Building own hydroponic DWC - Asking for some help or info

[shorty011]

I have a 2x2x6 grow tent with a 400w led light I want to build a DWC hydroponic setup I want to use a black storage tub but not sure what size gallon tub to buy for that small of a grow 7 gallon 10 gallon 20 gallon ? how many plants should I put in whatever tub I decide to get I will be only growing short plants under 3.5ft tall with big yields ? also what size net pots should I use I was thinking 3" what is your suggestion ?


my other option is building the DWC buckets but not even sure how many to put in a tent 2x2x6

what is yalls opinion I am disabled so I cant grow a huge grow and I'm limited on room so I needed something small doesn't generate a lot of heat and easier for me to maintain any help or advice would help me on this journey my led light should be here in a few days and the tent is coming a few days after that .

 

[DukeO]

If it was me I would go with buckets. I think in the long run it is safer. Plus you can grow different stains at the same time. I would recommend a GH dual diaphragm air pump with 2" cylinder stones. It will run 4 buckets nicely and they last a long time with the lest amount of noise.

I use 6" tops on my buckets. If you live in the US I would highly recommend getting some z7 water treatment. That an a good 3part nute is all that is really need. The z7 will keep everything clean and free from root rot. You do not even have to change your water till you flush at the end with it. You just keep adding more plain water or water with nutes. You just keep an eye on PH and PPM. Make sure you get the best meter you can. Every thing rides on the meter in Hydro.

Hope that helps a little..

Good Luck!

 

[Lazarus13]

I agree. Buckets are the way to go imo. The 3 in net pots are fine, they're what i started with. Now i use the 6 inch net pot/lids but thats just because i found them for free.
In a 2x2 i would really only grow 1 plant. I have a 3x2 that i grew 2 in and i really should have gone with one. Im in a 2x4 now and i only run 2 5gal buckets. With just a little training 1 plant will absolutely wall to wall in a 2x2.

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[shorty011]

thank yall any info is helpful I am looking further into the 5 gallon bucket system now vs the tub I was hoping for more then 1 plant in that tent not sure if two 5 gallon buckets would be too much the seeds I will be growing is some very high yield strain very resilient even against heat and done from seed to harvest in 10 weeks ..... thank goodness I haven't ordered everything yet to do with my hydroponics only thing I have coming so far is the tent and led so the rest I can still modify as needed . I like the training idea I was already planning on fimmin and possibly scrogging but if I only have two plants I probably will not have to scrog I can just LST .

The Z7 water treatment is something new to me never heard of it I just planned on using my trio of nutes but I thought you had to change the water out every week when you change the nutrients never heard of only flushing once 2 weeks before harvest now I wasn't going to do a flush every 3 weeks like some of the feeding schedules say to do . what do yall do on that do yall flush every few weeks or just clean reservoir and refill with new nutrients every week and add water as needed in between

 

[DukeO]

With a 2x2 you will only need one bucket. Without using a water chiller you most likely will run into water issues that will cause root rot.

The last thing you want when growing only one plant at a time.

You could use a tea that you have to make up or use H202. Both of those will work. But the tea makes a mess and smells and the H202 is nasty stuff that is not needed at all. I tried both of those ways before finding z7. It is a game changer and made everything much easier for me. There are other things like hydrzone and hydrograud out there too. But nothing has worked as well as z7 for me.

A few drops of z7 will keep everything clean and free from root rot. it also keeps the pours of the roots clean. There is no need to flush until the end of the grow because it keeps the salts from building up. It is just waste time and nutes to throw out the water once a week

With only one bucket. I would run a terra whisper 40 air pump I think they are the best of the cheap pumps. I would also buy a backup one of them. They are only about $10 online.

With a 5gal bucket you will need to add water about every other day at times. For a little while you my need to ad some every day. It has to do with how big you let it get. Every now and then I will grow a big one or if I am going out of town. Then I will hook two buckets together by a hose. That is good for about four days with a big plant. You should be able to yield about 4 to 6 oz's easy per run in a 2x2 once dialed in.

