This might be a place to start.
https://www.growweedeasy.com/
It's very important to keep things as simple as possible in the beginning.
You will be very tempted to try all the "advanced techniques" you see on the internet.
You can have excellent results by letting the plants grow as they want until you learn more.
Don't worry about yield, just about having healthy, happy plant(s), which many people seem unable to do.
Many separate dwc buckets will allow you to tune in feeding for different strains, but are a gigantic pain.
A single reservoir with the plants growing directly in it, or multiple buckets connected to a single storage tank are much less work.
Consider using a 1-part nutrient, like Greenleaf Megacrop.
You'll probably need the usual indoor growing things:
Grow tent.
LED grow light with hangers. Quantum boards and COBs are very popular.
DWC reservoir.
Exhaust fan with speed control and carbon filter.
An oscillating fan.
Several cheap temp/humidity meters.
Humidifier, either top fill ultrasonic or top fill forced air type to be able to follow the VPD chart.
Cheap space heater with thermostat for winter.
RO water filtration system.
pH meter(s).
ppm (also called TDS or EC) meter.
Base nutes, pH up, and pH down.
Seeds. Mephisto, Dinafem, and Growers Choice are my favorites.
Rapid Rooters and a cheap germination tray to start seeds.
DWC can produce huge autos and yields.
I'd probably start with soil first since it's your first time. But if you want to dive into dwc the results and yield are way worth it. Just make sure (assuming you probably are) you do constant research. I've been going strong for over a year and love it, plus no more digging in the dirt, and mistakes can be corrected relatively faster. It's best to read your plants to see what they want and use about a 1/4 nutrients as what the company says, then work your way up. I use GH and the 321/123 method. If your ppm goes up, add water. If it goes down feed more. Keep the ph in a range between 5.5-6.5. Some people prefer to keep it at 5.8 all the time, while others let it drift. I generally keep my ph higher in flower, around the 6-6.2 range, and at 5.8ish during veg. Keeping the ph in range is very important and certain nutrients are available at certain numbers.
if nature is illegal, freedom doesnt exist..
if nature is illegal, freedom doesnt exist..
Last edited:
Which nutrients would you recommend?
I switched from General Hydroponics 3-part flora series to Current Culture, and I'm about to switch to Greenleaf Nutrients for my next operation.
I've never used Greenleaf, but there have been some nice testimonials posted in the autoflower network.
Greenleaf is a 1-part solid that must be weighed and put into water.
The same nutes can be used from seed to harvest with no calmag or bloom nutes needed.
I'm a firm believer for beginner hydro enthusiasts to start with recirculating continuous feed (squirting halos not drippers) clay balls and perhaps some perlite or wool (as a bit of a safeguard for water retention if somthing goes wrong with a pump etc)
I use cloth pots and have a dwc element now but used to grow 2x 1lb photos in garden sieves filled with clay balls in a tray over a 60lt res in a 1.5 x 1.5 space with 1k HPS
DWC is awesome and relatively easy but not very forgiving! Aero is worse tho.
f6
I use cloth pots and have a dwc element now but used to grow 2x 1lb photos in garden sieves filled with clay balls in a tray over a 60lt res in a 1.5 x 1.5 space with 1k HPS
DWC is awesome and relatively easy but not very forgiving! Aero is worse tho.
f6
I was looking for a step by step guide before I started my grow and couldn't find one , I was in a similar situation to you . I only had 1 soil grow before I started my current grow and jumped straight in the deep end with dwc .
Gotta say though I'm loving it . I made it as simple as I possibly could .
I have a 20 litre single dwc I bought from Amazon which was £30 and came with the airpump and clay pebbles , the airpump isn't good so I bought another and use the one I got with the bucket to air my nute mix before the Res change
I have 1 mars hydro eco led light only 100w
A 60*60*140 tent , in and out fans , pH pen and a fan to crculate air inside the tent .
*Note , I would recommend a larger tent than mine as i have had to do supercropping and a lot of defoliation to control the size .
Nutrients I use are Advanced nutrients 3 part grow , micro and bloom , I also use something called TNC mycorr hydro from Amazon and would highly recommend this.
I don't use a TDS pen as I wanted to keep things as simple as possible , just make sure I under feed on nutes and then top up with more water and nutes later in the week .
I use 2ltr frozen water bottles to control temp in Res and change them every 12 hrs or so ideally 8hrs would be better but I'm not home enough throughout the day to do this .
I change out my Res every week and I use aerated tap water with my nutes .
Here's a couple pics from today .
any more questions just ask mate my journal is in the new growers section 
Gotta say though I'm loving it . I made it as simple as I possibly could .
I have a 20 litre single dwc I bought from Amazon which was £30 and came with the airpump and clay pebbles , the airpump isn't good so I bought another and use the one I got with the bucket to air my nute mix before the Res change
I have 1 mars hydro eco led light only 100w
A 60*60*140 tent , in and out fans , pH pen and a fan to crculate air inside the tent .
*Note , I would recommend a larger tent than mine as i have had to do supercropping and a lot of defoliation to control the size .
Nutrients I use are Advanced nutrients 3 part grow , micro and bloom , I also use something called TNC mycorr hydro from Amazon and would highly recommend this.
I don't use a TDS pen as I wanted to keep things as simple as possible , just make sure I under feed on nutes and then top up with more water and nutes later in the week .
I use 2ltr frozen water bottles to control temp in Res and change them every 12 hrs or so ideally 8hrs would be better but I'm not home enough throughout the day to do this .
I change out my Res every week and I use aerated tap water with my nutes .
Here's a couple pics from today .
I was looking for a step by step guide before I started my grow and couldn't find one , I was in a similar situation to you . I only had 1 soil grow before I started my current grow and jumped straight in the deep end with dwc .
Gotta say though I'm loving it . I made it as simple as I possibly could .
I have a 20 litre single dwc I bought from Amazon which was £30 and came with the airpump and clay pebbles , the airpump isn't good so I bought another and use the one I got with the bucket to air my nute mix before the Res change
I have 1 mars hydro eco led light only 100w
A 60*60*140 tent , in and out fans , pH pen and a fan to crculate air inside the tent .
*Note , I would recommend a larger tent than mine as i have had to do supercropping and a lot of defoliation to control the size .
Nutrients I use are Advanced nutrients 3 part grow , micro and bloom , I also use something called TNC mycorr hydro from Amazon and would highly recommend this.
I don't use a TDS pen as I wanted to keep things as simple as possible , just make sure I under feed on nutes and then top up with more water and nutes later in the week .
I use 2ltr frozen water bottles to control temp in Res and change them every 12 hrs or so ideally 8hrs would be better but I'm not home enough throughout the day to do this .
I change out my Res every week and I use aerated tap water with my nutes .
Here's a couple pics from today .
View attachment 945672 View attachment 945673 any more questions just ask mate my journal is in the new growers section
pH pen (or drops/strips) and ppm meter are essential for hydro.
Wrong pH can produce strange, stunted growth.
Wrong ppm can burn your plants.
I know both of these from experience.
I got the pH pen and pH up and down , however no TDS meter I just make sure I feed her less than recommended and keep her topped up , I know I should have got one and wouldnt recommend anyone to not use one but I was just keeping things simple for a first run
Similar threads
- Article
