WATER LEVELS in DWC

WHERE is your water levels at during vegging and flower? Some people say all the way, some say about 5 inches from the bottom of net pot. some say 5 inches above the net pot, some say half way, some say when touching the rockwool. Anyone had any best results with how high your water levels should be?

Vegging?
FLowering?

well I'm not an expert but i think it depends on how big your net pot is. I use 3in net pots and during the first few weeks i have the water level 1in into the pot and as it grows roots, I start to lower it. I normally try to keep it 1 to 2in under the pot. I'm just eyeballing it so I cant be for sure on the exact distance.

You should run it right at the bottom of your netpot for the whole grow.

You'll hear different I'm sure, but this is certainly the best way. Dropping your water down at all only makes cord roots that don't gather any nutrients, they just support other roots and transport nutrients.

If you google "heath robinson" you'll see that the guy who who pioneered DWC as we know it settled on having his water level at the bottom of the net pot for the whole grow because you get the best results.

Think about it.. dropping your water level only reduces your total available nutrients and water, and decreases the space in which roots can grow and feed. I've heard people say that apparently you get more trichome production when you lower the water level through flower. I tried it side by side one time and all that happened to the plant with lower water levels is that it made about 15% less bud than the other one, it definitely wasn't any better either, just less of it, which makes sense, it had less of a rootzone to feed from.

Shafto said:

You should run it right at the bottom of your netpot for the whole grow.

You'll hear different I'm sure, but this is certainly the best way. Dropping your water down at all only makes cord roots that don't gather any nutrients, they just support other roots and transport nutrients.

If you google "heath robinson" you'll see that the guy who who pioneered DWC as we know it settled on having his water level at the bottom of the net pot for the whole grow because you get the best results.

Think about it.. dropping your water level only reduces your total available nutrients and water, and decreases the space in which roots can grow and feed. I've heard people say that apparently you get more trichome production when you lower the water level through flower. I tried it side by side one time and all that happened to the plant with lower water levels is that it made about 15% less bud than the other one, it definitely wasn't any better either, just less of it, which makes sense, it had less of a rootzone to feed from.

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Alright thanks. I've just heard people saying 1inch below the net pot, but u seem pretty confident about exactly under the net pot meaning the water just barely touching it.

I know that during the flowering stage it is best to have lots of space for root mass in which a 5 gallon bucket would do. Does anyone know if during the veg stage do you need lots of space also? Ive seen some people veg on a flood table and than transport them to the 5 gallon. Is a flood table suitable for root mass during the veg stage? Because i dont think a flood table is big enough for flowering for sure plus having other plants. My plan was to have a couple of plants on a table and veg from there than transport to a 5 gallon bucket, but im unsure if this is best for vegging.

The reason for the 1in under the pot is for oxygen because more than likely the nutrient bath doesn't have that much. A for using both systems, I don't see why you would want to use both unless you have 2 grow rooms. If your only using one room then dwc would work all the way throughout the grow. The way I look at it, just try using dwc for a grow and get the hang of hydroponics then you can think about other ways on improving later. For example, lets say your state law says you can only have 3 budding and 4 non budding plants at any given time. Start growing 3 plants to understand and get used to dwc. After your first harvest, you can expand to having 3 in bucket flowering while 3 will be vegging in any system and 1 mother. I'm not sure how hard it is going from a flood table to buckets but it can't be easier than bucket to bucket. As for space, I'm assuming that space would always be a good thing at anytime of the grow. Flood tables can be used for a full grow but it is for smaller plants, so it would be fine during veg.

I run my RDWC like this

Just put into a net pot = 1/2 inch up the netpot till I see roots (I do this to make sure the hydroton gets wet and wicks up to the transplant)

see roots = 1 inch below the netpot ( the bursting air bubbles can reach them now)

5 to 10 roots in the water = 2 inches from the netpot

last two weeks I drop by another 1 or 2.

I use this for 8 to 12 inch net pots.

You can see my results by clicking on my signature below.

I try to keep my water levels at the bottom of the rockwool, you can correlate that to wherever on your net pot (its the bottom if you don't put anything under your cubes..)

think i might put my water up now reading this thread, thanks!
Peace!

zelgadis2113 said:

The reason for the 1in under the pot is for oxygen because more than likely the nutrient bath doesn't have that much.

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If the nutrient bath doesn't have enough oxygen then your system is at fault. More roots in nutrients means more buds, simple as that. It's just like soil, except in DWC the water is your medium instead of the soil. You wouldn't grow a plant in a pot, and once it starts budding, dig away the first 2 inches of soil to try and get it more air, would you? It makes no sense to take away space for feeding roots from your plant.

Shafto said:

If the nutrient bath doesn't have enough oxygen then your system is at fault. More roots in nutrients means more buds, simple as that. It's just like soil, except in DWC the water is your medium instead of the soil. You wouldn't grow a plant in a pot, and once it starts budding, dig away the first 2 inches of soil to try and get it more air, would you? It makes no sense to take away space for feeding roots from your plant.

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that makes so much sense and i am defo 100% convinced on doing it now, cheers shafto
Peace!

Just for chets and giggles I started some seeds on a floating medium. Now out in the sun for three days. I guess they do realize I do not have air hooked up? Will look to see difference in ground and water medium.Topped off with Miracle grow today may transplant tomorrow. Looking at plants that were in the ground out of the same starter: in ground with run off from tomato plants: are larger must be more oxygen and more nutrients or just the added urea?

wiimb said:

think i might put my water up now reading this thread, thanks!
Peace!

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watsupbud said:

WHERE is your water levels at during vegging and flower? Some people say all the way, some say about 5 inches from the bottom of net pot. some say 5 inches above the net pot, some say half way, some say when touching the rockwool. Anyone had any best results with how high your water levels should be?

