is hydroton rocks nessasary in a DWC???

i have an areo cloner and areo veg unit but i wanna flower in DWC, the roots are obviously grown into the net cups... can i flower with out the rocks in the net cup or do i need them cuz i dont think ill get em in now.. thanx

So what's in the netcups if not hydroton? Basically if they are doing well I'd say just move them over.

i would think the pebbles would help with structural stability, but if you can harness them in another way, keep doin what your doin IMO.

theres nothing in the net cups but roots... my main concern was about the structure stability, guess i should mentioned that in my OP (duh!!!)... im afraid once they gain weight, they will fall over or rip roots... think they will be ok??? any ideas of how to achor them down???

resinraider said:

theres nothing in the net cups but roots... my main concern was about the structure stability, guess i should mentioned that in my OP (duh!!!)... im afraid once they gain weight, they will fall over or rip roots... think they will be ok??? any ideas of how to achor them down???

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From what I gather I go along with what pg says, you gotta support the plants with something. If you already have plants with good roots just go ahead an fill the cups with any sort of rock just to fill up the cup to prevent the plants from falling over. I'd like to see a pic to understand exactly what you have right now. But Hydroton specifically is not necessarily required. The plants will be feeding in the water, you only need to the rocks to hold them up.

Hope this makes sense, I'm fresh back from happy hour.

my cam is broken, but ya it makes sence.. i know they will grow ok without the rocks, i was jus concerned about the lack of anhcorism i got going now

resinraider said:

my cam is broken, but ya it makes sence.. i know they will grow ok without the rocks, i was jus concerned about the lack of anhcorism i got going now

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Anchorism, that's anew one on me. Love it man. My youngest son was great at making up words when he didn't know the right term. I think his first one was poker, for fork. I knew exactly what he meant as I know exactly what you mean.

But yes, I'd make sure the plants were supported. the roots, once fully established would probably hold them up, the roots in my SH 8 gal res w/ 6 plants are up to my 6 gallon line, there is no way I could push those over even without rocks, but until they get to this point it's not necessary to chance it.

If you've got good roots established, I'd think you could use anything to fill the void, rocks out of the driveway would work if washed. I'm sure I'll get plenty of pooh poohs here because I didn't tell you to use something expensive, but I've learned to discern between what I want and what I need. I guess cheap would be another term.

Don't use just anything or rocks from the driveway. They can shed surface material into your res and do who knows what. Try pieces of styrofoam like packing materials, or stones sold for aquariums.

Illegal Smile said:

Don't use just anything or rocks from the driveway. They can shed surface material into your res and do who knows what. Try pieces of styrofoam like packing materials, or stones sold for aquariums.

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What I was using was an aphorism. Sorry you didn't pick it up.

You get pleasure in following me and trying to correct me don't you. Get over it, it makes you look real small.

you can use go without the hydroton. 2" cups with neoprene inserts will do just fine. Some of the heavier plants may settle into the neoprene a little, but as long as the neoprene is there it'll be fine. You will have to have some sort of support structure somewhere around 18", the support can be a simple pvc grid, net grid, twine grid, etc... If you don't support the plants the 2" pots will tend to tip over due to the plant being to top heavy. once the plants grow theough the grid the grid will start to take stress off of the netpots and neoprene, and the support will force the plants to grow straight and not allow the tops to fall over and tip the cups out. Hope this helps.

I eventually stopped reading. I know people are telling you this whether I actually read it or not. you just have to anchor your plant. If anyone mentioned gardening wire ties to anchor the main shoot to the netcup/anything, I would like to agree with them. Best of luck, hopefully you already solved this problem.

It's not that big of a deal to worry about. I'm not even using a net pot. I'm using a medicine bottle with slits cut into it. Best of luck to you.