I started my first hydro and my seedlings were a little over 2 weeks old when i transplanted them to the DWC Hydro reservoir and they are super droopy now. I am using the general hydroponics flora series nutes and its the feeding schedule for the week 3, under the light feeding. The pH has been between 5.2 and 6 at the highest. Temperature ranges from 72 at night to 80 during the day with the RH around 60-70%. TDS currently is 1040. light intensity is 25% and on 16 hours a day. All the plants are autos. The feeding schedule is 4 times a day for 10 minutes plus the aeration in the tank. roots from a couple of the plants are already in the water.
Im not sure if they are just stressed, over watered, or on their way to die. Im sorry if i missed anything but forgive me, I’m still a newbie lol.
One thing that will help is, if roots are in the water, remove the drippers. Also, if you have to top feed, set your dripper near the edge of your netpot, not next to the stem. The roots will find the water.
Also like Graysin said what’s your water level?
Good luck and keep’em growin!
Correct. Having plenty of air for your roots will make a big difference. You got this! Keep’em growin!
Edit: I would give them a couple of days after you stop top feeding and they should straighten out. Also if you can cover the hydroton that will help with holding back funky stuff growing in your basket. Blocking out as much light as you can from the water.
This temp is way too high and will reduce O available to plants as well as running a severe risk of Pythium (root rot). Got to get that water temp down.
Thats a great idea! I have some of that stuff left over. Makes sense to use that lol.
This hydro stuff turned into way more work. I was hoping to automate my process being imnout of town days at a time. But looks like its ike rearing kids. Its a full time job lol
Yeah; you can reduce the heat to your rez with insulation between light and bucket/tote but not enough to make a difference. A water chiller is really the only option.
LOL was helping someone grow in DWC in las vegas and dude says “my plants are dying” after transplanting to DWC, i go and take a look and he has the water level about 6 inches from the roots, common sense is like 90% of life
Looks like the expert hydro growers have already given you the best advice.
If you want to be able to leave your system for days/week I would recommend an rdwc system, mine holds about 30 gallons of water and I can leave it for days with no issue.
Don’t sweat it: it’s very common for new hydro growers to not be aware of water temps. It’s best to be around 68 to 70F with a large amount of air to the nutrient solution. Unfortunately a chiller isn’t a cheap appliance but will solve temperature issues in the rez.
You can do this but quickly gets really old.
I will also point out that DWC (bucket hydro) is much more labor-intensive than is talked about. Nutrient levels will drop drastically once plant/plants are in late veg and into flower. I recommend adding a reservoir to help with stabilizing PH and TDS as well as maintaining ideal distance below net pots (1 1/2 to 2" below). Using large totes instead of buckets can help as well.
And damaging to your plant roots. The more often I had to lift my pot, the more frequently my roots suffered a damage from being jostled around. Plus the frozen water right in their root zone can cause “freezer burns” on the roots. I would sooner use no chiller than return to frozen bottles or jugs.
