waterfarm/D W C (undecided)

[ca_digger]

have a couple waterfarms sitting around and was wanting to use them. are they not a form of D W C i was told they are similar in some ways but different in many, either way i want to use them as i want to do some hydro growing. Ive been looking at Deep Water Culter also

 

[St3ve]

If you already have the waterfarms then I would say use them. They are proven to work well and are less finicky than DWC. If this is your first shot at hydro than I would definitely NOT recommend DWC until you get some experience under your belt.

 

[ca_digger]

Thnx for the input I've done a little HYDRO just enough to be interested in doing more have been successful so far I'm wanting to do the water farms i do have them

 

[darlingmaster]

Rock the Waterfarms if ya got them. Besides, Waterfarms are less finicky when it comes to water temps.

 

[ronvmpc]

If you use the waterfarms do yourself a favor and put an airstone in them. Flush every or every other week. Those standalone pots kick ass.:flower

 

[ca_digger]

Thank You

You all so positive about the W/F's ............So farms's it is any other tip's will use air stone thnx

 

[EastCoastGrow]

use airstone veg the plant for 24 hours a day with a t5 flourcent and the plant willl grow like there is no tomorrow

 

[phenotyper]

Protip: Be careful with airstones unless you're using a steril rez.

 

[ncmaineac]

pheno

sorry but i have to dissagree respectfully...i have used air stones for a long time now and i have never had a problem...i have bought them at wally, fish stores...any place that will sell them i pick up a couple if they are different...always looking for a better mousetrap....

with that being said...just because i have had no problems doenst mean that its a law and thats the way it is....

so to say be careful maybe a bit of an overstatement ...

use the airstones though....adds good o2 for the girls...

good luck..

ncm

 

[The Joker]

If you are using a recirculating system with your waterfarms ( takes minimum effort) you don't need to add an airstone. The drip ring has aerated water forced through it from your air pump and then drips down through your airated hydroton. If you recirculate your buckets with a simple modification, you won't have to worry.

Where your worry will come is from the Rez which sits on top of the controller bucket.
As it sits higher it is exposed to heat and therefore prone to algae. You can insulate it or keep it outside your grow area.

I ran waterfarms for 5 years, but lost the battle to high temps and algae. My small scale grow did not make A/C or a water chiller viable. Have to grow 16 soil plants to equal the yield of 6 waterfarms,but I haven't lost a grow yet either.

 

[ca_digger]

WOW............thank you again. you guy;s have really helped with all your input hopefully with the extra info i can be successfull,,,,,,,,,,,,,, have lost plants in grows before and it SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!! wish me luck i'll be settin it up this weekend

 

[meercat.com]

one more thing drill some holes into ya inner pot bottom it letss roots hit that bubbled water n nutes faster too ! good luck yal be fine.

 

[Alien Abductee]

I use stand alone wf system converted to dwc with airstones as well. Some tips that I can offer would be to use only water the first 2 weeks if your going from clone. During the 2 weeks of plain water, monitor your ph level and make sure its not shooting up. It can happen if the everything wasn't rinsed good enough. Once the ph stablizes then start with 1/2 strength (500 ppm or so) nutes. Personally I use gh Flora using the lucas method. (only uses micro and bloom, 0-8-16 ml per gallon through out or 0-5-10 if your using cfls or under 400watts), Another great piece of advice is to use something to keep your system free of baddies. They have products that clean everything, but I have found 1 tsp per gallon of h202 hydrogen peroxide works reasonably well, 3% i think it is.

Personally I do not change the res every week, I change it when it tells me it needs it. Usually once before pre flower and half way through flower and at riping. This highly depends on the quality of water your using and how clean you keep the system. If you do not plan on using anything that keeps it clean, then definitely change it every week.

Hopefully you have a good tds and ph meter, you'll need it.

Also, I start the ph at 5.5 and let it rise to 6.0, then back again to 5.5, etc. For me it works the best. I use to let it raise to 6.5 but I noticed a slight grow rate change when it was that high for my water and nute schedule.

 

[ca_digger]

so far so good

looks like the water farm will do me right,,,,,,,,,,,,,THNX Everyone:smiley_joint:

 

[ttystikk]

I'm gonna toss my two cents in and say I had a bad experience with waterfarm. I will also say it was the very first experience I had with waterfarm and looking back I see where I made some mistakes running it.

