Truth about roots in dwc

Because of all the conflicting information, please only post if you have experience. I get the same rhetoric over and over from both sides, and it's usually verbatum as if ppl are quoting the same sites instead of speaking with original thoughts.
In dwc, are the roots breathing oxygen dissolved in the water or are they breathing atmospherically through the roots that are above the water?
Half the sources say they breathe from the water. Those are the ones sayin i need smaller bubbles, because those take longer to get to the top and have more surface area.
The other half says that roots only get 1 to 2 percent of their air from the water, and that the rest comes from the air between the waterline and bucket lid. If this is true, i could unhook my air stone and just let huge bubbles come from the hose itself and those bubbles would not only aerate the exposed roots but would do better at moving the underwater roots around (to prevent nutriend and oxygen deadzones).
Is there any way i could get someone to give me a short concise straigh-to-the-point answer that leaves no doubt?

without O2 in the deep water culture, the roots die closely followed by the plants expiring.

If you really think about it, nobody knows for sure. How can anyone know this.. I ran single bucket Dwc for over twelve years.. The only problems I had is when the airstone was fucked up.. Does it really matter who is right.. You can't learn everything about growing on this forum.. You need to grow and learn your your own style.. I'm doing organic soil now just to learn something different..

You need to pay attention to the waters temp so that it can actually absorb o2. In DWC everything comes from the water, the nutes the water the O2. Just look at your root mass at the end of a successful run. their is nothing but fat stock like transfer roots above the water line. if you dont believe me about it all coming from under the water line, do a side by side , one plant you cut off all the root hairs above the water and the other you leave alone. I bet you both plants are equal

You NOT getting an answer you Like??? https://www.rollitup.org/t/are-air-stones-even-necessary.949301/page-2#post-13787722

The size of the bubble that an air stone produces makes a significant difference in their ability to add dissolved oxygen to water. If a single large bubble and 8 small bubbles have the same total amount of air inside of them, then the surface area of the smaller bubbles will always be greater. http://www.just4growers.com/stream/hydroponic-growing-techniques/airing-out-the-truth-on-dissolved-oxygen-in-hydroponics.aspx

Jypsy Dog said:

The size of the bubble that an air stone produces makes a significant difference in their ability to add dissolved oxygen to water. If a single large bubble and 8 small bubbles have the same total amount of air inside of them, then the surface area of the smaller bubbles will always be greater. http://www.just4growers.com/stream/hydroponic-growing-techniques/airing-out-the-truth-on-dissolved-oxygen-in-hydroponics.aspx

Click to expand...

This is why i had to ask specifically for straight answers instead of the same rhetoric and you literally quoted yourself lol you didnt answer the question about which part of the roots brings in the most air, the parts right above the water exposed to air, or the parts under water breathing via bubbles. You just keep saying smaller bubbles better than bigger bubbles. So the roots above the water line arent breathing as much oxygen as the roots under water?

Los Reefersaurus said:

You need to pay attention to the waters temp so that it can actually absorb o2. In DWC everything comes from the water, the nutes the water the O2. Just look at your root mass at the end of a successful run. their is nothing but fat stock like transfer roots above the water line. if you dont believe me about it all coming from under the water line, do a side by side , one plant you cut off all the root hairs above the water and the other you leave alone. I bet you both plants are equal

Click to expand...

Closest thing to a straight answer yet. Thanks

glani said:

This is why i had to ask specifically for straight answers instead of the same rhetoric and you literally quoted yourself lol you didnt answer the question about which part of the roots brings in the most air, the parts right above the water exposed to air, or the parts under water breathing via bubbles. You just keep saying smaller bubbles better than bigger bubbles. So the roots above the water line arent breathing as much oxygen as the roots under water?

Click to expand...

Can't wait to see the SANFORD & Son system you decide on. Good Luck.

Thinking about getting rid of the air stones all together and just water falling my return to each bucket.
I also keep some brackish fish at home and through many years reading about using bubbles for adding o2 to water I have come to the conclusion that many others have, that is their are better ways to oxygenate water than using bubbles,
Most of the o2 transfer happens at the surface even when you add bubbles all you do is bring the low o2 water from the bottom to the surface as the bubbles rise. Flooming and water falling are better at adding o2 to water than bubbles because they break the surface tension better than a bubble popping on the surface does.
But regardless of what method you use TEMPS ARE KEY to o2 levels in water/nutes and thats a fact.
High temps = low o2 and no amount of bubbles or any other method will change that.
IMO keep it cool! keep it moving!

