DWC how high do you want the water level

[pizzapuffer]

so in the past couple years i have been getting into hydro for growing medical weed. i must say being a soil grower for 10 years+, i think hydro blows it out of the water. although im far from putting all my eggs in 1 basket cause my system with soil i need to have a constant harvest every week. each plant is 1 week apart. this keeps me from having over my legal limit. too hard to do with hydro cause then your stuck drying a bunch of weed and you never know when the cops will come knocking for something not to do with weed.

anyways back to the question. i used to keep my water level pretty high. like above all the roots. last year a friend of mine told me to keep my water level only high enough to touch the bottom of the roots. it didnt seem right. i mean it still worked but all the top roots would kinda shrink and die off. then my old dwc 4 site system had a water level meter and always said to keep it at max. this seemed to contradict what my friend told me about keep the water level low. now my most recent DWC, i have the water level high again and my top roots look they're loving it. was my friend wrong this whole time?

should i keep my water level low and just touching the bottom of my roots? or is it better to keep the water level higher saturating almost the entire root structure? i just use a 5 gallon bucket with a net pot and clay pellets. i use what they call an air diffuser. it gives off way more oxygen than a normal air stone and the pump is one of those more commercial grade. sunleaves SDA550 .075 m[SUP]3/min[/SUP] keeps my water nice and circulated. dont even need a water pump. my only problem is i need a chiller to stop the root rot. even though i get root rot though, it still turns out impressive. ppl say to use ice packs but i dont have time for that. i'd rather spend extra money on a chiller.

 

[Hugo Phurst]

I keep the water level an inch or two below the bottom of the net pot, lots of root mass is in the water.



A plastic bottle full of ice can chill you water, and you'll need a root treatment like pondzime or piranha

Good luck

 

[pizzapuffer]

thanks a bunch! do you just put the plastic bottle of ice right in the bucket? i could actually manage that. i did read of this before but wasnt sure if a cold bottle of ice touching some of the roots would hurt it or not. wow that is a nice root mass. could i just use h2o2 for root treatment or are pondzime/piranha a better product or work different?

 

[joe blow greenthumb]

I fill my 5 gallon bucket and add nothing but vinegar and fox farm nutes. She's loving it and the roots do too. No root rot or slime in the water and the roots are bright white. I'm 3 weeks into flowering. The root pic was last week but the overhead shot was a few hours ago.

 

[La Azulrubi]

At first keep the water just at the tips of the roots. Once a week change your water and nutes. Change the water level accordingly. Once your plant reaches flowering it is a MUST check the level of you water every other day. My plants drink on average of 2 gallons of water every 4-5 days.

 

[pizzapuffer]

At first keep the water just at the tips of the roots. Once a week change your water and nutes. Change the water level accordingly. Once your plant reaches flowering it is a MUST check the level of you water every other day. My plants drink on average of 2 gallons of water every 4-5 days.

yeah i change my res every week. i check water levels every sometimes twice. i've done several hydro grows. just didnt know if it was best to keep my water levels lower or higher. turns out higher is working way better. thanks though bro!

 

[Djengo]

I fill my 5 gallon bucket and add nothing but vinegar and fox farm nutes. She's loving it and the roots do too. No root rot or slime in the water and the roots are bright white. I'm 3 weeks into flowering. The root pic was last week but the overhead shot was a few hours ago.

how do u keep the roots soo white?!

 

[pizzapuffer]

how do u keep the roots soo white?!

probably from keeping the water cool. keep it 60-70F really helps stop that root rot. FF nutes are also not very dirty in hydro compared to some others. sometimes darker colored nutrients discolor roots. damn nice root mass though. not sure if it can get any better for a bucket that size. wish mine looked that good. i mean they're not bad right now, but not nearly that nice.

