How-to build a 5 gallon hydroponic DWC system with trellis for cucumbers

[thatbastardson]

You know you can just use the water gauge insert idea, and run your air into the bucket that way. That's what I do. I just lift the lid to check the fuel, and run air through the bottom hole, like the water gauge. Same size bucket hole with grommet, just adapted down to air pump line outlet size via pvc pieces. Its the cheap way, really. It eliminates the need for an air stone.

[DamienNicholas]

u know how hard it is to find a video explaining the water levels in a dwc setup? thank you man.

[NoobPrepper]

Where did you get the adapter for the top of the bucket? GREAT vid thx :)

[BigMacBook1300]

Love the design putting the water level to use thanks

[greenthumb858]

my tip for the clear lines use electrical tape get a friend to hold it and wrap it nice works very well and it's cheap

[seocom]

Very inventive thx

[hardhits91]

Thank you very much keep making tutorials

[HagenSteele]

Excellent tutorial.

Thank you sir.

[Mkennard0107]

U should be growing the dankies

[1383frivera]

Just made one, turned out great. I was wondering how to actually use it for a nice grow. Are you suppose to let the water circulate 24/7 on its own till i replace water, or are u suppose have a certain watering schedule??

[IOITALL2HIM]

I’M GOING TO TRY THIS

[t10224590t]

Thank you!

[redlinepilot88]

can you use tap water or do you have to add somethig it the water to make the plants grow better??? i am really thinking about making one

[apsert]

HI sorry for the late reply, im using the BEST there is! i have incorporated DWC with autopot. Meaning i am always in DWC but i do not need NO PUMS!!! to continiously refil. My plants drink all they need with oxystones air suppliment and the water does NOT go back into the tank like DWC today. this messes up the ph levels due to the salts generated. I rarely have to refill and my ph levels are NEVER affected. the water is all used up by the plants thus no wasre! gravity fed, NO PUMOS! Ultimate

[lmnhat84]

hey.. doesn't this creates root rot as the root are fully submerged under water 24/7..?

[BarefootArizona]

@lmnhat84 No, as long as there is no light hitting the roots, the temperature is below 75 degrees, and there are plenty of air bubbles you should be fine

[anDREWps3085]

what size bucket lid is that?

[000SEAN000]

Just a bit of advice...the grommets will fit A LOT better in a 13/16 hole rather than the 7/8 hole that that he used. I found that under 4 gallons of water, the 7/8 hole leaked very slightly. I had no leaks at all with the 13/16 hole.

[Tjandy98]

Where can I buy a complete set that have been done?How much?

[Tjandy98]

Where can I buy a complete set that have been done?How much?

[JCSSHP]

I just have a quick question. What type of airstone did you use? I'm making a very similar apparatus.

[apsert]

Dud you ought to use flat plane lid with centre pots so you can simply just remove the plant and roots to an awaiting cleaned prepared bucket to save all the buckets!!! but i love innovaters so THUMBS UP to you!

[apsert]

Jksax914 Hi, are you using constant DWC or 3 times a day flood?

thanks -

[goonie50]

where do you get cucumber seeds....kush or haze

[vitaminMMJ]

I am thinking of making this with just a slight variation. I may run the air hose down through the sight/fill/drain tube so it will be the only hole to drill and I won't have to use those 90 degree elbows and all. When I would drain I would just unplug the air pump and plug the outside end of the air hose.

[andy4813]

wow lol



[rwkleinman]

Great video! I figured out a way to eliminate the air stone and it works great - check it out at on rwkleinman site.

Great work on your videos and systems.

[4GreenEarth2]

Nice! How long can you go on vacation without worrying about your plants growing in a hydroponic system?

[ganesha77]

Thanks dude! Nice work!

[artistlogic]

Dank Cucumbers

[BellaRudi96]

great vid,if you went 2 any hydro store they wud charge arm and leg for dat,all the best ur a gent.

