Grow Mediums Deep Water Culture, info needed...

[DrJuice]

Does planting an autoflower in a DWC bucket increase yield? If yes by how much?

And also, When i put the seedling in the clay stones does the bottom of the rock-wool has to touch the water or the roots will go down all the way until they reach the bottom of the net pot and finaly entering the water?

What type of nutrients are best and how often do you have to change the water?

Looking forward for any feedback.

 

[Rman73]

I know they like to eat a lot of Nutes if u tune them in just right. So I would say yes to a point the best way 2 increase yield is to add more light. And on the Rock~wool leave it a lil down from the rim a lil where u can cover it with the pellets. The water will mist up and the roots will reach for it. ~ happy growing my friend ps u have a journal?

 

[Rman73]

Nutes should stay below 24 C
Don't let it go more the 10 days without changing out and what type of Nutes I use General Hydroponics flora series expert

 

[DrJuice]

I,m using soil at the moment,just wanted to get some more information on the DWC method,

Thanks for the help and by the way i haven't got a grow journal yet but i will start one cause im still geting used to this website.

So it looks complicated a little bit having to keep track of the nutrient solution temperature and changing it every 10 days.

I don't have that much time on my hands.

I think i will just stick with the soil for the moment.

Thanks for the information tough it will be helpful for the future maybe.

 

[bakedpotato]

hey bud,

i've recently switched over to DWC from a top drip hydroponic system(soil before that) and would definitely advise dwc over other methods. theoretically speaking, oxygen @ the right temp would enable plants to absorb as much nutrients as possible in addition to other factors such as pH etc; and well DWC submerges the roots right into the solution, so with enough dissolved oxygen, you should see explosive growth.

I would say that DWC is second only to Aeroponics misting which isn't the easiest to set up due to having to research pressure requirements for sprinklers and other factors.

As for the rockwool, I can't say for sure but what I did was to slightly water the area around the rockwool so the water kinda dribbles downwards while avoiding too much contact with the stem.

Hope this helps

 

[DrJuice]

Hi bakedpotato,

Thanks for your input,

i have been researching the dwc method on youtube,

Do you think growing a photo-period in a 30 ltr bucket (DWC) with a scrog is better than growing a bunch of autos and having to maintain all of them?

Like that i will have just one plant and veg it for a longer period until the screen fills out.

Also i would order jungle juice nutrients (Grow,Micro,Bloom) to add to my solution.

I would also install 3 air stones for extra oxygen.

another question what do you use to surround the rockwool? clay pellets? cause i dnt think that they absorb water am i correct?

 

[bakedpotato]

hey man,

there's really up and downsides to both scenarios, i'll try my best to list as many as i can think of atm firstly, genetics do play a part, especially for autos. for example, a "super auto" such as Auto Ultimate by Dutch Passions would definitely out-yield say a strain of auto that might be bred specifically to finish quickly. what strain were you thinking of growing?

back to the original comparison:

Scenario 1 - Single Photoperiod

• Low stress training(LST) would be needed to maximize yield by forming the desired plant structure.
• Veg time might be longer due to stress from LST and needing it to fill the screen before flowering iirc.
• Easier on your electricity bill
• More room for error, due to photoperiods generally being less fragile.

Scenario 2 - Few to several Autos

• Scrog still possible, wouldn't advise too much LST due to autos having a limited time to grow before flowering.
• More sensitive to nutes, have to be careful.
• No need to switch lighting timings/duration
• Strain plays a big part in yield

As for nutrients, I'm not too familiar with the Jungle Juice range, hopefully someone else might be able to shed some light. I'm currently using Advanced Nutrients, bit pricey but they seem to do the job really well. Edit: I forgot to add, I would advise getting some form of beneficial bacteria such as HydroGuard to help.

For oxygen, I'd say try to find out the output of the air pump you're planning on using, it'd be a better estimate e.g(a weak air pump with a ton of air stones wouldn't really work well.)

I'm using hydrotons(clay pellets) to surround my rockwool. You're right on that, they don't retain water very well; I try to pour the water at an angle so the bottom of the rockwool is wet, kinda encouraging the roots to grow downwards. I'm pretty sure it doesn't make much of a difference but just a habit lol.

P.S
Here's a link to a nice SCROG tutorial I refer to.

SCROG Tutorial

 

[DrJuice]

Hi Again,

Thanks for your post,

So i will keep in mind the Auto Ultimate if i decide to grow autos,

I didn't have anything in mind yet, recently i'm growing 9 autos in soil (5 Barneys farm blue mammoth's, 4 sweet skunks).

I'm on vacation and not able to send pics at the moment but i will as soon as i can.

So another question, how much Auto Ultimate's can i put under x2 400watt HPS's?

And what do you think the yield will be? (I know its hard to say and everything counts, but a rough estimate would be great)

 

[blue]

I'll have a guess Juice!

Presuming the environment and feeding is okay, I would say 3 oz per plant, probably 5-6 plants depending on space.
So 15 to 18 oz or 400g plus

 

[DrJuice]

Any idea of other high yielding autos?

dutch passion don't ship to my country