New to DWC quick question.

[bobbyblaze]

This is my first dwc and I have a freshly planted clone in a rapid rooter in 5.5 inch net pot with hydroton.

I keep my water level at the beginning of the net pot.

My question is how many times a day should I top feed until I show roots out the bottom of the pot?

Should I just pour my solution through the top or just submerge the net pot for a few seconds?

Thanks

 

[Classy@Home]

Let the bubbles from airstone wet the hydroton - not watering from top encourages the roots to grow down to water.

No or very little nutes right now - wait for roots to establish fully, then start...

 

[bobbyblaze]

Thanks, I mainly want to keep my rapid rooter wet until they have nice established tap roots. I've noticed if I let the rapid rooter go dry that the clones tend to die.

For nutes im using PBPB 15ml and 5ML Cal Mag, around 800 ppm.

 

[PuReKnOwLeDgE]

I top feed once to twice a day if I can. Since I can't always make it to my RDWC once every 2-3 days works fine to. I start at 300-400ppm @ .5 conversion, always the money spot for clones in my experience. Don't overdue it, you will encourage rot. Sometimes it takes 10 days for me to see roots coming out of netpots. For RDWC I always get my aeroclones with like 12"+ roots to make for an easier transistion.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Top feed will work but, it's not needed. Raise the waterline so there's direct contact with the rooter (I use rockwool.) Once roots hang below the pot, lower the waterline.

 

[bobbyblaze]

Thanks PK and FB! I'll raise the water level top feeding is getting a little annoying.

 

[putoneout]

Don't raise it to high. It don't actually need to touch anything. If you get the water level within 3" from the rooter it will stay moist.

You don't want to soak the rooter with water that will generally slow the roots down more then speed them up. If you got good surface disturbance just get the water level within 3" of the rooter and you will not have any problems and they will take off quicker than they will if in contact with the water.

 

[mpd]

I always start with my feedline hitting the cube and then once the roots hit the water I put the feed line into the bucket. I imagine any of the ways you see listed here will work just fine.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

For nutes im using PBPB 15ml and 5ML Cal Mag, around 800 ppm.

Have heard a lot of growers have used this successfully.

Set your pH at 5.4 and make sure you let it rise to around 6.0 before dropping it back down. Your plants will be able to absorb all the elements in your nutrient mix and be very happy for it.

Stay Safe!

Edit: you're getting a lot of good advice in this thread.

 

[bobbyblaze]

I thought I would give an update on how my first DWC project is going..

Im 24 days into veg, every thing was fine up until a few days ago when the res temps went up to about 75+.

My normal temps were from 70-73 usually, I've notice that I have the onset of root rot. I have read the entire slime sticky, and determined that it is root rot and not slime.

I have 10 gallons of water in my res with 1 super lemon haze plant, I have a Ecoplus air 4 pump with 4 air stones in my res.(I hope that is sufficient) It seemed to not mind the higher temps until the root mass increased.

So I've been doing the old frozen bottles of ice thing and that is a PITA. Will just lowing my res temps correct this problem on its own? Or do i have to clean my res and cut my roots off, start with fresh water?

And once I get it under control, I need some way to keep it away. I can't afford a chiller at the moment but when I have the extra money I will pop for it. In the mean time will the EWC tea that is talked about in the slime thread keep root rot gone with my higher temps?

Thanks.

 

[Ultra Current]

I thought I would give an update on how my first DWC project is going..

Im 24 days into veg, every thing was fine up until a few days ago when the res temps went up to about 75+.

My normal temps were from 70-73 usually, I've notice that I have the onset of root rot. I have read the entire slime sticky, and determined that it is root rot and not slime.

I have 10 gallons of water in my res with 1 super lemon haze plant, I have a Ecoplus air 4 pump with 4 air stones in my res.(I hope that is sufficient) It seemed to not mind the higher temps until the root mass increased.

So I've been doing the old frozen bottles of ice thing and that is a PITA. Will just lowing my res temps correct this problem on its own? Or do i have to clean my res and cut my roots off, start with fresh water?

And once I get it under control, I need some way to keep it away. I can't afford a chiller at the moment but when I have the extra money I will pop for it. In the mean time will the EWC tea that is talked about in the slime thread keep root rot gone with my higher temps?

Thanks.

Damn sorry to near that. I run mine close to 80 degrees and as long as i use blach and keep the nutes under 1000 i never have problems anymore. Once your problem occurs, i can never save them. Others might be able to help. Just wondering, what were you using for nutes and preventative measures?

 

[bobbyblaze]

I stopped using PBP after the first week and now I use Flora Micro and Flora Bloom 8/16ml per gallon.

I wasn't using any preventative measures, I figured I would just keep it simple all I ever add is nutes and ph down.

 

[Ultra Current]

I stopped using PBP after the first week and now I use Flora Micro and Flora Bloom 8/16ml per gallon.

I wasn't using any preventative measures, I figured I would just keep it simple all I ever add is nutes and ph down.

If you were using .5 - 1 ppm of clorine via clorox bleach once a week, you most likely wouldnt have got the problem. Before i used bleach, i lost half of my crops within the first 2 weeks of flower. Now i never lose a crop.

 

[bobbyblaze]

I thought that the root rot came from the roots being starved of oxygen? The higher the temp of the water the less dissolved oxygen is available to the roots?

