DWC w/ a little soil?

Has anyone ever done deep water culture and used soil in the water to make a kind of tea mixture.

My theory is that the soil will add extra nutrients to the plants roots.

Things to consider
A. I probably don't want to make it like thick mud.
B. It will make a tea, so lets not overdue the nutes.
C. I am going to keep the ph 5.5-6.0

The plan.
Use a 10 gallon tank with sides blacked out sides. Have 3, 12" water stones with 3 separate pumps. Start with only a B-1 additive for the seedlings then after 2 weeks begin adding some soil with 10% nutes. From there I will watch the plants and see what to do.


Have chosen the best 18 to continue with and transplanted them into larger cubes and a different tray.

I have included pictures of the setup and of one of the seedlings

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Week 1

61 out of 66 seedlings have sprouted and all are 3 inches tall
will begin adding soil tonight.

Have chosen 18 to continue with and have transplanted them into larger cubes and a different tray.

I have added pictures of the setup and how the seedlings look.

u dont need to do that...jus use nutes....its gonna get messy and dirty and is gonna make Drain and Replenishes really nasty. i mean if u really want to give it a go but i mean i dont see the point. just seems like more trouble 2 me..:-/ let us know how it goes.

Sounds like a horrible idea. Go ahead and try but I'm pretty sure there is nothing soil can provide that nutes won't except a big nasty mess. If you want to make organic sewage soup tea, stick to soil growing.

Don't take these responses the wrong way. I agree though....bad idea. Just trying to save you the trouble. The cleaner the better for these systems. I use Fox Farms nutrients that are kinda muddy but work really well for me. That's probably as muddy as you'd want the solution.

uhm... u better sterilize that soil.....

yea i could mabey see filling a nylon stocking with mabey some good compost, or just get some humic acid.

paintsprayer71 said:

yea i could mabey see filling a nylon stocking with mabey some good compost, or just get some humic acid.

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there u go thats not a bad idea...atleast worth a try.

I heard that soil gives the bud a better taste but this could just be soil propaganda. If it does I would bet that sock technique might ad a little but more "natural flavors" Try aged Chicken poop during your veg. Apparently a friend of mine sold some to an old hippie lady who turned it into "chicken shit tea" and the tomatoes grew over the roof of her house... sounds like this could be right up your alley.

i just read a thing that said regulators in ca are pissed cuz they need to find a way to regulate medical pot as they found in club samples insane levels of pesticides and other toxins that growers left in. Organic hydro like a good flush should help get rid of some of that.

I thru in some bat guano to a dwc bucket and a little while later I had a bacterial froth in there.

there are so many problems this would create. do not do it.

dtp5150 said:

there are so many problems this would create. do not do it.

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such as? My only gues would be root rot because i know it would be warm and wet and like that guy said, a bacterial froth...

1 week down with the home made tea-bag in place.

So far there have been no negative effects, the water is doing fine, and so are the plants.

More pics will come soon

well yeah um rot, introducing unwanted organisms, increasing the ppm for no reason, increased sediment, ...

it might be possible to have no problems, but just because you can doesn't mean its ideal or adds any benefit.

I do understand the trace elements argument for it, but most of these decent hydro mixtures have everything.

It seems that the tea bag is working. Where the bag is the roots are growing faster. I've included pictures, picture one above the bag, picture 2 is not above the bag. Will continue with experiment.


https://www.rollitup.org/members/themistocles-108513-albums-my-first-random-album-picture876473-dscn1880.jpg

some roots have hit the water and once they did the plant seemed to explode in growth....still no negative effects.

Will add more soil tonight

themistocles said:

Has anyone ever done deep water culture and used soil in the water to make a kind of tea mixture.

My theory is that the soil will add extra nutrients to the plants roots.

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The nutrients in the soil are not water soluble and aren't readily absorbed by the plants
there is a reason there is a difference, the soil is just a medium for living organisms
to thrive, and THEY process the natural nutes such as guanos, blood meals, and
such. In Hydro they use what are called Chelates to do this for you, which is why
the nutrients are water soluble and considered synthetic.

Lets see some pics on this plant exploding in growth once the
roots hit the soiled water... I would think pics would be required
on such an experiment, especially pics of the root growth...

Judging by the lack of responses I'm going to assume this
guy has been lyeing out of this ass the whole time and hasn't
even attempted this.. NO pics and bullshit updates which
anybody could have made up.......

Besides.. You should never use soil during any aspect of hydroponics.
If you ever move a plant from a soil-based situation to hydroponics, remove all
traces of soil or potting mix from the roots. Soil holds lots of microbes and other
organisms and materials that love to grow in and contaminate your hydroponic
system. Some of these will actually parasitize your plant and slow its growth. This
is another advantage of hydroponic growing: The plant can get on with growing
without having to support a myriad of other organisms as happens in conventional soil growing.

Shrubs First said:

Besides.. You should never use soil during any aspect of hydroponics.
If you ever move a plant from a soil-based situation to hydroponics, remove all
traces of soil or potting mix from the roots. Soil holds lots of microbes and other
organisms and materials that love to grow in and contaminate your hydroponic
system. Some of these will actually parasitize your plant and slow its growth.

Click to expand...

I transfered 4 potted cuttings into clay pebbles and tried to remove as much soil as possible but I think you are right apart from my own mistakes, it has taken ages to grow.

I am interested in any pics though... Good luck btw.