DWC Seedling Water Level

Okay so the seedlings have germed in the rockwool and I see the tap root.

Now do I lay one inch of hydroton and bring the water level to the bottom of the net pot and then put my RW cube in or lay two inches of hydro, then RW. I know I'm supposed to cover it to prevent the light from developing algae.

Or does the strength of my bubbles determine where I place the water level? Should the bubbles be hitting the rockwool or popping just below it?

Im new to DWC, im two weeks in so far. I have my water level about 1" below the pot that holds the plant and medium. The bubbles bursting is enough to wet the seedling. Just keep an eye on it and check how wet the bottom of the basket/medium gets

Do you have your seedling in rockwool?

Is there a level of medium underneath the rockwool?

What i do is a layer of hydroton 2-3 pebbles deep, then your plant, then more hydroton. I keep the water 1" below the netpot and top feed with a small cup until roots start coming out the bottom. I don't use rockwool so IDK how that will effect the outcome.

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Thanks bro! Kind of confirmed what I was thinking to be honest. What do you use other then RW?

Anyone who uses RW can chime in?

Fill out the RW so there is a bunch of roots sticking out the bottom, not just the tap.

I use an aerocloner now for seeds. Much easier and faster growth than with RW.

Then proceed to what WeedFreak said. The bubbles will pop on the surface and spray the netpots and unless you're using a pot bigger than 6 inches it will work its way into the plant.

I think rapid rooters work a lot better then rock wool in DWC , the don't stay so saturated . And if you germ. In on you can tare it apart once you see a tap root and go medium less with just a net pot and collar

Or germ in a paper towel (much cheaper) and put directly in collar and net cup

Thanks everyone!

i use rapid rooters for seed starting.

I've heard bad things about those versus Rockwool, they dry out too quickly or something.

I've heard just the opposite, rockwool can hold too much water too long. I always err on the side of too dry..it's easier to add water than to take it away. Rockwool also has PH issues..or so i've read. I don't start many seeds, usually only 1 or 2 a yr, if that..I'll then mother those plants and clone until i want something diferent

Do you do DWC/RDWC?

I'm reading up on both now and I think I'm going with the Rapid Rooters. I agree, better too dry then too wet.

For right now leave it below the netpot later on after you get used to
it you may want to bring the water level on up.What you don't want is
cord roots (big thick) they waste energy. Play with everything see what
works best for you.ARE's cloner idea sounds good.

"Your starter cube goes in the middle of the pot surrounded by Hydroton. Direct contact between cube and waterline is not required BUTit's the best guarantee of survival! Hydroton does not wick. It cannot bring water to the root/cube. If your waterline is 1/4 inch too low, a cube the size of a starter can dry out and kill your sprout while you sleep. Been there, done that. Because your water is aerated, water becomes the delivery system for O2. Saturating the cube with water prevents drowning.

Keep direct contact with starter until roots can span more than a 1" air gap. Many maintain the 1" religiously. I top off every other week so my gap drops to 4-6 inches. Eventually, upper roots need not drink, they only need to be not bone dry but, at this stage, they have to be able to drink directly."

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=158115

Fourth post, he also posts a picture. Is this solid?

Anyone?

I have all my DWC buckets scribed on the inside at 1" below the netpot. I know it holds 12L at that mark which makes mixing nutes easy. When i top up, i just use the hose and top back to the scribed line. i top up ever 2-3 days..it usually takes 2-4L. When the plants are young and don't have roots hanging i use a small cup and top feed with water right out of the bucket 2 times a day. A really small pond pump could be used on a timer to top drip for 5 mins every few hours if you don't want to worry about hand feeding. Take the pump out once roots drop. I make sure to have enough air so that the popping bubbles keep the netpot fairly wet at all times. I don't feel that water contacting the starter cube is a good idea..too much chance of it staying too wet and causing issues. You want the root zone to dry out a little, it's what makes the plant push out roots in search of more water. It really is quite simple when you start doing it. I did a crapload of research before i jumped in and , honestly, i made it alot worse than it should have been stressing myself out over how to do this and that. I now only spend 5mins a day, 1 hour once or twice a week and 1 full day a month tending my stuff.

Wanted to avoid top feeding because I don't trust myself after reading how well RW holds water,
Still haven't decided between RW or RR. Read RR has beneficial organisms that the DWC bucket doesn't take kindly to, is this true?

Thanks bro, I'll try it your way.

nameno said:

For right now leave it below the netpot later on after you get used to
it you may want to bring the water level on up.What you don't want is
cord roots (big thick) they waste energy. Play with everything see what
works best for you.ARE's cloner idea sounds good.

Click to expand...

Why do you say the cord roots are a waste? They are the superhighway of the root system. Plants are very efficient organisms and aren't going to produce parts that are wasteful or detrimental to their well being. Every one of my plants has a huge (5 gal+ volume of roots) with multiple cord roots.

Yeah the rapid rooter do have beneficials to help with starting. Any organics can cause problems if your water isn't cool or aerated well enough. I have 4 dwc's at the moment that have rapid rooter buried in hydroton, and the res temps continually get to around 72F and i haven't had any issue with root problems. I do have alot of air going in to try to keep the warmer water well aerated. You can split the rapid rooters and rinse them off, but i don't, I don't want to mess with the roots. I was running tap water originally, and the chlorine helped keep things clean, it doesn't effect plants nearly as much as people say. I've tried hard to run a sterile res..but it proves to be harder than i thought because many nute manufactures don't like saying if their product is 100% synthesized or if it contains organics. I put one additive in that i was told was synth by the hydro shop guys..only to find out it was actually organic based and i started getting brown roots. threw that right out once i found out. Knock on wood I haven't had any issues, but i have a couple gallons of bleach and a bottle of H202 around for sterilization if it's needed.