Want to get huge yields? Use deep water culture
Many of you may have heard about, or even use hydroponics for growing cannabis plants.
However, how may of you have heard about deep water culture, or DWC?
If you have heard of DWC, then how about bubbleponics (yes, that really is a word), or top-fed DWC as it is also known?
Seems there is more to hydroponics than first meets the eye.
So, what is deep water culture?
Unlike certain hydroponic methods, DWC uses no growing medium such as coco coir or peat moss, who sound like a couple of social media influencers!
Bubbleponics involves the use of a water pump within the water reservoir which is then connected to small tubes. The plants themselves are suspended in the water within a net ‘pot’ and the tubes from the pump deliver oxygen-and nutrient-rich water directly to the root system.
This speeds up root growth and creates better-established plants.
DWC then goes further with RDWC, which stands for Recirculating deep water culture.
Here, the RDWC system involves a standalone reservoir containing a nutrient solution. By way of gravity, the solution then feeds into another container equipped with an air stone that aerates the water.
A pump then forces the water through tubes that connect a series of containers, each holding an individual plant, before it recirculates back into the reservoir.
The benefit of this system is that it avoids having to install an individual air stone for each plant.
The advantages of a DWC system are well established: faster vegetative growth and bigger yields, reduced problem of pests, plants can grow appreciably larger, the system is low maintenance, and of course, you don’t have to worry about watering the plants!
A DWC system isn’t without its problems though. An air pump failure could be catastrophic if it remains out of action for any noticeable period of time.
Then, of course, you have to maintain the temperature of the water at a constant level between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius.
You have to constantly check the nutrient levels and pH of the water. However, in the whole scheme of things, DWC is probably the most hassle-free way to grow healthy and productive cannabis plants.
But what about you? Have you grown using the DWC method, or thinking about trying it out in the future, let us know in the comment section below.
9 июл 2024
