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Dwc root ball size

dontknownuttin

dontknownuttin

New member
MY DWC PLANT IS DOING WELL. I DO NOTICE THE ROOT BALL SEEMS TO TAKE UP SPACE IN MY BUCKET. I flushed today and noticed the bucket took less to fill back up. How much space can a DWC grown plant roots take up in res. space?
 
Howdy dontknownuttin, I have had root balls that have displaced up to 1 1/2 gallons, that plant grew to 53" tall. Most of the plants (in a 10 gallon tote) have had root balls from 3/4 to 1 gallon in displacement. I read (some where) that more than half of a plant's mass is in the roots and that a tree's roots spread out further than the canopy does. I have the inside of the tote marked to show the water level so that I can get an idea for the plant's water consumption during the grow.
 
This morning during my res. flush, I noticed I got only 1 and a half gal. from my res. My 1 plant sits in a 3 gal. res. I used only a gal. and a half on re fill. My roots must be taking up space big time. Plant uses about 1 gal per day now.
 
How big is the plant? It sounds like it is growing very well!
And I don't think that it's all Green's fault, You were probably there cheering it along!!! LOL
 
Plant is alone and is about 4 feet tall at this time. The canopy covers the top of my res. and fills the tent floor 2 feet by 4 feet in size. My tent has a 7 foot celling. It is a auto called Critical Mass. Flowering started this week.
 
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Res. size is 3 and a half gal. I flushed this morning but got only 1 and a half gal. out before fill. Plant seems to use a full gal. each day. Has Green created a monster?.
 

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Do You have room for a larger reservoir (for a future grow) to provide more room for the roots? Too large of a root mass could restrict the circulation and aeration of the water. Do You drain and flush the reservoir on a regular schedule? Moving a lot of water and nutrients that quickly could cause 'salt' residue to build up. I feed my plants once a week and only top them off at mid week with pH'ed water, then at the end of the week, drain and start over. During the last grow, my plants would use from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 gallons each week (total nutrient mix and plain water).
 
Air stones TWO of them sit directly under the plant net pot itself. I am also using a high volume air pump (new) The general center root area looks like Greens back yard Jacuzzi during a Hugh Hefner visit.
 
I empty my res. about a gal. and replace it with 100% plain distilled water 24 hours before flushing and adding my newts. I find the 0-PPM of distilled dilutes my res. and puts unwanted salts back into solution for removal and refill/feed. So far, using this method has worked for me, Your results may vary. This method costs me a gal. of water extra, but its only money right?
 
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Smoke will get You through times of no money better than money will get You through times of no smoke!
 
I looked inside the res. The root ball from this one plant fills 3/25 of my res. No wonder I cant fit more than a gal. and a half at a time!
 
No Title

Those roots are incredible! My plants never get that big, I really need to work on my wife more for a bigger light.

Walmart sells these stacker totes that use the same lids for some sizes of totes. I'm starting my clones in a 4 gal tote, and then moving them to the 7 gal when they need it. The plant and cup can stay in the lid. Makes res changes easy too, just move the lid to a fresh tote bin. The mini tote is pictured with a solar powered air pump with a battery in it so I can park DWC outside on sunny days.
 

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DingusKhan said:
Those roots are incredible! My plants never get that big, I really need to work on my wife more for a bigger light.

Walmart sells these stacker totes that use the same lids for some sizes of totes. I'm starting my clones in a 4 gal tote, and then moving them to the 7 gal when they need it. The plant and cup can stay in the lid. Makes res changes easy too, just move the lid to a fresh tote bin. The mini tote is pictured with a solar powered air pump with a battery in it so I can park DWC outside on sunny days.
Click to expand...

Won't your root ball swallow your pump and air stones?
 
No Title

I haven't finished a grow in this set up yet. The closest I came to finishing a grow was in a black bucket with the basket lid, but it turned out to be male. But those roots were pretty awesome, but didn't live long enough to get THAT big.

I suppose the roots could swallow up the air stones and pump if I were running recirculation. But if they are still functional when it's time to move, just leave all that shit in place hanging from the bottom of the lid, and still could move over.
 

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Burny, I don't understand. Are you referring to me and the pictures I posted?

These are photos that I took of one plant in my first grow that was a male. The female of that grow is in progress getting harvested over time, but she's in coco.
 
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