few dwc questions, your advice greatly appreciated

[af4444]

have a few questions about a dwc, so here they are:

#1 - regarding the size of the tub, what is recommended? Is there a big difference advantage to using 14 gal rubbermaid tubs vs the 10 gal ones?

#2 - when you cut the holes in the top of the tub, is the idea to make the hole just slightly smaller than the TOP (the open end) of the pot, so that the whole pot except the lip at the top is inside the bucket? how much of the pots should be submerged in the water? (ie, should the water just barely touch the bottom of the pots, or go 2 inches up the bottom of the pots, or what?)

#3 - using 10 or 14 gal rubbermaid tubs, with 2 plants per tub, how much yield can be expected per plant? ballpark figure?

#3b - how many of these 2-plant-each tubs can 1 400w HPS light reasonably handle? what about a 600w?

#4 - what growing medium do you guys recommend for in the net pots? have heard so many conflicting stories. hydroton seems popular but a lot of people report issues with it. suggestions?

#5 - why do the airstones (well the air pumps) need to be on timers? have heard that 1 minute on / 5 minutes off is the general standard for this. why not just leave them on constantly?

#6 - nutes - can anyone please recommend good nutes for this system, like really specific... have done a ton of reading but everything is fairly vague ie they suggest what NPK ratios to look for but not exactly what product to buy and how much to use. need firm guidance.

thanks a lot, don't have a lot of posts yet but have been reading up for a long time here.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

By some of your questions you need to do some more reading before starting this kind of project.Unless time and money mean nothing and you just have to learn the hard way. JK

 

[Gr8ful1]

1. Size of the tub depends on the number of plants per container,and the size you want to grow.I give 5 gal. growing room per plant,and grow to about 6-6.5feet tall.
2.The water should start out @the bottom of the pot or just bellow.The bubbles from the air pump will keep things wet until the roots grow into the solution.
3.Yield depends on the strain you grow and how you grow it.If you overfertilize you could burn your crop,if your ph is off,ect,ect..This all effects your yield.
4.I use hydroton,Just wash it off really well.I use a 5 gal bucket and fill it with hydrotron and water,stir it up,rinse and repeat until it is clean.
5.Always run your air pumps 24 hours 7 days a week.Oxygen is the most important thing to your roots,besides the water.
6.I use Technaflora recipe for sucess, and adjust it for the plants i'm growing.I also recommend Hygrozyme for any hydroponics user.It is expensive,but prevents root rot and helps your plants use the nuterients you provide.
I Hope The info helps.Please read up on this ,you can never know to much!HAVE A GR8FUL DAY!!!

 

[SuperSilverHaze]

i had one attempt at DWC and since that was my second ever grow i learned alot from the mistakes.

heres my limited noob advice.

read, read, and then read some more. read up on all methods of growing, wether it be soil or hydro.

the bigger the nute res the less res changes neeed.

keep dwc nute temps under 70 F, i tried to keep mine @ 68 F. temps were too high in my res and my plants suffered. if you are in a hot climate then look into Ebb & Flow, res temp less critical.

get a PH/EC/PPM meter.

your yield depends on too many variables to tell you how much you will harvest. since you asked that question i will assume you have very limited knowledge of growing MJ. i will say that with my limited knowledge i try and shoot for .75 - 1 gram per watt of HPS.

you need to first determine the ammount of space before deciding on wattage of lights. i run a 400 HPS in app. 5 sq ft but i wish i had went with the 600 HPS, more bang for your buck.

after my expierence with dwc i haved moved to FFOF soil and going to mix up Subcools soil. all organics and no ferts needed, just H2O.

good luck and dont expect too much from your first grows except gaining knowledge.

also, stick with the same strain by cloning b/c you can get to know what that strain likes and that will help you understand what your plant needs, allowing you to hone your skills and get better more abundant harvests.

peace
SSH