how much?

I'm looking at a 10 gallon tub for a 2 site stealth bubble bucket . My question is . How much room should there be between water level and bottom of basket. Min and max please

Medical User said:

I'm looking at a 10 gallon tub for a 2 site stealth bubble bucket . My question is . How much room should there be between water level and bottom of basket. Min and max please

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Some people run the water level up high in the hydroton and others leave an air gap underneath the net cup. My personal experience is that it really just doesn't matter all that much with mature plants (I personally just keep the water level high enough that the bottom of the net cup is getting splashed by bubbles popping on the surface). When the plants are really young and don't have roots out of the net cup, I just try to keep the water level high enough to make the bottom half of hydroton consistently wet.

Early on the problem with running the water level too high is that you are inviting stem rot if your plants stem is constantly wet.
So I try keep it half a inch to an inch from the bottom of the netpot.

Unless as the guy above me said they are mature. When mature they won't be sitting in the water very long. They tend to drink 2-4 ltrs a day.

id agree with an inch or inch and a half front the netcup as ive read that the lower your water level, the more the plant roots grow to find the water.

I2icho said:

Early on the problem with running the water level too high is that you are inviting stem rot if your plants stem is constantly wet.

When mature they won't be sitting in the water very long. They tend to drink 2-4 ltrs a day

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Yeah this is especially true if you use rockwool cubes or rapid rooter-type plugs. I start seeds directly in hydroton in their net cups, so I tend to have the water level a bit higher than others might at first with seedlings since hydroton dries so quickly and the top layer is usually bone dry from both the fans and light.

I've had bigger plants during the heat of summer that consumed over 8 liters a day - not a fun growing experience when you really only have about 16 usable liters in 5 gallon buckets anyway. Will never grow plants that size again just because of the work it took to keep the reservoirs in order every day. Not fun at all. lol