Dj Ruiners feeble attempt at his first DWC grow...Jacks Classic only.

djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
SmeLLyTreeZ said:
Well everything definitely seems to be working well now!! The dwc/soil grow is very unique, I've never heard of anyone doing it either.. So for the most part, the first few weeks of dwc is going pretty well then I would assume!? I can't wait to start my first hydro grow, I'm curious to see the growth in veg with these girls compared to dirt. So how much in total did you spend on the pump, air stones, hydroton, net pots and whatever else I would need to start a little 5 gal dwc?

Oh and do the roots sit in the water or are they just barely touching the water? I'm just trying to get a visual of how everything works..
Click to expand...
yeah so far its going great...seems like all is working well.and it takes about a week before the roots start growing out of the net pots and into the water.the water that splashes the net pots keeps them pretty moist...but i mist the tops of of them 2-3 times a day to make sure.then after the roots grow out the net pot...time to start feeding them and then they get all their water from the res then..and then the roots start growing like crazy into the res.and thats when it gets much easier...wont have to do a thing with them other then foliar feedings and res changes...ill find a pic that shows plants almost done so you can see how the roots grow

here is some pics from flo grow's current grow...the roots at 6 days,12 days,19 days,51 days
View attachment 1242798View attachment 1242797View attachment 1242796View attachment 1242799

and it was pretty cheap to put all this together..let me see if my stoner memory is right
tubberware container: $4.00 (walmart)
30 gallon air pump: $11.00 (ebay)
10" air stones x 2: $2.79 (walmart)
3" net pot,rockwool,hydroton x 6: $11.00 (ebay)
air hose 8': $1.19 (walmart)
total $29.98

and thats for a 4-6 plant grow...if you do a bucket style grow a smaller air pump and single small stone will work just fine for that...so anywhere from $20-$30 should take care of it all.or if you dont want to build it...you can buy one just like mine on ebay prebuilt for about $35-$45...i also used ac tape and duct tape on the outside of my res to block all the light...and a reflective hood i used on the lid..but i had all that stuff..mylar,tin foil any of that will work the same
 
SmeLLyTreeZ

SmeLLyTreeZ

Well-Known Member
Nice bro, I might start putting one together in the next couple weeks! I didn't realize it was that cheap. I was thinking of just doing a 5 gal bucket style dwc because I already have the bucket, and I was watching this video on youtube and I guess they sell a net pot that pops right into the 5 gal bucket at home depot, not sure what its really used for.. Then all I would need is the other stuff you listed, so you think only 1 on those airstones would do the job in a 5 gal res?

Those roots look fukin awesome, I really want to give this a trial run before I move because I don't know how long it will be before I can start back up.. thanks for taking the time to show me that stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing how your girls turn out!! Its pretty cool that not only can you watch the plants grow but you can also watch the roots grow too :)
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
SmeLLyTreeZ said:
Nice bro, I might start putting one together in the next couple weeks! I didn't realize it was that cheap. I was thinking of just doing a 5 gal bucket style dwc because I already have the bucket, and I was watching this video on youtube and I guess they sell a net pot that pops right into the 5 gal bucket at home depot, not sure what its really used for.. Then all I would need is the other stuff you listed, so you think only 1 on those airstones would do the job in a 5 gal res?

Those roots look fukin awesome, I really want to give this a trial run before I move because I don't know how long it will be before I can start back up.. thanks for taking the time to show me that stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing how your girls turn out!! Its pretty cool that not only can you watch the plants grow but you can also watch the roots grow too :)
Click to expand...
yeah that should work just fine...and the air stones i got wouldnt be good for a bucket...im in a cooler type dwc...so i needed a longer stone.there are plenty of cheap single stones online..tons on ebay..and at pet stores...dont get the walmart single stones...they really suck.i would get one that got weight to it..so you dont have to worry about securing it to the bottom...or it kinda just bounces around the bottom.and you should only need a 15-20 gallon pump for that...so for just a single stone,smaller air pump,the net pot you mentioned,and hydroton...you would come out cheaper then i did.now as for the rockwool...there are many different options to use for that...can use the rockwool...start your seeds in there..then put into the net pots..but can also use rapid rooter..which ive heard work best.can also use peat pellets...let it grow in a dome in that till you see a tiny root come through..then take the netting off the peat pellet...wash off the root and peat pellet ina bowl of water..that breaks all the soil loose..the put it in the net pot with the hydroton.or just germ it longer than usual and place it right inot the hydroton by itself...im using each of these methods right now...they all seem to work so far...still waiting on a couple of them to germ tho
 
