Deepwater Culture, Autoflower, NO root development, slow growth

Alright, so I have some Vertigo autoflowers from Paradise seeds on DAY 10 in a 30 gallon deepwater culture tub.

I used too much rockwool at first, it stayed soaked and the roots couldn't penetrate...so I pulled out a ton of the rockwool. At that point, the girls had some small roots, so I tried to get them nearer the bottom of the pots and filled them back up with hydroton.


That was 3 days ago, and still no new roots are dropping down into the water, and the plants are growing very slow. They also got really yellow last night, and I found the pH around 5.4.

Any thoughts on the root development? Am I just being too impatient and did the stress of separating the rockwool from the roots/re-transplant just delay things?


This is my first hydro grow, so any help is really appreciated and +rep!

i have the same problem now, did you manage to solve this issue ??

Probably over watering due to your rockwool ( thats why I hate it and use rapid rooter plugs) .. When you use rockwool after you soak it you have to get some water out of it but dont squeeze it, shake like you were rolling dice or jacking off to get the water out. The roots have enough water so they wont bother searching for water in your res.

if the roots in all the baskets are dropping down now, i'd drop the water level down to about an inch below the bottom of the baskets. maybe drop it so that half the basket is submerged, then a few days later, drop it to just barely touching the bottom, then another inch or so. i think your rock wool is waterlogged. you don't want to drown that stuff.

try maybe some calmag (especially if you're using RO). great white makes my roots go crazy in my bubble buckets. hygrozyme also seems to help once my roots don't look so white and vibrant.

how much air are you pumping into the res,what is your res temp above 75 deg is a problem and also what are your room temp and humidity