Have been growing with coco coir for a good five years and just started with hydro however i have a few questions i cant seem to find or have found with conflicting answers. Below is my list,
4. When moving the seedling over to the net pot what level should the reservoir be? I have heard many answers to this one, anything from two inches from the bottom of the net pot to almost touching the seedling.
5. Do you have to water the seedling to keep it from drying out when its first moved over to the net pot?
6. I tried hydro a few years ago, everything was dialed the seedling threw out roots into reservoir but was slower than the other plants in coco coir so I ripped it up and gave up. Is hydro slow at first then speeds up compared to other mediums?
8. When I tried rockwool every seedling broke through with its top part missing, just a stem stuck out from the top of the rockwool. How can i prevent this without using rapid rooter?
I've been knee deep in DWC and RDWC for the past 6 months and I'll share some of what I've learned and answer the questions that I know a little about. I veg in 5 gallon buckets and I'm currently running half of them with Hydroguard and half with UC Roots to do a comparison of beneficials in DWC vs a sterile rez approach. I flower in a larger Under Current RDWC made by Current Culture. It's a 6 pot system with 8 gallon pots - 56 gallons of constant, super aerated flow. This system I maintain sterile - no beneficials.
I also have moms in coco - a whole bunch of them...
4 - Here's my solid belief on all the myths about levels. Current culture recommends this and I'll explain why... Keep the level 2" ABOVE the base of the net-or for pretty much the entire grow. Think of the water as coco - that's your medium. You want your roots to spread outwards right from the root crown on down so that in turn, they form more branches. The most root mass in a given space is what we're after. You wouldn't lower the level of coco under the root crown and make them dig deeper. I have yet to hear an actual good reason for lowering the growing medium. We want lots of fine roots covering the netpot.
5. Short answer - yes. If the tap root can't reach the wet area, then yes, you'll need to somehow top feed it. However, if you'r level is 2" above the netpot, you should be able to plant the seedling close enough to where it can reach.
Long answer:
So, here's my seedling/clone method for DWC - puts roots right through the netpot. I initially tried like hell with mixed success using an aero cloner - an EZ Clone. I have recently switched to a new method that works amazingly well. I clone first in a cheapo clone dome with jiffy peat pellets and I use Life cloning gel. After the roots come through the pellet, I super gently peel back the mesh and gently pull it off of the roots. Then, once the mesh is free I dunk it in pH'd water to let the rest of the peat come off. Pull it out, give it a little shake - and a little bit of the cloning gel is still stuck in the new roots - I don't wash this off. Then I pop it in a super simple clone bucket - I think of it as a nursery bucket. I give it 1/4 nutes, Rhizotonic for root stimulation, as well as silica and ca/mg. Then in here, they just grow roots and they grow crazy bristley (not a word, but it should be!) and furious with roots. It's crazy. Then THAT - I take and gently fish the roots through the netpot and gently backfill with hydroton. Now it's ready to go to veg mode, roots are already out of the netpot and the rest of them will bust out within the week. No waiting for the roots to show - or wondering if it's too dry...
6. - My comparison so far - I pretty much agree with your statement. Coco seems to grow quicker in the beginning - DWC seems to take off a bit later. Some of that also may be just the learning curve of getting it all dialed in just right. Coco is just easier and has a more stable and consistent environment. DWC beats it when you can drive it properly.
8 - Here's the deal with any sort of absorbent rooting material and DWC - they don't play so well together. Often they end up staying too moist in the hydroton and cause systemic rot and stem damping off. If used, they have to be on TOP of the hydroton so that they can drain - and the roots have to be long enough to make it through. There's the catch... So - for DWC the best bet is roots only - whether you plant a germinated seer right into the damp part of the hydroton, or somehow grow them out a little more and give it a damn good head start.
Propogation tray and cheapo nursery bubble bucket:
Ready for transplant:
In the new home:
