Rockwool Wet or Dry in DWC hydro set-up????

I am running a DWC set up with NO top feed, my stuff is in 1 in rockwool cubes surrounded by hydroton

my questions is...

The rockwool is very dry (due to the 250 Watt CFL) and is hard to keep wet. I want to know if im supposed to leave it dry or feed it water by hand (since i do not have a top feed system)

The plants get its water/nutrients from the roots so I could just leave the rockwool how it is right?

Any advice is helpful, if you take a glance at this thread I would very much appreciate any response. Thanks in advance!

from my experience (Bubbler system) the cubes would get dry as ur describing and if the roots arent formed enough into the DWC yet the cube can dry out the roots as well.. I would suggest next time to just use the hydro stones or you can even just have the plant sitting in the water over the bubbler. For now idk how developed your root system is but I would keep it moist until the plant is strong and developed enough. In my opinion, hopefully someone else can bring in some insight.. gl!

-Another idea would be to lower the rock wool deeper into the screen cups or w/e is holding your hydroton so it can get splashed by the bubbles and stay moist

Thank you very much for your quick response, your time is appreciated

"Another idea would be to lower the rock wool deeper into the screen cups or w/e is holding your hydroton so it can get splashed by the bubbles and stay moist"

i am using a 10 gallon tote, with 5 plants and the water level is approximately 2 inches BELOW the net pots, before I had the water level an inch ABOVE the net pots because I heard that you should have the roots fully submerged, but the main reason was to keep the rockwool moist. I was dealing with some extremely slow growth so decided to make some changes one of them being lowering the water level to an inch below the net pots, as a result I saw faster growth.

my root system is fairly developed with each plant have 2-3 medium sized roots, the roots hang 2 inches in air and the rest is submerged in the water, some bubbles DO hit the rockwool but that does not help at all in keeping the rockwool moist/wet due to the 250W CFL Beast eating up all moisture that it comes into contact with.

My plants will be exactly 2 weeks old tomorrow from seed, 2 of them have the 3 set of true leaves and the other 3 are working on their second.

As always any Insight at all will be much valued!

I was dealing with some extremely slow growth so decided to make some changes one of them being lowering the water level to an inch below the net pots, as a result I saw faster growth.

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This was most likely because of the lack of oxygen the roots were getting.. anyway if your babies have reached the rez you should be good without the rockwool being wet.. hope this helps

yeah your roots have hit the water so will be sweet, but you could just sprinkle a bit of water onto the cube to make sure its sweet

Is the TOP of you net pots covered to protect the medium from the light as well ?
I have white circular and square plastic pot covers for whenever I grow.
These net pots we grow in are very shallow compared to the powerful lights we use.
My 5 inch pots are only 4 inches deep and my 400w is usually within 3ft of them.
I've seen lots of ppl get algae growth for not covering them and sometimes light leaks too.

I go from start to finish in two inch netpots with just rockwool no other media.

I take a sytro cup and cut out "lids" with a knife and cutting pliers.

This keeps the rockwool moist so you don't need a water pump just an air line with an air stone.

I use an ATX PC box with two 26w cfls with a plastic 6 site shoebox with just one airstone for stage one.

Thanks for all responses, my plants seem to be doing fine now, the root systems are somewhat devloped and I leave the rockwool completely dry and they dont seem to mind.

No explosive growth though, I've seen alot of growers on here running DWC and are getting super explosive growths, I guess my slow growth (or maybe i should say normal, but slow relative to other dwc grows) must be attributed to genetics, because I have kept everything perfect :/.

I am gonna go to the shop today and pick up some epsom salt and superthrive, see if that helps any.

Thanks again everyone who input.

Flo Grow said:

Is the TOP of you net pots covered to protect the medium from the light as well ?
I have white circular and square plastic pot covers for whenever I grow.
These net pots we grow in are very shallow compared to the powerful lights we use.
My 5 inch pots are only 4 inches deep and my 400w is usually within 3ft of them.
I've seen lots of ppl get algae growth for not covering them and sometimes light leaks too.

Click to expand...