SmeLLyTreeZ

SmeLLyTreeZ

Well-Known Member
djruiner said:
yeah that should work just fine...and the air stones i got wouldnt be good for a bucket...im in a cooler type dwc...so i needed a longer stone.there are plenty of cheap single stones online..tons on ebay..and at pet stores...dont get the walmart single stones...they really suck.i would get one that got weight to it..so you dont have to worry about securing it to the bottom...or it kinda just bounces around the bottom.and you should only need a 15-20 gallon pump for that...so for just a single stone,smaller air pump,the net pot you mentioned,and hydroton...you would come out cheaper then i did.now as for the rockwool...there are many different options to use for that...can use the rockwool...start your seeds in there..then put into the net pots..but can also use rapid rooter..which ive heard work best.can also use peat pellets...let it grow in a dome in that till you see a tiny root come through..then take the netting off the peat pellet...wash off the root and peat pellet ina bowl of water..that breaks all the soil loose..the put it in the net pot with the hydroton.or just germ it longer than usual and place it right inot the hydroton by itself...im using each of these methods right now...they all seem to work so far...still waiting on a couple of them to germ tho
Click to expand...
Sounds good, thanks again for the info! I'll let you know when I start putting the stuff together, I'll most likely go with the rockwool because thats what I used for soil too :)
 
Weedler

Weedler

Well-Known Member
djruiner said:
yeah so far its going great...seems like all is working well.and it takes about a week before the roots start growing out of the net pots and into the water.the water that splashes the net pots keeps them pretty moist...but i mist the tops of of them 2-3 times a day to make sure.then after the roots grow out the net pot...time to start feeding them and then they get all their water from the res then..and then the roots start growing like crazy into the res.and thats when it gets much easier...wont have to do a thing with them other then foliar feedings and res changes...ill find a pic that shows plants almost done so you can see how the roots grow

here is some pics from flo grow's current grow...the roots at 6 days,12 days,19 days,51 days
View attachment 1242798View attachment 1242797View attachment 1242796View attachment 1242799

and it was pretty cheap to put all this together..let me see if my stoner memory is right
tubberware container: $4.00 (walmart)
30 gallon air pump: $11.00 (ebay)
10" air stones x 2: $2.79 (walmart)
3" net pot,rockwool,hydroton x 6: $11.00 (ebay)
air hose 8': $1.19 (walmart)
total $29.98

and thats for a 4-6 plant grow...if you do a bucket style grow a smaller air pump and single small stone will work just fine for that...so anywhere from $20-$30 should take care of it all.or if you dont want to build it...you can buy one just like mine on ebay prebuilt for about $35-$45...i also used ac tape and duct tape on the outside of my res to block all the light...and a reflective hood i used on the lid..but i had all that stuff..mylar,tin foil any of that will work the same
Click to expand...
Flo uses a cooler to maintain reservoir temps.
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
got the other rockwool baby in the net pot now..its roots had broke through the bottom of the rockwool.not much change other then that...also put a reflector over the net pots to help block the light from getting into the res...plan on making something much better for this...just a temp fix.also took day 4 pics of the party girls new roots...thats a lot of growth for just 4 damn days...but it seems to have slowed down its bud growth...bud should be worth it in the long run
100_9515.jpg100_9517.jpg100_9519.jpg100_9518.jpg
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
still doing pretty good.....each of the plants seem to be doing ok in the system...should be a couple more days till i can start feeding these babies.and since party girl decided to grow about 2"-3" overnight...she had grew into the light...got a few burns here and there...nothing that should hurt it...didnt get any bud at least...just some smaller fan leaves
and i also built another dwc system tonight...kinda a mini system...should work ok for smaller strains..all i need to get to finish it up is a splitter for the air hose...but
its almost 5am...im really really high and ready for my 3 hour nap for the night....woo hoo
100_9521.jpg100_9522.jpg100_9524.jpg100_9523.jpg100_9525.jpg
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
SmeLLyTreeZ said:
You could use that mini one for a 12/12 from seed grow, or clones too!!
Click to expand...
im on 12-12...have been since i made the new grow box...but after my gf saw that the mini dwc was purple...she liked it...so im going to let her grow one in there....wouldnt hurt for her to learn this stuff..just incase something happens and im gone for a bit...she could take over for me
 
