Feed levels with F&D hydroton

firsttimeARE

Well-Known Member
Plants are really lagging behind. They would be triple the size in DWC with much more branching.

I believe its low feed, but its already higher than I would be at with DWC.

Flooding 4 times a day now, plants are about 7 weeks from seed and theres like no axial growth and they just look unhealthy.

Currently at 1.2EC
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Ooooover feeding. Feed them Twice a day, once an hour or two before lights turn on, and once in the middle of light cycle for 15minutes each. Those roots need to dry out in full hydroton. It’s not the same as being in a pot of coco where the f&d is basically to just water the medium. Being in a tray full of total hydroton is much different.
 

Larry3215

Well-Known Member
Ooooover feeding. Feed them Twice a day, once an hour or two before lights turn on, and once in the middle of light cycle for 15minutes each. Those roots need to dry out in full hydroton. It’s not the same as being in a pot of coco where the f&d is basically to just water the medium. Being in a tray full of total hydroton is much different.
Not trying to argue - Im a total newbie as far as hydro, but I dont understand something.

Ive read many people saying the same thing you are - the hydroton needs to dry out, but in DWC/RDWC/Hydrofarms/aeroponics, etc, the hydroton never dries out. A large portion of the roots stay completely submerged 100% of the time and the hydroton on the net pots is constantly wet from bubbling airstones, sprayers, drips, etc.

So, people say E/F needs to dry out to be successful, yet with the other hydro setups, its just the opposite - yet all are successful as far as I can see. Lots of people swear by DWC which is as far from drying out as you can get.

It looks like contradictory advice to me and yet both seem to work very well when done correctly.
 

70's natureboy

Well-Known Member
If they are in individual pots with roots hanging out, then you don't want those roots to dry out too much. I feed mine every 2 hours. If the whole tray is full of hydroton then you could get away with feeding them 3-4 times a day because the roots aren't drying out so fast. My e&f plants in individual pots are never as robust as the DWC plants. I attribute it to just less room between plants and less room for root growth. I figure e&f is for sea of green with many small plants which makes for high plant counts. Personally I feed them the same EC.
 
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