[210482fmj]

2.5 gallon buckets work fine also and save space. you can also transform dwc into an aeroponic system by running some sprinklers from feed tubing into the buckets and have the water drain back to the resovoir. Just raise the buckets slightly higher than the resovoir for aeroponic so every bucket drains back to the resovoir or you can have it how you want.

[Korruptionz]

Ingenious Design!.... Thanks for the video!... :)

[MrDuckboy99]

I have got to say... I am new to Hydroponics and am wanting to take this up as a hobby. This is BY FAR the best and cleanest build I have seen. This is the quality that begginers should be looking for when learning. If you don't mind I have a few ideas I would like to ask you about that you might like as well.

[ahmedraza22]

What size silicon would you use?? Mine leaks a little bit

[layedout72]

why run a clear hose when you go through all the other measures of not introducing lights to your nutrients...

[econoroller]

I saved nutrient solution by using some (sterilized) 2 liter bottles full of tap water. I just fill them with tap water, cap them tightly, and put them in the buckets.....then I fill the buckets with the nutes. It helps displace all those gallons of mixed nutes that you don't really need until your roots grow into the nute solution... When the roots grow down, just remove the 2 liter bottles. SAVE THOSE NUTES!!!

[iWearGlassesLOL]

awesome

[YKxLLDxSUMMER]

where did you get the lids from?

[trill04]

thank you you help alot i did alot of research and didnt know what that was on the side but thats a water meter so that was tremendously helpful

[Jksax914]

@trill04 Glad I could be of help. Thanks for the comment.

[marito001]

Hi I grow hot peppers, do you know how big (TALL)can a plant get with this system?? thank you, nice video!!!!

[Jksax914]

@marito001 I also grow peppers. Check out my other videos on my 39 pepper aeroponic system. As for the 5 gal dwc. I've seen 7 foot tomato plants growing very well in this type of system. The only thing to consider is changing your nutes using the fill tube because large plants are diffucult to lift using the bucket lid. Another words mix up your new nutes and adjust ph then drain from sight tube and refill with new nutes. Hope this helps.

[bkpickell]

@Jksax914 The easiest way I have found to change the nutrient solution in this type of system is to have an additional 3/4" bulk head connector in the bottom of the bucket running to a 295 GPH water pump. When you need to change the nutrients, you just fill up another 5 gallon bucket with water roughly 3.5 gallons and then mix your nutrients. turn the pump on and push the new nutrients into the bucket. Then turn off the shut off valve. It works like a charm.

[meentree2009]

Nice ideas!! =) One thing though, I notice in a lot of vids about DWC, people keep the water below the netty pot. Why is this? Is there some benefit to doing this? I'm on my first grow ever and running DWC. I have been keeping my water about 2 inches from the top of the bucket, meaning that my netty pots are about 3/4 submerged. The roots on my plants are insane. Its like pulling out a basketbalI. lol I wish I had a decent camera to show you. Cheers!!

[Jksax914]

@meentree2009 When the plants are young and dont have a root system down into the solution you can keep the water up into the pots but once the plant roots grow down into the solution you can drop the level below the net pots so only the roots and not the growing medium is submerged. The reason for this is the growing medium no longer needs to be moist because the roots found the water and the growing can cause rot around the roots and algae on top of the net cup if submerged. The o2 CON'T

[Jksax914]

@meentree2009 levels in the growing medium will decrease because the bubbling wont reach into the medium. So the growing medium (ex. Hydroton, Rock wool) can cause rot inside the medium. Its best to drop the level to 1/2 to 1 inch below the net pots. Also you wont have to worry about the medium wicking solution to the top cause algae and mold where the light penetrates the medium. Hope that made sense.

