Need help/advise, Pic's added

[FFNOMORE]

Hi all
I'm a dirt grower for the last 10 yrs. 1st time with dwcs. Here is what I have. a full flower tent still in use for another week. So dwcs not set up yet, but I have all the equipment. I will be using 2, 18 gal totes. 2 plants in each. My question is: I have 4 seedlings rdy to come out of germ box. When I used soil, I would just sit in soil, and she starts up in a day or 3. Now with hydro, I have no idea if I can drop these seedlings in these totes for about a week or so until I can set up my system.
I have my totes full of water, and two air bubblers in each tote. Water is halfway up on a 6 in. net cup. I filled with clay pebbles, just above water line. My next step is get water temp, ppm's and ph right. Will they survive? The reason I'm asking is I took off cover for germ dome for a cple of hrs and the one up front got weird looking. leaves curling in

 

[Skunkle Justin]

Wait until the seedlings have some healthy roots coming out of that rock wool. I wait until I see the roots start to “fish bone”. Then set the plant in the net cup so the roots are slightly submerged. This way they can creep into the water supply and easily chase it as the water evaporates. The main thing to worry about in this phase of growth with DWC is that the roots are growing strong enough to make their way into the reservoir and not dry up in a cup full of hydroton. Once you learn all the nuances of your RDWC system and of the particular strain you’re working with, that exact time will become clearer. For example, I have a cookies strain that grows its roots out slowly so I let it sit in the cloner for a few days longer than a purple punch plant I have that grows steadily but not too crazy. And I have a hemp plant that I won’t put in a recirculating system because it’s roots grow super aggressively and I don’t want that girl clogging up the pipes. I hope this helps

 

[Thedadjokeguy]

I'm new and only have one grow under my belt, listen to all others above me I don't have the experience they do, but I have this suggestion.

Place the seedling directly on to the net pot, then surround it carefully by hand. I sit mine on top of the clay pebbles. This makes the plants a tad unstable as they balance their trunk on top (the clay balls act as a pivot point which was annoying to deal with as they get larger). On my next one I intend to have it make full contact with the net pot.

Also, if you break the seedling carefully placing the clay pebbles around it, don't worry. Mine broke and went sideways. Decided to let it go and see what it would do, it was my largest plant of the lot.

I had the water level just touching the net pot. The bubbler will makes it perk up to the plant. On my next grow I'm using 4 gal buckets over 5 gal. The Liquid ferts and such are expensive. Saves on the wallet a bit. Unless your going for tree like god status on size over greater yield with faster cycles. After a single grow my bigger is better motto quickly and humbly changed.

 

[dlbMedication]

They look like they need air movement and TIME

 

[Skunkle Justin]

I'm new and only have one grow under my belt, listen to all others above me I don't have the experience they do, but I have this suggestion.

Place the seedling directly on to the net pot, then surround it carefully by hand. I sit mine on top of the clay pebbles. This makes the plants a tad unstable as they balance their trunk on top (the clay balls act as a pivot point which was annoying to deal with as they get larger). On my next one I intend to have it make full contact with the net pot.

Also, if you break the seedling carefully placing the clay pebbles around it, don't worry. Mine broke and went sideways. Decided to let it go and see what it would do, it was my largest plant of the lot.

I had the water level just touching the net pot. The bubbler will makes it perk up to the plant. On my next grow I'm using 4 gal buckets over 5 gal. The Liquid ferts and such are expensive. Saves on the wallet a bit. Unless your going for tree like god status on size over greater yield with faster cycles. After a single grow my bigger is better motto quickly and humbly changed.

I’d stick with the 5 gallon bucket. As the plant gets bigger (particularly the root ball) it will drink up water and nutrients faster out of the reservoir. As the reservoir is used up the PPM of nutrients and the pH will start shifting. The smaller the reservoir, the greater the swing. This could be a problem when the res gets down to its last two gallons because there could be A LOT of unused N,P or K causing burns or toxicities. Or, your plants could suffer a deficiency because it drank up all the nitrogen during a growth spurt. And who knows where the pH will end up. The larger the reservoir, the more gradually it changes and the easier it is to catch it and make the appropriate changes. Trash cans are way too dam big and definitely a waste of nutrients but a 5-8 gallon bucket is great for one plant in my experience. If you’re still gonna go smaller, I would keep the plant no taller than 24” in flower.

 

[dlbMedication]

I understand as I have also tried that system. It's a great system IF you don't mind cooling all that water and that fact as it sits it changes.

 

[Skunkle Justin]

I understand as I have also tried that system. It's a great system IF you don't mind cooling all that water and that fact as it sits it changes.

I bought a small aquarium chiller off Amazon for about $120 and it worked perfectly for a 5 gallon res. It actually only turned on less than half the time during veg. I’m gonna try it out on a 20 gallon system on concrete floors and see if it can keep the temperature below 72F. We’ll see...

 

[dlbMedication]

you might have to supplement sometimes with a frozen bottle.