Deep Water Culture without water pump?

[JRegan420]

I have finally pieced together my first bubble system, and was wondering if it was possible to do without using the water pump. Are there any alternate watering options until the roots penetrate the netcups? I read that raising the water level to the bottom(or a couple of inches covering) of the netcup until the roots emerged would suffice. Otherwise I was thinking of hand watering with the res water.
Bubbleheads please let me know.

 

[2hiegh4u]

Re: Deep Water Culture without water pump??

i had the pump hooked up on a light trickle and i also put 8 gallons in my container instead of 6 untill the roots came out the netpot into the water

 

[JRegan420]

Re: Deep Water Culture without water pump??

I have a pump from my ebb and flow setup, but i do not have the proper tubing to run a direct line to each netcup. I figured if i keep the hydroton wet at the bottoms of the cups, the roots would accelerate downwards towards the moisture.

 

[2hiegh4u]

Re: Deep Water Culture without water pump??

i dont know man i can only tell you what worked for me. just try not and overwater

 

[Chkn915]

I tried Deep Water Culture without the pump so its aaactually DWC i think,? Anyways I ended up having a ton of root problems. I tried everything sm-90, 29% h202 and nothing would clear it up until I added the pump and feeder tubes, it also seems that the rockwool wont stay damp enough without the feeder tubes either.Hope this helps!

 

[TennTony]

I have finally pieced together my first bubble system, and was wondering if it was possible to do without using the water pump. Are there any alternate watering options until the roots penetrate the netcups? I read that raising the water level to the bottom(or a couple of inches covering) of the netcup until the roots emerged would suffice. Otherwise I was thinking of hand watering with the res water.
Bubbleheads please let me know.

yes that should work fine, it's called dwc. I believe the only difference between dwc & Deep Water Culture is the feeding tubes. So to answer your question yes you can raise the level to 1" below the net cup and it should work fine.

 

[2hiegh4u]

yes that should work fine, it's called dwc. I believe the only difference between dwc & Deep Water Culture is the feeding tubes. So to answer your question yes you can raise the level to 1" below the net cup and it should work fine.

just remember the tubes are meant for a better and faster start. try it if you can

 

[PitViper]

just remember the tubes are meant for a better and faster start. try it if you can

Im curious....have you done a "reg" DWC before running a DWC and feeder lines?

 

[2hiegh4u]

not at all. y? please correct me if im wrong

 

[JRegan420]

Thank you everyone for the input. I think I am going to go ahead and try to use the water pump. I am using a 10 gallon rubbermaid, with (4) 5" net pots....one pot in each corner. I also purchased (2) 12" airstones and (2) 6" airstones, so the bubbles should be plentiful. The pump is 264gph, and I just fear it is too large. My first grow(ebb and flow) was extremely delayed by overwatering, and I do not want to repeat that mistake. I just germinated (4) Lemon Skunk seeds, and have been in the pre-soaked rockwool cube for all of about 15 minutes! Should I put them directly into my bubble system, or should I wait until they sprout?

Am I mistaken by thinking as long as I keep the bottom of the rockwool and lower half of the hydroton wet...the roots will grow rapidly downwards toward the moisture?

 

[Chkn915]

yes that should work fine, it's called dwc. I believe the only difference between dwc & Deep Water Culture is the feeding tubes. So to answer your question yes you can raise the level to 1" below the net cup and it should work fine.

I disagree with the 1" below the net pot, you need to raise the water to where the netpot is 2'' into the water or else the air in between the netpot and water will become stagnant and breed disease. I would keep the netpot submerged until the plant develops a nice rootmass. Seedlings are very fragile nd susceptible to disease.

 

[PitViper]

I have done a side by side comparison on the same strain, in two 5 gallon buckets. One with feeder tube and one without. On my specific experiment, the plant with feeder tube, had its roots in the water 6 days before the plant without. Subsequently, that plant had a larger root ball and a higher yield. Just my 2 cents.

thanx for the response. my question was based on having run a DWC previously. I never went to feeder lines..so I was using that as a baseline.

 

[YardDog35]

I'll throw my 2 cents in as well...

