Why use a dwc when hempy buckets are cheaper, easier to manage and yield just as well if not better than dwc?
i like my dwc. i don't hate on other people's preferred methods or mediums so why are you? just do what works for you in your situation
I've used them. But then I tried hempy and was very impressed. Who want to lug a bucket of water around? Especially 5 or more at a time?
is it worth trying to grow in dwc when your a new grower? like is it hard work getting it all set up perfectly and getting the ph level right, Would it be suitble for a 1m - 80cm grow cabinet with a 300watt led? or would it be better to just stick to soil and get more knowledge at growing its just i dont want to waste my Auto Blue mystic, Auto purple, Auto northern lights seeds.
Its a bit of a pain but if you pre-plan and have everything and once you get things dialed in its awesome . Check out my grow Sent from my SCH-S738C using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Growing in perlite (hempy buckets) you have to water every day and if your EC/ppm isn't spot on as the nutrient solution gets used up it can fluctuate a lot. In DWC you can get better yields if done correctly and given a big enough reservoir you can get away with not having to water for a long time. I can go a week without having to even open my grow tent if I wanted to. I don't understand what you mean about lugging buckets of water around, growing in perlite and having to water every day you have to lug water around. I use a hose to fill my DWC reservoir. Hempy buckets is basically a poor man's flood and drain but without the automated service of the pump and a decent size reservoir
You have to buy some additional equipment but DWC is easier than soil. The most common soil grown problems are over watering, and overfeeding. These two are eliminated when growing in DWC
DWC is so simple even I figured it out. lol. No water pumps, no nasty substrates to fool with. No boring holes into your buckets(leaks) for special lines ... Just air, water, nutes, a net cup, a small handful of hydroton and you're in business. I've tried other methods but DWC produces 5-6 foot plants(i dont top) for me nearly every time - with each one producing around 5oz's of pure manicured buds - and it's clean and the plants love it. The PH has never been an issue for me using distilled water. 5 drops of ph down will bring it down from 7 to 6 in distilled and a couple of drops every other day or so depending on the rate the plant is absorbing water vs nutes. Using tap water is a bit tougher - requires 10 times more PH down, but even still it's no big thang.
Nutrients and ppm is just as simple as dwc. I don't know why they wouldn't be. Hempy buckets can yield just as well if not better than dwc. As for watering, a hempy red solo cup only needs to be watered every other day. A 2lt bucket can go for four days without watering. A 5 gal bucket filled can potentially house and sustain a much larger root mass than a dwc. And hempy has the advantage that you can change the nutrient ratios each watering. Every second or third watering you don't even need to add nutrients. I used to clean my dwcs out every few weeks. Not fun carrying buckets of water to a bathroom to dump the water and clean it. Hempy buckets are not much like ebb and flow. EnF get flooded for a short duration at set intervals. Then the water drains out slowly. Hempy buckets on the other hand have a reservoir at the bottom. That way the roots can soak up nutrients like a sponge. Hempy buckets can yield just as well as any other hydroponics setup besides maybe aero or fog. But hempys are really great in that they aren't dependant on constant electricity to keep your plants alive. I'm not trying to say that dwc can't yield well, I'm just qurious why no one seems to be using hempy buckets. Maybe thy are just underrated by most people? I guess people just associate cheaper with "not as good".
No, DWC is simpler because you can measure how much the plants are taking up at any given time by dipping your meter in to the reservoir. But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was referring to the large fluctuations that come with drying. This is not true, hand watering perlite is simply a small step up from soil, it bares only a few advantages of hydro, DWC bares more. If that's true for you then either your plants are very small or unhealthy. My DWC plants will drink over 2 litres in one day This harbours no logic. The bucket filled with perlite and water can hold more extra mass than a bucket that is filled with only water? That's just daft I change my ratio by putting more water or more nutes in at any time at all. Where are you getting this information? You have clearly never grown in DWC Giving your plant an incorrect dosage of nutes is not going to do them any favours. For fastest growth speed you need to match what they take up, not bounce around from overdosing, to underdosing. If you need to clean them out at any point during a grow you are doing something wrong. The only time I clean my reservoirs is right after harvest. I use a hose to fill my reservoirs when the plant is first introduced and when I change to flower nutes. The rest of the time they are just topped up whenever I have the time. They can go a week without me doing anything This is the drawback with hand watering perlite, that bit of water at the bottom should be aerated for better oxygen uptake. After a few hours that water will be stripped of its oxygen leaving the roots to deal with the first stages of oxygen deprivation That is the one thing it has going for it, it doesn't need electricity, but it does need a person there every day to administer its needs. And all things being equal hand watering perlite won't keep up with most of the proper hydro systems I'm glad I was able to answer your query for you if nothing else If hand watering works for you then great, if you have electricity problems then i guess it would be a good system for you. But if you are going to say incorrect stat's I have to say something.
