In this guide, we’ll go over the requirements for a hydroponic system using the deep water culture (DWC) method. This is a setup where plant roots are suspended in water that contains dissolved nutrients. The nutrient solution is also kept oxygenated by an air pump.
Equipment List
Included in the MizuGrow DWC Hydroponic Kit
- Net Pot
Base for the plant and grow media. Holes allow roots to grow through the net pot and stay in contact with nutrient solution. - Water level indicator
Shows the water level at all times. - Air pump & air stone
Supplies oxygen to roots. - Hydroton pellets & rockwool
The grow media. Physically supports the plant and its roots. - pH Meter
A device used to measure pH of the nutrient solution.
Not Included in the MizuGrow DWC Hydroponic Kit
- Plants
Seeds or seedlings. - Water reservoir
The bucket. - Lighting system
Important for indoor setups. - Nutrients
Necessary for plant growth. - pH balancing solution
To adjust the pH level.
We’ll dive into each of the non-included components to help you find what you need.
Plants
The whole reason we’re here. Most plants can be grown hydroponically but some will fare better than others. We’ve found that leafy greens and herbs do exceptionally well in this type of system. You’ll need to do a bit of research to see if the plants you have in mind are viable in hydroponic systems. These are the main pieces of information to look for.
- What pH does my plant need?
Every plant has an ideal pH range for nutrient absorption. This information can be easily looked up online. If not maintained within that range, a plant can suffer from problems including stunted growth, not bearing fruit, and just dying. - How much sunlight does my plant need?
Without enough light, plants can’t metabolize and grow. On the other hand, too much light can also cause issues. The ideal amount of light, like pH, depends on the plant type. See more about lighting equipment in the lighting section.
Once you’ve decided what to grow, you’ll need to figure out how to source it. Here are two simple options.
- Seeds
You can buy seeds at a plant nursery, gardening store, online (Amazon), and other stores that sell such supplies (Home Depot, Lowes). This is a slower method of starting your grow but quite easy. See our guide “Setting up your first DWC Hydroponics kit!” for some tips on growing plants from seeds. - Seedling, propagation
If you are propagating a plant cutting, you can simply place it into the rockwool cube and wait for roots to set. You’ll need to make sure in the early stages that the water level is high enough to reach the roots.
Water Reservoir
A standard 5-gallon bucket from your local hardware store is perfect. This is what we recommend for our hydroponic kit since the netpot is designed to fit the standard size (12in diameter). Some 3.5-gallon buckets will also fit, if you’d like a smaller footprint.
Choose a dark-colored bucket to minimize light penetration. Less light reaching the solution means it’s less likely algae can survive inside. Algae will compete with your plant for resources!
Lighting
If you want to grow outdoors, the sun may just provide enough light for your plant. You’ll still need to make sure your setup has access to an electrical outlet for the air pump. If you fancy an indoor grow, keep in mind that you’ll need space for the air pump and a light source.
When considering lighting options, look for the highest amount of PAR (Photosynthetic Active Radiation) which is measured in PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density). These measurements tell you the quantity of emitted photons that plants can actually use for photosynthesis. There are generally two types of lighting fixtures you can purchase — light bulbs or standalone grow lights.
Light bulbs are designed to fit in a normal light socket. For example, take this Sansi 15W light bulb. At 0.5 meters above the plant (19in), the bulb has a PPFD reading of 111.56 μmol/s/m². Compare that to the Cannagrow 300W lightbulb that has a PPFD reading of 419 μmol/s/m² at the same height.
With standalone grow lights, you can generally get more PAR but the tradeoffs are space and budget. The retail market has a wide variety of lights for growing and what you need really depends on your situation. Here are a few decent options to consider.
Some plants grow best with periodic “night” cycles so you should consider purchasing an outlet timer to automatically control when the lights are on/off. You can use a mechanical outlet timer.
Nutrients
We include an initial supply of nutrient powder in the MizuGrow kit, enough for 2 refill cycles (about 2–3 weeks per cycle for a 5-gallon bucket). Since the kit only provides enough nutrients to get you started, you will need to source your own nutrients.
We recommend the General Hydroponics Flora Series for many plant varieties. To get started, all you need is Flora Micro, Flora Gro, and Flora Bloom. This can usually be bought together as a pack of 3 or bought individually. General Hydroponics also sells a variety of other nutrient additives that can be helpful with establishing root growth or encouraging healthier stronger growth or more fruiting. For those starting out on a low budget, we recommend just getting the Flora Micro, Flora Gro, and Flora Bloom series as that is all you really need to get started. The quart size contains enough nutrient solution to last the average hydroponic grower a few years! If you have a larger budget, we recommend looking into add-ons like CalMag, Armor SI, Rapid Start, and so on.
Check out the different nutrient offerings below from the General Hydroponics.
- Flora Series (Gallon, Quart, Pint)
- Flora Series + Rapid Start (Quart)
- Performance Pack (flora series w/ add ons)
Please read the instructions for your nutrients when mixing solution. Each nutrient product has different instructions. For example, with the General Hydroponics Flora Series, you must add and mix the nutrients in the following order: Flora Micro, Flora Gro, Flora Bloom.
You’ll also need a measuring device that can measure liquids by milliliter (ml). Usually you’ll only be adding around 1–5ml of nutrients per gallon.
pH Balancing Solution
Since maintaining a pH range is extremely important, a diligent grower should get some pH balancing solutions usually available as “ph Up” and “pH Down”. These are cheap solutions that are available in many quantities online.
A quick search will usually tell you what pH range to aim for. For example, Googling “cherry tomato pH” shows us the range is 6.2–6.5 pH.
You probably won’t need large amounts of the pH balancing solutions. A few drops can drastically alter the pH of a few gallons of water. Generally, we found that plants need a lower pH than your typical household tap water. In some cases, you will only need pH down to adjust tap water to the right pH level. But to be safe, filtered or distilled water will be best for most plants.
General Hydroponics pH Control Kit is a nice all-in-one kit. It includes pH Up, pH Down, and a pipette so you can add the pH balancing solution slowly.
Thats it!
Getting a hydroponic system started usually entails an extensive preparation effort. But with the information we’ve laid out in this guide, you have all the basics you need to start growing plants hydroponically.
A huge part of the effort is finding the right hardware and that’s where our kit comes in. We’ve done the research and testing to design a kit that can enable anybody to start a DWC grow. If you haven’t already purchased your hardware, check out our kit on Etsy.
Also, follow us on our social media platforms for awesome hydroponic content!
