newbie hydro question

okay, i have a dwc 5 gallon bubble bucket system that i would like to start to get going. i have bought hdroton for it and small rockwool cubes. now what is the right size rockwool cube to get for this system?? the netpot is 6inches. what should the rtockwool Ph be? is it 5.5? do i wet the hydroton? do i put what 1/3 stenght nutes in the system?? do i put light and air on the rockwool before the seed sprouts out any leaves? i have widow x c99 female seeds so i just need help with rockwool because i heard it can be a nightmare. thanks in advance

I like to use oasis cubes. Dont have to worry about PH

Whoa there. Let's start by organizing the chaos.

Are the seeds germinated yet?

Get back to me and we will see if we can't get you headed in the right direction.

Until then worry about nothing.

yes the seeds have been germinated, sorry about the rambling on.

gjdubbz said:

okay, i have a dwc 5 gallon bubble bucket system that i would like to start to get going. i have bought hdroton for it and small rockwool cubes. now what is the right size rockwool cube to get for this system?? the netpot is 6inches. what should the rtockwool Ph be? is it 5.5? do i wet the hydroton? do i put what 1/3 stenght nutes in the system?? do i put light and air on the rockwool before the seed sprouts out any leaves? i have widow x c99 female seeds so i just need help with rockwool because i heard it can be a nightmare. thanks in advance

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Alright....

I use rapid rooters.....and yes some find rockwool a nightmare. Don't squeeze it or saturate it. Thats about all. If you over water rw cubes, use the wrist flick or a salad spinner to get the excess moisture out.
but if you want rockwool-you want the 40mm (1.5") rockwool cubes. You should moisten don't soak the cubes with a 5.5 ph adjusted water. Put the sprouted seed or germinate the seed in the rockwool.

You want to fill the net pot 2/3rds with hydroton set in cube, fill around sides with hydroton and once the seedling is tall enough cover the cube with a layer or two with hydroton to protect it from your light.

Bubble bucket when running should wet the hydroton but not the rockwool cube. You will need to keep the cube moist but not wet (some even use a syringe for this watering because it requires so little) and supplement by over-head watering the hydroton-not the cube till the roots grow deep enough to get to the water culture.

Use only water adjusted to a 5.8 ph and treated with 1.7ml/L of 35%h2o2 or 1ml/L with 50% h2o2. This is to water the cube, hydroton and in your bucket till it has a couple true sets of leaves. Then 20-25% nute mix increasing slowly till you get to maturity and can run a 1600-1800 ppm mix (4-6 weeks old).

Hope that helps for now

thanks for the info old in the way, as u can tell im not familiar yet with hydro. so you think i should get a ph tester with ec and ppm on it? are they easy to follow? what are some nutes to use that stay ph balanced? whay do you use? i was looking at flora nova and some advanced nutrients

also should i use distilled water or spring water

gjdubbz said:

thanks for the info old in the way, as u can tell im not familiar yet with hydro. so you think i should get a ph tester with ec and ppm on it? are they easy to follow? what are some nutes to use that stay ph balanced? whay do you use? i was looking at flora nova and some advanced nutrients

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I recommend seperate ph and EC pens-I use bluelab's truncheon meter for EC and A Eutech Ph Pen. Very easy to use, clean and calibrate (ph pen only)

Most nutes have ph buffers to bring them close to the desired range depending on starting ph.

I use Duthmaster gold nutes-2 part they have a grow and bloom formula and I use both. I use CalMAg Plus and Epsom Salts for supplementing. And a P K boost during flower too. The CalMAg and PK boost are Advanced Nutrients.

I use ph down (phosphoric acid) to maintain a 5.8 reading in all tanks. Without it ph creeps up to 6.3 in 2-3 days

gjdubbz said:

also should i use distilled water or spring water

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I use tap. When you get your EC pen you will know if your water is suitable for use. It should be-my water reads less than 140 ppm out of the tap. If you are on a well or in an emerging market you need to check it with your pen. Otherwise most municipal water supplies are good to go-just need ph adjustment

kool, thanks for your insight, i was also looking at conniseaur by advanced, during flowering. what strains have you had success with in hydro? i am doing c99xwidow

what is a good temp for my buckets to be? i heard that is very important when growing in dwc buckets

gjdubbz said:

kool, thanks for your insight,

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NP

i was also looking at conniseaur by advanced, during flowering.

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Ok, not familiar with it. Should be fine, Advanced makes good products

what strains have you had success with in hydro? i am doing c99xwidow

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White Widow is one of 7 i have in rotation. A little touchy but not bad to grow. I prefer my indica selections-afgan1, skunk1, shiva and one African Sativa-Malawi Gold-great yielders, great smokes (i like 'em), super high resin content make great trimmings for the bubblebags.
Widow is not a bushy plant-I have no probs running 4 ww/ft2 in my SoG. The indicas get a little crowded but they also do well if properly pruned.

I don't know the c99 half of your strain but it can't be anymore difficult than the WW to grow. I am sure you will do fine.

what is a good temp for my buckets to be? i heard that is very important when growing in dwc buckets

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low 70's.....probably-I don't do dwc, but thats what I run in resevoirs and the aerocloner-never had any probs

Good Luck

-OitW