^^ x2 you won't get a better answer op

neckpod said:

Thinking about getting rid of the air stones all together and just water falling my return to each bucket.
I also keep some brackish fish at home and through many years reading about using bubbles for adding o2 to water I have come to the conclusion that many others have, that is their are better ways to oxygenate water than using bubbles,
Most of the o2 transfer happens at the surface even when you add bubbles all you do is bring the low o2 water from the bottom to the surface as the bubbles rise. Flooming and water falling are better at adding o2 to water than bubbles because they break the surface tension better than a bubble popping on the surface does.
But regardless of what method you use TEMPS ARE KEY to o2 levels in water/nutes and thats a fact.
High temps = low o2 and no amount of bubbles or any other method will change that.
IMO keep it cool! keep it moving!

Click to expand...

THIS.

Drops the mic and walks away...

So all the breathing is done through the water, got it. And water agitation is more important than bubbles themselves, got it.
I've got two stones per bucket but just ordered a water pump as ive decided to switch to rdwc. Thanks for the help guys

glani said:

So all the breathing is done through the water, got it. And water agitation is more important than bubbles themselves, got it.
I've got two stones per bucket but just ordered a water pump as ive decided to switch to rdwc. Thanks for the help guys

Click to expand...

Have you EVER grown B4?

Jypsy Dog said:

Have you EVER grown B4?

Click to expand...

It was throwing me off that air pockets in soil help roots breathe, and that aeroponics has roots exposed. Both of those had me wondering about how roots breathe. Only grown once and it was soil. Instead of simply copying a technique, i wanted to understand more about how it all works on a basic level

HydoDan said:

If you really think about it, nobody knows for sure. How can anyone know this.. I ran single bucket Dwc for over twelve years.. The only problems I had is when the airstone was fucked up.. Does it really matter who is right.. You can't learn everything about growing on this forum.. You need to grow and learn your your own style.. I'm doing organic soil now just to learn something different..

Click to expand...

Really???

There's scientific research devoted to specific areas of plant biology and you don't think any one of them had studied how plants uptake O2?

Seriously, some of you people make my brain hurt sometimes

WeedFreak78 said:

Really???

There's scientific research devoted to specific areas of plant biology and you don't think any one of them had studied how plants uptake O2?

Seriously, some of you people make my brain hurt sometimes

Click to expand...

SAD... Some think Education ended when they dropped out. "Higher Education?" "Sure , lets get stoned B4 class!"

100% the water. it's called DISSOLVED oxygen for a reason.

When I leave space for air in my dwc tub, the roots that stay permanently exposed grow excessively thick; the surface hardens, too, which led me to think that they actually end up not breathing too well at all

glani said:

In dwc, are the roots breathing oxygen dissolved in the water or are they breathing atmospherically through the roots that are above the water?

Is there any way i could get someone to give me a short concise straigh-to-the-point answer that leaves no doubt?

Click to expand...

You sure can.
DWC -The hard truth about % DO Saturation and PPM DO Concentration simplified… You can keep guessing, hoping and praying every day that your res water DO will be "safe" for your crop and Bennys or if you really want to know if you are winning or losing the DO challenge of insuring safe oxygenation in your DWC or RDWC res water, well that's easy to do and it's simple…. Test your DO with a DO meter or DO chemical test strips. The test strips are cheap, $1 a test or so.

It is really popular not to really know what DO surprise awaits you when check your roots every morning, Always watching for the dreaded symptoms of root rot... and the Pythium outbreak. Oh the routine morning anticipation of looking at your roots not knowing what surprise you might find every morning is sort of exciting for many growers so to speak.

If your DO saturation is too low, simply add more oxygen, if your DO Saturation is within the “safe range”, don’t worry, be happy and roll up a big one, get laid and chill out because your DO is safe in your res water.

But, if your DO Saturation is too low, you really got big problems and if you do not fix that low DO problem, you will have sick, dying, dead and decaying roots and you can bet your 1st born child (legitimate or bastard child) the fungus is always present and will colonize and thrive on your dead marijuana roots.

All that aggravation and heart break is predictable every time your DWC/RDWC life support system fails to support aerobic life forms.

Adding more air, air stones higher water falls does not add more O2, because air is always 80% Nitrogen and 1/5 oxygen (O2) and Mother Nature absolutely controls that mixture of gases, not you. Mother Nature calls the shots and the oxygen is air is a limiting factor when elemental oxygen (O2) is necessary in any life support system.