Should I upgrade to 9 or 12 DWC buckets?

[phattybudz]

Right now I'm doing 6 dwc buckets and 4 soil under 600w hps in a dr120 (3.9x3.9x6.5) and I've got room to keep the rez and controller in the tent.

I'm going to rebuild my system with more buckets and the rez/controller outside my tent, but I'm not sure if it would be better to do 9 buckets and let them have a little more space in between each other or cram 12 in there. I'm kind of tempted to grow christmas trees but I want what will yield the most.

So 3 rows of 4 or 3 rows of 3... ?

Thanks!

 

[wafflehouselove]

depends if you veg less add more buckets because you'll have smaller trees, if you like to veg then go with less buckets because in dwc the growth is very rapid as you know. Also another thing to consider is that you'll be need more air pump power. GL dude i'd go with more buckets me because i dont veg too long

 

[TGT]

Less veg and more plants gives you a faster turn around rate, especially with a perpetual setup. I would still veg three weeks, but have them vegging while one is budding. That way the next batch is vegged and can be triggered right away. I do it this way and it works great, but you need the extra space. The good thing is the veg doesn't require a lot of light like the bud room, so realy it only adds a little to the extra electrical cost.

What I do is grow out my plants and the day I trigger them into bud I take my cuttings off the bottom branches. Usually I clear out the bottom fourth of the plant anyways. By the time they are rooted and well into veg, the mothers are finished budding and ready to be harvested. After harvesting and cleaning the room really well the clones that have been pre-vegging are ready to go into bud and start the cycle all over again. After the first crop you no longer have to worry about veg time and this speeds things up tremendesly. I get 6 crops a year and the plants usually get 5 weeks veg before going into bud. This makes the plants large and yield a great amout. I use soiless mix (Promix) but I can only imagine the results in DWC or Coco.

Just my input on the subject. Hope all goes well and good luck!

TGT

 

[wafflehouselove]

plants should be good at 2 wks max in dwc

 

[TGT]

Wafflehouse, is the veg in DWC much faster than the veg in Promix? I have always wanted to try but never got around too it. May be next crop I will try one among the regular to see how well she does and note the differences.

TGT

 

[wafflehouselove]

yea tgt, i took cuttings from 2 plants in dwc down to about 3-4 shots(trim the rest), after i think about 8-10 days i got about another 80 cuttings from both of them so 40 each. I veg them under 1k light tho and my strain is has alot of outward growth but yea I use dwc for moms when i need fast clones and alot.

 

[TGT]

I have a few gardens going now and my veg location I want to keep as small as possible. I only have three moms for the three locations and I always have the problem of not enough clones. I think I will take your advice and keep the mothers in DWC so that I can supply more clones in the same amount of time without increasing plant numbers or wattage. Thanks for the advice, i'll let you know how it goes in a month or so!

TGT

 

[phattybudz]

Cool thanks for the input... I'm definitely going to 12, I've got an eco-8, and I've got little 2/3watt air pumps, I'm hoping those will be enough for the air supply.
I'm thinking I should be able to do this upgrade for under $200. (buckets/lids/new res/new controller/float valve/water pump/tubing)

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

with a 600 your "ideal" footprint is 3x3 so 9 buckets.
with a 1k your footprint increases to 4x4, so that gives 16.
go with 9, ... best yield, trust me your dont want to smoke all that stemmy weed ayway...

 

[KUSHEATER1]

the 600 will work if ya can keep the temps down with 12 being prepetual

 

[phattybudz]

I think I'm going with 9 because I've got 8 now and it's crowded... if I've got any left over space i can throw some soil ones down too.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

I think I'm going with 9 because I've got 8 now and it's crowded... if I've got any left over space i can throw some soil ones down too.

exactly. 12 doesnt give a good 'footprint' for the light .. 3x4 buckets makes a triangle, someone has to be put out in the 'strech zone' where the light is week.. not worth it.
9 will make you happy trust me.