Rootspa DWC Kit

Hey guys, just recently purchased an 8 bucket rootspa dwc kit, ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mtpj9zfZQs ) I'm new to hydroponics, I've had 3 soil grows all very successful, but I'm looking to get some bigger yields. My question is, has anyone on here used the rootspa kit successfully with cannabis? How was the turnout? Probably my biggest question, is how does this kit work without air stones? The pump forces raw air up through the bottom of the bucket but you don't see a lot of bubbles on the surface of the water. Anyone's input is appreciated.

Anyone ???

Looks like a fancy dwc tub to me

Id throw a air stone in there rather than push air back down water lvl tube, but thats just me.

also, I have 2 seedlings in 4 inch rockwool cubes right now in a humidity dome, They've been there for about 4 days. I was just giving them ph'd water to keep humidity in the tray, but it still hasn't shown me a taproot yet, so I mixed just under 1/2 tsp of the bio root with a gallon of water and poured a small bit of that into the dome. How long does it usually take to see your taproot poke out on average? I'd like to get these in the buckets and start really feeding them. They just seem like they're taking their time I guess.

ricky lahey said:

also, I have 2 seedlings in 4 inch rockwool cubes right now in a humidity dome, They've been there for about 4 days. I was just giving them ph'd water to keep humidity in the tray, but it still hasn't shown me a taproot yet, so I mixed just under 1/2 tsp of the bio root with a gallon of water and poured a small bit of that into the dome. How long does it usually take to see your taproot poke out on average? I'd like to get these in the buckets and start really feeding them. They just seem like they're taking their time I guess.

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Mabey a few days to a week. Make sure to not over water the cubes. Rock wool retains a lot of water and the roots need to search for oxygen in order to grow.

think about this.

no matter what the system, oxygen is what you want to get the the roots

more importantly than increased oxygen content, is proper water circulation..

if your water is increasing oxygen at say... 100ppm/minute, and the plant can use say... 80 ppm/minute and only the top half of the water is being circulated

your plant is only really gonna get the top part of the waters oxygen... prolly 50ppm (using ppm as a fake measurement, not as a real number these are all made up)

key is to circulate the water properly, each system has it's way to do this.

things such as adding a waterfall, or a flooming pump will make things great...

also a lot of people put an airstone under each plant (in a setup with individual plants in their own pots), so the water kind of comes up from the bottoms

i'm saying this stuff as a concept; i don't know any real figures, i just know how important circulation is in hydro systems. A big thing to overcome is heat created by your pumps, and a lot of people have found submersibles are the way to go.

some weaknesses i see here are if you have a heat issue in your room. these buckets are black it may be a good idea to take some bubble wrap insulation, and insulate them all with it, it will make controlling heat much easier (its called i think reflectix and sold at home depot)
you could do two layers if you wanted also, make sure and get some foil tape so they look nice!!
the water seems to have a flooming effect, which is really good
also, what lighting are you using and how do you control your temps in your room, like what are they?

Thanks for all the replies, all great ideas. I have been a bit busy so I haven't been on for a few days, I just got back from Harvest Fest II at Freedom Field which was a great stoney time. Anyhow, the room is pretty good size with two windows and a closet. I have dedicated this room particularly to be my grow room because of the windows and how they face away from the road and neighbors for the most part. I plan on freezing a couple water bottles to put in the buckets when the temp rises. I discovered randomly that one of my "normal" plants is autoflowering, so I switched that to flowering and gave it flowering nutes today. Also, I actually just took my Pineapple Chunk sprout out of the dome tonight and transplanted it to the DWC bucket. For the time being, the solution consists of roughly 4 gallons of water, and about 12 tsp of Bio Root. When I put the sprout in the bucket, the roots didn't wanna drop down so I carefully placed the rockwool cube on top of a few clay pellets and in the basket. The water level is bubbling off the rocks that the cube is sitting on so it should be good, and I'll probably top water it a few times or mist the plant. So, I now have 2 400 watt lights going, one HPS inside my Lighthouse Hydro tent, and one in the corner of the room for vegitation, cloning, and sprouting. I also have an oscillating fan in the tent and a box fan on the floor in the room as well as the window open about 6 inches to a foot so it's not too too hot in there. Now that I have the hang of the sprouting in rockwool part, I'm probably going to plant a couple others, it's a tossup between Blue Dream or Durban Poison. Either way, this grow is about to get pretty awesome!

