Pros....Cons.... of DWC

[truebluezzzz]

Hello to all. Ive been a reader here for some time and I have a question about DWC.

I have reading up on deep water culture and I wanted to get some real-world feedback from those of you who use it, and even those who dont.

So what have you found to be pros and cons of DWC.
Maintenance
Yield
Cost
Root problems

Thanks fellow farmers....... :bookworm:

 

[Ohiofarmer]

pros- yield and also cut down on run time/finish times

cons- all the rest^

Just my experience; if done right it's a great system but for me it was a big pain in the ass... take it easy

 

[woodsmaneh]

Hello to all. Ive been a reader here for some time and I have a question about DWC.

I have reading up on deep water culture and I wanted to get some real-world feedback from those of you who use it, and even those who dont.

So what have you found to be pros and cons of DWC.
Maintenance
Yield
Cost
Root problems

Thanks fellow farmers....... :bookworm:

Maintenance is not a big deal for me but is is some work but anything that produces like this is worth it.

Yield is what keeps me going with it. there is nothing that will grow a plant as big as RDWC when done right. 1 to 3 pound plants all the time.

Cost for food is 1/2 any other way. You do use more electricity with chillers, pumps and so on. But well worth it.

Had root issues twice in 2 years, fixed with H2O2 not a big deal, keeping your res at 68 helps keep root issues away. Using something like H2O2 or Dutch master Zone is a good idea.

I don't run bennies in my system.

 

[bagmonster]

no dirt = no bugs lol and 30% more yield also I have found that the size of the stalks are bigger the buds are also bigger I did a side by side comparison with coco and dirt and dwc and the dwc blew them bolth out of the water also the plants grow about 40 % faster and finish sooner

 

[Amber]

pros: so this is what optimal is
cons: slime, well I thought I had good water.

Very grateful for all the peeps willing to give advice and help. I love it but its had its moments for sure.

 

[noone88]

I had 2 CCH2O setups (XXL13), my own custom UC system with 27 gal totes, and a MPB system.

They are all retired in a pasture of old hydro gear.

The con's can be summed up in one word: consistency

When it ran well, you could get 2+ trees with unbelievable quality. But it was hard to reproduce every single time. I've had over 20 runs with UC systems and my yield went to as low as 0.25gpw to as high as 2.0gpw.

But consistency is the key with med prices coming down. You have to able to predictably pull good weight with 5-6 harvest a year.

I am back to soil in smart pots and flat tables/rockwool. I'm at close to 80k flowering 15k veg.

 

[sedate]

Why did everyone reply with references to Rdwc when he asked for dwc?

Pretty big difference imho.

I mean who starts with a cch2o setup?

Hello to all. Ive been a reader here for some time and I have a question about DWC.

I have reading up on deep water culture and I wanted to get some real-world feedback from those of you who use it, and even those who dont.

So what have you found to be pros and cons of DWC.
Maintenance
Yield
Cost
Root problems

Thanks fellow farmers....... :bookworm:

I think you should try a stand-alone hydrobucket. Netpot, airpump and stone, a handful of hydroton. Easy peasy and the myriad expense and difficulty of plumbing them together is negated.

Watch ur ppms and ph swings. No big deal.

 

[Burning Bush]

Sedate is on the money,I do not even change or check ph from my rain tank for that matter.
When growing stealth in a boiling/freezing shed,it's the only way to go.
I use large nets,two buckets,hydroton,a 30 litre res,water heater & air stone in res.Cheap ferts...way ya go...great end product!!!
Very cheap(me all over),easy low maintenance(check every second day,change water(refill with fresh ferts as I let the tank go right down so that it also floods and slowly drains)great results!

 

[babyhughie586]

I started growing in a diy UC although i put in a lot of time reading and learing how plants grow in water culture before i attempted to grow... i have had excellent results in UC better quality and yield then coco or soil... Also one thing i havent seen mentioned is their is NO TRANSPLANTING IN DWC/RDWC... What a pain in the ass it is to transplant into different pots in soil and coco... For soil/coco growers this would make me switch to DWC for that reason alone..

 

[ttystikk]

My own system is an RDWC/topfeed Chowmix hybrid. I water the chowmix (50/50 coco/hydroton) with RDWC water, and the runoff drops back into the RDWC, helping eliminate root problems, and big pH and ec swings. Plus I have a place for beneficial bacteria to grow and thrive right with the roots. It is more stable even than soil, more responsive and gives up performance to nothing else I've seen. Oh yeah, no sterilants, at all, ever.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

Ime....
Pros- superior to every other way of growing imo, easy, automated, not time consuming like dirt, consistency meaning the same exact result every time, smell, taste, look, yield...