You could have titled this thread "why I use hempy" and give us detailed reasons why your grow method is superior to what you imagine everyone else is using. You still need electricity for your lights if not for your bucket.
[quote name="GoldGrower" post="19848947" timestamp="1397469882"]No, DWC is simpler because you can measure how much the plants are taking up at any given time by dipping your meter in to the reservoir. But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was referring to the large fluctuations that come with drying.[/quote] I measure my nutrient the same way I would in any other system. Pretty simple. These "wild fluctuations" might be a bit exaggerated . Such an ignorant statement. Hempy buckets recieve fresh oxygen and liquid nutrients like any other hydro system. That's similar to stating that dwc are just a step above a plant in a bucket of water. Well obviously one wouldn't have a full size plant in a cup. A full sized plant in hempy would doubtlessly take up just as much as it would in dwc. Roots in a dwc system that filled the bucket would only be able to absorb nutrients and water where the water splashes or were the roots are submerged. Therefore only the bottom half or so would be receiving nutrients if the root mass were to fill the buckets width. Hempy on the other hand with an equally sized root mass that takes up a 5 gal bucket would be kept wet throughout and would be able to draw up nutrients from all roots. If you knew as much as you pretend to then you would know that topping off nutrients constantly will wi imbalance the ratio since plants take up different nutrients at different rates at different times. One thing is obvious to me though. You clearly know very little of hempy bucket growing. I believe this might be more of an issue for you than me lol jk kinda. Again, you should probably start changing out ur rez a bit more often. You will probably see much better growth. You really havnt ever tried hempy? Root rot is never an issue. And there is always oxygen exchange trough out the grow medium. Being loose and airy has it's advantages. Do you make these things up as you go or do you have anything to support any of these things? I have seen hempy and dwc plants grown side by side same genetics same results. And personally I love to spend time around my plants. Hand watering is just part of the fun. I think I'll try yahoo answers before I ask you anything lol. Atleast from what I've seen of your "answers" so far. That made me chuckle.
If you know what you're doing, it's a large yield for cash coppers. Quality is not same as soil or Co co Sent from my SPH-L720 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
From what you have said you are very obviously new to growing. I'm not going to debate with a noob. Grow in your perlite if you want, one day you will try out other methods and you will see the difference yourself. Not just on yeild but also work efficiency. You have a lot to learn about hydro. Good luck with your grow, I think you may need it
Lol. I've got a five plant aeroponics setup, 6 dwc, and many hempy buckets. Aeroponics is great but its shape makes it impossible to fit in my grow room. The dwc weren't impressive. I started with them and quickly looked into other systems. I've grown tomatoes without many issues for a year now. Hempy buckets are easy to maintain and I havnt noticed any difference in growth rate compared to dwc. I'm sure a closed minded person like you've shown yourself to be wouldn't hear of such things though. Little evidence as you have. Deflecting valid points and stating "I'm a pro and ur a noob" doesn't do much to credit anything you post. Good luck with your dwc though.
I liked the idea of the hempy but just dont want to buy and fuck with that much perlite. The dust is as bad for you as snorting lines of asbestos. You put a big enough air pump to a DWC it becomes aeroponic. Don't know they are low on water till there is nothing. What I like about DWC is the set it and forget it. I dont do a fucking thing but add solution and chop down wicked stinky buds. I can say my DWC plants kicks the shit out of my indoor soil plants, not even close.
Yeah the perlite and vermiculite does cause quite a bit of dust. I've got a dust mask but it also helps to have a spray bottle to wet it with first.
I would go with an organic hempy system outdoors but have so many projects on my plate now. I was reading about organic hydroponics and how it has a huge potential in the urban rooftop environment. Growing food within the city is a very eco way to grow anything. With a dutch bucket or hempy you could go super eco-green with no pumps at all and water manually. http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/homegrown-hydroponics-zmaz77mazbon.aspx#axzz2zHuSTERM