Water level for seedlings

mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
this is my first time going DWC. I have a growace bubbler-3.5 gallons. Sprouted the seed in a humidity dome and just placed the Rockwool in the dwc net w some clay pebbles. Right now I only have the single root tail (about 2.5-3” long) coming out of the bottom of the Rockwool. The tail has grown trough one of the dwc-net holes and is hanging in the water. Do I need to lower the water level or is it ok? Should the water level (bubbles from the air pump) be touching the bottom of the Rockwool to keep it moist?

Thanks!
 
Hugo Phurst

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
mickey oneil said:
Should the water level (bubbles from the air pump) be touching the bottom of the Rockwool to keep it moist?
Click to expand...
Absolutely not. There will be enough airborne mist to keep things moist, and there should be a layer or two of pebbles between the rockwool and the net pot.
Drop the water level an inch or two below the pot.
BTW - I prefer peat pellets to rockwool

Good luck.
 
mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
It’s a weird net... it concaves up from the bottom to form a platform (upward cone) maybe 3” above the “true” bottom of the net. I’ll take a pic and post it
 
mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
Hugo Phurst said:
Absolutely not. There will be enough airborne mist to keep things moist, and there should be a layer or two of pebbles between the rockwool and the net pot.
Drop the water level an inch or two below the pot.
BTW - I prefer peat pellets to rockwool

Good luck.
Click to expand...
See above... so the water level is actually halfway up the net.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
i would lower your light

and also think about running your veg light 24/0

it will help prevent that lanky seedling you got going.

and I'm with @Hugo Phurst , i much prefer rapid rooters to rockwool.
 
mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
i would lower your light

and also think about running your veg light 24/0

it will help prevent that lanky seedling you got going.

and I'm with @Hugo Phurst , i much prefer rapid rooters to rockwool.
Click to expand...
Veg light is running 24/7 200w CFL 3” from top of seediling. I have a timber grow light that I will move to these guys as soon as I chop a soil grow down tomorrow. Did you see the pics? The netting system is a little weird, but I have the water level 1/2” below the platform that the Rockwool is on. The root is poking through the netting and is in water halfway up the roottail. My question was, should I lower the water a little or maybe lift the cube as to pull the root up and lay it on moist clay pebbles?
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
so just to clarify, you have one root already hanging out of the netpot and is in the water? if so, i'd go for about an inch of space b/t the netpot and the water level. the bubbles breaking on the water surface will keep the root moist and force it to keep getting longer and longer
 
mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
so just to clarify, you have one root already hanging out of the netpot and is in the water? if so, i'd go for about an inch of space b/t the netpot and the water level. the bubbles breaking on the water surface will keep the root moist and force it to keep getting longer and longer
Click to expand...
That makes sense. Yes one root is already going through the platform holes and laying in the water. I’ve pulled out that rootail and laid it on one layer of moist clay pebbles that now sit over the platform pictured above. The water level is now an inch below the center of the netting platform
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
most definitely.

are you in the US? check out ebay/amazon for Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide. about 15 bucks a bottle.

add about 1mL once a week to your bucket.
 
2supra4u

2supra4u

Well-Known Member
keep water up to net cup until roots are down, once that happens level can be a few inches lower with no worry.
you can top water to keep the cube moist only until then, after that no need as roots will sit in water and cube can dry out.
if your specific case, feed that root through the platform so it sits in the water.

get h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) either pro grade or what you can get at the drug store.
if drug store (3%+) add around 3ml per gallon weekly or when you see roots turning brown/slimy.
not sure for the pro grade as I havent used that yet.
if you keep water 20c or below, rot should not be an issue.

I would recommend you pop some more seeds, that one is lanky as hell
once popped you want light (ex cfl) a few inches from the plant to ensure it doesn't stretch

once you got a bunch of roots int he water, the level can be lower.
until then keep it an inch or two below the platform.

im doing my first dwc grow as well, going great.
3 gal tub, then will go individual buckets or a larger tub
dont think can ever go back to soil again, except for outside.
Im going to grow 4 trees this year outside lol (Canada)

the two on the right are the same age/strain (ak x gainsville, 4 weeks in tub tomorrow), the back one is like 3-4x bigger. Just took 4 clones from it tonight, I hope its female or i will be sad.
other two, one is from Jamaica seeds and then other is an auto x timewarp, they are both coming up on 3 weeks in the tub this weekend

 
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mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
2supra4u said:
keep water up to net cup until roots are down, once that happens level can be a few inches lower with no worry.
you can top water to keep the cube moist only until then, after that no need as roots will sit in water and cube can dry out.
if your specific case, feed that root through the platform so it sits in the water.

get h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) either pro grade or what you can get at the drug store.
if drug store (3%+) add around 3ml per gallon weekly or when you see roots turning brown/slimy.
not sure for the pro grade as I havent used that yet.

