DWC Questions on starting

Hi guys, i am new to this forum so any tips as to how to navigate this website correctly and find the right information would be great. Also how to remain within the guidelines if there are some, feel free to message me.
so... I am starting one of my first DWC grows.
I need some advice the following points, please elaborate on any of the points I'm listing + any other factual information you think any grower is going to need to know for a quality functional system to be able to produce quality cannabis. I am not a complete amateur, I've grown in soil outdoors.
Anyway here's what i need help with... (just to begin with, hah)

• all information for how you all germinate seeds with a high rate of success (I have a humidity dome, heat mat, LED light and small tent)
• what water should i be using for safe healthy germination for my Auto seeds (I am buying a RO system in the coming weeks) until then I have Distilled water.
• soaking the rock wool cubes, with what strength nutrients?
• how many hours of light for seedlings (I'm guessing 24h right through veg and flower with autos?)
• when to move seedlings to large tent and MH light
• what PPM my nutrients should be in germination phase, seedling phase, veg phases etc
• what pH for germination and seedlings, veg etc
• how often do you change nutrients through seedlings, and veg phase.

ALL information you guys have is great, as well as any links you guys have to websites where i can find good information will be greatly appreciated.
I am writing all the information down in a big binder folder, so don't hold back.
I will be including a couple of photos of a setup in this thread in a couple of hours.

Thanks for the help in advance fellas
View attachment 954550
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600W Digital Dimmable Ballast - Metal Halide [Current]
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View attachment 954554
Tent is 200x200x200
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= 5 Pot + Reservoir [ 80L System - runs at 68L ]
4 x 21L Buckets & Netpots
1 x 18L Bucket & Netpot
1 x 21L Reservoir
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The reservoir has a pump inside which moves the water as a feeding system to each 4 of the plant sites
The water then returns to the reservoir via the 19mm black poly pipe
100L/m air pump
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Above is my water quality meter obviously
as you can see its a "5 in 1" as it says
but i doubt it is accurate, i desperately need some calibration solution for the EC and TDS testing
the pH and temp seems to be working well
if anyone knows of another method to be able to test the EC and TDS to compare to see if the meter has already come calibrated like then pH did please let me know.
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above is my backup pH meter, cost me about $9.00 with calibration powders, im sure you all own one... or twelve by now...
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Does anybody know what pH water needs to be for seeds to germinate successfully, i havent had as much luck as id like, mabey 40% make it the rest dont pop or get moldy and never pop...
also what temperature do you want to keep the seeds when trying to get them to pop?
so if im using distilled water, do i add ph up and down to reach what desired level?
then how much nutrient strength do i mix in the liquid?
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still pretty new myself 3grows under my belt. But I started with groweedeasy.com, use that and the search in the top right and im sure you'll go far!

Welcome, 420
My well water is usually below 50ppm and right at 6.8 pH so I don't use RO or distilled water in my grows.
RO will give you a known baseline so it will be fine.
I pop my beans using a 24 hr soak and then dumped onto a paper towel to let them germinate.Temps in the 70's will be best.
After they show a tail, I pop them into a rapid rooter and place them in my veg area..I run Jacks 3-2-1 so it's pretty much full strength from the go.
I use a grodan 4x4 cube for my plants and just pre soak them in normal strength solution.
I've run auto's on 20/4 cycles with good results and try to give them as much light as the plant will tolerate.

sounds like you just need to browse around here and other places for a while, you have a lot of research left to do imo. Youve essentially asked "how do i dwc" here.
Do yourself a favor and forget about the rockwool and do something else. It sucks and theres no reason anyone should use it over anything else.


if you read this. you will learn things.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/fragile-back-at-it-diy-rdwc-with-the-things.1002209/

Though it is subject to a lot of criticism, I use the paper towel method with an 80%+ germination rate. It would be closer to 100%, but my seeds are from a few years ago so that has affected their success rate. I place the paper towel into a styrofoam plate, apply luke warm tap water until it is soaked, and then drain off the access water into the kitchen sink. Next, I place a second styrofoam plate on top of the one the paper towel is in. After that, I place it in a drawer that has a heat mat in it. Due to my heating mat getting a bit hot, I usually place some clothes or blankets between the plate and the heating mat until I get it to where the heating mat keeps the paper towel in the plate just above room temperature, it is better to be cautious than fry your seeds. I used rockwhool for quite some time, and I never did soak them in nutrient water. I did, however, soak them in RO water that was PH'd at about 5.0 (4.8-5.2 range, but 5.0 is ideal) but the info out there seems to vary a bit on what PH is best to soak in. I'd let them soak in a bowl of this water for about 3-6 hours, but letting them go longer won't hurt. I'd then let the rockwhool naturally drain out, not squeezing, and place the seedling in only re-wetting the rockwhool with tap water, sitting in a plastic tray under a CFL light for the first 2-4 days. Once the first baby root began poking out of the bottom of the cube, that's when I'd then place the rockwhool into the netpot half way full of hydroton. At this point, I just raise my 315w CMH light up as far as it will go in the veg tent, about 6-7 feet away from the seedling. I let my seedling's netpot sit in a bucket of pure RO water, though tap would work fine, being sure to keep the water level no closer than 1 inch away from the netpot and no further away than 2 inches. This ensures that the hydroton says wet enough to encourage the roots to grow downwards, without keeping the hydroton so wet that the roots have less of a need to leave the netpot to search for water and nutes. In letting the water sit in contact with the netpot, I seem to get a much longer wait time from placing the seedling in the netpot and getting roots that are sprouting out of the bottom. Once I finally get some baby roots sprouting out of the bottom of the netpot, typically in 7-14 days, I then apply just enough base nutes to bring my water to 50ppm. Some strains will want it higher, but 50ppm is a good rule of thumb as far a starting point for seedlings go. I water the hydroton with a spray bottle on the top side at least once a day, but rarely more than twice a day, until roots drop out of the bottom. You do not want to keep the rockwhool soaked or you will develop root disease and it will dampen off. Too much water through the top of the netpot will also discourage root growth towards the bottom, or at least not as quickly. You can use your MH light at the same stage that I put mine under my 315w, just be sure to keep it a good 4-6 feet away from the seedling until the seedling begins to grow and progress. Even then, I don't lower lights much until roots sprout out the bottom. Good luck, please ask if you've more questions, happy growing!
Edit: I forgot to mention, I only change my bucket's water once every 2 weeks unless the plants are having some sort of problem like a deficiency or etc. If things are going well, I'll oftenly go 14 days in veg between water changes and even longer in bloom. With that being said, I use Hydroguard and it keeps my root zone pretty healthy regardless as long as the water temps don't routinely rise and stay above 72F. Without beneficials, I'm sure the need for res changes would increase in frequency and the issue of water temp would be more of a concern.