few dwc questions, your advice greatly appreciated

have a few questions about a dwc, so here they are:

#1 - regarding the size of the tub, what is recommended? Is there a big difference advantage to using 14 gal rubbermaid tubs vs the 10 gal ones?

#2 - when you cut the holes in the top of the tub, is the idea to make the hole just slightly smaller than the TOP (the open end) of the pot, so that the whole pot except the lip at the top is inside the bucket? how much of the pots should be submerged in the water? (ie, should the water just barely touch the bottom of the pots, or go 2 inches up the bottom of the pots, or what?)

#3 - using 10 or 14 gal rubbermaid tubs, with 2 plants per tub, how much yield can be expected per plant? ballpark figure?

#3b - how many of these 2-plant-each tubs can 1 400w HPS light reasonably handle? what about a 600w?

#4 - what growing medium do you guys recommend for in the net pots? have heard so many conflicting stories. hydroton seems popular but a lot of people report issues with it. suggestions?

#5 - why do the airstones (well the air pumps) need to be on timers? have heard that 1 minute on / 5 minutes off is the general standard for this. why not just leave them on constantly?

#6 - nutes - can anyone please recommend good nutes for this system, like really specific... have done a ton of reading but everything is fairly vague ie they suggest what NPK ratios to look for but not exactly what product to buy and how much to use. need firm guidance.

thanks a lot, don't have a lot of posts yet but have been reading up for a long time here.

#1 i would use a 10 gallon tote you will see the difference in nutes
#2 cut the holes a little bit smaller so they are snug after a while the plant gets heavy and the water should be 1 inch from the bottom of the pots
#3 a 400 watt wou;d flower great i veg with cfls
#4 i would recomend hydrotron it is easy and rock wool
#5 the air&water pump run 24/7
#6 i use the techna flora starter kit it works goo for me

Many of your questions, and questions you haven't asked yet are answered in this link:
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/f95/diy-standalone-dwc-bucket-2551/

1.I would suggest a larger tub if you have the space.

2.water should be 1-2 inches below bottoms of net pots after roots have come throguh.

3. What genetics are you growing? Yield is dependent on a bunch of variables

4. 400watt light will cover 2'x2
600watt will cover 3'x3'
Light rails can increase tgis

4. Hydroton is easy. Problems arise when people try to take shortcuts and neglect to thoroughly rinse hydroton before use.

5.24/7 for air pumps. You don't want roots to drown

6. Canna Aqua is expensive but works well. The website has a tool to calculate your nutrient "recipe". Ph stays very stable


Check out my sig for a first grow. It's a vertical grow in a closet with 30 DWC buckets and 2400 watts. I'd be happy to explain in detail any aspect of the setup.