That said, by the time I figured out what I really wanted, the waterfarm was inadequate for me.

Scrapped it and started over w/ RDWC, built my own systems- and promptly lost a crop or two because I was still learning and figured I could get by without a chiller. BIG mistake. Now, I know more about pythium rot than I ever thought possible, lol.

If you have the waterfarms and you're willing to do as these people say, then I'm not gonna second guess that decision. I wasn't comfortable with them and so I moved on to a fully custom built system- to which I've recently added water cooling. Things are MUCH better now, lol. And I wouldn't go back.

 

[Alien Abductee]

I'm gonna toss my two cents in and say I had a bad experience with waterfarm. I will also say it was the very first experience I had with waterfarm and looking back I see where I made some mistakes running it.

That said, by the time I figured out what I really wanted, the waterfarm was inadequate for me.

Scrapped it and started over w/ RDWC, built my own systems- and promptly lost a crop or two because I was still learning and figured I could get by without a chiller. BIG mistake. Now, I know more about pythium rot than I ever thought possible, lol.

If you have the waterfarms and you're willing to do as these people say, then I'm not gonna second guess that decision. I wasn't comfortable with them and so I moved on to a fully custom built system- to which I've recently added water cooling. Things are MUCH better now, lol. And I wouldn't go back.

Yeah the learning curve using dwc/drips can be brutal at times. I am using 4 single waterfarm converts i picked up off craigslist for 50 bucks, including 10 pumps, air stones, etc etc.. was a good find. I have been a soil grower for 20+ years and I wanted to try hydro before getting a larger and hugely more expensive system and its working for me. the same principles apply to waterfarm than any larger dwc system, there are some differences, but the basics are the same. So its easier for me to swallow a 50 dollar learning curve than several hundred dollar learning curve.

anyone thinking of going hydro should pick up a waterfarm and practice with it before making the decision. they are less than 50 bucks and will give you a taste of what its all about.

 

[ca_digger]

That's why they sat a the patio for a year i lost a beautiful plant then another and another so stuck with soil but have had luck with a flood and drain system i bought in 2000. Thought the water farm would work cause it's close to a DWC system have decided to try again have seen other farmers have great success with them. wanting to go hydro and need to invest my money wisely. Curentley know of a farmer growing an Avacodo tree in one figure if they can grow tress i can grow tree like plants:smiley_joint:

 

[GanjaAL]

have you noticed white slime on your roots?

 

[Alien Abductee]

have you noticed white slime on your roots?

I did on the first plant I tried, I completely killed the root system off, i plucked it out and put rooting compound on it and stuck it in soil and it recovered.

The lesson I had to learn was o2 in the res and to not move the water on the roots when its small. The water falls around the edges and a small amount gets transported to the center via absorption. That little bit is enough for the root system to develop. I dropped water straight on the roots from clone and it became really slimey and died. Also adding airstone in the res helped make the water less bothersome having a good amount of o2 in it. I also add in tablespoon per gallon of h2o2 every day, i think its helping as well.

 

[Alien Abductee]

That's why they sat a the patio for a year i lost a beautiful plant then another and another so stuck with soil but have had luck with a flood and drain system i bought in 2000. Thought the water farm would work cause it's close to a DWC system have decided to try again have seen other farmers have great success with them. wanting to go hydro and need to invest my money wisely. Curentley know of a farmer growing an Avacodo tree in one figure if they can grow tress i can grow tree like plants:smiley_joint:

Mine have been converted to dwc buckets. Basiclly drilling a bunch of holes and adding in airstones. Once the roots hit the water its virtually the same as dwc, just a single bucket bubbler type.

So far im still struggling with the learning curve on it some. the first plant I messed up bad, the second i started from seed, almost messed it up, but corrected it and its growing nicely now, the 3rd I expect to flower and just put it in the bucket yesterday from clone. in 24 hours its grown just a very little bit but looks really nice and healthy, though lost a little of green shade, but I assume that is drawning N to make the root system.

My gf is eyeing one of the remaining buckets to grow bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) plant.