DWC water level question

[HappyGrowmore]

Im going to be making a diy DWC system with 8 planters and a main (out of room) reservoir. My question is with 6" basket bucket lids how far should the water/nutes be below the bottom of the basket. Will be using hydroton and either 2-4" oxystones or an 8" microbubbler (pricey option for small bubbles) per planter.

Any and all comments apreciated. Thanks

 

[tommyb88]

iv used dwc before and iv had the net pot (baskets) a few inches submerged into the water just enough for the nute solution and oxygen bubbles to reach the new growth of roots, that was outdoor and not under artificial lights tho but im sure its the same for indoor/outdoor

 

[HappyGrowmore]

iv used dwc before and iv had the net pot (baskets) a few inches submerged into the water just enough for the nute solution and oxygen bubbles to reach the new growth of roots, that was outdoor and not under artificial lights tho but im sure its the same for indoor/outdoor

Mine are indoor and i start the cones off with a bubble drip system then once the roots hit the water i switch to DWC with a 1 inch gap between water/nutes and basket. Not sure if this gap is a good or bad thing ?

 

[tommyb88]

have the basket submerged an inch or 2 into the water , if theres a gap then theres going to be a top section of the roots not getting nutes and oxygen and you want all the roots getting equal , as long as ALL the roots are recieving oxygen , water (including nutes from the resevouir) and NO light your plants will be sound given theres no other problems. iv done dwc a few times and iv always had them submerged a little. also the bigger the pump and airstone (oxygen) the better

 

[SmokzAlot]

You will most certainly get multiple opinions on this. I believe they all work. What I have found most typical and practice myself with no issues... 1/2 to 1" into the netpot when rooting, then 1/2 to 1" below after that. It can drink down an additional inch or two or more in a day. I find it easier to monitor usage visually and choose to not run any additional nutes when less will do just fine. One should strive for some efficiency along the way, goes hand in hand with maximizing yield per $ spent. I am getting ready to try 3.5 gal capacity vs 5 gal for that very reason. It can be an expensive pastime, I walked in and found a dead HPS bulb this morning in the grow room. Cha-Ching...

 

[Cultivator]

if u have the net pot submerged even an inch it will take considerably longer for roots to reach for res. It will work but its not the best way. Leave atleast 2" gap between net pot and nutes and let the roots find the water. The mist created by the bubbles will be enough trust me. I dip the net pot when cutting is transplanted then leave gap. I get my roots reaching to res within 3 days max. I currently have 110 dwc plants growing in dwc and have grown many more. In my current journal i show how to do it with ten plants and ive shown other bits and pieces from other grows if u want to check it out.

 

[Cultivator]

just to show my point these pics were taken 36 hours after transplanting cuttings into dwc. gap is about 3" ferom nutes to net pot on 21litre bucket.

 

[WizHigh]

Listen to Cultivator seriously lol

 

[HappyGrowmore]

if u have the net pot submerged even an inch it will take considerably longer for roots to reach for res. It will work but its not the best way. Leave atleast 2" gap between net pot and nutes and let the roots find the water. The mist created by the bubbles will be enough trust me. I dip the net pot when cutting is transplanted then leave gap. I get my roots reaching to res within 3 days max. I currently have 110 dwc plants growing in dwc and have grown many more. In my current journal i show how to do it with ten plants and ive shown other bits and pieces from other grows if u want to check it out.

Hi Cultivator,
thanks for chiming in,been following your DWC -drip for about a week now trying to get caught up. Sent to me by WizHigh. As much as i would love to say Im growing over 100 plants, i hope i never have to. Lmao....way to much triming. Currently working on a deal with blue planet to help with nutes for a journal.

 

[HappyGrowmore]

You will most certainly get multiple opinions on this. I believe they all work. What I have found most typical and practice myself with no issues... 1/2 to 1" into the netpot when rooting, then 1/2 to 1" below after that. It can drink down an additional inch or two or more in a day. I find it easier to monitor usage visually and choose to not run any additional nutes when less will do just fine. One should strive for some efficiency along the way, goes hand in hand with maximizing yield per $ spent. I am getting ready to try 3.5 gal capacity vs 5 gal for that very reason. It can be an expensive pastime, I walked in and found a dead HPS bulb this morning in the grow room. Cha-Ching...

Lol....cha-ching

No sh:t,if i had half the money ive spent trying new things i could of retired already.


Oops forgot to add that this is pretty much the way ive been doing it. Its nice to get other views since its easy to forget theres more than one way.

 

[Cultivator]

Hi Cultivator,
thanks for chiming in,been following your DWC -drip for about a week now trying to get caught up. Sent to me by WizHigh. As much as i would love to say Im growing over 100 plants, i hope i never have to. Lmao....way to much triming. Currently working on a deal with blue planet to help with nutes for a journal.

Thats why i pay others to do it for the most part! lol hahaha