DWC Questions

[Jothan_Barker]

Greetings all, I'm finally going to start my indoor journey. I'm used to growing outside so this is my first DWC grow! I've had 2 very successful outdoor grows under my belt but nothing inside so I had a few questions. 1st off a lil description of my system. I have a 400W Metal Halide conversion bulb and a 400W HPS for the flowering. I have 2 10 gal. reservoirs, each with its own air pump and air stone. Each tub has 6 3" net pots for 6 plants. So we're starting with 12 total. We're using hydroton rocks and the general hydroponics flora series for all stages. The strains we're starting with are Mandala's Hashberry in one tub and Nirvana's Bubblicious in the other. Me and my buddy was talkin about germinating the beans and we couldn't figure out which option to try that would prove most effective. Outside we would just stick the seed about 6 inches in the ground and just let nature take its course but I've heard putting your beans in your medium before germinating can cause your seeds to drown cause of too much water. Is this true? If so, we was thinking of using the rapid rooter plugs but I wanna know is do they work exactly like rockwool cubes or no? And how effective are they? Somebody let me know

 

[JohnnyToke]

rapid rooter plugs will work just fine. drop the seed in about a 1/4 inch, move a little soil over the seed so it is covered, put it in a small plastic or styrofoam cup and set it in a dark cabinet. check it daily until it sprouts. once it sprouts, move it under a fluorescent for a week or so to get some leaf growth. Once the roots are well established, transplant to dwc.

dropping seeds outdoors 6" under ground is a lonnnnggggggg way down. a 1" tap root would have one hell of a time finding daylight 6" up!

regards,
JT

 

[FreezerBoy]

I'm a big believer in germing in your growth medium. Less chance of root damage than the paper towel method. I germ in Rockwool soaking in water so they are completly saturated at all times. The water however is thoroughly saturated with oxygen from an airstone. DWC shows there's no such thing as too much water, only too little air.

6 inches is far too deep. Try 1/4 inch instead. The embryo has a very limited energy supply. Once the seed cracks, it has 24-48 hours to find air, water, food, anchorage and light. If it doesn't find them, it dies. If you use Rockwool or plugs, bury them in Hydroton just deep enough to cover with a single layer of rocks. Planted too deep, the plant will stall while it forgoes growth for establishing new roots towards the surface in search of oxygen.

Once in rocks, there's a short period (1-2 weeks) where you'll need to top water or submerge the bottom of the netpot into the res to keep the plug or cube from drying out. Once roots extend below the pot, drop the water level to provide an air gap of an inch. I top off once a week after the res level has dropped 4-6 inches.

 

[rule35sub1]

I use oasis cubes. They work just fine. I also use them for cloning too. Once my seeds germ in the cubes, I let them grow a lil bit then put them in the hydro system.

 

[scotianmeds]

i use Oasis cubes also and I love em, you just wet the cube and they are good, no need to worry about PH problems

 

[ItsGrowTime]

6 plants in one 10 gal isn't going to work unless they are indicas and you pretty much go straight to flower. Oh, and trim the bottom couple nodes. Rapid Rooters are great for germing. Drop the plug into the netpot and fill with hydroton. Dunk the RR in tap water and give it a light squeeze to drain excess.

 

[Haps]

Smells like a duck, a duck might plant a seed six inches deep.
H

 

[rusty_shacklfor]

wtf a duck would eat it not plant it