That's exactly right, your airstone and popping bubbles are actually throwing water up through the bucket holes. Another reason to have them covered.. Just place a few hydroton rocks around the openings.
New Grower Zero Experience Grower - DWC Trans Siberian & Critical Jack
- Thread starter Eljefemoe
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That's exactly right, your airstone and popping bubbles are actually throwing water up through the bucket holes. Another reason to have them covered.. Just place a few hydroton rocks around the openings.
Found a pic of my rockwool at day 2 or 3. It and the top stones remained that dry. Just a little of water as the bottom of the rockwool was touchong the water
That's an awesome reference pic, thanks! If they still look wet tomorrow morning, I'll move the cubes up and add some more stones to the bottom (rather than trying to lower the water level, which I imagine could be tricky.
Found a pic of my rockwool at day 2 or 3. It and the top stones remained that dry. Just a little of water as the bottom of the rockwool was touchong the water
Yes, that's the other reason to make sure that all the open air into the DWC is covered.. Forgot to mention that! This is why the Folgers can isn't wet.. Nice technique by the way...
Got it, I'll give it a go tomorrow and see if I can get a little less moisture in the rockwool.
Also, for you DWC guys... I'm just running ph 5.5 water now (it drifts up, so I start on the low end and adjust every 2ish days). I've seen some other DWC grow journals here where nutes are introduced right out of the gate. Should I do that? Or stick with plain ph 5.5 water for another week?
Yes, that's the other reason to make sure that all the open air into the DWC is covered.. Forgot to mention that! This is why the Folgers can isn't wet.. Nice technique by the way...
Ahhhh this makes even more sense now. OK; I need to raise the girls up a bit so there aren't gaping holes in the netpot (which there are right now). Luckily I don't think I have any roots showing through yet (though I guess possible on the trans siberian), so this shouldn't be too delicate a task.
I think what slowed your growth a bit was the rockwool being overwatered a bit. That happened to me the first time and I found myself stuck. Been using rapid rooters ever since. Not saying give up on rw cubes, they're cool, just hard to maintain the moisture levels in them especially if you're a beginner. You should be fine if they are in your dwc system with a nice air pump providing tons of oxygen/bubbles in the res. There will be no chance of overwatering them that way. Introducing nutes at day 1 in hydro is fine if as long as your ppm reading doesn't go over 400 for the first week. You shouldn't get any burns unless the strain you've got is really sensitive. Usually they aren't THAT sensitive. Some people have a tap water ppm of 400 without even adding nutes. My tap runs around 130.
I think what slowed your growth a bit was the rockwool being overwatered a bit. That happened to me the first time and I found myself stuck. Been using rapid rooters ever since. Not saying give up on rw cubes, they're cool, just hard to maintain the moisture levels in them especially if you're a beginner. You should be fine if they are in your dwc system with a nice air pump providing tons of oxygen/bubbles in the res. There will be no chance of overwatering them that way. Introducing nutes at day 1 in hydro is fine if as long as your ppm reading doesn't go over 400 for the first week. You shouldn't get any burns unless the strain you've got is really sensitive. Usually they aren't THAT sensitive. Some people have a tap water ppm of 400 without even adding nutes. My tap runs around 130.
Great info man, thanks a bunch. My tap ppm is right around 200, so I'll keep that in mind as I start introducing nutes.
Any idea if simple filtration systems like a Brita pitcher or a Pur filter over the tap would help reduce the initial ph and ppm? Thought about grabbing one and trying it out, but didn't want to waste the money if it wouldn't do any good.
Congrats, you are well on your way. You have plenty of people supporting you. This is going to be VERY GOOD!
You really don't need any of that stuff. Just set all the water you need a day in advance before your weekly flush. That will clear up any chlorine and all that junk. Mix in your nutes quarter strength for now, bring the ph down and you are set for the entire week! watch the ph every day of course and top off as needed but you won't have to top off until about week 3-4 or so.
Thanks its so exciting to get this off the ground! Couldn't have done it without this site, the people here and information are unbelievably helpful. So long as I minimize my beginners mistakes (which are already myriad), I think I can actually do this.
I already moved the girls up in their pots and got the netpot holes covered up by hydroton. Will post some progress pics in a day or two; hoping that helps them out and I start to see more leaves in the next few days!
I already moved the girls up in their pots and got the netpot holes covered up by hydroton. Will post some progress pics in a day or two; hoping that helps them out and I start to see more leaves in the next few days!
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