Vegging?
FLowering?

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Despite what others will tell you, during veg and early flower (especially if you transfer to a bigger res) letting water level drop significantly, encourages massive root growth. You have to keep in mind that as a plant soaks up water the remaining res becomes more concentrated and the ph fluctuates, but if you can manage these two variables it's best to let the water level drop. However, do not let the level drop too much in late flowering. At this point the roots are not growing anymore and you do not want risk stressing the plant. Trust me, by the end of the grow each of my plants' roots fill a 30gallon tote just like you see with these guys posting online with their 5 gallon buckets. This is the same method used with soil. Starve your roots of water for a bit and they start growing down and out to find water. Give them and endless supply and they'll be happy with the bare minimum. However, you won't be happy once they start to flower and to really rely on those roots for the food they need for sugar production.

^^
As an in the ground outside grower this is very true. You want the roots to work and grow.

Roots not only mean more fruit but they are also a cushioning agent.

i'm using a IWS DWC and keep the water about an inch below the net pot.
If you put any higher with a powerful airstone and pump u may find bubbles splash up the sides and leak out.
Cover the netpot in water or up to the rockwool cube and you risk drowning the plant/major root rot.

I've been researching this a bunch - it's my first DWC grow and I had dropped the level down an inch or 2 below the netpot but eventually got root rot. I'm in the process of building an UnderCurrent system for my flower room and their instructions are to maintain it 2" above the bottom of the net pot - always. That's what I'm going with

FennarioMike said:

I've been researching this a bunch - it's my first DWC grow and I had dropped the level down an inch or 2 below the netpot but eventually got root rot. I'm in the process of building an UnderCurrent system for my flower room and their instructions are to maintain it 2" above the bottom of the net pot - always. That's what I'm going with

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What is your water temp? Do you use bennies? I fill my 5g buckets to just under the netpot, and top off with water after it drinks a gallon, then weekly res change.

visajoe1 said:

What is your water temp? Do you use bennies? I fill my 5g buckets to just under the netpot, and top off with water after it drinks a gallon, then weekly res change.

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Well, they are often higher than they should be. They are in individual, black 5 gal buckets and they average 71 - 72 and I fight to keep them from going higher.

After a 35 year growing hiatus, I have finally geared up to get it all going again but this is my 1st crack at DWC and I underestimated my need to disinfect my nutrient solution. I originally started everything in my basement for the first 4 weeks and it is cool down there and the roots were doing great and their temps stayed 64 - 68. Then I had an accident and I flooded my basement which forced me to get a 4 x 8 tent and move everything upstairs while I rebuild my basement. Being in the tent, the temps and humidity shot up and one day my main air line had become partly dislodged for the good part of a day and my roots turned beige.

I think another factor that exacerbated things was too much of an air gap between the net pot and water level. Once the roots had made it down to the bottom of the bucket, I lowered the level about 1.5" below. The roots in THAT space were the ones that turned beige first. Now that I've read Under Current's recommendation for the higher water levels, it seemed to make sense. The higher water keeps those roots rinsed and clean - aside from the disinfectant, just the mechanical action of the agitation helps keep the roots from clumping - whereby the roots in the center of the clump can't breathe.

I immediately started H2O2 treatments, rinsing, cleaning everything, changing nutrient solutions - and it was STILL progressing. I had started putting frozen bottles of water into them but I could only do that once a day and an hour after putting them in, they would be thawed and the temps right back up. I added a whole bunch of ventilation and a humidifier which helped stabilize things. I ended up having to cut out a lot of the infected roots and switched from H2O2 to UC Roots and things are finally moving in the right direction. My net pots look like white chia pets with a full beard of brand new roots popping out all over. I had tried mixing my own with pool shock, but it seemed too strong and it reacted badly with Cannazyme. It caused foaming with the Cannazyme and then gelatinous globs of goo. Everything went in the shower and got a good rinsing down and I ran a new nute batch with UC Roots (no H2O2) and no Cannazyme. Once the new roots get a good foothold, I'll addd it back in to break down anything remaining.

Also, my EZ Cloner got infected. Everything in the tent did. It ended up also getting completely broken down and disinfected and I've just restarted it.

I'm building an under current 2 x 6 system for my flower room, and my plan was to just use buckets to veg them. It's been a hell of a lot of work with individual buckets and my need to cool down the nutes further made me decide to do an RDWC for veg too. Under Current is crazy busy right now, so it takes a little bit of time to order one and get it in so I decided to mimic their design spec and make my own.I'm just waiting for the last of the parts to come and then start building it. Then I'll have a much better control of temps - I got 2, 1/4 HP chillers - one for each room.

Its not the air gap causing rot, its the temps and fluctuations. You can run it at 72 degrees, but you have no room for error. If you can keep it between 65-69 like you did in basement, you're golden. Clean and cold. With your chillers, you'll have nothing to worry about.

How many buckets right now?

visajoe1 said:

Its not the air gap causing rot, its the temps and fluctuations. You can run it at 72 degrees, but you have no room for error. If you can keep it between 65-69 like you did in basement, you're golden. Clean and cold. With your chillers, you'll have nothing to worry about.

How many buckets right now?

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Agreed. Within the next few days I should have the new system built and get that chiller working the way it should. I have 8 buckets right now and that's what I'll build for veg. I'm only doing 6 in the flower room because that will pretty much take up the 10' width ai have in that room. I can keep the veg buckets much closer together.

All these root issues have stagnated or stopped growth almost all together while they grow the new ones. They are well on their way back now. For a day or 2 I was worried they wouldn't pull through - not that ai can't restart - but that's a lot of lost time and electricity...