 

[joe blow greenthumb]

I really don't know. My first reservoir fill resulted in slime. I covered my bucket with duct tape and have had no issues since. This is my first attempt at a dwc. I use vinegar to lower my ph, which everyone says will result in issues with my reservoir. I have yet to see it. I don't use a water chiller and I don't put frozen bottles in my reservoir. Fill bucket, let it sit for 24-48hrs, add vinegar then ff nutes and then place my air stone and plant in it. That's my routine. Maybe I've had a bit of beginners luck, maybe its the weather here or maybe I'm just good like that! Lol...doubt it. Here's today's pic of the canopy......
Just finished day 28 since 12/12 flip. She will take 12 weeks so she's got plenty of time.

how do u keep the roots soo white?!

 

[pizzapuffer]

first attempt at dwc damn! you sure know what you're doing. i've always been told to keep water temps 68-70F though. i've been keeping either a bottle of ice or just very cold water. it's really helping with the roots. still not as nice as yours though. im also doing a single rockwool for the first time, just hand water. not too bad so far. in the future i want to get 4 flood and drain tables for rockwool and have each under a 600w. each 2 weeks apart. harvest a batch every 2 weeks. right now i just do soil mainly. each plant is 1 week apart so i harvest every week. this helps ensure i stay within my legal limits. i never have a huge harvest at once but it stays constant. always have a supply of fresh weed or cured weed all different dates 1 week apart. i do like hydro better though. the growth is much faster and the yield is higher. easy comparison everytime i do a dwc. i also think hydro is kinda easier, the feeding is so much simpler. synthetic fertilizers even actually work ok if you measure your ppms and go very low at the end.

 

[joe blow greenthumb]

I really think that duct tape is the key. Cover your reservoir with it. Temps stay even and the light doesn't penetrate. My water is always cold to the touch. I think a lot of people have issues because of light penetration. Once they get slime from that they try some outrageous thing they've "heard" a friend mention. Eliminate light leaks into your reservoir and you're halfway there. Your water temps shouldn't fluctuate much if your grow area is in a stable environment. But I don't have pump moving water so who knows....I have an airstone in my reservoir and that doesn't produce heat. I can't understand how everyone is having issues with slime and root rot but I'm not.

 

[BigEasy1]

I've never root rot or slime issues either. I use the complete Fox Farm lineup at 20 to 25% strength but add Hygrozyme and CaliMagic. I try and keep my water temps between 65 and 72. In the day the temp will rise a little. If the temp gets a little too hot then I use the night lights out time to cool it down a little by either dialing back the heat or opening a window.

 

[BigEasy1]

Oh yeah, I tend to keep my water level on the high side. Sometimes halfway up the net pot if I'm going to be away from home for a day or two. I think key there is to make sure you soak your hydroton in PH'd water very good prior to submersing it or you could end up with PH issues. Guess how I know that! lol

 

[joe blow greenthumb]

I always fill my 5 gallon bucket. It fill it about 3inches from the top. When I lower my roots in it will raise up a bit.

 

[pizzapuffer]

my water stays warm cause my room stays 80-85F. the plants grow faster at warmer temps but i keep it under 85. i use 1400 ppms of co2 though. during the dark cycle i go 75-80F. seems like powdery mildew becomes a problem for certain strains if i let my temps get too low. i read in a gardening magazine that certain species of PM can thrive in low humidity. that temp change from night to day makes a lot of condensation if it is too drastic. i use black buckets. i'll get a pic of my roots. the water bottle of ice seems to really help. i add a little h2o2 every couple days also. using botanicare pure blend pro bloom. running out soon and switching back to fox farm. also using supplements general hydroponics sugar cane and botanicare liquid karma. i'll get a pic

i tell you one thing for sure though. you guys are right about keeping the water levels higher. i tried keeping the water level low on other DWC grows and the root structure looked like shit compared to this one. even before using the bottle of ice.



i use an air diffuser to really get the water bubbling. the air pump is a 58w sunleaves. might be overkill for a single 5 gallon bucket.


shes still pretty early in flower.
heres ones mid way through flower in soil.

