dwc tips

[loolagigi]

good read......

I am fairly baked at da moment so any thing you think does not make sense, you are probably right

Anyhow, reason I have signed up are firstly most people here are great, the combined knowledge on this site is amazing and thirdly I have noticed that some of the info on DWC is misleading or absolutly false. I thought I would write a bit of my experience down and possibly help a few out

-I hope- !!

14 DWC grows so far for personal

not a single failure, my average is around 4 ozies per plant from a Sativa bush strain.

Some peopls are going to certainly laugh about some ways I do things but they work or me, starting in soil for example...!

I usually plant three seeds in a light sandy soil ( I am pathetic with rockwool, always either underwater or drown da poor things

lol) and let them germ and veg until there fourth leaf pair under a 20w flouro in a small box then flush them free of soil and transplant in hydroton.

( I built a three pot DWC inwhich I screw down three 4" net pots to a wooden cover, When sex is app. I unscrew the pots containing males and if only one male I remove the weakest lookin fem. To be left with one plant...)

Reading through the forums I have noticed most peoples probs are root rot (pytheim) which apparently destroys em kinda quick...

I have never suffered from this and here is what i do...

I use a TDS,

Water temperature 25Deg C (I know alot of people will say I am crazy but it has always worked for me. It is true that algae etc. will grow faster in warmer water, tho it CANNOT and WILLNOT grow without light.) I drop the water temp by two deg for each week after the third into flowering.

I have done alot of experimenting and 25Deg in my opinion promotes fastest growth, by far...

I wire a ceramic 3" airstone to each net pot so as it hangs by about four inches below pot, then I connect airlines and mount airpump to top of plywood res cover. (so I can lift pots airlines everything out together to do a res change.) I think it also helps keep stones clean rather than sitting in the clay dust etc in the bottom of res.

I use a twin out pump to run all three stones. Anyone able to help me in quietening the noisy thing down? haha not much i aint tried, no luck so far!

The most important thing other than Airating the solution with DWC is the res. It MUST be 100% light tight otherwise you WILL get pytheim (root rot)

Get your res, hold it towards the sun whilst looking through the sides and bottom, if it does not look black and you can see light then it is not good. About five coats of black spraypaint and panda film is good, better yet get a black plastic container... best option...

Cover each and every pot with black plastic and weight it down... light will get through hydroton and into the res through the net pot holes...

Once you think your setup is light proof, check a second and third time, better yet smoke a fattie and study your system for probs and improve it... I find if i build something when im stoned but not too far gone

it helps me think about possible future probs and modify, rebuild, or fix it.

If your sys is ABSOLUTELY 100% light proof and well airated, 25 Deg will be no problem...

My res holds 12 liters and I change it weekly.

I also use 2ml's of 50% H202 every two days as a safeguard as well as the extra oxygen it provides.

Nutrients, I find a basic hydro nute is good. I use plantastic grow for vegin and the first two weeks of flower... It is cheap and great! 45ml a and 45ml b. works out about 75% strength...

Never had tip burn and my plant is very healthy

I sometimes laugh at newb's purchaing expensive growth enhancers and additives, in my experience most of these (probably different if you are an very exp. grower) just drain your wallet with none or little difference at harvest as well as problems with possible incompatibilities with current nutes etc etc...

My opinion if you are new to hydro, save money for a better light or something rather than purchasing this stuff. Buy a cheap nute from a reputable company and all is good... ( Providing the chem balance is satisfactory for your type of plant )

I check ph and top up when necesary, top up THEN check ph! I usually top up res when water is 1" from bottom of pot and fill to 1" above bottom of net pot. Dont worry about ph that much, with DWC it will deviate, usually alkaline by one point by top up time... Simply top up and then add ph down if required...

PH up and down must be diluted before adition to res, otherwise it will have little effect and destroy your nutes. I usually guess amount, put in bucket of fresh water, top up and then check to be sure. Once you get the hang of it you wont need to check it that often

If your plants ever look overwatered, (leaves droopy) first check airstones and if they are fine you probably topped res too much, simply wait for em to drink it up and they will go back healthy lookin again

I only add water when topping up res, no nutes. Nute change every week. Old nutes in a waterin can do wonders for your other plants or garden

Other than that I use a 400w hps for flower and a 250w mh lamp for veg.

I do the same for flowering tho I use ionic bloom for nutes and LST rather than pruning after plants show pre-flowers.

Also in the last week of flowering when flushing, throw a frozen bottle of water in da rez daily, gets em really wet and sticky (especially if u in a warm climate) for harvest

Anyhow, I hope someone finds this info helpful

. Good day to yal. gone for a smoke

Disclaimer:

Everything I wrote here is either fictional or simply suitable methods of growing vegetables, I do not condone the use, manafacture or cultivation of illegal drugs, never tried em, blah blah blah. Any images I post on this site are freely available on the internet.