NEW To Indoor/DWC Potting Question

Hey Guys..

I am starting in about another week...

Everything has arrived and I started doing my Pre Set-up to see if everything for the 1st Grow would be in Order.

I ordered 1 bag of Hydrotone clay pebbles. However, I didn't realize my Net Pots were of 10"

So, I'm using a CoCo Soil Mix Pellets to start my roots. I'm going to do the typical 2 to 3 Layer of Hydrotone at the bottom for 2-5 Gallon Buckets.

I have enough to do both buckets and bring my Hydrotone levels to just barely the top if not short.

So I ordered a 11 lb batch of CoCo to Top and give my Support Rings and my Hooks support during LST/Topping

Will this be Okay? with a layer of about 2" Of Coco to top? Don't want to screw up any readings before they start cause this is new to me. I'm a Old school Soil Guy who hasn't grown since 2004

Thanks for your Advice

If this is a true DWC with no circulation at all, I think you should be ok. The main problem I see with the combo is the particle size difference. You may have the coco slip past the Hydroton and fall into the bottom of your bucket. I only use one medium in my environment because I do RDWC and Coco would clog up my pumps if any fell through the net pot. Several growers say that your combo mix works fine and mention they have had success. In the end, I think the more important factors are PH, PPM, and water temps, keep those in line and your blend should be fine.

I always start my clones or seeds in Promix HP in those 9-hole seed starter pots so I have a small plug to add to the net pots and some of it does get into the nutes but never caused a problem. Don't use anything containing real dirt or microbes tho as that can screw things up and lead to root rot.



10" net pots suck. I do my DWC in Rubbermaid tubs and use 3.5 or 5" net pots even with 50L of water under them. A 10" pot in a 5gal pail only leaves about 3gal of room underneath and once the plants get big and drink up a lot of water your pH and ppm will be bouncing around all over the place. Pails are fine for RDWC but suck for stand-alone nute containers imo. I've only ever used the tubs from 2001 but have seen a lot of thread from peeps using pails and all the hassles they have. With the tubs I would go 3 days or longer when the plants were smaller between top-ups.

Using RO water with AN pH Perfect nutes I never had to check pH and would go whole grows without ever changing nutes just by checking the ppm and adjusting that. Generally adding small amounts of nutes to stay in my target zone. Always top up then wait 15 min or more before testing pH and PPM. If you don't have an opening in the tops of your pails punch a hole through before you start so you can use a syringe or turkey baster to get samples out for testing and adding nutes or water. I put a 2" hole in all my tub lids so I can even see the roots with a flashlight to keep an eye on them too.

Thanks Guys..
I'm taking hints from both of you.
I'm glad I asked. I was thinking about what if some of the Coco washed through? What would happen? And as you both are saying there is a possibility of the ppms bouncing around.

So I was trying to save some money but looks like I'm going to order some 6" Net Pots to go in, so the Hydrotone I have will be plenty and I hope the support rings and hooks anchor in the Hydrotone without any problems. Just as you said

A 10" pot in a 5gal pail only leaves about 3gal of room underneath and once the plants get big and drink up a lot of water your pH and ppm will be bouncing around all over the place.

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I read it is 2.5 and even 3 is giving it a nice bump but sounds like I'll be working harder than I should in maintaining the PHP and PPMs
with that and the

You may have the coco slip past the Hydroton and fall into the bottom of your bucket

Click to expand...

I'm going to be using an Aeroponic system to boost my root growth and nutrient absorption in the 1st 3 weeks. So the nozzles would probably spray Coco into the Reservoir.

Both gave me information that was bouncing around in my head as I await my start day. I think that I should just go with the 6" Pots to shorten my workload ALL the way around.

BaRabus said:

Thanks Guys..
I'm taking hints from both of you.
I'm glad I asked. I was thinking about what if some of the Coco washed through? What would happen? And as you both are saying there is a possibility of the ppms bouncing around.

So I was trying to save some money but looks like I'm going to order some 6" Net Pots to go in, so the Hydrotone I have will be plenty and I hope the support rings and hooks anchor in the Hydrotone without any problems. Just as you said

I read it is 2.5 and even 3 is giving it a nice bump but sounds like I'll be working harder than I should in maintaining the PHP and PPMs
with that and the


I'm going to be using an Aeroponic system to boost my root growth and nutrient absorption in the 1st 3 weeks. So the nozzles would probably spray Coco into the Reservoir.

Both gave me information that was bouncing around in my head as I await my start day. I think that I should just go with the 6" Pots to shorten my workload ALL the way around.

Click to expand...

If you're using sprayers, (and you don't have to as you can just use a turkey baster or syringe with tubing on the end to suck up some nutes and squirt it on the hydroton a couple times a day for a few days until roots emerge from the pots). little bits of coco will plug them up right quick unless you filter it well. Other than that a bit of coco in the nutes shouldn't hurt anything.