[DamienNicholas]

@Jksax914 yesir. Sure To Grow = Non Wicking. PH Netural. ;)

[Madcatz74]

I'm a new subscriber, I live in the UK so our weather sucks!! I will be getting a large green house, 10ft wide by 12 ft long in 2 weeks. I'm intrigued by hydroponics, although in this country and on the web it all seems pre-occupied with growing weed! I personally want to grow tomatoes, mainly during summer in the uk, but your herb vids have shown me it seems quite easy to grow basil etc even things like salad crops like lettuce, from a simple hydro setup even in the midst of our winter

[Jksax914]

@Madcatz74 In that size green house you could grow alot of different crops. Good luck and if you have any questions just ask and I'll try my best to help.

[snaht1]

where u got the lid with mesh on ????

[Jksax914]

@snaht1 The bucket top is made by sun systems and can be found in a hydro store or online look up 5 gal hydroponic bucket net top lids. hope this helps.

[zguy0218]

will a 10in mesh pot work with this ?

[Jksax914]

@zguy0218 Sorry for the late response. The one in the video is a 6 inch but yes a 10 should work. The one I have is made by sun systems and can be found online. Hope this helps.

[Jksax914]

@AmazinglyAgnostic Ok I checked my air pump and pulled out my calculator so here it goes. I pay .088/KW for electric. The pump has a 3.5watt/hr usage so that translated into .0035KW/Hour which is .084KW/Day and finally 2.52KW/Month. My usage per month of 2.52KW times my rate of .088KW equals $0.22 per month or $2.64 per year. Thats pretty minimal. For less then 3 dollars a year I can run this pump 24/7. Hope this helps. Remember this is an air pump not a water pump. Thanks for the comment

[Jksax914]

@AmazinglyAgnostic I'm not exactly sure of the air pump draw but it cant be very much. This is a regualr aquarium air pump and it can run several stones. Literally I havent seen any noticeable increase in electric bills since running these and I have 3 going. There has been pumps powered by solar units on you tube try a search. Thanks.

[Jksax914]

@AmazinglyAgnostic The air pump runs 24/7. Since the roots are completely submerged in nutrient solution it has to be oxygenated constatly. If not the roots would develop rott. Hope this helps.

[clownbow1]

u need to get a different air stone the roots will grow throw that 1

[Jksax914]

Heres a parts list to make this system 5 Gal Bucket (Lowes) Sunsytems bucket lid net pot 6inch (online or local hydro store) Small airstone and air pump (Walmart) 1/4 in black hose for airline ( irrigation line Lowes) 1/4 in vinyl tee fittings (Lowes) 1/2 in x 1/2 in insert elbow (Lowes Plumbing) 1-1/8 in OD x 5/8 in ID Rubber grommet (Lowes Speciality hardware) 3/4 inOD x 5/8 in ID Clear Vinyl Tubing (Lowes Plumbing) Wire Green border fence (Lowes) Hope this helps

[wubbwubbwubb]

amazing. the water meter thing makes this video outstanding. best idea ever.

[Tuwakan]

Hello Jksax914 may I ask for you to send me a message with the list for all the parts in detail?

[Jksax914]

@Tuwakan Give me a little time and I will put a parts list together for you. Thanks for the comment.

[Tuwakan]

@Jksax914

Ok! Thank you for putting the time into getting a list together. :) Ill be eagerly waiting for it

[wubbwubbwubb]

@Tuwakan and then could you send it to me? =]

[garygardens]

Excellent tutorial. Thanks and I'll sure be watching it again. Where do you get your net pot bucket top? I'm really liking your results.

Regards, Gary

[Jksax914]

@garygardens Hi Gary. Sorry for the late response. Fortunately I have 2 local hydroponic stores where I live so I got them locally. The company that makes them is Sunlight Supply, Inc. and they are called mesh pot bucket lids. They cost me $5 a piece. Hope this Helps.

[happygameshow]

Is that a quick connect check valve for the air hose?

[Jksax914]

@happygameshow Actually its just a normal check valve that fits on to the 1/4 tubing. when I need to disconnect the hose just pulls off pretty easy. Thanks for the question.