 

[shorty011]

thanks duke0 I already put the z7 enzyme on my order sounds awesome to me cant wait to try it. I was hoping for more then 1 plant in the tent but when you think about it 2x2 is not very big lol. I have not received the tent yet due to it being back ordered so I'm sure when it comes in and I actually see it in front of me reality will set in. I picked that size because of my stealth I am having to use due to my children nosey teenagers lol if you are interested in my complete setup that I plan on using here it is. 2x2x6 grow tent that will be in a bedroom closet that is 8 foot wide x 8 foot long , 400w led light . I also am ordering a 4" inline 190cfm exhaust fan which has a carbon filter and a speed controller that comes with it for the exhaust I plan on running a duct from the top right of the grow tent down to the floor since I live in a mobile home I am going to have a friend install a dummy floor vent that has a dryer louvered vent cap attached to it so the heat will be pushed thru the top down the duct into a floor vent and out under the house and when it shuts off the louvers close and nothing can come back in . What yall think on that can it work because if it can it will be awesome because if I ever want to take it down I just put the floor register back in and no one knows the wiser they think its a ac vent lol.... Oh I am ordering a nutrient set that I read was great for beginners and the easiest

 

[DukeO]

Yes that sounds like it will work. I have my tent setup in my spare bedroom. Because of going hydro and LED there is not as much smell as you might think(not near as much as a dirt grow with HPS) up till about 2 weeks from harvest and then when your drying.

I just have a honywell black fan blowing out my top side vent and I just vent it low on the sides and have a little clip on fan inside to keep a good mix. But I just vent into the room/house. I did buy a filter for it. But I just do not feel like I need it. I do not bring a lot of people in the house at the end of flower.

I use GH 3part. It is cheap easy to find and has always worked well for me. All I use is the 3part z7 tap water and PH up and down.

I tried many things and many ways. I wanted the simplest way I could find so I could also teach my friends in town how to do it for themselves. I have four friends growing the same way. I just make them some clones and let them do the rest.

I would of tried to get a 3x3 in that space of yours so I could grow two plants at the same time.

But a 2x2 will work. I would not use that filter or pump all that air out of the house until you see it is needed. LED's run very cool and what you will be using in a 2x2 is just not much.

 

[shorty011]

yea I was up in the air between GH 3 part and Fox F 3 bottle. You are right being a 2x2x6 running a 400w led should not generate enough heat but I do have the worst luck lol. does all of you just make clones or do any of yall grow from seed because unfortunately I will not have the ability or access right now to clones I am going to have to bite the bullet and order seeds and pray I don't get screwed ordering. Due to my disability and situation right now I am not going to have many options for seed starting what I plan on doing is the wet papertowel method getting them seeds to prop that root out then put it root down in a small 1x1 rockwall cube that was soaked in phd water then rung out then immediately put in my net pot surrounded by hydrooton what do yall think about that plan.

 

[Lazarus13]

I skip the rockwool. Always have. I germ in papertowels and then right into the hydroton. I use a submersible pump to top feed til roots hit water now but in the past i have just filled the rez up til the water touches the bottom of the net pot so the bubbles popping keep the media moist. On average it takes the seedling about 10 days or so to send roots down into the rez at which time you can lower your water level to an inch or so below the pot. Then hold on to your hats man, cuz its lift off time. 1 plant in a 5 gal dwc in a 2x3 tent gave me approx 6 oz. Plenty of meds for me and my wife for the in between months. Thats just my process though. Different strokes for different folks.

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[DukeO]

I grow from seed too. I use Rapid Rooters under a done and after about 4 or 5 days into the DWC. I will then make clones of it before sending it into flower. I buy my seed from Herbies Seed and they come stealth in about a week. Get feminized ones.