 

[Integra21]

You can have the water level as high as you'd like as long as you have enough air density to prevent rot. I have incredibly shallow res's and use a ton of air, but I keep mine filled to about 1/2" below the top of the net pot. It might sound crazy but it works if done right. For examples, see any of my grow journals and keep in mind my res's are only 6" deep.

 

[Djengo]

I really don't know. My first reservoir fill resulted in slime. I covered my bucket with duct tape and have had no issues since. This is my first attempt at a dwc. I use vinegar to lower my ph, which everyone says will result in issues with my reservoir. I have yet to see it. I don't use a water chiller and I don't put frozen bottles in my reservoir. Fill bucket, let it sit for 24-48hrs, add vinegar then ff nutes and then place my air stone and plant in it. That's my routine. Maybe I've had a bit of beginners luck, maybe its the weather here or maybe I'm just good like that! Lol...doubt it. Here's today's pic of the canopy......
Just finished day 28 since 12/12 flip. She will take 12 weeks so she's got plenty of time.

whoa nelly, how did you get so many branches and tops??

 

[chronicals77]

Providing temps are being kept in the proper range and theres a lot of disolved O2 the proper water level for DWC buckets is as follows; at transplant keep the basket 1/2" into the water, once there are quite a bit of roots coming out drop the water level to 2" below the bottom of the basket. The whole 1"-2" inches below the basket so bubbles can pop and keep the hydroton damp makes zero sense. If you have the correct amount of disolved oxygen and your water temp is at or below 75f you can even have the entire basket submerged if you like. I keep my baskets in the water 1/2"-1" for the first two weeks before dropping. I don't know why this is such a popular question because my buckets came with two lines on them, top line for transplants, then bottom line for mature plants once the roots are several inches long. I hope people new to DWC find this thread. You want the hydroton touching the water so it can wick up moisture to the top of the rootball or they will dry out. If your basket doesnt touch the water you have to top water every couple days unless you have a top drip but I dont like drippers because the pump generates more heat and its unecessary. Just have the basket a little bit in the water and use common sense to decide when its time to drop the level a couple inches. These methods are the recommended procedure by DWC bucket manufacturers, and it works ideally. If it doesnt your doing something wrong, usually temp or disolved O2 or both. Even 80f is acceptable as long as the oxy level is high and your using a protectant like Hydroguard, ect. No higher than that but 68f-75f is optimal.

 

[Gary Goodson]

Providing temps are being kept in the proper range and theres a lot of disolved O2 the proper water level for DWC buckets is as follows; at transplant keep the basket 1/2" into the water, once there are quite a bit of roots coming out drop the water level to 2" below the bottom of the basket. The whole 1"-2" inches below the basket so bubbles can pop and keep the hydroton damp makes zero sense. If you have the correct amount of disolved oxygen and your water temp is at or below 75f you can even have the entire basket submerged if you like. I keep my baskets in the water 1/2"-1" for the first two weeks before dropping. I don't know why this is such a popular question because my buckets came with two lines on them, top line for transplants, then bottom line for mature plants once the roots are several inches long. I hope people new to DWC find this thread. You want the hydroton touching the water so it can wick up moisture to the top of the rootball or they will dry out. If your basket doesnt touch the water you have to top water every couple days unless you have a top drip but I dont like drippers because the pump generates more heat and its unecessary. Just have the basket a little bit in the water and use common sense to decide when its time to drop the level a couple inches. These methods are the recommended procedure by DWC bucket manufacturers, and it works ideally. If it doesnt your doing something wrong, usually temp or disolved O2 or both. Even 80f is acceptable as long as the oxy level is high and your using a protectant like Hydroguard, ect. No higher than that but 68f-75f is optimal.

You know this thread is 3 years old right? It's like if someone hung up on you, but you kept talking.

 

[chronicals77]

You know this thread is 3 years old right? It's like if someone hung up on you, but you kept talking.

I know, I just like to add info to old threads in the case a new grower stumbles upon this through a Google search. Seems to be one of the top questions new DWC growers ask. I never needed to ask that question because I bought buckets that came with instructions. I know a lot of people buy baskets and buckets and build thier own.