What's new
GrowWeedEasy.com
You're browsing as a guest. Sign up to join the conversation, share your grows, and get help from thousands of fellow growers — it's free and takes less than a minute.

New to hydroponics advice?

Growgood88

New member
I have recently made a leap into growing in dwc. I'm waiting on some seeds to arrive .I have some cheapo rockwool starters no humidity dome I know how to germinate and place in rockwool. My question is where to go from there without the dome and when to put into hydrotron Peebles? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.. I'm not new to growing only new to dwc. I have a 3 and half gallon with 5 in netpot and another homemade but it's made good . I'll be using gh Flora trio. Thanks for friendly advice. Also I ordered a pump for my homemade bucket and it has 2 small blue stones if I t them both in same bucket is that enough with small stones the pump is powerful enough. Just wondering about the little blue stones I've heard bad about them hoping to make 2 work considering budget but I don't want to waste time if it's not
 
Howdy Growgood88, The seeds can be germinated in or on paper towels and then placed into the rockwool cubes (my preferred method). Keeping the water well aerated is important, but keeping the water temperature down below 70° F is important as well. I use ice bottles to keep the water between 65° F and 70° F, changing them out as needed. Also, keeping ALL light out of the reservoir is important to help prevent algae and root rot from starting.
Good luck on Your grow.
 
Thanks I have researched alot just certain things like getting stuff to grow in a different medium than soil is new to me. Can I sit cubes in a little water on plate or maybe mist them for moisture? I know not to keep em soaked. I guess it's just trial and error. Maybe I'll start using the free seeds I get
 
I will definitely look into a soaker or something larger. I'm on a monthly income limit 4 now so they should hold me over till then
 
Welcome to the forum! There are tons of folks who do a much better job at this, but here is my answers. I have some examples in the links on my signature journals.

Once you have the seeds rooted in the rockwool, I would move them to the net pot, keep the top of the rockwool level with the top of the net pot and just fill around it
Unless you are going to water it everyday until the roots reach out into the water Some folks use a little pump in the resivor to pump water up onto the rockwool. I use an air system to keep the heat down.

I use two 6 inch stones, I really can not answer your "Blue" stone question, but the more air the better.
 
Thanks Ragweeddwc I have one 6 in in the one goin now and it's droopy and looks overwatered day 4 from transplant from soil shock I assume I hope it comes out. I have water level touching root ends inch up on netpot. Gelato.
 
Got me worried.
 

Attachments

  • photo96302.jpg
    photo96302.jpg
    901.3 KB · Views: 0
the roots may be touching but not sure they are drinking. I would give it a light watering from the top and see what it does.
 
Blue stones are fine, but they deteriorate over time. So plan on replacing them often.
When putting small plants into the net pods, I only cover the bottom of the net pod with hydroton in a single thin layer. I place the rock wool on top of that single layer then fill in the sides so the the pebbles are flush with the rock wool. There should be plenty of space left on top for when the plant grows bigger. As the plant gets taller, I fill in the rest of the space with hydrotin so that I only cover stem at any given time (never cover leaves). By the time the plant is getting closer full sized, my rockwool cube is completely submerged into the pebbles.
Best of luck!
 
Last edited:
No, don’t place rockwool in stagnant water. In fact don’t let any part of your plants sit in stagnant water. For rockwool the trick is to get it wet, but not soaking....them let it dry up with out drying the roots up. It’s trial and error and has a lot to do with the ambient environment.
 
This is great advice. May I make a suggestion to fully submerge the rockwool into the hydroton. The reason being is that pests love to hide/breed in rockwool. But if it is fully covered up, it limits the potential exposure.
 
No water from the reservoir should never touch the netpod. Leave a small air gap. 1 - 2 inches when the roots are not submerged (you can top feed with a pump or hand water at this stage). 3 - 4 inch air gap when the roots are submerged.
 
It’s also very important to cover the top of the pail with foil, or something, to prevent light leaks from reaching into the pail. Root rot is always a risk with just a small light leak.
 
Back
Top