Transplanting from Coco to Top-Fed DWC

[holywater666]

Hi everyone! I am planning on transplanting my coco girls to my new top-fed dwc. I know this is risky, but I really think it'll help my yields.
I have a fair amount of experience growing, currently in my 3rd cycle. I have been using Coco+ perlite for the past few grows and I think its time to step it up.
I also upgraded from my space bucket/tote to a real grow tent and now have an HPS light instead of hanging all the CFLs

Currently, I have 3 girls that are almost done (2 weeks away) and 3 girls that I just started flowering last week. I plan to finish the first 3 girls and the newly flowering girls I want to put into my Top-fed DWC.

Here are my specs:
Grow Tent: Secret Jardin L90
Flowering space: 4ft (2x2)
Light: 150w hps

3 girls profile
- all clones from Nirvana Blue Mystic mother.
- currently in 5g smart pots
- coco + perlite grow medium
- trained multiple colas with bamboo stakes.
- Nurtients: GH Flora Trio + CalMag
- 8 weeks of veg prior to flowering switch (so they're decently beefy)

DWC profile:
Created by me (following GWE's dwc artcle)
3 x 5" net pots (there are probably tons of root so I just want to make sure they have room) with hydroton rocks
2 x medium airstones
Ecoplus 396 water pump
pumped up and over into 4 way gang valve that splits the water over 3 net pots


Now that you know a bit about my setup, I know that I will have to "wash" the roots in order to transplant them over into the net pots. My question is how much do i fill the net pots with hydroton? Like how much of the roots should be suspended in the net pot for me to start filling with hydroton rocks, since I need mimick the position of the roots as if they had grown from there in the first place. I will be filling my reservoir with pHed water no nutrients yet, or should it be nutrient water?

Or should I just say screw it, finish the girls in the coco they're in now and start fresh in DWC with new seeds/clones?


TIA

[DW2]

Howdy holywater666, If Your plants are that far along, why risk the shock of transplanting them? Also, how are You planning to get the root ball thru the net pot openings? This could cause considerable damage to the plants wellbeing. I would recommend not transplanting them into Your DWC setup, let them finish out as You have them and not risk doing any damage to them.
I do think that You will like growing in a DWC setup, I am on my fifth DWC grow now and I think that it is the way to grow. I would recommend using the larger 4" x 2" air stones (I use two of them in a six gallon reservoir) and I would place the irrigation lines at the bottom of the cubes or plugs that You start the seeds or cuttings in. This will 'encourage' the root to grow downwards into the reservoir with out keeping them drenched continuously, the roots do need to be exposed to the air.
Good luck with Your grow.

[holywater666]

Thanks for the reply DW2. Part of me can't wait to start a new crop before switching over, also I thought transplanting a mature girl would be easier than a clone... its bigger and stronger? I don't know. I really want to try at least one plant transplanted, right now I have a perpetual harvest going so if i lose one girl I still have two while if i wait till all 6 of mine are done and i cant get the setup for the DWC going that would make me really sad =[

If you really do not recommend it, I will have to reconsider my whole setup, and think things through.

Thanks for the advice.

[DW2]

If you have 'back up' plants, then the only way to find out for certain is to try it! The way to knowledge is thru experimentation and testing and who knows, You may be onto a new way to grow. It was not my intent to discourage You, I was just trying to point out some of the possible 'pit falls' in changing the grow media. The DWC is, in my opinion, the best way to go, it's a little faster and it is easier to correct problems (you can't drain the soil out and start over if things get out of control!). But do keep the water very well aerated and keep the temperature between 65 and 70 degrees F.. Good luck with Your endeavor!

[Tika]

I hang with DW2 . Start fresh with your new stuff.

[gbauto]

Agreed, this far into a grow is going to really shock the plants when you disrupt the root ball. Even if it was possible to get much of the root mass through the webbing, I think that it will be a better choice to just finish what you have and then reset. I know that it's hard to be patient when a better idea pops into my head.....

[holywater666]

Thank you to everyone who replied! alot of you cautioned me against trying to transplant this late in the game, but that being said, it might work, might not. I have back up plants and I still have a perpetual harvest going through, got some autos lying around somewhere that I can start to keep my stock full.


Will check back with updates for y'all

[holywater666]

Hey everyone! Thought I would update everyone on how its going. Managed to transplant all 3 of my girls who were decently beefy over, all success! Didn't really hurt them all that much, maybe extended the flowering time a little longer (but i heard that DWC is supposed to shorten the flowering time so maybe it evens out lol) but overall it worked

getting the rootball into the reservoir wasn't difficult, it was just the amount of washing the roots that took the longest.

[DW2]

That's good to hear holywater666. Keep us informed on the transplant plants (say that fast three times!!lol) progress.

[NebulaHaze]

That's great! A coco-to-hydro transfer can be tough but you made it seem easy!