Dwc beginner. Looking for advice/pointers

[firsttimeARE]

I'm not running any water pumps so waterfalls wouldn't really work for me.

As soon as I hear falling water I have to go pee really bad so that's another downside. View attachment 4066764

Free urea. Just piss on them

 

[Airwalker16]

If you wanna run multiple stones per and are using multiple air pumps run one from each. This way if one pump fails they are still getting air. I used to do that. Now I use waterfalls

Would you mind taking some detailed pics of your waterfalls? I use them already, but don’t feel it’s enough to lose my airstones... can you also explain how you deliver the water to the sites? I have 8 buckets and if my water gets low, the pressure isn’t eniugh sometimes to deliver the water to the outer buckets.

 

[firsttimeARE]

Would you mind taking some detailed pics of your waterfalls? I use them already, but don’t feel it’s enough to lose my airstones... can you also explain how you deliver the water to the sites? I have 8 buckets and if my water gets low, the pressure isn’t eniugh sometimes to deliver the water to the outer buckets.

Well I'm new to them myself but roots look healthy without stones. I have a pump in my control bucket that pumps to a 1" manifold that's capped with 1/2" outlets that run to elbows that waterfall into the sites.

The wider main and smaller branches is critical to even out pressure at all sites. Water takes path of least resistance so it sees the branches as more resistance and fills the main then has no where to go but the branches. It's not equal entirely but it's close enough.

 

[firsttimeARE]

Here is my new one

 

[Airwalker16]

Ya see mine is a 1/2” line from the rez to a t, that splits into a Y on both ends and goes to each bucket. 2 buckets per line. The outer buckets don’t get as much. I don’t know how to fix it really.

 

[Airwalker16]

Actually I could do 3/4 from rez pump to a tee, going between the buckets and use 3/4-1/2 tees to go off the line to each site.

 

[Airwalker16]

Horrible pic but ya...

 

[BeaverPeltJesus]

View attachment 4067111

Here is my new one

Is that so you can just switch them over and take the old tub out and clean them? Very nice!!

 

[BeaverPeltJesus]

This is what I have put together so far for my first try, 18 gallon black tote with one 5” pot in the lid (only doing one clone the first time.) I have a 5” bubbler on each end and a halo bubbler out of an old cloner all three are hooked to separate pumps Incase of a failure. Still waiting on a PH meter and hydoton, the only things I couldn’t locally source.

 

[HydroRed]

Wont be long now!

 

[Cold$moke]

Yup your ready to get your feet WET.

My opinion hydroton suck!
They roll around, pinch roots, leave sediment of clay in your bucket blah blah blah. .

Im running growstones with great success they are puffedd glass (think silicate) they are much gentler on roots and dont roll away lol.

They are much lighter then hydroton which i find to be a benifit as i dont use the weight to secure my plants.

Not trying to change your mind just giving my honest experience

Hope it helps

 

[firsttimeARE]

Growstones leave a lot of dust as well. Worse is that dust is much more harmful to the lungs. Silicosis is not a fun lung condition to have.

 

[Cold$moke]

Growstones leave a lot of dust as well. Worse is that dust is much more harmful to the lungs. Silicosis is not a fun lung condition to have.

I spray as soon as it comes out of the bag

I also like the porosity of it vs hydroton.

As a glass worker i know all about the hazards of glass dust

If anyone huffs the pretty white dust i call that natural selection lol im sure clay dust isnt any better (i mean this in a friendly tone).

Just my opinion as they are countless growers that have GREAT success with hydroton. ...
Im just not one of them

Hope it helps

 

[firsttimeARE]

Well when I used to use it I made the mistake of emptying a bag in a tote. Saw the cloud of dust and quickly shut the lid to contain it, lol. Wasn't expecting it to be that dusty.

Thats not the reason I dont use it anymore. It was pricier than hydroton and never really missed it when I moved to hydroton.

 

[Cold$moke]

Yin and yang my friend

 

[HydroRed]

I have a love/hate relationship with Hydroton. I love it because is works so well overall, its impossible to overwater and works wonders for keeping top heavy plants grounded in small containers due to the weight. The hate part comes in when its time to empty all the containers at harvest and I have 80 lbs of the shit to go in the garbage. The garbage men love me about every 2 months haha

 

[The high chief]

View attachment 4068610 View attachment 4068609 This is what I have put together so far for my first try, 18 gallon black tote with one 5” pot in the lid (only doing one clone the first time.) I have a 5” bubbler on each end and a halo bubbler out of an old cloner all three are hooked to separate pumps Incase of a failure. Still waiting on a PH meter and hydoton, the only things I couldn’t locally source.

Just remember to keep that clean as I find with any dwc a dirty bucket will lead to a nasty fish tank taste

 

[The high chief]

View attachment 4068610 View attachment 4068609 This is what I have put together so far for my first try, 18 gallon black tote with one 5” pot in the lid (only doing one clone the first time.) I have a 5” bubbler on each end and a halo bubbler out of an old cloner all three are hooked to separate pumps Incase of a failure. Still waiting on a PH meter and hydoton, the only things I couldn’t locally source.

It’s always a good idea to keep an extra bucket around to switch It’s very easy with net pots and this way u always have clean gear fresh water and nutrients to work with

 

[BeaverPeltJesus]

I should also add that I will be attempting this with two 450w viparspectra’s and one 600w mars hydro.

 

[Smok3yMcChok3y]

Keep it simple. general hydroponics 3 part flora micro/gro/bloom and their brand caliMagic. That’s all you need. You GOTTA invest in a chiller though or you’ll be battling root rot. Use the feed schedule from growweedeasy. Just search recirculating schedule growweedeasy into google and click images. It’s right there.

I don't run a chiller in north Florida. It's all about room Temps and keeping light out of your res. And I also use gh floralicious+ but otherwise yup.