My first dwc grow

[gbauto]

Agreed-once i have the basics covered-lighting, temps and system volume; it's really simple maintenance topping off the rez and adjusting pH if needed.

[LuckyAcres]

Glad all of you wanna jump on this thread! The input is awesome.
The root growth is ridiculously small compared to the amount of time she’s been at it. The early rot slowed mine down, broken ph pen early on resulted in messed up ph too, but I won’t be set up to flip her for a while so there’s no rush. I topped mine 3 times so far,

[Jason]

What kind of time for that root growth? I use a simple WaterFarm with clay balls. With a clone, I usually get roots into the solution in 5-7 days. No DWC or any change in the WaterFarm. I credit the strains my clone friend grows.

[BlueBudz]

Excited to watch this unfold! I’m just starting in a 5gal dwc as well good luck!

[Jason]

I did my first grow in a 5 gallon bucket. Still can't figure out how I managed to do absolutely everything wrong. So I spent 6 months working hard and screwing up.
Then I switched to hydro. Hope to start my 4th grow soon as I just harvested 1/31.
I would never change back to soil. Hydro is fast (90-110 days, set up with clones to harvest), fun like a science project and I feel problems are easier to identify and correct. And just follow directions. No creativity required. Try changing soil when you're weeks into flower and everything goes sideways.

[PuravidaC]

I'm subbed. My local hydro store guy has been pushing a DWC setup hard so I am all ears!!

[LuckyAcres]

Too much brother! Thanks! Been pro gardener for 25 years, buddy from the collective decided I had to try dwc so he dropped the whole set up clone included! No choice!😂😂 it’s actually a lot less daily work than soil. Still getting my brain around this water tank business...

[PuravidaC]

Damn Lucky, you are my hero, going from soil straight to DWC! I am a simple man with simple pleasures so I have only grown in soil because DWC seems too labor intensive for me but Tika has been urging me to take baby steps and try coco! 😁

[LuckyAcres]

#rootporn compliment of 30ml of Root Wizard added 3 days ago...

[LuckyAcres]

Nothing new here. She’s back at growing, ppm lowered, ph maintained.... some vids on instagram if you’re into that kind of #rootporn

[Cannabliss]

If you'd rather not paint your buckets, I sometimes use those black/white poly sheets. I cut out small strips enough to wrap the buckets in (white side facing out). That deflects some heat while helping to keep the inside of the bucket nice and dark. You can slide them off to clean and reuse them.

As far as PPM's go, I have to agree with DingusKhan in that they seem pretty high for the age of the plant. You may have to lower them way down. How old is she?

[DingusKhan]

Good save on the roots there, Lucky! I think the ppm sounds a little high. Good idea on the brush-on paint. I feel silly for spray painting. Messy and inconsistent.

[LuckyAcres]

It’s been a tough start for this girl. Ph pen broke, took time to replace it, finally found that happy distance between water and nutes, and new shoots are finally popping off the main root. Was about to cull her two days ago... my topping wasn’t at the best time considering what’s been going on down under in the bucket... new shoots are coming out, we’re back in business folks!
i also went ahead and painted the buckets white to deflect some of that heat. Ph is steady, pm around 1700, not sure if that’s good or bad yet, opinions? I run my soil nutes at 1300.
cheers!

[LuckyAcres]

Welcome to the show! Yup I got me a proper ppm meter, like you said, couldn’t do it without it! That tube is to check water levels and the can was what I had on hand to block the light!

[MadMike]

I think I'm going to follow along as well. I'm on my third grow with coco and dwc has had me intrigued. Excited to see how you progress. I've been a little hesitant about it since changing the water seems like pouring nutes down the drain. Of course, I always have runoff that I pour down the drain so maybe not much of a difference.
Didn't see a ppm meter in your descriptions. Always sounds like something you should have for hydro, or coco for that matter, but that's another investment. If you're going without one, I'm doubly interested in following your grow.

Oh, what's the side spot with the can over it? Monitoring water levels?