I would recommend you pop some more seeds, that one is lanky as hell
once popped you want light (ex cfl) a few inches from the plant to ensure it doesn't stretch

once you got a bunch of roots int he water, the level can be lower.
until then keep it an inch or two below the platform.

im doing my first dwc grow as well, going great.
3 gal tub, then will go individual buckets or a larger tub
dont think can ever go back to soil again, except for outside.
Im going to grow 4 trees this year outside lol (Canada)

the two on the right are the same age/strain (ak x gainsville, 4 weeks in tub tomorrow), the back one is like 3-4x bigger. Just took 4 clones from it tonight, I hope its female or i will be sad.
other two, one is from Jamaica seeds and then other is an auto x timewarp, they are both coming up on 3 weeks in the tub this weekend

Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! So, it’s ok if the rootail is laying in the water? I’m pretty low on seeds, you think this lanky one will be ok? When did you start giving nutes and how often do you change the water? Thanks again for your help! Father of 4 and don’t have a ton of time to datamine for information on the fly...although I do love the research...

Plants look great, dude! Will you transfer those into bigger nets/resivoirs ?
 
2supra4u

2supra4u

Well-Known Member
mickey oneil said:
Thanks for the info! So, it’s ok if the rootail is laying in the water? I’m pretty low on seeds, you think this lanky one will be ok? When did you start giving nutes and how often do you change the water? Thanks again for your help! Father of 4 and don’t have a ton of time to datamine for information on the fly...although I do love the research...

Plants look great, dude! Will you transfer those into bigger nets/resivoirs ?
Click to expand...
as long as you have an airstone running, they are good to sit in the water.
I use a 6 inch marina elite airstone

that one is pretty lanky, i never have grown lanky ones. if you were to plant in soil or a bigger netcup, so it comes up 3 inches below the leaves it would be fine maybe. but lanky will not support big growth as it will fall over. its young so you will know in a couple weeks. I would still pop some just in case.

they grew in rockwool for first week or two (cant remember), until roots started coming out, then i moved to the tote. no nutes until it was in the tote and roots were down below netcup
im using advanced nutrients ph perfect micro, grow, bloom. i followed what their calc said, for 8 liters, started with 8ml of each.
by the calc, week one should be 8ml , week two 16ml, week three 32ml
however, I am still at 16ml. I will go to 32ml tomorrow when I change the water out.

I have been changing every 2 weeks, so twice so far, initial fill with 8ml per and then 16ml per two weeks ago.
I will be going to 32ml tomorrow for the third round. after that , its 32ml the rest of the way (if I stay with 3gal, which I probably wont be for flowering, althought i may just get a 3gal bucket and put the big one by itself and flower in that.)

the big one it getting too big, so since I took clones today, will probably grow another 2 weeks (til I see the clones have rooted) then will flower it. its in a 2x2x3 now, so I cant go too big (its over a foot tall now). I will be gettign a new veg tent, probably 2x4x5. then I got a 3x3 for flowering.

here is some root pics, i did switch the front two so the ak is on the left front, auto on the right.

also, pix of the dwc cloner I just made this week.
wasnt planning on using a dome, but figured I would. so since I dont have a larger dome, i decided to cut out a 10x20 tray so the dome would fit. now that i look at the pic, i might be able to use without the tray, I never tried it lol


 
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mickey oneil

mickey oneil

Well-Known Member
2supra4u said:
as long as you have an airstone running, they are good to sit in the water.
I use a 6 inch marina elite airstone

that one is pretty lanky, i never have grown lanky ones. if you were to plant in soil or a bigger netcup, so it comes up 3 inches below the leaves it would be fine maybe. but lanky will not support big growth as it will fall over. its young so you will know in a couple weeks. I would still pop some just in case.

they grew in rockwool for first week or two (cant remember), until roots started coming out, then i moved to the tote. no nutes until it was in the tote and roots were down below netcup
im using advanced nutrients ph perfect micro, grow, bloom. i followed what their calc said, for 8 liters, started with 8ml of each.
by the calc, week one should be 8ml , week two 16ml, week three 32ml
however, I am still at 16ml. I will go to 32ml tomorrow when I change the water out.

