Does sitting water work

could i fill a bucket partway up with water so that the lower roots of my plant waould get water but some of the roots could still get air???? i am not sure. bongsmile

bigdog72494 said:

could i fill a bucket partway up with water so that the lower roots of my plant waould get water but some of the roots could still get air???? i am not sure. bongsmile

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you could risk root rot by not aerating the res.

sure some roots will get air but the part in water may get stagnant.

plus you plants are gonna drink alot so make sure the res is high enuff.
throw in an air stone to be safe.

my thoughts on this are: root rot, stagnant water, and the roots hanging in air will dry out thats why on dwc it's filled up just below the net pot so water doesn't have to wick up the roots and the bubbles form the air stone brake surface and splash alittle on the shorter length of exposed root and keep water from goin bad

tusseltussel said:

my thoughts on this are: root rot, stagnant water, and the roots hanging in air will dry out thats why on dwc it's filled up just below the net pot so water doesn't have to wick up the roots and the bubbles form the air stone brake surface and splash alittle on the shorter length of exposed root and keep water from goin bad

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I agree....I don't think it would work long-term! I don't think the upper roots would survive, I think they would dry out. Also the root-rot issue in low oxyen water level that the roots hang into would be a problem. ~Outlaw~

Check out the hempy method my friend

what if i put an airstone at the bottom and put a pump in to put water to the roots and not actually let them touch the water yet.
:bongsmile:

I don't know if this will work for you, but I have a couple of dwc setups that I use for clones, vegging and then into GH Waterfarms for flowering that I use an ultrasonic mister/fogger in a float to keep the exposed roots fed with nutrients and moisture. I got it in the reptile section of the pet store.

I fill the reservoir with just enough water to keep the float an inch or two below the bottoms of the net pots. This works through vegetative as you can see from the roots of the larger plants. I haven't tried it for flowering yet.

I also have a 3 ft. air wand in the reservoir and a drip system that runs 6 times a day for 15 minutes.

bigdog72494 said:

what if i put an airstone at the bottom and put a pump in to put water to the roots and not actually let them touch the water yet.
:bongsmile:

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YOU GOT IT.
as long as you have an air stone adequate enuff for your res, you will be fine.

not so sure about losing upper root system though?

when starting a dwc type system like an AG, u MAY need to pump water up to the growth media to keep moist.

once your roots have established enuff of a system, 2-3 weeks, then they will drink more water than you would think. as long as the lower roots are in an aerated res, the plants will stay moist. you could add a wicking material to your media that hangs to the bottom of the res. this will ensure that nutes are being transferred to the growth media. but probably not needed.

the pump in the AG is only truly needed if cloning or germination to keep growth media wet during rooting.

i have found this to be true from the fact that i fill my AG as much as i can and the foam is not submerged. in 24 hours there is a significant gap between the foam and top of res, due to plants drinking requirement.

my AG pump is OFF. i run AIR STONES only. my plants are never dry.

as much as i have screwed up, the use of bag seeds and my hack job grow area, i am impressed with hydroponics and the way my plants/buds look.

they are getting big and dense and i will try to get more pics of them soon.

would it be ok to just manually water each net pot from above with the rez water once a day or so, until the roots can reach the water?

You could water daily by hand. I have a submissible pump from the fish section at Wally World and 1/4 inch air hose with timer to drip on my plants medium 6 times a day for 15 minutes until the roots reach the nutrient solution. They take off after that.

Usually about a week later I stop all drip feedings to the medium once the roots are long enough to reach your nutrient solution. I keep the reservoir level about 1 to inches below the net pots and adjust the water level and pH everyday. I will pour some nutrient weekly over the medium in the net pot to keep the upper section moist and to add to weight since the roots get so heavy

are nutes really neccesary????? im trying to leave as little evidence as possible i also have a very very very low budget.

To have a harvest at all in hydro, you need nutrients. It can't survive without food!

can i get nutes at a pet store like petco or do i have to go to a garden store or garden nursery.

1st choice for nutrients would be a hydroponics supply, 2nd choice order them online from internet hydro store, 3rd choice garden center at Lowes, Walmart, KMart, etc. Some growers use Miracle Grow or Peters fertilizer products.

I can't comment on Miracle Grow or Peters fertilizers since I haven't used them except on tomatoes, peppers, etc. in the vegetable garden.

I use the General Hydroponics 3-Part Flora series, Flora Micro, Flora Gro & Flora Bloom. If you don't have a ppm meter, you should follow the recommended feeding schedule closely or at half strength and build up your plant's tolerance to nutrients. Don't overdo it or you'll burn your plant.

thanks knally

Well ya know how I dont like to hijack threads etc...but no..twice a day would not be enough water to keep them puppies alive lessen you using some super moisture holding material in the net pots. If you could figger out how to get Perlite and Vermiculite (mixed 3 to one in favor of the Perlite) to spend some extended quality time in the pots...without washing away..you could water it only once a day and it would be fine. Only thing I know about rock wool is it used to be popular for insulating houses back in the good old days. It also still excellent for insulating bbq pits cuz it very heat resistant. It supposed to hold a lot of water but maybe too much to give you root rot. Hope this helps.

Big Wheel