5 Gallon DWC/DiY

[IRISH]

this is a diy on how to build a dwc(deep water culture) system. you can do this with any 5 gallon bucket, as long as you have a lid with it. the preferred bucket will be dark in color, ( though some will argue that it will gather heat in your rez, therefor causing problems). you decide...

i've used black , white, blue, green, red, gray, etc.. with the same result.

here i'll use white, cause thats what i got, in a square 5 gallon bucket, taped at the top with black duck tape, and painted grey...

pic 1 is my bucket getting taped at the top. you don't want light entering your rez. it will cause mould, and slime, and stuff you dont want...

2/ take your net pot, turn it upside down on your bucket lid, and trace around it with a marker. then cut out circle staying one eigth inch inside your circle line. this will ensure a proper fit of your net pot. then drill a quarter inch hole in top of lid, near the side. ( this makes rez changes easier by removing the whole plant/w airstone, and sitting on another bucket of fresh water...

3/ tape off top of bucket from light entering rez. if using dark bucket, skip this...

4/ more taping...

5/ painted, and taped...

 

[4u2sm0ke]

very nice....thanks for shareing with us..I see ya taped up the top why not to bucket? we dont want roots to get light right? I only do one DWC bucket a year...so im new to it..i do like it But read that res should be in dark..just my thaughts...cant wait to see these babbies produceing...take care and be safe

 

[Locked]

Cool beans Bro... I just built one of these myself from a home depot 5 gallon bucket...Orange bucket painted black then covered in foil tape...I like the square bucket look of yours...

 

[IRISH]

now, we fine tune it...

1/ get your quarter inch tubing, airstone, and net pot, and pump...

2/ cut tubing so it goes to bottom of rez, and to floor on outside of bucket. attach airstone. ( some folks glue it down to bottom of rez, we let it free float. it stays down.)...

3/ pic of stone in rez w/ net pot, and tubing...

4/ quarter inch Tee from walmart, or hardware store...

5/ were using a dual outlet, 30-60 pump, from walmart. thier pretty cheap. under $10. cut two 4 inch pieces tubing, and attach to pump...

6/ attach Tee like this to tubing, and airpump...

7/ then attach pump to airstone feed line like this...

8/ and here she is. add your clone, or rooted seedling w/ hydroten, and water, and nutes, and your good to grow DWC Style...

...Irish...

 

[IRISH]

i painted the bucket grey 4u2. no light will enter...

 

[IRISH]

this bucket was built last month, and is in action as we speak. you can see it in my dwc/KULT grow in my sig...

 

[Locked]

Gotta love getting your parts at walmart... I Picked up my airstone from Petsmart...got the biggest one and it cost under 5 bucks and is huge...Nice thread Irish...I bought my first dwc from an online hydro store...waste of money compared to the ones you can build yourself for a lot less...

 

[4u2sm0ke]

I agree hampster...i seen them at Hydro and I made one for 1/4 the cost...I found the round air stone looks like a plate fits perfect in bucket..I like the square ones better tho..IMO..they fit space better...I use Cat litter containers for my soil grow and coco bucket...Thanks for share IRISH...I

 

[IRISH]

no problem bros'. ...

a few others pm'ed , and wanted me to show them how to build a dwc for under $20. the pump is around $8-$10. that is the largest cost. most buy a bigger pump that will handle 8-12 buckets at once. i have only ran a few at once, so this is all i need...

also , with hydro, you'll need a ppm/ec meter, and a digi ph meter. i bought both of mine off ebay for under $60, a year ago, or more without a hitch yet...

this is an easy alternative introduction into hydroponics for any beginner...

any questions? ...Irish...

 

[ArtVandolay]

Real nice, Irish. How and how often do you change the res?

 

[IRISH]

myself art, i change every other week as long as my numbers stay where i want them too. i hear alot of folks say to change it out weekly. then i hear others say they never change it out, they just add to it. i say good luck to them...

you can basically set it, and forget it, once you get the swing of it...

to change the rez is where it gets easier still. you simply get an empty bucket, fill with water, and your nutes, and pick up entire plant, lid and all, and sit it on the refreshed bucket, and hook it up to the pump, and let her go...

 

[ArtVandolay]

...

to change the rez is where it gets easier still. you simply get an empty bucket, fill with water, and your nutes, and pick up entire plant, lid and all, and sit it on the refreshed bucket, and hook it up to the pump, and let her go...

I get it! Very cool. I could do something like that in my grow box! I need to figure out how small the buckets could be to grow autos :hubba: and then find little buckets with lids.

 

[docfishwrinkle]

ppl who dont regularly change res are probably using the lucas formula, IMO.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

ppl who dont regularly change res are probably using the lucas formula, IMO.

I used the Lucas formula and still did regular change outs. Plants use nutes at different rates, so the residual that you have left could be very high in some nutes and completely depleted of others. I like changing the res out and starting with a clean slate every time I change the res out--every 7-10 days or so.

 

[IRISH]

thats what i do alsoTHG. around 7-14 days. usually weekly in flower...

everyone using this system will be able to come up with thier own feel for the system. it is by far the easiest way to grow i've ever done. i still do soil also, but eventually may do all hydro. prolly stick with a few of both. depending how i feel that day, you know?...

 

[chris1974]

Awesome, thank you for sharing Irish

 

[IRISH]

no problem friend. hope this helps out with some of the questions folks been asking me over, and over about building a bucket set up...

 

[TexasMonster]

Thats pretty cool. I like it. For those of you who live by Shipleys donuts, those guys throw out square buckets on a daily basis. I use them all the time in my wine making. I think they are only 3 gallon though. Those might work well for autos? ¿Que no?

I also like that knife in the photo.

 

[IRISH]

hello TM. . yes, those would work great with autos, along with a 3-4 inch net pot...

thats my deer knife. my 'lil woman found it in the post office parking lot about 8 years ago. Frost Cutlery made this one with japanese surgical steel. very sharp little girl. she does the job well. just me, this knife, and a 170lb deer, and it's cut up , and packaged in around 1.5 hours ttl. not bad , eh?...

 

[DonJones]

Irish,

Please clarify something for me. By 30-60 gallon air pumps@WalMart, do you mean the size of tank they are recommended for with fish or are you talking about gallons of air per hour that they pump?

I found a 200 gallon tank size at PETCO for just under $25US and was wondering how many buckets I could run off of that pump. I can't find any air flow or pressure specs on it.

Thanks.