Keep in mind that the whole netpot, including the rockwool cube (and seed), is below the level of the tote lid. But I agree, you can start them in a cloner or something then move them over when roots are long enough to reach the water. I like having them in the netpots they will stay in so they don't have to be moved so much. I haven't found a way I liked to start them that way outside the dwc res that seemed any easier than in the res though.
I got it from some dude on eBay for around 80 bucks. I know I could of built it myself for less but I don't drive, my license has been suspended for life. It's hard to get around to buy parts without someone asking what your doing and why you buying that. So I just order most of my stuff online. I'm trying to be as stealthy as possible.
Good Luck +rep
The 'Ol Feeder Tube Debate again, huh?
I personally take cuttings and stick them directly into a neoprene puck, and straight into the DIY AeroCloner with 2" netcups. When it is time to flower, it is an easy transfer to the containers in the flower room, still only 2" netcups and neoprene.
But........ When it comes to starting seeds in RockWool, I have NOT seen seeds get such a quick start as they do WITH the feeder tubes. I have killed alot of seeds in RW because the cubes were too wet, too dry, or too....? It amazes me that the feeder tubes can continually wet the RW cube, and it doesnt drown the seed. The fact that it is constantly spitting highly O2'ed H2O into the side of cube, and showing the roots its path to the res, has been proven to work incredibly. The extra heat created by the pump during this process actually speeds up root growth. I find the res temp for roots to be best at 80-82 degrees. When the roots are in the res with the water 2" below the netcup, it is ok to take out the pump and feeder tubes, the extra heat is not advisable now, and the bubbles will provide everything needed.
I would be VERY interested in seeing another way that is as fast as using the feeder tubes with seeds. Yes, there are unlimmited ways to sprout seeds. But when you are trying to go from seed to a nice sized plant to flower as fast as you can, I dont know a quicker method.
) All of my media is moist as well as the net pots themselves all the way up to the lid line. I hand watered within the first 24 hours and I haven't since. When I checked this morning my res had dropped just a hair over an inch since I started the system up 48 hours ago. (Extremely dry here, 28-32% RH lately) All of my media was still wet right up to the lid line. I would feel confident that even dropping another inch in the next 48 hours would not have affected the plants. However just to be safe, I pH'd up some water and added it to the res to bring it back up to the bottom of the net pots.Join thousands of dwc growers who have been doing it this way for years. Feeder tubes are a gimmick.I hope no one immediately puts me on the "bandwagon" or their hate list for posting this as I'm not trying to pet anyones ego or anything of the sort. Just a stupid noob to hydro, though I have grown in soil quite a bit. But as a stupid noob I can provide my response without any bias - just what has happened to me in the last 48 hours.
To be honest - I had no idea you could add feeder tubes to your DWC system to feed your seedlings. I have to say I probably would have been nervous as a newb leaving this all to the bubbles knowing that I could build in a feeder tube system but 48 hours later - I'm glad I did. Looking back, I think I really would have complicated things for myself. I had filled my res to the bottom of the net pots with a good amount of bubble action going. (Though more will be added later!!
To be honest I'm kind of mad I didn't start out growing this way as I seem to have a lot more control over what is going on vs soil and its slow response time to corrections. My pH was off a smidge this morning and with a little pH down - I'm right back to a perfect environment. However everything you read is that Hydro is so complicated and so much more labor intensive. Though I feel I'm doing a little more maintenance... I'm also not worrying as much and staring at my plants waiting for the first signs of anything wrong because I know it will take up to a week (or sometimes longer) to correct.
I can't wait till my roots hit the res water so they really take off. The last 12 hours was the first good amount of new growth that I noticed since they were placed in the system from soil.
Hope this helps someone. Not trying to discourage anyone that is using feeder tubes already or anyone really. Just tossing this out there so someone can make an informed choice knowing its working just fine on the bubbles for me. And I know nothing when it comes to bubbles at the moment! lol