From Dirt To DWC

.♠. · Mar 24, 2010

Hello ICMag!

I picked up a White Queen plant today that is around 6-7 inches tall and well rooted into the beer cup it is in.

I have a history of killing plants in soil right quick like and do not want to follow in old foot-steps.

I normally grow in DWC and want to switch this lady over. I know that this will stress her at the least.

She is basically ready to re-pot if it were going into soil, at this size will the crossover be to stress-full for the the plant or will she adjust?

I run the modified lucas formula and was thinking of starting this girl off with 1/3 strength formula and then easing it into full strength over the course of two weeks. Does this sound good to the more experienced growers here on IC.

Thanks for any help.

cyberwax · Mar 24, 2010

So the title is wrong, you mean from dwc to dirt? In that case i have had no bad experiences, i just place em in soil and let nature do its work.

.♠. · Mar 24, 2010

No, sorry.

I am loosing what I am trying to say in the mix somehow.

She is in soil now. I would like her to go into DWC but am afraid that because she is already so rooted and tall that she will stress to much.

Peace

edux710 · Mar 24, 2010

be careful and it can be done. get a bucket of water. take the soil plant out of the pot. put a bag around the soil and roots, and get as much off as possible, once you have done that you can put it in the bucket of water and get the rest of the soil off. just use extreme care, maybe use something for propagation in the dwc when you first put you new plant in there to avoid shock. there roots are going to be funky at first but will be fine in the end. you may need a little bit bigger of a net pot than usual.

cyberwax · Mar 24, 2010

I would advice against it, the only reasonable way to move this plant is by taking a clone. But thats just me.

Lorenzo · Mar 24, 2010

i've done it and it does work. but i agree that you are better off just chopping clones off her. it'll take 2-3 weeks to recover from the transplant and i haven't had one stay 100% healthy after that. if you're new to cloning, make a bubble cloner.

highonmt · Mar 24, 2010

You can do it with minimum stress. Get your dwc bucket and media
(hydroton etc) ready. Prepare a bucket of 65f water (or there about and ph it to ~5.7. Take a smaller plastic tub and carefully remove the plant from the beer cup. Now just slowly wash away the soil in the small tub. change the water often and rinse the roots well. You don't have to be perfect...don't worry about small perlite and peat moss chunks entwined in the roots. just swish the plant around gently till you get most of the root mass cleaned. Find the tap root of the plant, Its the longest one. Pick up the plant and dangle the tap root through the mesh pot about 1-2". Start adding your damp(this is important dont use dry media) hydroton a little at a time.. if your roots are too long just make circles on each layer of hydroton...thats it
HM

slowandeasy · Mar 24, 2010

Go ahead and do it, but mark my word you will get root rot. Not worth it IMO. If it was not well rooted already, you could get away with it. If it is that big, grow it out 2 more weeks and take clones. Last time I had just a tiny bit of soil stuck to the roots...and turned into root rot down the line.

I just started using Coco, and I would rather try to transplant your plant into Coco than DWC. If you can get some of the dirt off without hurting, just use some moist Coco soaked in 1/2 strength nutes to transplant to. It is basically like handwatered Hydro, because you will feed atleast once a day with nutes everytime. Good luck, but I say dont try to transplant to DWC, try Coco.

Teresa · Mar 24, 2010

It can be done will no ill effect ...i do it regularly.........

Sour Bubble in dirt......

Transplanted..............

Also for the record i have also gone the other way around...hydro to dirt.............

Gilles&Cheryl · Mar 24, 2010

I have tried it in the past and failed. Like slowandeasy said, I got root rot.

But recently I moved a mother plant from soil to DWC and it worked great - I trimmed away a large percentage of the roots before putting it in the dwc bucket. It worked pretty good, it was droopy for a day or so but after that it took off.

.♠. · Mar 24, 2010

Thank you everyone for your input.

I was thinking that the replies would kind of split the way that they are. I am very worried to keep it in soil, because it is ready to up-pot and I am not good with soil at all, so I am going to go ahead and go for it (put her in DWC).

I will take some photos and keep the thread updated to see if I am successful or if I fail.

Fingers crossed!

slowandeasy · Mar 24, 2010

Get as much dirt off as you can. It will cause problems, if you cannot keep your temps in check...forget about DWC. It you can keep a clean rez and temps in check, you will have a better chance. It can work, but dont be surprised if it doesnt. Good luck.

Jedi · Mar 24, 2010

Ja , Id say go for it..!

Ive transplanted a few from dirt to hydroton (dwc) No probs

Moondog · Mar 24, 2010

Deleted

Teresa · Mar 24, 2010

Thank you

BudMasterzero · Apr 2, 2010

I am think about doing a transplant from soil to hydro. May I pick your minds jedi and Teresa, and ask you what your technique is?

I was planning on using superthrive b-1 to soak the roots for a bit after I cleaned them and transplanted them into a 20 gal dwc system around 5.8 ph, but not sure about the ppm (any help?). So..........what do you twos dos?

Teresa · Apr 2, 2010

BudMasterzero said:
I am think about doing a transplant from soil to hydro. May I pick your minds jedi and Teresa, and ask you what your technique is?

I was planning on using superthrive b-1 to soak the roots for a bit after I cleaned them and transplanted them into a 20 gal dwc system around 5.8 ph, but not sure about the ppm (any help?). So..........what do you twos dos?

I do nothing fancy what so ever..........rinse off as much of the soil as possible........loosen up the root ball.........plant it in my bucket's and away we go.........your ph sound's good........ppm's will depend on the size of your plant..........also weither it's from seed or clone

IamNug · Apr 2, 2010

My suggestion would be to simply take a cutting and root it in the proper media for hydro (rapid rooter, rock wool, bubbler...)

.♠. · Apr 2, 2010

Hey everyone! :wave:

Here are some photos of the first nine days. Everything has gone well as best as I can tell. There is lots of new growth, and the roots are starting to go crazy. Anyway, here we go.

First two shots are of the plant as I got her.