Dicky

Dicky

Active Member
smellytreez, i use the pop on bucket lids for 5 gal pails, this grow i used the 10 inch baskets. not trying to tell ya what to do but a 6 inch one is prob best due to the amt of time it takes for roots tro show..almost 2 weeks for the 10 inch and u can only get 3 gals of h20/nutes in there with a 10 in. hope this can help ya man
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
Dicky said:
smellytreez, i use the pop on bucket lids for 5 gal pails, this grow i used the 10 inch baskets. not trying to tell ya what to do but a 6 inch one is prob best due to the amt of time it takes for roots tro show..almost 2 weeks for the 10 inch and u can only get 3 gals of h20/nutes in there with a 10 in. hope this can help ya man
Click to expand...
thats why i went with the 3" pots...i wanted the roots to show faster so i wouldnt have to keep track of watering them...it seems it dont bubble enough water for it till the roots show...the rockwool goes dry pretty fast under the lights...so ive got to water them 2-3 times a day...but my roots should be out soon..i would hate to have to water these for 2 weeks waiting on the roots...with these pots i have they should show roots in 3-4 days...which is where they are at now..i had a sprout die last week cause it went dry overnight on me...i would only use the bigger pots if i was using clones...they build bigger stronger roots faster then seeds do
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
djruiner said:
thats why i went with the 3" pots...i wanted the roots to show faster so i wouldnt have to keep track of watering them...it seems it dont bubble enough water for it till the roots show...the rockwool goes dry pretty fast under the lights...so ive got to water them 2-3 times a day...but my roots should be out soon..i would hate to have to water these for 2 weeks waiting on the roots...with these pots i have they should show roots in 3-4 days...which is where they are at now..i had a sprout die last week cause it went dry overnight on me...i would only use the bigger pots if i was using clones...they build bigger stronger roots faster then seeds do
Click to expand...

Yeah dude 5'' - 6'' net pots are perfect for a 5 gal reservoir I use 5.5'' net pots
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
ive got some *sniff sniff* bad news....i think we might be losing party girl.got up yesterday to ALL of her fan leaves burnt to a crisp and almost dead.most of the other smaller leaves was burnt also....i pulled the res out and its ph was fucking 7.2....this came out of nowhere seeing as it was at a ph of 5.8 everyday till then.im guessing this is whats to blame....it also might have been the fact that it had two sets of roots...set in the cup and the set that grew into the res...but on a good note...the roots are friggin huge...about a foot long and thick as hell.but she has been on life support the last day or so.changed out the res...added a small mix of nutes to get her bottom roots fed.got the ph adjusted...took it down to 5.5 this time..maybe that helps her a bit.buds was untouched...but pretty much all but the top 3 nodes of leaves are toast...pics in about an hour when the lights come on
100_9528.jpg
 
SmeLLyTreeZ

SmeLLyTreeZ

Well-Known Member
Damn sorry to hear that bro.

