I didn't use a DWC system, but I've grown Broccoli in a drip system (5 gallon buckets), using coco chips for growing medium. There a cool weather crop. Although growing in a DWC system the only real problem I really see is plant (top) support. Mine grew about 4 feet wide, and about 3 feet tall. So the base of the plants need to be secure to support the weight, especially if growing outside and it gets windy. They would also get quite heavy and awkward, making lifting them up to do any maintenance difficult. So how that aspect of the system was designed would be important to me.

Thanks, I have also grown them in a drip system and they grew very well, just want to know how they go in DWC as I am getting a bit sick of cleaning the clay pallets.

Yes they are cool weather and its just about that time of year to start the seedlings. All my DWC containers have about 8 inches of the lid on one side cut off so I can drain, add nutes & water, remove the airstones etc.

Yeah thats the big negative, the size the grow.

That's one reason I really like using coco chips, I don't need to clean them when the plants are done. The chips are also large enough in size that they don't go through the holes in the baskets (like the clay pallets). Coco chips also hold moisture much better than clay pallets (something that is a big plus for me). Although I don't even try to reuse coco chips, so that's the one downside. But the way I do it, I can fill 4, 5 gallon buckets with $10 worth of coco chips (not including shipping). I'm also even looking into using something like untreated pine chips for a growing medium. I still need to talk to a couple of the nursery's around here and see if they can get it in bulk. Possibly even sawdust (but the particle size is much smaller).

Unfortunately they don't sell them here, woodchips are expensive as is gravel and you don't want to know how much a small bag of sand costs, everything needs to be shipped in. I am probably the only person in the country growing anything hydroponically so there is no demand for things like coco chips, I am just lucky that clay pallets, perlite and vermiculite are popular for soil gardeners here.

^^ would be me :D , having problems with this site in internet explorer so used firefox and my old login name was logged in.

Does anyone else occassionally have problems with internet explorer and some javas.cript tag on this site causing the page to hang?

I've had so many issues with IE that I quit using it years ago. When people ask me how to deal with IE, I tell them to download Firefox or Chrome. I use both, but am transitioning to Chrome. It just has too many issues with older sites right now. For example, my local library has a search function that doesn't work with Chrome, but does with Firefox. IE has failed to get with it concerning some stuff. For example, when I added all the images to my website, I did it with Firefox. I get a call from my dad saying that the site isn't displaying the product images. I pull it up and find it working great. I try Chrome. Again, great. I try Safari. No problems. IE - no images. It wouldn't read anything better than simple RBG images. I had to redo the entire thing. I simply didn't expect IE to be that technologically inferior. I just liked Firefox for the better tools at the time. The college I am going to (yep, back in school after 15 years) recommends against IE to use their online tools, too. Particularly for taking online exams.