im tellin you bro go ahead and insulate those buckets and keep the temps ~68

So day two of having to HD lights in my decent size room. I came home, and in my tent that had been sealed up all day, the temp was 95. Which in my opinion isn't too bad, but I am going to rig up an intake and exhaust through the window. It's tough to do this because it obviously looks odd to have your windows open in the fall / winter time. I checked the bucket temps today after work and it's actually fairly cool which was surprising to me. All my plants are looking healthy and green reaching for the lights, but I still haven't seen a taproot from the cheese sprout that's in the dome. It's been about 2 weeks or so and still nothing. The sprout appears to be healthy and green, but I haven't seen a taproot come out of the cube. I'm going to mix some water and bio root and pout a bit in and hope to induce rooting. Anyone ever have any experience with the G-13 Sour Jack? I just topped mine and I'm going to do some LST as they grow. Any Advice??

Would love to see an update to your thread Ric L. I'm looking at the "Rootspa* 8 pot system and itching to pull the trigger. Are satisfied with you system..? I going to crank my 1000w up again after shutting it down for a few months and thinking the 8 pot system would be about the right Number of Plants for that light source. I've only grown soil prior to this. Trying get up to speed with the Hydro and have viewed the videos on the ROOTSPA. 167.00 for the 8 pot system has me drooling at the potential. Anyone else that would try to presuade me in another direction is welcome to respond.. ttp://www.ecogrow.com/hydro-systems-the-rootspa-dwc-system-c-26_250.html

I have grown successfully in the RootSpa. Actually, works much better than soil but you need to pay attention, at least a couple of times a week, to maintain water level, etc. Once roots are established the level can get quite low for a day or so without causing root damage. A level controller of some type would help, I am going to try the Waterfarm8 controller on my 16 units. The big advantage to the rootspa is that raw air is pumped to the bottom of the bucket which provides maximum air to the roots and the plants seem develop better than in other non-DWC systems - at least in my experience. DWC is the way to go and these buckets are very handy and do not require air stones. Good videos on youtube on this system.

Why would anyone spend that kind of money for a few buckets and an air pump?? What a ripoff.

how much did you pay if you dont mine me asking? and i build a 20gal its alot easyer to handle with the temps i wraped bubble wrap around the totes to insulate the cool water .so with the 5gal bucket becarefull cause itll only hold not even a cupple gal once those roots are big.. my root system to one of my plats wouldnt even fit into a 5gal bucket..see what works for you the best is what im sayin..GL

Hey Ricky - I've used the RootSpa for several years, indoors and outside, and have had great results. Actually, I came up with the idea and Hydrofarm is building them. The fact that there are no air-stones is a plus because the roots get plenty of oxygen just using raw air without stones. The air does get distributed through the roots very well. Anyone who tells you that you need "micro-bubbles" is full of it because there are bubbles of all sizes using this method. There are a lot of videos on the system and other information on this youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/rwkleinman

Check out Jen's Bubble Bucket Garden also, she has been using the RootSpa for three years now with great success. You may notice, we had a couple of hits before filming...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBpUzt1034k

here's how to build them - easy stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y0rbxnGcE0&list=TLsZaNoxaEFrUrTTOkevPIR_xCU3AJu9X3

faller200 said:

Why would anyone spend that kind of money for a few buckets and an air pump?? What a ripoff.

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Check out the prices of individual components and you will find that you can assemble the same system for a bit less but not substantially (unless you can get items wholesale). The best video I found on construction is on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y0rbxnGcE0&list=TL8b_Qx0W8EIKtnLvAcidECmjj2hTdkPDS

Ronman39,
I'm using the Rootspa on plants in my grow room.. I did not measure how many gallons it takes to get to the bottom of the net pot when I started the project, and I am getting ready to change out my nutrient solution after growing in the device for 2 weeks. I started with 4 gallons of nutrient solution to bring the level up to be in contact with rockwool seedlings where they set inside the net pot. So should I use the same amount or less since the roots are more developed? In other words, how many gallons to bottom of the net cup on the Rootspa DWC? I realize that I can go by trial and error, but perhaps someone can give me a rough idea what has worked for them. Thank you.

ricky lahey said:

Hey guys, just recently purchased an 8 bucket rootspa dwc kit, (

) I'm new to hydroponics, I've had 3 soil grows all very successful, but I'm looking to get some bigger yields. My question is, has anyone on here used the rootspa kit successfully with cannabis? How was the turnout? Probably my biggest question, is how does this kit work without air stones? The pump forces raw air up through the bottom of the bucket but you don't see a lot of bubbles on the surface of the water. Anyone's input is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Just started my up a week ago have roots growing in bucket, they make a little noise but seem to work
for me so far.