DWC help

[BubbleBucketz]

I am getting ready to start my first DWC grow. Normally, I grow in soil but wanted to change it up a bit. My question is....I started my seed off in rockwool placed into a humidity dome. She just sprouted and has the typical look. When do I need to start any kind of feeds?

 

[TorturedSoul]

There are no nutrients in rockwool, so... now? Light dosage, though. No more than ¼-strength (and less wouldn't be a problem).

 

[BubbleBucketz]

There are no nutrients in rockwool, so... now? Light dosage, though. No more than ¼-strength (and less wouldn't be a problem).

Thank you. I wasn't sure if they were too small to feed or wait til I move them to their buckets.

 

[TorturedSoul]

There is usually at least some nutritive value in the average soil. Beyond that, the plant has only the nutrients that "came from within the seedcase." And that... luggage... is basically enough to allow the plant to grow that first rootlet, the tiny stem, and the two cotyledons. Those cotyledons contain chlorophyll (for processing light-energy) and however much nutrition is left after getting started.

In a hydroponic environment, it's as above - without any nutrition from the substrate/medium. The plant won't starve to death if you do not immediately begin feeding, but it will lack the resources it needs in order to grow. If you see the cotyledons begin to lose color and stop looking healthy, you've waited too long and, instead of using its stored resources (and whatever else it can access) to grow/develop, it is now using those stored resources in order to survive. It's like living solely off of the money you've got squirreled away in your sock drawer - and plants cannot get credit anywhere.

Again, "go mild." If the plant (any plant, really) has enough available to maintain necessary processes, but is not inundated with resources, so to speak, it will devote a greater portion of those resources to growing a healthy root system. And that is a good thing, lol.

Big reservoir + lots of DO (dissolved oxygen) via a decent aquarium power head or at least the usual air pump & "stones/discs" + a mild, well-balanced (IOW, what the specific plant requires) nutrition program at a pH (range) that allows the plant to access it + lots of light...

...equals a large, healthy plant - and a large, happy harvest .

Good luck with your grow!