First grow ever: DWC

G

gcnorth

Member

  • So for multiple reasons (the main one being that my local grow shop guy's personal grow experience is strongly based in DWC, thus giving me a coach I can stop into at any time with specific questions), I'm going ahead and going DWC. 6 plants, start to finish. One room, one light, to stay in budget. AK48 seeds for their short flower, decent yield, and forgiving/resilient nature. Any input appreciated.

    My setup:
    View attachment 2783404

    1000w dual-spectrum light (wanted to be able to use one light for entire grow that I can integrate into a larger setup once I separate rooms for veg and flower).
    Ballast
    One larger fan for outtake, one smaller for intake.
    Reflector hood
    Ventilation to run Intake->Lamp Hood->Outtake (air-cooled til things start to cool down around here)
    7 5 Gal buckets (6 for grow, one for holding a plant while I change water/nutes)
    Buckets with 6-inch basket lids
    1 big ol bag of hydroton
    3 2-out air pumps
    Air stones
    ph control kit (up, down, and test)
    GH's Flora series nutes

    Outside of what I've got, the only other things I can think of I'm gonna want are:
    Timers for lamp, possibly to turn off fans with lights when it gets colder, and maybe a third for a heater if needed. My guy in town thinks with a properly insulated shed, that the lamp's on cycle might provide enough heat to last the off cycle, time will tell.
    Reflective material for walls (also going to hang a divider to make my room smaller for this first grow, instead of losing light... 6 plants, a 10x10 room...)
    Rope or chain for hanging divider and lamp.
    Filter for air outtake once flowering starts

    Am I missing anything here?​


    ​

 
You will most likely want the fans running at all times or you can quickly get into a humidity problem, great for veg but can be a disaster in flowering. Don't fret about it getting cold in there, I have done DWC in a 47-55 degree area and ended up with a super boost of resin production, it will stunt growth but in exchange for resin, taste and color. Why do you need a big bag of hydrotron?
 
Hydroton is what I'm using for my medium. Don't need it all for first grow, just what I have.

As far as climate concerns go, I'm in the high desert in central Oregon. Very low humidity, and our late fall gets below freezing... A winter night here can drop below 0F on occasion.
 
You guys have been very helpful so far, so I'll ask here what I also asked in the room setup forum...
I've got two fans, and that's all I've got and will be able to afford til I can throw more cash at my room.
The way it was explained to me was "simple, you throw your smaller fan near the floor pulling air into vent leading to lamp, then your larger exhaust fan is hooked to reflector pulling air out of lamp and vent out of room. Negative pressure, cools lights, etc"


but now as I'm mentally mapping out the (imagined, since I'm inexperienced) science of the room, I'm wondering isn't that not enough? Especially with a glass sealed reflector, that can't possibly be pumping the air needed for the room itself can it? I'm planning on having some oscillating fans to move wind around, but do I need separate exhaust/intake (or maybe just exhaust for passive intake) for the room ITSELF?


I've also thought maybe of having the intake fan just pumping air into the room, and having one side of the lamp open so that the exhaust fan hooked to the lamp pulls the room air through and out of the room?


As always, ANY AND ALL INSIGHT APPRECIATED.
 
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