Getting a Seedling ready for DWC

[drzin978 30]

Hey everybody-

I have a seedling going right now in a rockwool cube. I want to plant it in a deep water culture bucket in some hydroton clay pellets. I have everything lined up, I'm just not sure when to put the cube in the pellets, and how to get the roots to grow down into the nutrient solution. The seedling currently has a little root sticking about a half inch out of the bottom of the 2 inch rockwool cube. One of the two baby leaves was knocked off accidentally earlier on, but one remains, and there are two new regular leaves that have grown in as well. I don't plan to give it nutrients until the baby leaf turn yellow and falls off. Does this seem reasonable? Also, when do you think I should put it in the hydroton? I really appreciate any input- this is my first grow. in hindsight it was probably silly to start growing with hydro but I was enticed by the science and the potential for large yields.

Anyways, I really want to make sure this plant survives and thrives. I just don't want to do anything prematurely for it either. So I really appreciate all input, especially from you experienced hydro growers out there.

Thanks!

[jman420 18]

do it now. the root should find it itself man

[Dust 6,284]

you just have t put the seed very gently in the hole that is in the cube i like to put it when the shell cracked and right before the tap roots goes out just to be safe but it can be done at any time as long as you are gentle with them

and the root should find the way to the nutrient solution easily with gravity i think at the beginning you have to water i by hand for a few days but i'm not sure i haven't grown DW so wait for more experienced hydro grower's advice

Good luck

[jman420 18]

yeah you have to water till root comes out the rockwool or just pot it in a pot with water/feed half way up the rookwool and stick a bubbler/air pumpin so it dont go stail

[drzin978 30]

Well I'm waiting to feed the plant until the baby leaf falls off. I put it in the hydroton, but I don't have any water beneath it yet. Until the Roots grow further, I plan to just water it from the top. I have an airstone to put in the bottom of the bucket though once the roots make it down there.

[GElite 59]

So how long did it take for them to grow down to the water?

[drzin978 30]

it died before it made it down there. I had been droppering a light feeding solution which included a root stimulator, but the seedling still died, potentially because my little grow closet was too hot. I'm going to revamp the closet and wait for cooler weather (September) to grow. I'm probably also going to switch to soil, as I am a new grower, I might be in over my head with hydro.

[GElite 59]

Hydro is really not that hard. Dry experimenting with some good bag seed until u get them to live past the seedling stage. They are most vulnerable when you first start using nuts on them it seems. Some live and some die until you get a good process down. I'm still working on it after years. Soil is more forgiving. Another thing u could try is to keep u a mother plant in soil and take clipping for clones. Then if they die you only loose the clone and not your mother. Rooting clones is easy. Really it's just a matter of waiting and all u need is some kinda medium and honey. Yeap honey roots clones great!.just some ideas for ya. Don't give up tho. It is frustrating to watch your investment wither away.

[Vertox 250]

So mate

DWC is for sure a advanced tecnique and if ur a new Grower i really would recommend u to use Soil.

Lear about the Plant ad about feeding on soil thats much easyer and then whe u mastered this u ca Still go that Step further to DWC.

But i can guarantee you u ca allso beat the hydro yield on Soil and there are allso Strains that really loose theys good smell in hydro like the DNA Lemon Skunk is really unusable on Hydro it gets ugly smelling flüffi Buds and on Earth one of the greatest smokes So Soil is not bad

Hope ull get it done with fun

greezz

[GElite 59]

I think the taste largely depends on the chemicals u use. When I first started I bought everything I was told to by everyone I asked. I got technoflora's bc grow, boost, bloom, awesome blossom, thrive alive b1, the heavies, nitrozeme, diamond nector, super thrive, root stimulator, root tech gel and several other products. I musta spent $300 and all that did was complicate things and when I harvested the bud was harsh and chemical tasting. It just didnt taste good. It had to cure forever. Now lets spring forward 9 years. I just harvested my latest grow and as soon as it dried it was smokable. It has a nice sweet, skunky. Citrusy taste and that's before it cured a day. What's the difference? I didn't throw everything I could at it. I spent $26 and got advanced nutrients jungle juice line and that's it. Nothing more. Shits only as complicated as u make it and just remember, the old clitche "u are what u eat" holds true in cannabis too.

[Vertox 250]

^^ u got that wrong mate

Im not saying that Cannabis grown on Hydro smells crap i say there are certain Streins that wont perform on Hydro and smell like shit no matter what u feed them

In the other hand u have Strains that yield better on hydo

[GElite 59]

Perhaps I will find that to be the case in the future. I've not seen a seed bank specify that a particular strain was a soil only strain. Ill have to start paying more attention. I usually grow soil and hydro side by side and once it's harvested you can't really tell which is which. They are typically very similar with hydro giving a larger yield. Now granted I do use the same nuts on both soil and hydro. I totally get what you are saying mate, I just haven't expierenced it yet but I also mostly grow in soil. I'd definitly like to know what strains you should not grow hydroponically so I can stear clear. I don't want to be limited to one medium or the other.

[Vertox 250]

LEmon Skunk from DNA i saw a few Phenos that really are not worth to smoke on hydro.

Peepee is in hydro smelling really like old Pee on Soil its light lemony lsmoke really nice.

Rox smells like nothin in Hydro

every Strain that is really Earthy smelling wont get to full potential on hydro or aero what i grew

But super lemon haze is a whole other Plant on Hydro than it is in Soill it just yields a loot more in hydro allthou the smell is a little less.

I expirianced that a lot of really hard nugs arnt that hard on hydro

thats kind of ehat i learnd in my years hope it halps u

cheers

[GElite 59]

That's good to know. I'm getting ready to start a super lemon haze mother plant. Thanks for the heads up.........sorry for hijacking your thread DrZin.

[drzin978 30]

No worries I'm glad I got some conversation going! I'm definitely going to use soil at first when I grow again in september. I still have my general hydroponics floraseries nutrients though, perhaps I can use them in the soil for better yields?

[GElite 59]

You can use it in soil you just feed them a weak soloution of the nutes. Ill hit em off about once a week with nuts when I grow in soil. You just gotta figure as the soil dries the nuts get more concentrated so you mix it about half strength or at least that's what I do. Other growers may have success with other methods. You could try a moss/perlite mix and that's kinda like an ebb and flow system. You flood the medium like 3 times a day and that washes away the concentrated nuts from around the roots 3 times a day so u dont get a build up of nuts. Soil tends to hold on to the nuts cause you can't water the soil 3 times a day ya know. The moss/perlite hydro method is as simple as a soil grow it just requires watering 3 times a day it's a bit more forgiving than traditional drip or dwc systems. If you miss a watering it's not gonna kill your girls. U just use regular pots u just don't use dirt. It's like 50/50 perlite and spangum moss. Some people throw vermiculite in the mix too but it makes no matter really. U may find that a good method to start with and it requires no special tools or equipment. He'll u don't even need a pump. Some people hand water 2-3 times dayley. Something to think about.