 

[shorty011]

cool yea that's what I'm talking about I was leaning more towards the herbie seeds incredible bulk very resilient massive yield 10 weeks from seed to done from what I read great for a beginner . just not sure whether I want the auto flower version or regular since I will have a led it just a matter of changing light schedule for flower vs auto doing it on its own. between both of you duke and lazarus yall helpin out a lot I don't have a dome seed starter wish I did it would sure be awesome to start like that but for now I will just have to use the rockwall and hopefully by second grow I can move on to bigger and better things

 

[DukeO]

I grew IB from Herbies and it really put out a lot of great bud. I would not get autos. You don't need them and most of them will not put out as much and it will not in most cases be as good.

Domes are very cheap. $10 to 20

I really do not like rockwool. Rapid Rooters work much much better and cost about $10

 

[shorty011]

ok cool I am fixing to start checking on the rapid rooters and the domes so I can start the seeds properly . even thou it gona be a single seed lol lol but at least a package of seeds will last me awhile .

 

[shorty011]

on yalls 5 gallon buckets do you have the blue water level tubing on them I'm trying to figure out where to get the tubing that is blue for the water indicator level. also any of yall have suggestions on buckets I can not find any black 5 gallon buckets where I live at the only colors I can find is blue or white and I ordered a 4 inch round air stone for the bucket should I keep it ordered or just get a Walmart air stone for the bucket I took duke0 suggestion and ordered the whisper 40 air pump.

 

[Lazarus13]

I dont have the blue tubing on mine. I just pop the lid to check water levels.
As far as buckets i got some regular HD buckets and covered them with black gorilla tape and then wrapped them in a cut down windshield reflector.
The walmart airstones i got were as good as the walmart airpumps i had... So not very. Imo

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[shorty011]

lazarus what nutes are you using are you using gh or fox f or an ??? I could have swore I read a journal back in 2015 where someone was doing their first grow and they bought like so many different nutes it was crazy you helped them out a lot with your wisdom in that journal they talked about using nutes that did not need to be phd . I don't see how that is but that's why I thought I would ask I know duke uses GH I am up in the air about ordering Fox f or GH what your opinion

 

[DukeO]

Yes i have some with the blue tube. They is a total waste for checking water level. They work as a DWC fine and I like having some if I want to hook two together if I am going out of town. They do work well and there is noting the mater with them for DWC. But far to hard to see under LED to check water level with. Plus just like Lazarus said. It is best to just pop the lid.

You can find black buckets and lids cheap online.

But you may want to call around local for those.

 

[shorty011]

duke is their any airstone I should stay away from I took your advice and I am getting two of the whisper 40 air pumps but I haven't changed anything with the airstone I had a 4inch round flat one I was going to order but I seen ones that looked like weights for a scale lol ones that are just tubing ones that are long and skinny like at Walmart. I want something that will put so much bubbles and air in that bucket that those roots throw a party lol well a party without breaking my bank account lol

 

[Lazarus13]

I started with GH trio but switched to AN perfect ph trio when my baby was born and i didnt have as much time to mess with my set up. It took a while but i finally stopped checking my ph after it tested right for so long. Now i only ph when i top off.
Nutes are just a matter of opinion and how much you are willing to shell out, as ive seen nice grows from FF, GH, AN and tons of others.
Might've been me helping in that journal. I'm not in a legal state so the online journaling skeeves me out still, but i do try to pop in and help out new folks when i can. I only have a handful of grows in so i am no expert but i am a research animal and love plants in general, these plants in particular.
DWC is a learning process and can be frustrating starting out but, man oh man is the growing process something to see when roots hit rez and she takes off. Simply beautiful.

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[shorty011]

ive seen the lids 6" for sale on amazon but not just the bucket and lid most of what I have seen is a 5 gallon kit with a black bucket a black 6" net top a blue water level a cheap little airstone and a cheap looking air pump they want like 50 with shipping but they look cheesey to me I would rather a better air pump and good airstone