I did a diy DWC system for my first hydro set-up. Growth was very fast! IMO you should have a strong enough air pump to 'splash' water up onto the net cup and whatever media you are using. Keeping the water level a little lower than the net cup, with bubbles splashing it will give you all the moisture you need. Keeping the net cup submerged in water will over soak the media. All in all you will have roots in the water in a week or so.

I have no opinion on having root problems because of an air gap between the cup and water. That's how all Deep Water Culture set ups are. Nor do I encourage adding h202 or anything like that to your res.

As for the questions in your last post. Yes get those little ones into your system asap. Remember no nutes for now, give them plain ph'd water.

And yes, as long as the rockwool is moist the seedlings will be getting enough water to start good growth.

Good luck! I'll be watching!

 

[JRegan420]

Im on it! 3 of the 4 seeds have already pushed out of the rockwool, and shed their skin. I have to make a quick run up to the petstore for another little airstone, and I am going to move them into their new home. should have a picture update by tomorrow morning! Thanks again guys for the advice.

 

[TennTony]

I disagree with the 1" below the net pot, you need to raise the water to where the netpot is 2'' into the water or else the air in between the netpot and water will become stagnant and breed disease. I would keep the netpot submerged until the plant develops a nice rootmass. Seedlings are very fragile nd susceptible to disease.

Maybe I'm wrong but wouldn't the net cups, hydroton, and rockwool partially submerged 24/7 be much more susceptible to disease, algae, etc. And with so much aeration and movent of the water it should be tough for the air to become stagnant. IMO
I am a very new grower and can only speak on what little experience I have.

 

[JRegan420]

Yarddog, I took a look at your grow...and If my plants are 1/2 as successful as yours I will be a happy man!! I went without the pump, and my water is bubbling away. My netcups are about an inch above the water, and getting a nice spash. I tried posting a picture, but it told me the file was too large.

Does anyone know about growing the "Lemon Skunk" strain? maybe a couple of hints or reminders that could increase my harvest for that particular strain.

 

[YardDog35]

Maybe I'm wrong but wouldn't the net cups, hydroton, and rockwool partially submerged 24/7 be much more susceptible to disease, algae, etc. And with so much aeration and movent of the water it should be tough for the air to become stagnant. IMO
I am a very new grower and can only speak on what little experience I have.

You are correct in everything you just stated

Yarddog, I took a look at your grow...and If my plants are 1/2 as successful as yours I will be a happy man!! I went without the pump, and my water is bubbling away. My netcups are about an inch above the water, and getting a nice spash. I tried posting a picture, but it told me the file was too large.

Does anyone know about growing the "Lemon Skunk" strain? maybe a couple of hints or reminders that could increase my harvest for that particular strain.

Thanks JR420, much appreciated! I just followed a feeding schedule and changed my water every 3-4 days, scrubbing the res every water change. A clean res=happy roots!

A link for ya so we can watch
Photo Gallery Guide - How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

Good luck!

 

[JRegan420]

Well I have some roots that have tricked down into the water already, and is looking very strong for its first week. 2 of my seedlings did not make it through the infant stage, and I have germinated 2 of the bonus mystery seeds that I recieved from the seedbank. I have posted pictures on here before, and never had a problem with file size before...so Im gonna try again as soon as this kush lets me come back down to earth for a little bit!

 

[JRegan420]

 

[JRegan420]

I know the early Veg stage is a long and drawn out, borderline boring process...So I will update verbally for the most part, and post pics every week or so. Overnight, about 10 more root strings came out of the pot, and I am getting excited to watch my babies flourish! My Ph is stable, and my res water is bubbly and cool to the touch.(No thermometer). My first 3 leave nodes are out, and the 5 pointer is pushing up as we speak!

I am an extreme amateur when it comes to most of this process...so can someone advise when its a good idea to top the plant? I have never topped or cloned a plant, and I am a little nervous to do both.

I know a few people have been keeping up with this post, but would it be a good idea to move the post to the "Grow Journals"? I am assuming that is something a higher up(pun intended) would have to do.