The tops are covered with a layer of hydroton, I saw your set up and was wondering where I could get covers from? Do hydro shops have them or is it a DIY project?
Hey Flo Gro I've seen a lot of your grows, including the 12/12 from seed, pretty impressive. Could I get some advice from you?

I am running a DWC, and my plants nowhere look as near as your plants did at 2 weeks.
ph, ppm, temp, res temp, light distance, pump, nute strength, everything is right on the money for me, so im trying to figure out what the deal is.

I used distilled water for my DWC with a ppm of 0, so maybe it is because of that? my ppm now is at 190 and plants are 2 weeks, they seemed to like it but I dont wanna burn them. Should i invest in some superthrive, epsom salt, and h2o2? Im using gh 3-part series. Thanks in advance.

College Grower said:

The tops are covered with a layer of hydroton, I saw your set up and was wondering where I could get covers from? Do hydro shops have them or is it a DIY project?
Hey Flo Gro I've seen a lot of your grows, including the 12/12 from seed, pretty impressive. Could I get some advice from you?

I am running a DWC, and my plants nowhere look as near as your plants did at 2 weeks.
ph, ppm, temp, res temp, light distance, pump, nute strength, everything is right on the money for me, so im trying to figure out what the deal is.

I used distilled water for my DWC with a ppm of 0, so maybe it is because of that? my ppm now is at 190 and plants are 2 weeks, they seemed to like it but I dont wanna burn them. Should i invest in some superthrive, epsom salt, and h2o2? Im using gh 3-part series. Thanks in advance.

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Hydro shops should carry them... I have hydrotron over my 1" rockwool cubes and have never had a problem they are well buried though.

Ive used superthrive, and it does nothing to make your plants grow faster. It does however help your plants if they are on the brink of dying.

College Grower said:

The tops are covered with a layer of hydroton, I saw your set up and was wondering where I could get covers from? Do hydro shops have them or is it a DIY project?
Hey Flo Gro I've seen a lot of your grows, including the 12/12 from seed, pretty impressive. Could I get some advice from you?

I am running a DWC, and my plants nowhere look as near as your plants did at 2 weeks.
ph, ppm, temp, res temp, light distance, pump, nute strength, everything is right on the money for me, so im trying to figure out what the deal is.

I used distilled water for my DWC with a ppm of 0, so maybe it is because of that? my ppm now is at 190 and plants are 2 weeks, they seemed to like it but I dont wanna burn them. Should i invest in some superthrive, epsom salt, and h2o2? Im using gh 3-part series. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

you could make your own covers very easy to do some people use Styrofoam plates or cups and but out a hole..

College Grower said:

The tops are covered with a layer of hydroton, I saw your set up and was wondering where I could get covers from? Do hydro shops have them or is it a DIY project?
Hey Flo Gro I've seen a lot of your grows, including the 12/12 from seed, pretty impressive. Could I get some advice from you?

I am running a DWC, and my plants nowhere look as near as your plants did at 2 weeks.
ph, ppm, temp, res temp, light distance, pump, nute strength, everything is right on the money for me, so im trying to figure out what the deal is.

I used distilled water for my DWC with a ppm of 0, so maybe it is because of that? my ppm now is at 190 and plants are 2 weeks, they seemed to like it but I dont wanna burn them. Should i invest in some superthrive, epsom salt, and h2o2? Im using gh 3-part series. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

You dont need to invest into that , if you are using General Hydroponics ( I use the same ) I recommend getting some Floralicious Plus and some Flora Blend I add those to mine and the plants love it . If you use R/O water and see deficiency then buy some cal/mag to add to the res.

The covers are a VERY easy DIY project. Styro plates work best for larger pots. As far as keeping your rockwool wet, As long as your root system is in the water you should be good. I grow with rockwool and hydroton. I only worry about keeping the water lvl up to the rockwool until I get roots coming out of the net pots. My plants have all thrived like this. Is 190ppm a good concentration for growing? I don't know because I don't have a reader to check mine with and have never needed one. Might be something you want to look into.

Are there any good threads out there that explains the water level/planter depth?

Thanks
DBB