Shallow Deep Water Culture. Sounds a bit like an oxymoron. Basically, I am looking at setting up an indoor single plant stealth cabinet grow and want to use hydroponics to save me having to lug a suspicious bag of soil past my flat mates and into my room. I can get away with a large bucket of water as I have a fish tank The issue is all the hydroponic systems I've seen seem to be more suited to large grows, bar DWC, but DWC pots seem to be rather tall, thus making them unsuitable for my stealth cabinet grow. Google tells me that 1 Gallon (US) is equivalent to 3785 cubic cm. The inner dimensions (WxD) of the cabinet I plan to use are 70cm x 43cm. By building a tray in the base of the cabinet, using a wooden frame lined in waterproof pond liner, with the dimensions above and 10cm high, it will have a capacity of just under 8 Gallons. This is slightly more than the pots shipped with DWC grow kits on several sites I've checked out, while being more efficient space-wise, given my circumstances. BUT. Would the low height of the 'pot' cause issues with root growth, circulation within the container, or anything else related to the plant health, growth and yield?
It shouldn't cause any problems at all. 8 gallons is a huge reservoir, you don't need that. For the size of your cabinet, just a gallon or two would still be plenty. You can grow 10 foot trees in 8 gallons of water. People grow huge ass trees in 5 gallon buckets too.
Oh that's awesome. I just figured 5 gallons was the norm, since that was the size of the DWC buckets I had seen, but I guess I didn't consider that the bucket isn't for a small cabinet--it's for a large tent or room--so I can get away with a smaller reservoir.
I've been running a plant in a 2 gallon DWC, and it's huge. The roots haven't taken up the whole bucket at all, there's still a TON of room. Makes me wonder if a 5 gallon is worth it if you're not going for a really long veg. I vegged mine for 5-7 weeks, and it was a bush. Threw it into flowering yesterday. Two gallons is plenty though, especially for a cabinet grow.
Just build the 8 gal res, but only fill it up as much as you need. I'm assuming it's going to be pretty short (6" or less). It's good to have 2" or so of humid air below the net pots. The only issues you would have with a small res is pH/ppm control and water level. When they're drinking 2L or so a day, there isn't much of a buffer. 5gals of water room is good for 6 plants with a month veg. Also, the BIGGEST problem with a wide res is that it's a ton of surface area to actually aerate. You'll need an air stone under each net pot and at least 2L/min per gallon (of water) air pump. A bucket is better because an air stone at the bottom will disperse and provide good aeration.