Water level

Hello, I have a 2 site RDWC UC setup and I was just curious about water level for seedlings vs veg.
What I have read is that when they are younger, you raise the water level up into the netcup a bit to allow the hydroton to stay wet, but once they are rooted a bit you lower it to about 2-3 " under the netcup?

Also, Should I change this res out after only 1 week? It seems like its done nothing but recirculate. The plants haven't really been feeding off it, other than what ive been hand watering them. Although the air hoses are starting to get a bit slick. So it would be best im assuming?

Keep it just below the net pot actually. The bubbles from your air stones will keep the hydroton plenty wet. You can definitely keep that water to use but changes are never a bad thing. If you use a water chiller, you can just keep adding more nutrient water as it drinks. Maybe change at flowering, but that's all that's really worth doing. Cooler water keeps things much cleaner.

what is Leonor. And I have 6" net pots, but for some reason my dumbass bought mini rockwool so they are 2"x2"x1" or some shit, so not very big.

Aolelon said:

what is Leonor. And I have 6" net pots, but for some reason my dumbass bought mini rockwool so they are 2"x2"x1" or some shit, so not very big.

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Edited

Aolelon said:

what is Leonor. And I have 6" net pots, but for some reason my dumbass bought mini rockwool so they are 2"x2"x1" or some shit, so not very big.

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So what's the problem with the rockwool

Airwalker16 said:

So what's the problem with the rockwool

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Theres nothing wrong, they are just a bit smaller than I was thinking they were. So they sit a bit higher up in the netcup, Which is why I was wondering if I should have the water level a bit higher until I see roots.

Also have you used megacrop in hydro?

I used Mega Crop in my last 2 grows - one in soil and one in hydro. Love it.

Just let the water sit barely below the netpot so those roots have to pop out of the holes in the netpot to seek it out...once the roots are poking out, I always raise my water so that it's touching the netpot for the entire rest of the grow. As long as your water is properly aerated, there is no problem to keep a high water level, at that point it just gives your plant better access to water and nutes anyways.

Logan Burke said:

Just let the water sit barely below the netpot so those roots have to pop out of the holes in the netpot to seek it out...once the roots are poking out, I always raise my water so that it's touching the netpot for the entire rest of the grow. As long as your water is properly aerated, there is no problem to keep a high water level, at that point it just gives your plant better access to water and nutes anyways.

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Thanks, should be aerated enough, 2 airstones and a big water pump, big air pump.

Aolelon said:

Theres nothing wrong, they are just a bit smaller than I was thinking they were. So they sit a bit higher up in the netcup, Which is why I was wondering if I should have the water level a bit higher until I see roots.

Also have you used megacrop in hydro?

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Just put down one layer of hydroton on the bottom of the net pot and sit the cube on top of it. Cover the rest with more hydroton.

When I used to grow dwc

Airwalker16 said:

Just put down one layer of hydroton on the bottom of the net pot and sit the cube on top of it. Cover the rest with more hydroton.

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2nd that - as long as the rockwool isn't getting soaked and the plant's getting it's food from the res you're good but honestly I'd run full hydroton or grow rocks and ditch that rockwool just in case.

100% agree. Rock wool is a decent medium for larger plants,but trying to start clones and ESPECIALLY seedlings in it is a total pain in the ass.
For clones, it's as simple as can be. You just snip one of the pieces of the netpot out the bottom so there's one hole that's a bit bigger, grab the roots and gently twist them together and put them through that hole. Feed it through til you get the stem to the bottom of the netpot and fill it with hydroton. It can be a bit tricky because you have to hold the clone the whole time with one hand and use the other to fill with hydroton but it works great!

Airwalker16 said:

100% agree. Rock wool is a decent medium for larger plants,but trying to start clones and ESPECIALLY seedlings in it is a total pain in the ass.

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Really? I've had nothing but good luck starting seeds in it. No heating pad or humidity dome either.

