dwc water level?

[cultiv8t0r]

Hi All. First DWC.

Read in the growfaq/various sources that the inital dwc water level should be about 1" above the bottom of the net pot.

However, I can't see how much moisture is going to get up to the level of the clones in rockwool cubes.

I've got it between 1"-2.5" above the bottom of the net pot.

Can I just crank it all the way up to the bottom of the cubes to get them to get moisture?

Do I even have enough bubbles? I do have 660 CCs/second per gallon, but its not a strong as I though it'd be.

Thanks! I don't want to put them in and not have them getting water.

Pics of bubblyness below. BTW net pots are 4"

 

[Guest]

I would go ahead and load everything up, and keep the water about 2" above the bottom of the netpot. Give it an hour or two, and check and see if the rockwool is moist. If it's not, then raise the water level a little bit, wait a couple hours and check again to see if the cubes are moist. Repeat until the cubes turn moist. You definitely want to be most careful to not drown the young plants, but at the same don't dry it out! Raising it incrementally in small amounts will help you find that sweet starting spot.

edit - your bubble amount looks great as well.

 

[Guest]

ls1 gave about the best advice you'll get. You'll just have to tweak it if it's your first run and you are unsure. I don't use netpots or any medium, but I keep the water level about 2-3" below the top of the 5 gallon bucket at most.

 

[cultiv8t0r]

sweet, that's reassuring. thanks guys. I'm going to start tweaking the water level and try to find a happy medium.

not medium as in mediumless dwc....sounds like some crazy stuff!

 

[cyburnt]

I usually dump water from the resevior

I usually dump water from the resevior

over the little ones a couple times a day until the roots grow out. They seem to seek the water out and grow faster when not totally immersed.

 

[Reorx]

I always kept the water touching the bottom of the net cup or a little under and never had a problem, the roots just grew straigh down as long as some water is splashing on the cup thats what matters, plus the space under the cup and around it have enough water in the air (humidity) to encourage good root growth.

 

[hybridtek]

dont get rockwool constantly wet, the roots will rot or suffocate. you want them to get barely wet from splashing so roots will stretch down. I hate rockwool, next time clone in a bubble cloner and put rooted clones directly into hydroton, simpler, cheaper, and better.

 

[cultiv8t0r]

uh oh...after I put them in I gave the rockwool a pretty healthy squirt with nute solution. so i think they all started out soaked. here's hoping they dry out quick.

 

[Guest]

hybdridtek is right, you dont wanna get the rockwool soaked. ballance is important because they need oxegyn too. I would NEVER have the water level above the bottom of the netcup, i think thats crazy, but if it aint broke dont fix it i guess. i keep it 1" beneath, and with my air pump (65liters/hr for 6 buckets) is able to keep the bottom of the cups wet, from bubbles.

660 cc per bucket seems low to me. dont skimp on air, if you can afford a better pump.

why did you squirt the rockwool with nutes?


i love dwc, and i think you will too. since its your first run, if you'd like some help along the way feel free to post w/ me in my thread.. can click face in my sig if youre interested..

good luck.. ive never seen anything rival dwc personally for growth rates..

 

[cultiv8t0r]

thanks lorax...well I squirted the cubes because I'm a dumb noob and it seemed like a good idea at the time. i'm praying the 1000w mh will dry them out by morning.

I'll definitely follow along your thread; I thought I'd start my own grow diary thread in the AM when I can take some pics...and I'd be very grateful for any feedback once you can see my whole setup!

 

[Guest]

I wouldnt be worried about it being wet if you squirted it with nutes, id be worried about burning.. i assume the roots have not hit the rez yet and thats why you did it?

if they havent hit the rez, definitely dont have it more than an inch below the netcup, cause otherwise the roots will be lazy.. this forces them to be more vigorous to find the sustenance/nutes..


clones or seedlings? I have a trouble w/ seedlings in dwc, they can be tougher in their earlier stages..
good luck

 

[cultiv8t0r]

yeah, the nute burn possibility crossed my mind too. they're pretty healthy clones luckily, and they look a bit perkier after their first 8 hrs in the growroom...so hopefully all is well.

btw the bubbles are 660ccs/sec per gallon, not per bucket

 

[Guest]

2000 cc per bucket is okay i think.

i would not feed again till roots hit rez and theyre eating naturally, and even then id start it off at like 200 ppm. good luck

 

[Reorx]

I have only used geolite or hydrotron rocks for DWC, rockwool is just to damn messy for me. I know people get great results from it but I think that the rocks allow for better airation of the roots than a cube of rockwool.

 

[Beetlepumpr]

Rockwool will be mostly soaked at all times anyway, which means have plenty of air pumpin through that stone, if done , everthing will be fine.

 

[cultiv8t0r]

thanks guys... the clones were started in little rockwool cubes, but are surrounded by hydroton. i didn't want to make people think the medium was rockwool overall.

 

[Guest]

how deep do you bury the rockwool cube in the hydroton? is the top of the rockwool cube flush with the top of the hydroton? do you bury the cube to the bottom of the net pot? how close are the bubbles to the rockwool cube?

 

[Guest]

I have the eco air 4 which is rated at 2.3 g/min. whats the min, max and ideal ammount of water in gallons I could work with? I am the total hydro newb. I want to do a single DWC tub. I have two cheapo stones and 2 of the nice glass ones.