Cons- leaks, root clogs, equipment failure, extra money for proper equipment (chiller ect.) to make the system run right, cleaning after the run if your a clean freak like I am, having to do daily checks.

Imo there is no match to dwc in any form... Ill challenge anybody to square off with anything other then a flawless organic soil grow against dwc they are gonna lose at least against me they will lol. Dwc is about neck and neck with ebb as far as quality goes but dwc is superior to me because of the plant mass it produces off one plant as opposed to the 4-8 it would take in the ebb setup to be equivilant to the one dwc plant. Dwc is the way trust me you will never look back once you nail it down right @ the op.

 

[DrRabbit]

Clean water is mandatory, but I find it the easiest way to grow inside. Don't try to do anything tricky in the beginning, especially with nutrients. Growing in 4 x 8 tents, I use 5-inch netpots in 5-gallon buckets. All I do is drop in an airstone.

Daily routine is topping with pH corrected water and then balancing bucket pH. I change buckets weekly or so, evaluated by looking at EC.

Everyone has their favorite nutrient mixture. I've used one-, two-, and three-part solutions. I now prefer one-part solutions, just because it requires less measuring!

Measuring is critical. Learn the metric system, if you don't already know it. Get measuring cylinders from chemical/scientific suppliers. I can't tell you how much time this saves you!

Root problems are rare with daily maintenance, but they will happen. Maybe one in a 100 or so. And I used unfiltered city water, around 50 ppm.

 

[eastcoastseeds]

run hydro sparkle in ur res as a precautionary measure and rootrot wont b a problem.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

Keep your room temp in check and you shouldnt ever have a root problem... Dont use organic anything either.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

Why did everyone reply with references to Rdwc when he asked for dwc?

Pretty big difference imho.

I mean who starts with a cch2o setup?



I think you should try a stand-alone hydrobucket. Netpot, airpump and stone, a handful of hydroton. Easy peasy and the myriad expense and difficulty of plumbing them together is negated.

Watch ur ppms and ph swings. No big deal.

I would only take the advice of a standalone dwc for test purposes only and even thats retarded to me... I think the reason everybody is giving him rdwc tips is because rdwc is the only practical way of doing dwc... I did standalone buckets on my first grow ever because of bad advice on which is superior and it was the most time consuming pain in the ass to keep up with way of growing anything that was ever brought to the growing world. I wish I would have started with a cch2o or similar setup. Rdwc is the only way dwc makes sense unless you feel like keeping up with *insert number of plant sites here* every single day... This includes water levels, ph and everything else that comes along with dwc growing. Have fun keeping up with even 4 plants in a standalone setup everyday. Thats 4 different ph's, 4 different water levels, 4 different eating habits and since theres no control bucket have fun going site to site at week 7 of flower when you can barely crawl through there. To the op take my advice from years of experience now... If your gonna do dwc make sure and I cant stress this enough... MAKE SURE you run a rdwc setup... Idc if its just one plant make it a rdwc. If not you have been foretold your destiny of life in hell lol.

 

[DrRabbit]

I would only take the advice of a standalone dwc for test purposes only and even thats retarded to me...

Some of us prefer quality over quantity and almost always are flowering only single plants of a particular variety. You can't do the practically using your approach.

You may find topping and adjusted pH to be time consuming and difficult, but if you want healthy plants, I've found they respond extremely well to daily observations of root health and airstone performance as well as top-side maintenance. This really is an issue of how many plants you have on the same schedule. Many of us medical folk are perpetual harvesters, which isn't practical doing anything but DWC. And, yes, I, too, have been doing this for years, having been hands-on trained by those having done it for decades.

DWC is quite practical for small-scale grows. Not too surprising, every approach has sensible parameters. Choose what works in your situation.

 

[sedate]

Some of us prefer quality over quantity and almost always are flowering only single plants of a particular variety. You can't do the practically using your approach.

Yea really. QuaterbackMo is describing a monocropped, large-scale/commerical setup as the only hydroponic setup that could possibly make sense.

When the OP asked the most basic questions regarding hydroponics.

Suggesting an OP who asked a question as basic as the pros and cons of hydro - should immediately jump into a RDWC, much less one of the behemoths from cch20, is a recipe for total disaster.

I'm impressed with your thoughtful and diplomatic replay DrRabbit - I think you've made excellent points and I agree with all of them.

To wit, it is probably below me to pick apart Quarterback's poor advice, but his post smacks of a certain sort of smug certitude, and I find it really obnoxious:

I think the reason everybody is giving him rdwc tips is because rdwc is the only practical way of doing dwc

Correct. When you are monocropping large grow-ops. Not when you are posting really simple questions.

I did standalone buckets on my first grow ever because of bad advice on which is superior and it was the most time consuming pain in the ass to keep up with way of growing anything that was ever brought to the growing world

Bad advice? On which is superior? Based on the sole parameter of time spent adjusting the plant sites each day? When the OP described exactly zero of his grow parameters?