Aolelon said:

Hello, I have a 2 site RDWC UC setup and I was just curious about water level for seedlings vs veg.
What I have read is that when they are younger, you raise the water level up into the netcup a bit to allow the hydroton to stay wet, but once they are rooted a bit you lower it to about 2-3 " under the netcup?
Also, Should I change this res out after only 1 week? It seems like its done nothing but recirculate. The plants haven't really been feeding off it, other than what ive been hand watering them. Although the air hoses are starting to get a bit slick. So it would be best im assuming?

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I have a big system and didnt want to use that much water while seedlings grew down my big ass net pots, so I have top feed lines in the bottom of my netpots to keep the hydroton wet until I get decent enough root growth to justify filling the system. I can turn them up to 40gph per pot and it makes it rain out of the bottom of the pots enough to not have to use my air pumps for a while either.
seeded in rapid rooter tray and put them in pots once a few roots came out the bottom. Using cubes/rooters you cant let a top feed line keep it saturated with water, so i watered them from the bottom with a pot of RO water for a few days to let the roots grow down out of the plug before turning on the system.

IMO, after all the looking ive done, theres not really a good way to start seeds for a dwc system without a bunch of extra BS so ill be using clones as much as possible while doing hydro lol. You can use a small sheet of plastic to make a plugging cone for transfering rooted clones into hydroton pots. Roll into a cone and burrow it down into your hydroton as deep as you want your roots. Gently place your clone in the cone and then slowly open it up. They hydroton will fill in around the clone as you pull your sheet out. Man handling young roots makes me nervous.

fragileassassin said:

IMO, after all the looking ive done, theres not really a good way to start seeds for a dwc system without a bunch of extra BS so ill be using clones as much as possible while doing hydro lol.

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I don't agree. For me that's probably the least of my worries in DWC. I always started my seeds in a small rockwool cube, manually feeding until I saw more than a couple tap roots, then I'd drop it in the highest point possible of a net cup with hydroton, and let it be. The roots naturally seek out the moisture and the growth was always super vigorous. My air stones would be up and running at this point for anyone wondering. Only time I had an issue was when I over thought it and buried the shit out of my rockwool cube (i think that was my 1st grow) which allowed much too much moisture in there and stunted the root growth considerably.

Major Blazer said:

I don't agree. For me that's probably the least of my worries in DWC. I always started my seeds in a small rockwool cube, manually feeding until I saw more than a couple tap roots, then I'd drop it in the highest point possible of a net cup with hydroton, and let it be. The roots naturally seek out the moisture and the growth was always super vigorous. My air stones would be up and running at this point for anyone wondering. Only time I had an issue was when I over thought it and buried the shit out of my rockwool cube (i think that was my 1st grow) which allowed much too much moisture in there and stunted the root growth considerably.

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Have you guys ever tried rapid rooters? Plug seed in, put in Hydroton. I can get a 30 pack for like $15 at my local hydro store.

TIMtoKILL said:

Have you guys ever tried rapid rooters? Plug seed in, put in Hydroton. I can get a 30 pack for like $15 at my local hydro store.

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Yes, most of my seeds have broken the surface within 48 hours in them. I left mine in a tray under a florescent for a week though so I didnt have to run the big lights.
You just have to be careful about how wet you keep them, I lost 3 seeds because I overwatered the rooters in the first week.
Soak it in water and squeeze it out in your hand, you dont want them to stay much wetter than that.

fragileassassin said:

Yes, most of my seeds have broken the surface within 48 hours in them. I left mine in a tray under a florescent for a week though so I didnt have to run the big lights.
You just have to be careful about how wet you keep them, I lost 3 seeds because I overwatered the rooters in the first week.
Soak it in water and squeeze it out in your hand, you dont want them to stay much wetter than that.

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Isn’t it the same with rockwool? I’ve done both and that was the rule of thumb I was taught.

TIMtoKILL said:

Isn’t it the same with rockwool? I’ve done both and that was the rule of thumb I was taught.

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Watering it is pretty much the same yes, but you dont have to do anything to prep rapid rooters like rockwool, just water with clean water

TIMtoKILL said:

Isn’t it the same with rockwool? I’ve done both and that was the rule of thumb I was taught.

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No you don't squeeze the rock wool ever