dwc

[punkrocktoker]

im starting a new setup using dwc.my question is what do you guys do to feed the plants until the roots hit the water?

[punkrocktoker]

hello,anybody home

[smoove]

I start the seedlings in 2" rockwool cubes until the roots show out the bottom. Then the cubes go into netpots filled with hydroton clay pellets. The rockwool cubes usually stay wet for about 24 hours under CFLs so I just dip the whole netpot once a day to give them enough water. That usually lasts 4-5 days, then the netpots go into the DWC bubbler. When placed in the bubbler I keep the bottom inch of the netpots submerged untill the roots pop out the botom.

From that point the netpots will be anywhere from 1"-4" above the water level throughout the entire grow. Hope this helps.

[nymphetamine]

Hey Smoove - mind if i cut in... ur current grow is purple cindy?? dammmmit !! what seed bank carries those or is it clone-only ?? im askin because i was thinkn bt geetin ak47xc99 but PC sounds like da 'lick.' lol

[DroMan23]

from my personal experience smoove im not criticizing what you've said , but when i had that netpots submerged into the water all i had was problems. The roots were not growing because they were already in the water, but when i lowered my water lvls down to bout an inch below the netpot, it forced the roots to stretch down to the water and therefore helped create a better beginning for the root mass.. i had 3 plants die and 3 stunted for a long time because of the water lvl being that high

again im not knocking what you've said because obviously it worked for you, but just my input and my experience.

[DroMan23]

punkrock dont feed your plants until at least 2 weeks from sprout, they'll be way too young for nutes it'll kill them. Just let them drink the water from the res, and when there over 2 weeks u can start feeding them very LOW amounts of nutrients i recommend starting at 1/4 strength what the bottle tells you to and work ure way up by the week.

[punkrocktoker]

thanx,for the info ill try that.

[harvester]

Originally Posted by DroMan23

from my personal experience smoove im not criticizing what you've said , but when i had that netpots submerged into the water all i had was problems. The roots were not growing because they were already in the water, but when i lowered my water lvls down to bout an inch below the netpot, it forced the roots to stretch down to the water and therefore helped create a better beginning for the root mass.. i had 3 plants die and 3 stunted for a long time because of the water lvl being that high

again im not knocking what you've said because obviously it worked for you, but just my input and my experience.

So your net pots being submerged prevented the roots from growing into oxygenated water?

I doubt that. This is after all the idea of DWC, if the roots were to stop growing on contact with water they would never fill a dwc res, now would they?

peace n pot.

[smoove]

Originally Posted by nymphetamine

Hey Smoove - mind if i cut in... ur current grow is purple cindy?? dammmmit !! what seed bank carries those or is it clone-only ?? im askin because i was thinkn bt geetin ak47xc99 but PC sounds like da 'lick.' lol

It's a Highgrade Seed Co. exclusive strain.

Originally Posted by DroMan23

from my personal experience smoove im not criticizing what you've said , but when i had that netpots submerged into the water all i had was problems. The roots were not growing because they were already in the water, but when i lowered my water lvls down to bout an inch below the netpot, it forced the roots to stretch down to the water and therefore helped create a better beginning for the root mass.. i had 3 plants die and 3 stunted for a long time because of the water lvl being that high

again im not knocking what you've said because obviously it worked for you, but just my input and my experience.

I'd like to clarify my previous post. Once the netpots are moved to to the DWC bubbler, I keep them submerged about 1 inch under the water line, BUT only the Hydroton clay pellets inside the netpots are under that water level. I make sure not to allow the Rockwool cubes to sit bellow the waterline. The reason for this is that over an extended period of constant contact with water, Rockwool can loose enough of it's ability to hold air and become over saturated, creating a very inhospitable environment for root development.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion Droman, no offense taken with your post. Most of us posting on here are just trying to help to the best of our ability based on our knowledge and experience. Glancing over several threads you've recently created I can see that the 3 dead plants and 3 stunted plants you mentioned here, isn't where your problems ended. I'd feel more comfortable debating this issue with you knowing your argument was based on successful growing experiences.

Originally Posted by DroMan23

punkrock dont feed your plants until at least 2 weeks from sprout, they'll be way too young for nutes it'll kill them. Just let them drink the water from the res, and when there over 2 weeks u can start feeding them very LOW amounts of nutrients i recommend starting at 1/4 strength what the bottle tells you to and work ure way up by the week.

I believe your post is very misleading Droman. Seedlings are not too young for nutrients and giving them an appropriate amount during this stage will not kill them. The key here is "appropriate amount." When deciding on that appropriate amount there are many factors to consider such as water source, nutrient makeup, supplements and medium. Example: Because I use reverse osmosis water with a base of 10ppm, in the first 2 weeks I supplement my water with a nutrient solution that increases that value to 80ppm. So yes, you can feed your plants when they're that young and I believe that under certain circumstances, like in DWC using RO water, you absolutely should feed them... appropriately.

Originally Posted by punkrocktoker

thanx,for the info ill try that.

Good luck punk, let us know how it works out for ya.

[harvester]

I didn't even notice that part... in all hydroponic grows you should add nutes right away. I start my seedlings at 0.4ec, quickly rising to 0.6 within a few days.

I've never done a dwc seed grow, plenty of clones though... and I always start mine with the water level just over the bottoms of the net pots. this ensures that the cube gets a decent level of water hitting it from the bubbles.

In previous grows where the level of water wasn't as such, I had to water from the top to make sure the cube stayed wet enough. I also just assumed that everybody sat their cubes onto a couple of layers of hydroton.

I've found that the best encouragement you can give a dwc plant to grow roots faster is to implement a dark period. I've found that a short four hour dark period or two is usually enough to get those roots out of the net pot.