Re: AfricanGrower's 1st Hydro Journal-Ebb&Flow/Bubblelicious 2013
>>> Trust me when i say this, u can not get a simpler system than DWC.
except for this part:
>>>u can use a chiller
and this part:
>>>if u double dose cannazym and use guardian angel
>>>if u can keep ur room steady at 75f and ur water is 65f wen u put it in, then it takes a while to creep up
Within a few hours of changing the water in the bucket, it will be "room temperature". The air pump is constantly pushing room air into the bucket. So are you saying you should change your water every few hours? ;-)
And don't forget the part where PH fluctuates rapidly in the bucket, and the part where you need air pumps running 24/7, and if the power goes out, water can back syphon up the airline and flood your house. And after a few hours with no air, the water is depleted of oxygen and anaerobic bacteria starts growing. Now you have pythium which is a death sentence to your prize plant.
Hey Cultivator, your DWC plant is amazing.
Very very nice. Above, I am giving you a hard time, I know
and I'm not trying to argue that DWC isn't the way to go. I am simply pointing out that DWC is NOT the most simple or risk free way to grow. If you're not using a chiller (RDWC) and a back up power supply for your air pumps, DWC is a gamble. Hence the reason there is a 289 page thread about DWC and root rot, on R. I. U., started over 3 years ago and still going strong. With grower after grower, posting pictures of their rotted or slimed roots.
I did RDWC for a long time and was amazingly successful with it. I had found a strain that produced monster colas when grown in DWC. I was in heaven, until one day an airline popped off an air stone, and within a few days, one of my plants started to yellow from the bottom up. By that time, it spread, and every plant on the RDWC eventually died. I was 6 weeks into flower when it happened, and I was able to harvest some bud, but not much. 3-4 months invested and BOOM! Gone. Yes, I should have had TWO air stones in each bucket, powered each by a separate air pump, for redundancy.
DWC definitely has the "cool factor", very rapid growth, and high yields, I will not argue on that. If I had the energy and patience, I would go back to DWC (I have a chiller). However, I've been doing this awhile, and now I am interested in the simplest (and least laborious) way to grow, while still achieving high yields. I've found I can consistently average 16oz per plant, in a 4x4 space and 600W light, by top-feeding or ebb and flow rockwool. I have very little risk of root disease, no need for the chiller and multiple high volume air pumps, and immune to power outages. How do I get the same yield as DWC? I veg a week or two longer. Simple as that!
Again, please note I am not trying to discourage anyone from growing DWC. It is a really fun and impressive way to grow. My only point is it is definitely not the most SIMPLE way to grow. One other thing to note here... Cultivator has MANY YEARS of experience, and things that come easy and natural for him, may not be so clear to others. You may get "lucky" time after time, but at some point things go wrong and a grow may be lost. HGHB's recent RDWC is a perfect example. He was so stoked about that grow but we never saw one single bud from it. He said he didn't have time to "document" the grow, but he also said he made a lot of "edibles". Lol. Yeah right. It just goes to show, with even the best of growers, a DWC grow can go downhill quickly if conditions are not optimum. (another reason high volume medical growers rarely do DWC)
AG, sorry to hijack your thread!
I think I'' be building this sooner than expected!