How does the bleach stop the rot? and how much would I have to put in to my 10 gallons to make it .5 - 1 ppm?

Thanks for the help

Oh and I just cut off all the rotted roots, So hopefully she'll make some new ones.

 

[FreezerBoy]

From Botanicare

Pure Blend Pro is a premium, one-part, natural and organic-based plant food.

I think that's the problem. You put the rot in. NOT A RECOMMENDATION but, using GH Micro and Bloom, I've run DWC at temps near and over 90ºF with no rot or slime at all.

Organics are great if you're willing to put in the study and do the work at which point it tends to run itself. Adding organics to an otherwise sterile res... that's asking for trouble.

Wish I could suggest something for the rest of this grow. Best I can say is go organic or stay sterile but, you should pick one and stick to it.

Break a stem.

add....

How does the bleach stop the rot?

In this case, bleach is medicine. Medicine is poison. Trick is to find the point thats lethal to the invader yet low enough for the host to survive.

 

[bobbyblaze]

I would like to stay sterile, it sounds way easier.

So what would 1 ppm of bleach convert to 1 drop per gallon? Can you advise how much to use?

 

[Ultra Current]

I would like to stay sterile, it sounds way easier.

So what would 1 ppm of bleach convert to 1 drop per gallon? Can you advise how much to use?

This is taken from my RezdogDD grow thread:

Chlorine as a preventative measure:
I won’t tease you guys with my knowledge on Chlorine and everyone who doesn’t use live nutrients or supplements in hydroponics, I would advise you to keep a residual level of 0.50 PPM Chlorine at all times as a preventative measure against plant pathogens and future root problems. Always remember that too much Chlorine will kill your plants and you never want to put more than 1.0 PPM of Chlorine for large healthy plants. Cuttings and smaller plants are more sensitive to Chlorine and you will want to keep only 0.50 PPM of Chlorine so that you don’t risk killing them. My dropper gives 22 drops / 1 mL of liquid. Before giving Chlorine to small reservoirs you will want to see how many drops per mL your dropper gives so you give a safe amount of Chlorine. My dropper gives a 0.50 PPM of Chlorine at the rate of 1 drop of Clorox Bleach / 2 Gal. To give 0.50 PPM of Chlorine using Clorox Bleach, the equation is 1 mL of Clorox Bleach / 44 Gallons. Always take into account if your tap already has Chlorine in it and adjust your equation. Remember in a well aerated solution, Chlorine naturally disappears in 3-4 days so add in your Chlorine every 4 days as a preventative measure against future root and pathogen problems. Add this to your normal schedule and you will see how hard it is to get root problems again.

 

[Korngut]

I thought that the root rot came from the roots being starved of oxygen? The higher the temp of the water the less dissolved oxygen is available to the roots?

How does the bleach stop the rot? and how much would I have to put in to my 10 gallons to make it .5 - 1 ppm?

Thanks for the help

Oh and I just cut off all the rotted roots, So hopefully she'll make some new ones.

anyone have input to the oxy comment? more is better, is a small amount bad?

 

[Ultra Current]

anyone have input to the oxy comment? more is better, is a small amount bad?

This is also taken from my RezdogDD grow thread in my signature:

Choosing the correct Air Pump to use
From the testing that I have done I have figured out the minimum required air that you will want to use. In these calculations I’ve taken into account that depending on your environment, your water temperatures will vary. The warmer the water is, the less Dissolved Oxygen that it can hold. I make my calculation in Liters so we will think about it this way here. Each 5 Gallon bucket in the system that you choose to build, will hold a maximum of 4 Gallons of water and in terms of Liters, that would be 15 Liters. Now you want to multiply the amount of buckets that you are going to use by 15 Liters. For example if you are using the 12 plant system, then you multiply 15 Liters x 12 buckets, which would give you 180 Liters. For whatever application that you choose to use, you want to use an air pump rated at half of those liters per minute. So in a 12 plant system you want a pump rated around 90 Liters per minute. You do not have to enter the control bucket into your calculations because the waterfall that is created by the water pump going into the controller supplies all the Dissolved Oxygen that you need. If you are using more than 6 buckets, I would suggest that you spend the extra money and get the Alita brand air pumps. They really are top of the line and it is a minimum expense for what you are going to get out of your yield and product. If you want to go the cheaper route, then any air pumps rated at the calculations above will work.

Choosing the correct Water Pump to use
Personally I like the water in my system to re-circulate at least every 5 minutes. This keeps your nutrient and pH in the system consistent. Most in-line pumps in my area are rated in Gallons Per Hour so we will use Gallons in our calculations here. Each bucket in the system holds a maximum of 4 Gallons of water. So we will take that number and multiply by the number of buckets that you have. For example in a 12 plant system, we have 13 buckets of water so we multiply that by 4 Gallons per bucket and get 52 Gallons. We want the water to re-circulate at least every 5 minutes and there are 12 five-minute periods in an hour, so we multiply 52 Gallons by 12 Cycles to get 624. This means that you want an in-line water pump that is rated for at least 624 Gallons Per Hour.

 

[bobbyblaze]

After reading that, my pump is only 9LPM and I need at least 18LPM.

That could be one of the leading causes of my problems after my root mass matured. Going to fix this asap.

Thanks for the help UC!