Dicky said:
smellytreez, i use the pop on bucket lids for 5 gal pails, this grow i used the 10 inch baskets. not trying to tell ya what to do but a 6 inch one is prob best due to the amt of time it takes for roots tro show..almost 2 weeks for the 10 inch and u can only get 3 gals of h20/nutes in there with a 10 in. hope this can help ya man
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info dicky!
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
SmeLLyTreeZ said:
Damn sorry to hear that bro.
Click to expand...
not too big of deal...had planned on chopping it a long time ago...the party cup plants was just trial and error plants..had intended on growing them for maybe 2-3 weeks then chopping them..to test my new grow box and setup.i started with 3...1 was a male it got chopped instantly,then i had the topped female and the party girl...chopped the topped female to have more room..and since i had none else going i kept the party girl..since she was growing so well.and its not like it was a breeder seed..just a random seed...might even be a shitty strain to begin with.so im not really out much..and it was a good little plant to test stuff out with.but who knows...maybe with her new water and nutes she might make..if not...ive got the other 2 that are in the dwc doing great....ill have more pics up tonight..had to charge my cam battery
 
PurpleRhinoceros

PurpleRhinoceros

Active Member
djruiner said:
im on 12-12...have been since i made the new grow box...but after my gf saw that the mini dwc was purple...she liked it...so im going to let her grow one in there....wouldnt hurt for her to learn this stuff..just incase something happens and im gone for a bit...she could take over for me
Click to expand...
+rep for getting girlfriend interested.
I can't tell you how many times growing has gotten me in trouble with the lady. I like the mini DWC. No, I love it. It's perfect for propagation. And as said before, It's perfect for 12/12 from seed or low veg plants. Just have to keep the water filled daily and might have to take a pair of scissors to the roots to do a bit of pruning, but there are all kinds of things to come up with.

I prefer to have each plant in its own container. Something I just don't like about totes. I feel like each plant should be treated like the individual it is. Even clones. Individual containers for their individual needs, nutrient wise.
 
djruiner

djruiner

Well-Known Member
PurpleRhinoceros said:
+rep for getting girlfriend interested.
I can't tell you how many times growing has gotten me in trouble with the lady. I like the mini DWC. No, I love it. It's perfect for propagation. And as said before, It's perfect for 12/12 from seed or low veg plants. Just have to keep the water filled daily and might have to take a pair of scissors to the roots to do a bit of pruning, but there are all kinds of things to come up with.

I prefer to have each plant in its own container. Something I just don't like about totes. I feel like each plant should be treated like the individual it is. Even clones. Individual containers for their individual needs, nutrient wise.
Click to expand...
i wish i had done buckets now...too much work with a giant container to do res changes...might pickup a couple buckets...thats all i would need to change...would give me more room ..and less time making up gallons of solution for it...and yeah..the gf loves this stuff it seems...always keeping an eye on them..and gives her something to do..hell she might even do better then i do..i try way to many new things and half kill my plants sometimes...but im more about learning new methods...dont have room to get massive yeilds right now anyways..this is all for fun
 
PurpleRhinoceros

PurpleRhinoceros

Active Member
word, i love having fun learning new techniques.
My three favorite this week, (i say this week, because who knows what I'll learn tomorrow)
1. Air Layering
2. Grafting
3. Monster Cropping

Halloween just ended and I've seen that the Dollar Tree has 1gallon black plastic pails on stock for $1. You can buy lids online for 55cents at usplastics.com.
Because I haven't been able to find lids at the local hardware stores. I had some lying around to use, but I'm pretty sure I have to just order more online. But you can't beat that deal on the black 1gallon pales.

Right now because I'm short on lids, I'm using 8inch netpot bucket lid things. They have an extra wide lip to fit into 5 or 3 gallon buckets, but the net pot part fits directly into the one gallon bucket. It kinda looks like a magicians hat, except there is a white rhino cross coming out vs a white rabbit. Even though you would most likely want lids and holes in them for the net pots you already have. here is the link to the thing im using

http://n-g-w.com/ngw/gardening_supplies.aspx?request=MESH_POTS_BUCKET_LIDS&title=Pots / Containers&type=product

Yeah, I don't recommend the "hat trick". It takes up a lot of room. Might as well have just bought more 3 gallons. I have them for my 3 gallons, but i never use them... or maybe i just refuse to use them. I just don't like wasting my nutrients.
 
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