Just starting out and wanted some advice on how much lighting would be adequate for 3 plants in single dwc system. Also some other inquiries such as how often do I need to change the water/nutrient mix (keep getting different answers online) and is ph monitoring necessary if I am using the clay pebbles? Any advice is much appreciated, thanks.
Here read this. It will answer any question you have. http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/35309-bubble-bucket-hydro-method-101-a.html
Thanks Leigh! I had most of my questions answered but I couldn't find anything in regards to lighting. I am not sure if its negligible as long as there is direct light on all three plants?
Im runnin a single 600w hps for flowering in a 5ft X 5ft area. For veg i use a 4 bulb 4ft fluorescent light i think its a T-12, they work just fine for me. I feel comfortable squeezing 4 plants under them.
600 watt hps would do good although you could use a 400 hps instead if budget is tight i would recommend a dwc bucket for each plant though the roots do grow huge by the time your at the end of the grow or half way through it even once all the roots tangle up it will be hard to separate them from one another not to mention they will be competing for nute's and water within your dwc bucket, best off to give them their own buckets so they are happy, if you just want to start out maybe try one plant in the dwc for now that way even if you do go wrong somewhere you can start up another plant asap? having three plants in one will halt growth when they will want to thrive i have attached an image of how big my roots are in one of my dwc buckets and i havent even got 3weeks into flowering yet so you may want to keep this in mind for when you try yours out one last thing, with three plants in the bucket once your girls start to drink alot of water they literally will suck the bucket dry within a day or so if an eye isnt kept on it my views are open to the critiques on here i dont mind it'll only help me learn too peace out
minimum 400 watt HID light. 600 watt would be better. i personally empty the bucket completely, clean it, and change the water/nutrients once a week. the rest of the week i just top up with regular water and pH adjust as needed. you should be checking pH at least once a day to make sure it stays in the proper range (5.2-5.8 for DWC hydro grows is best). EDIT: and i agree with TheGhost09, you should have one plant per bucket. it's much easier to control everything that way.
Hey ghost, thanks that sounds like a good idea, think I will split the difference based on the volumes of a 5 gallon bucket and the 14 gallon tote, keep two in the tote put one in a bucket and see which thrives more, it would be cool to see first hand.
yeah that sounds much better and if you need any help with the dwc get back to me i've currently got five blue cheese lady's growing at the moment they look good too, i've done some extreme LST'ing though to keep them all short their currently on their 18th day of flowering but yeah good luck with your adventures