Res water level...

Simp[le question today,.. how close should the water level be to the bottom of the baskets?
(click the link below to see pic's of my grow/set up)

Some people never let the water drop below the bottom of the net pot. "Standard" distance would be about an inch PROVIDED the roots are long enough to span the gap. I water every two weeks when the gap is 4-6 inches.

It looks like you're in a DWC with top feeding water. Once the roots are long enough to reach the res water, you don't need the top feed anymore. Turning it off will reduce res temps which, if too high (mid-hi 70s,) can kill your girls.

Freezer nailed it.

I've tried different levels in the past and slowly learned the hard way what worked for me. It also depended on the medium I used (rockwool, jiffy pellets, just rocks, etc).

The key is to have as much root area covered in the water WITHOUT getting the medium wet. So if you have your water level so high that the rockwool is getting wet, it's too high and your plants will eventually rot right at the stem.

I now follow a simple method. Water stays 1/2 - 1inch below net pot. The bubblers in the water allow a little splash to keep the bottom of the net pot wet. Until the roots grow out of the bottom I simply open the lid and dunk the net basket down into the rez twice a day - not long enough for the medium to get soaked... the point here is just to keep the hydroton wet for the roots to grow through.

Once the roots show up I just leave em and let the DWC work its magic.

I'm at about 2" now cuz I thought someone said something once about the roots above the water level being what gets the most oxygen or something? I don't know sometimes, (more when the lights are off) my plants seem to have that watered down look so I thought maybe my res water level was too high although its never been within an inch. Perhaps the 12" air stone in there isn't oxygenating the water enough though? What would give me a watered down look in hydro?

You can certainly under oxygenate. How big is the res and how big is the pump? My reservoir fluctuates between 8-12 gallons but the pump is rated for 60 gallons.

The res has 7 1/2 gallons of water in at the moment and i just looked and the air pump will do 47 GPM max it says. I've git it hooked to one 12" long air stone. Think this is enough?

I was fighting a cal def problem the last few days and took some pic's. Since I look at my babies everyday I don't realize sometimes how much they grow.

72 hours ago



tonight

Hey Mary,

Couple of observations:

1 - your roots are taking on a brown look... this can either be a stain from the nutes you're using or bad-bad-bad-root-rot!!! So... what is your water temp in the rez? Should be maintained around 68-72F. Any higher and you're risking root rot - unless you're using HydroGuard.

2 - When your plants begin to droop (like yours) they are showing signs of 1 of 2 things. Their medium is either getting wet (if you planted them in rockwool and then hydroton) which means the water level is too high, or they are starting to root-rot.

Sooooo..... you may want to add 2 of those air pumps to the rez. You want to see some serious bubble action going on in the rez when they're on, and it doesnt look like it from the pictures you took. Also, you have to remember that as the roots grow they will 'block' the bubbles somewhat... so you need some good water churning.

You may also wanna check your water temps... in DWC this is crucial!!!! Although DWC is the cheapest/easiest setup, most miss the stumbling block is presents - water temps. If your water is at 75+F you are in serious trouble and may need to look at building a water chiller. DWC can be tough in this way.

GL bro!!!!!

BL

roots r only stained brown at the top from not washing the clay balls, roots in the water as as white as my untanned ass ;-)

maryjanesjungle said:

white as my untanned ass ;-)

Click to expand...

eewwww ... too much information

hehe,.. here is a pic of another male i identified on its way to the blender. Better shots of the roots to see that there good, just stained at the top from the unwashed balls,... on second thought my ass aint even that white!


thats a 3" pot btw so you can kinda do the math as for size....



...and then there 3, which I think are all females so 3 out of 5 I can't bitch about.

i like to keep my level right at the bottom of hte pot seems the plants look the best