Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
I keep fucking it up somehow . I need someone experienced with DWC buckets to help me out.
Need a mentor for DWC 5 gallon buckets.
- Thread starter Armyofsprout
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- dwc hydroponics
Wastei
Well-Known Member
Run a base A+B formula sterile with oxidizer. I've used bleach(sodium hypochlorite) for many years in Aero, DWC and coir. 3-5ppm is recommended in DWC, here's the dilution calculator Chlorine dilution calculator.
Most important thing in DWC is keeping the roots clean from any biofilm, that can be done with bacteria cultures or with oxidizers. Oxidizers are more effective and more affordable than products like Hydroguard or Southern AG Garden friendly fungicide.
0.6-1.2 EC from start to finish, lower EC slightly last two weeks since plants need less at the last stages. Keep pH at 5.7-6.3.
Most important thing in DWC is keeping the roots clean from any biofilm, that can be done with bacteria cultures or with oxidizers. Oxidizers are more effective and more affordable than products like Hydroguard or Southern AG Garden friendly fungicide.
0.6-1.2 EC from start to finish, lower EC slightly last two weeks since plants need less at the last stages. Keep pH at 5.7-6.3.
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Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
I think my biggest problem is the easiest thing of just getting the water level correct. I think I either make it too high or too low. Either causing rot/roots never stretching down, or the water being too far from the roots and starting to dry. So far the longest I’ve gotten things working is like two weeks then I see drooping. Where approx. should the water be when starting out? Videos don’t do a good job of explaining that part. At first the netpot size was too big for the small rock wool I had. So once I figured that part out I got a smaller pot size and it did better and took way less clay to fill. But eventually ran into issues again.
i took a plant out and transplanted the rock wool cube into coco for now in order to save it. But I am gonna take it out the coco and transplant it back into DWC once it bounces back.
Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
what do you suggest?
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
rapid rooters or similar.
Wastei
Well-Known Member
I think I still have a lot of info in my journal. I treat small seedling and cuttings like drain to waste in the beginning before I have many laterals going through the netpots. I have at least 3 inches between the netpots and water level. Keep aeration and turbulence low in the beginning and increase as the plant grows.
Most common problem is overwatering starting out in DWC. You should feed and water according to plant size regardless of growing method.
Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
Thanks I’ll give that a shot as well. Just curious to why you say use rapid rooters over rockwool? Do they hold water differently?
Wastei
Well-Known Member
It's very easy to get rockwool overly saturated causing an anaerobic environment for root rot to flourish. Run straight pebbles with clones.
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
Initially, the water should be an inch or so below the netpot. There should be ample bubbles to keep the hydroton moist.
I've used rockwool for seedling/clones for years and have never had a single problem. Issues with rockwool are user-error caused by not getting rid of the excess water initially which is easily accomplished.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
for sure. i use a small aero unit to start all my seeds and the RR's stay soaked all the time. they are more forgiving than rockwool
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
so excess water causes problems in rockwool. good to know.
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
After the initial soak, yes, the cubes should be "flinged" to rid some of the water.
To Grodan's credit, they print the instructions on the bag of cubes.
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
and if they continue to stay soaking wet, there'd still be problems, right?
Problems Germinating With Rock Wool
Rock wool, an inorganic material made from sand and basalt rock, is a popular choice for...
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
Yes, I suppose if one can't follow instructions they'll suffer the consequencesand if they continue to stay soaking wet, there'd still be problems, right?
Problems Germinating With Rock Wool
Rock wool, an inorganic material made from sand and basalt rock, is a popular choice for...homeguides.sfgate.com
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
just trying to tell the OP that there are alternatives to rockwool since he/she can't seem to get a dwc grow going.
Herb & Suds
Well-Known Member
I searched the Grodan instructions no sign of “flinging it” 
Glad we settled the whole water is wet thingy 
Glad we settled the whole water is wet thingy
Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. I guess my issue was that I was putting water right up to the bottom of the netpot. My initial thought process was that the roots maybe wouldn’t be able to reach the water with that much separation. But it looks like I thought wrong
Armyofsprout
Well-Known Member
Just want to say thanks for this and everyone’s help witn the water level. I transplanted the plant into coco to let it recover and then once it recovered I washed the coco off and transplanted back into the DWC bucket with a much lower water level. Now After about two days the roots are starting to inch out the sides and bottom of the pot so it’s working. The plant is looking a little yellow though. So I probably just have to figure out my nutrient mix and constantly monitoring my PH. My Ph seems to go back up to 6.4 daily from the pump.
low temps could also be my issue with that. It’s a small 2x2 and it’s around 65F because it’s cold here and I don’t have a way of bringing the temps for that tent up even with the light maxed out.
Billy the Mountain
Well-Known Member
Growth will slow dramatically at 65F, you need to raise your temps by 15+ degrees