Seriously dude what are you even talking about?

. I wish I would have started with a cch2o or similar setup.

This statement is just bizarre. Anyone with "years of experience" wouldn't be so cavalier about recommending a multi-thousand-dollar system (before lights and the rest of the motherfucker) to someone who is asking about pros and cons of hydroponics - much less imply they'd be all set to start with a complex RDWC like the UC.

The UC is not a place to start.

Statements to the contrary are just cocky.

This includes water levels, ph and everything else that comes along with dwc growing. Have fun keeping up with even 4 plants in a standalone setup everyday.

Holy shit did you just seriously describe like 12 minutes worth of work?

Thats 4 different ph's, 4 different water levels, 4 different eating habits

Yea maybe. That is kind of an assumption - and again - it sort of isn't relevant if you are good at your nutrient-recipes and good with your strains.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

Yea really. QuaterbackMo is describing a monocropped, large-scale/commerical setup as the only hydroponic setup that could possibly make sense.

When the OP asked the most basic questions regarding hydroponics.

Suggesting an OP who asked a question as basic as the pros and cons of hydro - should immediately jump into a RDWC, much less one of the behemoths from cch20, is a recipe for total disaster.

I'm impressed with your thoughtful and diplomatic replay DrRabbit - I think you've made excellent points and I agree with all of them.

To wit, it is probably below me to pick apart Quarterback's poor advice, but his post smacks of a certain sort of smug certitude, and I find it really obnoxious:



Correct. When you are monocropping large grow-ops. Not when you are posting really simple questions.



Bad advice? On which is superior? Based on the sole parameter of time spent adjusting the plant sites each day? When the OP described exactly zero of his grow parameters?

Seriously dude what are you even talking about?



This statement is just bizarre. Anyone with "years of experience" wouldn't be so cavalier about recommending a multi-thousand-dollar system (before lights and the rest of the motherfucker) to someone who is asking about pros and cons of hydroponics - much less imply they'd be all set to start with a complex RDWC like the UC.

The UC is not a place to start.

Statements to the contrary are just cocky.



Holy shit did you just seriously describe like 12 minutes worth of work?



Yea maybe. That is kind of an assumption - and again - it sort of isn't relevant if you are good at your nutrient-recipes and good with your strains.

If you say so dude... First and foremost dwc standalone for any reason is absolutely retarded idgaf if its for one plant or 100. Second any rdwc setup is gonna shit all over your single dwc buckets even if your growing multiple strains in the same system. You might like to work or you might have lots of time on your hands but why go break your neck when you can tend to one bucket that not only acts as a ph buffer, tds buffer, extra top off and control bucket all in one? I cant even believe the shit that you just told this guy and you say you been growing like this for years? What do you do closet tent grows or something? You can sit here and defend standalone buckets till your blue in the face but the proof is in the pudding and to say what I just told him is bad advice is just redicilous. What I just told him is the best advice... Go ask any real grower if they would ever run standalone buckets lol... Only standalone anything I would run is a tub and thats even dumb but thats a lot more practical then a 5 gal bucket at least you have some room there. The advice your giving is ameteur at its best... Im not trying to be disrespectful but you really do sound crazy lol. Idk about you but I do this shit for real you feel me? There is no replacement for rdwc im sorry.

 

[ttystikk]

Much has been said above about RDWC that just isn't true. For one, whoever said that RDWC grows have to be mono cropped is simply outright wrong.

For two, RDWC is no more difficult to set up or operate than DWC; the only differences involve temperature and a pump to circulate water.

For three, RDWC systems can be built to accommodate plants ranging from an ounce of output to pounds, and everywhere in between.

RDWC is not necessarily finicky or difficult, especially relative to other hydroponic approaches.

Current Culture has no monopoly on RDWC design or construction. It can be inexpensive; all my 5 gallon buckets, for example, were free!

Anyone who says that RDWC have to be either sterile or bioactive are both incorrect. These can be run both ways.

Who started with RDWC, anyway? ME.

 

[QuarterbackMo]

Just an addition to this for the people who say they grow better plants in individual buckets due to custom tailoring... Idk about you but to me it seems like if your ph is in check and your in an acceptable ppm range for the plant size that they all respond about the same... I grow multiple phenos out in rdwc tubs on seed runs and they all are usually pretty much equal as long as im doing my part. I really dont see the benefit of chasing water levels daily when they are drinking 2 gallons a day thats a lot of feeding and work and very inconsistant imo. Im about to do another one very soon actually when I drop some pics ill let you know so you can see for yourself. Im just saying after doing both dwc makes no sense when you can do rdwc.