Thanks OldMed...

I know I could have used a syringe which I have plenty of...
I was afraid of the allotted space in my reservoir. I read it on other boards while researching. However, I read it after I bought my system.

So, I have been sweating on it in the back of my mind and I wasn't even thinking of it in this thread I posted but guess what, you Mentioned it and that is what I call a SIGN!

I pay attention to signs..lol Since I ignored it elsewhere, I won't ignore the voice again. Whenever I do that, I tend to screw up and things go wrong.

I bought 6" Net Pots. I will probably give away the 10" or Hord it as I do with everything I spend my hard-earned money on. LOL

BaRabus said:

I bought 6" Net Pots. I will probably give away the 10" or Hord it as I do with everything I spend my hard-earned money on. LOL

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I got a house full of hoarded stuff. My wife and I are bad for that. Getting old and starting to get rid of stuff now. Selling what I can or giving to friends if they want it or it goes to the local charity thrift store.

It's amazing how little space the roots take up tho. I measured the water displacement all those roots took up in that last pic I posted and it was only 2L out of a 50L tub so just 4% of the space. There was 16 plants growing in those 4 netpots too.

OldMedUser said:

There was 16 plants growing in those 4 netpots too.

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How far did you grow them out in there? I am getting one of those setups to keep my crops rotating and not waiting. I am thinking of 5 weeks before Harvest, I'll start growing another ...Having it ready to grow when I Harvest

BaRabus said:

How far did you grow them out in there? I am getting one of those setups to keep my crops rotating and not waiting. I am thinking of 5 weeks before Harvest, I'll start growing another ...Having it ready to grow when I Harvest

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How far? They grew there until I cropped them out if that's what you mean.

You don't need a fancy space to veg plants. A closet with some half decent lights that doesn't get too warm. Don't need a lot of height so under the stairs can be good enough. Have all the good gear in the flowering area to get the best out of them.

If a guy wants to stick to the 4 plant legal limit here you could start a new plant every 8 - 10 weeks and have something flowering all the time and have loads of pot after a while. I was planning to do that with DWC ScroG setups. I've got a pound off one plant doing that including all the real frosty sugar trim and popcorn buds. I haven't even had a harvest since last November but will be starting some flowering in a week or so and have lots more in the pipeline. I want to grow a shitload this winter and get stocked up in case we end up moving but nothing definite along those lines yet. Making most of what I grow into RSO and keeping it in the freezer for future needs.

Ok I can't remember are you doing LED hps

How far? They grew there until I cropped them out if that's what you mean.

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I looking at some Pics on the net where someone used your Tubs and grew one that looked about 3 to 4 feet (before Harvesting)

So I was just wondering if you Seed to Harvest in those units....But I see you just Veg in them..

BaRabus said:

I looking at some Pics on the net where someone used your Tubs and grew one that looked about 3 to 4 feet (before Harvesting)

So I was just wondering if you Seed to Harvest in those units....But I see you just Veg in them..

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Just veg? No way man. They grow right to the end in those tubs. I've even started seeds in the net pots as an experiment and took those to harvest too. I've had 6 footers bent over in tubs as well tho try to keep them a little shorter than that.

Beer Can Betty. just one of the dozen Afghani Kush plants that died in that tub. lol

That's what I was asking....

So...Do you Hydroton hold them well? do they stabilize? and at what height is preferably the max in those?
That one looks 3'

BaRabus said:

That's what I was asking....

So...Do you Hydroton hold them well? do they stabilize? and at what height is preferably the max in those?
That one looks 3'

Click to expand...

Those plants were about 3 ft+ when done and I had them leaning against the wall so they didn't fall over. lol I made that 12 hole tub for more of a SoG type grow but let the plants get too tall before flipping to flower. As the net pots are only 3.5" a heavy plant that tips over can bend the pot over so the 5 or 6" pots are better for larger plants. 10" that come in the ready made pails for DWC are overkill IMO and go so deep into the pail that there's only room for about 3gal/12L of nutes. That's fine for RDWC but not so good for stand-alone units. With the RubberMaid tubs the shorter ones hold 35L and I'd use them for veg then just before flipping to flower I'd mix up a fresh batch of nutes in the taller version that hold 50L then just lift the top off the shorter one and drop it on the taller one as the lids are the same size. Then I got lazier and just ran them from start to finish in the tall tubs so I didn't have to change the nutes.

To prevent leaks I never made any holes below the water line. To change nutes a drill pump for about 10- $15 works great. Can suck out 50L in just a couple min and runs off any electric drill. They use garden hose fittings so I'd have about 2ft on the inlet side and just leave it open on the outlet side to shoot it into an empty tub next to it. You could hook a garden hose to the outlet side and pump the water to a drain/toilet if you want as well. I used some plastic mosquito screen fixed on with a SS hose clamp to prevent roots or sunken hydroton balls and other debris getting sucked up and damaging the plastic vanes inside.