First DWC grow. expierienced grower tips and advice plz!!!

This is my first grow using dwc or any hydroponics really. Ive grown plenty in soil and just plain sick of the pain and hassle that comes with it. A buddy of mine talks up his dwc culture 5 gal bucket system so much i decided to give it a shot. heres the scoop : 1 Cream Caramel 1 5 gal bucket 6in net pot with 1 6in air stone and 4 Grand Daddy Purps in a 20 gal d.i.y rubbermaid tote 3in net pots with 2 6 in air stones. Both using hydroton for the medium. cream caramel is abt 2 weeks into veg frm clone under 300 watts cfl.The g.d.p abt a week. Im running gh 3 part flora series. Was having really high temp problems with the bucket in the beginning which is why i decided to go with the tote instead of separate buckets. Can anybody tell me what the ideal ppm using THIS nute line is and anything i can do to keep temps down and overall have a successful first hydro grow. thanks RIU!

There's lots of information out there on cooling your grow. The easiest way is to use an air conditioner. The optimal way is to use a chiller plumbed into the buckets, but this is a giant pain in the ass. At the very least, you can wrap your buckets in mylar and cover the tops in mylar, and that will help reduce the amount of heat they pick up from your lights. If you can put your air pump intakes in a cooler location than your grow area -- or pull air from a cooler location via a hose -- that can also help cool your buckets.

Run 2-3 mL/gallon 29% H2O2 as a prophylactic against root rot.

No one can tell you the ideal ppm to use unless they've grown the same clones you've grown in the same conditions that you're growing in. I don't have experience with that line of nutes, but in general, most nutrients designed for pot are pretty much the same. I'd recommend that you aim for about 600-1000 ppm in veg and 1000-1400 ppm in flower -- 800 and 1200 aren't bad starting points. You may be OK with higher PPMs if you're growing under CFLs, but the only way you can tell is to figure it out yourself. If the plants are too yellow in veg, up your ppms by a couple hundred and see if the problem is fixed in a couple days. If your plants are getting tip burn, back it off by a couple hundred ppm. (All of this, BTW, assumes that you're keeping your pH within the optimal range of 5.5-6; I suggest aiming for 5.7-5.8.)

agree ^
i started in a tote cause i thought it would be easier, but if you can i would move back to buckets, black ones, it keeps the roots separate, and if they finish at different times you will be able to flush both. with tin foil or mylar around them to keep temp down and light out. during veg, if lights are 24h it can be harder to keep the res cool especially if its small, but it will get easier when you switch to 12/12.
If it does get too warm (not cool to the touch) freeze some plastic water bottles and throw them in.
1/2 strength nutes for seeds and clones on the first week, but sounds like youre past that.

kinda like this... you could even cover they hydroton with foil or white paper, some people do. ill move these to individual buckets before flower, right now their roots are so small and they drink so little its no problem and they can share the same 2 gal of nutrients for the 3 weeks of veg.

thanks for the reply guys...as for the bucket temporarily have it in a clear tote with cool water and ice bottles. i figured it would be bad for the roots to touch the ice in the bottles? just my theory. point me out if wrong. the temps have seemd to drop to abt 71 -73 but im still worried. I have read and read abt this nd sum ppl say they have success with higher temps. i just dnt see how tht accurately works. something to be said abt luck but thats it. IMHO.

I have read up a little bit about using the buckets in a multiple bucket system using a controller bucket for the res but im not really catching on to it..maybe its the buzz . lol. but if anyone has a setup like this and can shed some light on the pros and cons. or anyother dwc d.i.y systems tht might be beneficial it would be much appreciated.

so. rdwc systems like that are easy... imagine 2 plants growing in 3 buckets, all hooked up in a triangle fassion by 1/2'' tubing at the base of the bucket. the bucket without a plant would instead have a water pump that pumps to the top of the other buckets which makes the pressure increase in the buckets with plants so they flow back out the bottom tubes to the water pump, creating circulation which is better for your plants. the empty bucket also makes it easy to monitor the water level and add water or nutes. i plan on setting this up soon for that reason.

and once the ice bottles are dunked once in the water they arent that cold, and then they melt in about an hour. i dont think it harms the roots at all. i think water temps should be 65 or below. cool to the touch for sure and lose the clear tote, it will give you algae that uses sunlight for energy like your plants.

all the threads i have read say to use 2-3" pvc pipe when you make this type of system and the pump sits outside the res and pulls from the last two buckets and back into the res i have tried the method of frozen 2l bottles it works but is a bit of a pain you have to constantly freeze bottles just my opion

https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/478010-flowering-undercurrentdwc.html
check out this guys thread. has vidoes on how to setup rdwc.

well yeah the bigger the tubes the better, but at least a 1/2'' ide say

thanks alot guys...after readin the thread im gonna try and set up a recirculating system. i will update on how it goes. will start plannin 2morow...RIU never fails.. happy growing