I have been changing every 2 weeks, so twice so far, initial fill with 8ml per and then 16ml per two weeks ago.
I will be going to 32ml tomorrow for the third round. after that , its 32ml the rest of the way (if I stay with 3gal, which I probably wont be for flowering, althought i may just get a 3gal bucket and put the big one by itself and flower in that.)

the big one it getting too big, so since I took clones today, will probably grow another 2 weeks (til I see the clones have rooted) then will flower it. its in a 2x2x3 now, so I cant go too big (its over a foot tall now). I will be gettign a new veg tent, probably 2x4x5. then I got a 3x3 for flowering.

here is some root pics, i did switch the front two so the ak is on the left front, auto on the right.

also, pix of the dwc cloner I just made this week.
wasnt planning on using a dome, but figured I would. so since I dont have a larger dome, i decided to cut out a 10x20 tray so the dome would fit. now that i look at the pic, i might be able to use without the tray, I never tried it lol


Click to expand...
Just chopped this down today to make more room in my tent. Time to move the dwc in the tent now... thanks again for all your info!
 

Attachments

2supra4u

2supra4u

Well-Known Member
mickey oneil said:
Just chopped this down today to make more room in my tent. Time to move the dwc in the tent now... thanks again for all your info!
Click to expand...
i got 4 in flower, 3 weeks in almost under two 300w leds. but i neglected them a bit and they are all showing deficiencies.
plus temps are running 15-18c day an night. cant be bothered and going to cut them down I think.
I flushed them real good last weekend and looks like shoots looking good now, but I dont think it worth to save at this point. sucks because they are all 2+ feet tall, they were growing since october. waste of time. will just veg these dwc ones for a few more weeks and then flower, once I have taken clones from all of them. going to get a new 3x3 and move it upstairs so its warmer. although I think i will get a 600hps, so may be able to keep it in the basement with it and use it as a heater lol. i have a 400hps somewhere but i want to get a 600 with air cooled hood.
 
Blent

Blent

Well-Known Member
2supra4u said:
as long as you have an airstone running, they are good to sit in the water.
I use a 6 inch marina elite airstone

that one is pretty lanky, i never have grown lanky ones. if you were to plant in soil or a bigger netcup, so it comes up 3 inches below the leaves it would be fine maybe. but lanky will not support big growth as it will fall over. its young so you will know in a couple weeks. I would still pop some just in case.

they grew in rockwool for first week or two (cant remember), until roots started coming out, then i moved to the tote. no nutes until it was in the tote and roots were down below netcup
im using advanced nutrients ph perfect micro, grow, bloom. i followed what their calc said, for 8 liters, started with 8ml of each.
by the calc, week one should be 8ml , week two 16ml, week three 32ml
however, I am still at 16ml. I will go to 32ml tomorrow when I change the water out.

I have been changing every 2 weeks, so twice so far, initial fill with 8ml per and then 16ml per two weeks ago.
I will be going to 32ml tomorrow for the third round. after that , its 32ml the rest of the way (if I stay with 3gal, which I probably wont be for flowering, althought i may just get a 3gal bucket and put the big one by itself and flower in that.)

the big one it getting too big, so since I took clones today, will probably grow another 2 weeks (til I see the clones have rooted) then will flower it. its in a 2x2x3 now, so I cant go too big (its over a foot tall now). I will be gettign a new veg tent, probably 2x4x5. then I got a 3x3 for flowering.

here is some root pics, i did switch the front two so the ak is on the left front, auto on the right.

also, pix of the dwc cloner I just made this week.
wasnt planning on using a dome, but figured I would. so since I dont have a larger dome, i decided to cut out a 10x20 tray so the dome would fit. now that i look at the pic, i might be able to use without the tray, I never tried it lol


Click to expand...
Light leaks much?
 
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