Drip and DWC together! Thanks for the help kev.au and Knally I really appreciate it!

expando garden,.....any one heard of , used, might use......... im thinking about modifying one and was wondering if its worth my time?

Hey Bubba Kushman,

No need to transplant to the 10" pot. You can take your 4" net pot straight to the Water Farm for flowering. That's what I do with my 3" net pots; pull them from the dwc tote and put them in the Water Farm, net pot and all.

The only thing different I did though was to cut a hole in the center of the top WF bucket to drop the rootball down through and to set the net cup into. Then I fill in around it with the hydroton. This way the roots are directly in the nutrient water. I have also added an air line and stone to the bottom WF bucket.

I get some pretty impressive plants this way. I have a 6+ foot White Widow just finishing and a 3 foot Bluberry with about a week to go.

Drip will have no affect, go DWC all the way, and remember the more air/air stones you put in, the more roots/growth your going to get......'swy they call them bubblers! Start your seedlings on 1/2 the nutes your bottle says, then next week when you change the water up the dose to 3/4 to full strength. You dont want a nute lock up or a shock to the system, I find that a weekly nute change is imperative, dont try to skimp/flake out on this schedule....sticking to weekly water changes eliminates problems before they occur. Plus the roots love the extra o2 they get before you replace the res solution.

I agree, start your babies in the same pot you intend to flower from, the pots are only there for the roots to "grab onto", something to stabilize them. The size of the pots have little to do with the plants growth. It is the depth of your resivoir that makes a difference, try to go with a 12 gallon for two plants rather than a 5 gallon bucket for one plant...less hassel, and the added space for the roots to grow,,,more volume = more roots = bigger buds! Watch temperature......relative temp, AND res temps!

Yup I start all my palnts in the same pot I intend on flowering in.. 3" pots for single plants.. 5" pots for multiple palnts/pot..
No guru here.. But theres no need to transplant to bigger pots honestly.
Matter of fact, U can simply take buckets veg ur palnts in um and move them to the flower room as is by changing ur nutes over to flower mode and light schedule to 12/12.
So much is possible with DWC and can easily be tweaked to fit the exact needs of each particular grower.
Im currently doing a sog...2-3 palnts/5" pot inside of an 18 gallon tub..
If u want to learn how to further exploit this system i say check out al b fucts threads at the top of the hydro forum. I have a current sog ask away also we just obtained our own sub forum as well.. Where else to find questions for dwc then in a dwc forum anyways..

Stay on track. Research this site for the best DWC info. Its all here i promise.