Deep water culture only thread

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gottagrow69

Well-Known Member
ok so i have a aerogarden 200, i want to use for just veg. then use a simple DWC system, tried to build a eb and flo but got tired of the hassle. Now to build all i need is a large rubbermaid containers, air stones and pump......???there is no water pump right?? the roots just sit in the water with airtstones right??? and how high does the water have to be maintained at
 
Knally

Knally

Well-Known Member
gottagrow69 said:
ok so i have a aerogarden 200, i want to use for just veg. then use a simple DWC system, tried to build a eb and flo but got tired of the hassle. Now to build all i need is a large rubbermaid containers, air stones and pump......???there is no water pump right?? the roots just sit in the water with airtstones right??? and how high does the water have to be maintained at
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Depends on the size of your tote/container.

Add enough water so that the water level is a couple of inches below the bottom of your net cups or containers. Don't let the bottom of the net pots sit in the water. That amount of water now becomes your mix base for your nutrients.

I have a 10 gallon tote that I use 6 gallons of water with so all of my nute measurements are based on that amount of water for that tote. I use 12 gallons of water in my 18 gallon tote.
 

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gottagrow69

Well-Known Member
ok thanks, so ill be using my AG for veg and a DWC for the flowering my thread is in the AG area called " some difficulties" check it out thanks
 
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gottagrow69

Well-Known Member
also my PH is staying around 6.4 to lower could i had a low doses of hydrochloric acid or would that hurt my plants ( sorry if it sounds dumb very new to this)
 
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Eddie McPot

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of DWC growers scattered throughout RUI. I am posting in most of them and I joined the DWC club. Here are some of my photos in week six of a AV 16 week plan. I didn't add any nutes till 5th week and running lamps 18/6. Next grow should be better, but I am not giving up on this one.
 

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Knally

Knally

Well-Known Member
gottagrow69 said:
also my PH is staying around 6.4 to lower could i had a low doses of hydrochloric acid or would that hurt my plants ( sorry if it sounds dumb very new to this)
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Your ph needs to be lowered to 5.6 to 5.8 range for hydro. I wouldn't use the acid, but try Walmart or a local farm or pool supply store for Ph adjusters. They usually carry something for pond treatment or spa.

Otherwise order some online. Pretty cheap overall compared to what can happen to your girls when the Ph is out of whack.

Good luck.
 
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gottagrow69

Well-Known Member
well actually i added some phosporic acid and it lower to 5.5 to 5.6 and it is maintaining the only probably im still fighting is when i go to bed and wake up my plant seem to like sag and when then wake up they perk right back up what could be causing this
 
Hobbes

Hobbes

Well-Known Member
For people who use buckets for cloning:

I've been having trouble with air stones and have tried the "air curtain" tubes with the micro holes - the tubes wouldn't stay in place, if one piece was higher than the other it would get most of the air and the bubbles would concentrate in one spot. Real pain in the butt.

I had a couple flowering net pot lids, I cut the center out so it would fit in the bottom of my 3 gallon bucket, used a cloning net pot lid to trace out where the roots will be hanging, drilled 1/8" holes,in pairs, wide enough apart for an air curtain tube, used twist ties to hold the air curtain tube in place, weighted the disc evenly around the outside, held the air tube from the pumb close to the edge with a twist tie so it's not in the way of the net pots.

The rig produces a circle of concentrated bubbles and bubbles popping up over the whole surface of the water. A bit of work to make up but I think it'll be worth it.

I'm making a tighter coil to place in the center of the bucket for vegging/flowering. Finally, no more airstones.

.

bongsmilie
 
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Eddie McPot

Well-Known Member
great ideas! Hmm icecream cake, I might buy one for the dome. The CD tubes were the only thing I had at the time, but working so far. Just sux having 1 plant 1 dome.
 
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notyourkind

Well-Known Member
I have a great grow going into flowering now. AK-48 & PowerSkunk. It started out as a true aeroponics setup (no nutrient solution to dangle roots in) and is now migrated to a full on DWC setup. I will post pics soon but here are the details:

25 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck Tote
4 x 5 inch net pots (placed far into the corners of lid to allow each plant ample light space)
600 watt Lumatek digi ballast (awesome unit) & a EYE Hortilux Super HPS Light
General Hydroponics 3 part Nutrient system (I like to keep it simple now), with a little Northern Lights 'Fat Flower' durnig flowering
An air pump that puts out enough air for a 100 gallaon aquarium (2 outputs) with 2 long air stones
Another 30 gallon air pump that feeds it's air line directly into a submerged aquarium Power Head (Power Sweep 214).

I have found that the Power Head idea really helps recirculate the nutrient solution as well as add way more oxygen to the water - you can never have too much oxygen rich water... the more the better. I fill the resevoir to a little less than half of it's height (roughly around 13 gallons). I dont have any problems maintaining Ph, I rarely have the need to adjust ,but still check everyday (I keep around 5.8 - 60). I highly suggest getting one of these power heads to significantly add more O2 to your solution. Your water will scream Boo-Yaaakaa!! once added.

Nutes, I use are your highly effective and fully customizable General Hydroponics "Flora" series. I use this stuff called Pot O'Gold, which has electrolytes and supposedly changes the chemical structure of the water - making it highly available for uptake. And lastly, I use Zone from Dutch Master to put out a pre-emptive strike on any root problems that might be lurking. Oh, almost forgot the Northern Lights 'Fat Flower' additive during flowering.

All in all, I am really liking the DWC method and the plants are responding alot more to this system than they were in the Aeroponics system. The plants were in the same exact Rubbermaid Tote durnig Aeroponics, except I just changed up the plumbing to DWC now.

Cool, I hope this info had some significant content for some of you - Peace - NYK
 
drynroasty

drynroasty

Well-Known Member
I'm a picker, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover, and I'm a sinner...

What's crazy is that I have only harvested from a 4"x3" area of the screen and pulled off 4.3oz/120g. wet (will become about 1 oz. I'll guess) but there is still a lot more screen to clear. I'm stoked...

After trimming the fan leaves the weight is 3.5oz/100g. wet with stems.

I ended up flushing for about about a week and never used the Flora Kleen. Still waiting for the other plant to finish so I can flush with Kleen.

My first rake full of leaves looks and smells tasty. I have designated some cabinet space for drying/curing. Pointers about what I'm doing wrong will be appreciated.
 

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nicktater

nicktater

Well-Known Member
Im a new DWC grower, well new grower over all. but im using dwc. Using a 10 gallon fish tank, 3 compact flouresents, and 2 cool white flouresents. Enough light?
 
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