What is in the pot? Seed, small plant, bareroot, plant in rockwool, what? It makes a difference. And what media are you using? Coco, hydroton, or what?

In most cases I can think of, an inch from the top is too much water. If the seed or clone was started in rockwool, for example, the water should be below the rockwool. If a bareroot plant was used, water level should be higher, but not by much. The basic concept is the roots should grow down to reach aerated water, but the main body of the plant should be above it.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, seed was germinated and then placed into an eazy plug and then placed into the hydroton (upper part of pot) led at 70% light I am keeping the plug dry and manually adding some top feed around it, was just a little concerned as they looked to be drooping a little compared to previous days and if the wetness of the pot was normal as this is my first time growing.

Resend the picture. It’s not showing up. On water level, just to be sure we’re on the same page, go to page 39 of the following instruction manual, from Current Culture:


There is a drawing showing water level for a net pot. Let us know if this is the same you have your water level set. The plug should be moist, not wet, same with hydroton surrounding your plug.

I, too, am in my first grow. And I'm also doing a DWC hydro. My plant is a Northern Lights Autoflower. I germinated the seed in a peat plug surrounded by coco mixed with mycorrhizal and combined with expanded ceramic pellets. I tried to go full hydro at the start of weeks 2&3, but nearly drowned the plant each time. It was week 4 before I could add water to the actual bucket, and only them because the roots had started to show through the bottom of the basket. (Prior to that, I just used a measuring cup to add 500ml of nute water every day or two as necessary) Then, I slowly raised the water level up the sides of the basket as the roots grew out the sides. It's now in week 8, and it looks like about 100 miles of roots filling the bucket, and it drinks 3L of water per day.

I can't see your picture, and you don't specifically say how far into your grow that you are, so I don't know what stage your plant is. However, when my plant was in week 2, the leaves started to claw (curl under), and that seemed to be a calcium deficiency because I hadn't used any when first germinating the seed.

Also, you say that your pH is around 6. Which is OK, but at the upper range of what is recommended for hydro grows (5.5-6.1), and I find that the water in the bucket goes up in pH over time. So monitor that carefully.

Hiyas,

Ok some answers for you and pics they are looking worst today they are only 2 weeks old and the water level is an inch below the bottom of the pot (water level does not touch pot and water has air stone) also yellow leaves now..I have one that’s shown not in the dwc system which isn’t drooping so yes maybe I should only be feeding from the top for now? Appreciate the help I got a bit to learn.

N2G420 said:

Hiyas,

Ok some answers for you and pics they are looking worst today they are only 2 weeks old and the water level is an inch below the bottom of the pot (water level does not touch pot and water has air stone) also yellow leaves now..I have one that’s shown not in the dwc system which isn’t drooping so yes maybe I should only be feeding from the top for now? Appreciate the help I got a bit to learn.View attachment 2171514View attachment 2171517View attachment 2171515View attachment 2171516

Click to expand...

1. Are these photo-period, or autoflower?
2. Did you download/copy the official recipe of nutrients from the manufacturer's site?
3. What type/wattage is the light that you are using?
4. How far from the plant is the light?
5. What is the humidity level of the tent?
6. What is the temperature of the tent?
7. What kind of water are you using? (Tap, filtered, distilled)
8. Do you own a water chiller? It will become necessary once the plant is bigger, and the summer temps make your water a breeding ground for microbes.

OK, the plant in the pot looks droopy, but not really "bad." Do you have ANYTHING in the basket other than the expanded ceramic pellets? Coco, soil, or some other medium that would hold moisture/nutrients? Because those ECP's look very dry, and those leaves look thirsty, imo. If not, you might need to wet the pellets with a weak nutrient solution as often as a couple of times per day. If it's just the plug and the pellets, you might want to temporarily move the pellets away from the top of the plug so that you can monitor exactly how dry or moist it is easier.

Those pellets have no ability to hold moisture or nutrients. So your plant might only be getting whatever moisture it can from the humidity in the bucket. But that would contain minimal nutrients, if any at all. But you have to be super careful, because it's a very fine balancing act with a plant that young. And they can be drowned very easily.

They don't really look "clawed" to me, which is good, because that would be a nutrient issue of some type. They just look droopy, like there isn't enough water in the plant to keep the leaves plump and lush. But, again, that is a very fine balance. Much like a baby human, your plant is at its weakest and most vulnerable right now.

As for the plant in the plug, sitting on the bucket cover. Those yellow leaves are the cotyledons. They only exist in order to provide enough photosynthesis for the first couple of sets of true fan leaves to develop, and then they yellow, die, and drop off. So that looks normal to me. The plug itself looks like it could use a little water, but moist NOT wet. Plants need CO2 for photosynthesis, but they need O2 for healthy roots, so don't overload the plug with water.

DWC grows come with their own unique challenges. I take pictures daily at the same time every day, and keep a journal of everything that I do, and (later on) how that affected the plant. You may or may not want to do that. If you do want to keep a grow journal, this forum has a specific thread for them, and frequently updating one might help people track the progress of your grow if and when you run into more issues.

Hey, on a break so will answer what I can, first try at this so kept it small 2x2 tent sf1000. 100w led, extraction fan and oscillating fan… led set at 75% at 24inch above. Photo period and have nutrients recipe humidity around 60 temp around 24c as it’s cold here, using tap water no chiller but not summer. Only the plant in plug in the pallets so for now gonna try what you said and keep an eye on the it. Thanks again for your time replying that’s a descent post.

N2G420 said:

Hey, on a break so will answer what I can, first try at this so kept it small 2x2 tent sf1000. 100w led, extraction fan and oscillating fan… led set at 75% at 24inch above. Photo period and have nutrients recipe humidity around 60 temp around 24c as it’s cold here, using tap water no chiller but not summer. Only the plant in plug in the pallets so for now gonna try what you said and keep an eye on the it. Thanks again for your time replying that’s a descent post.

Click to expand...

No problem, dude. I hope that it helps. I don't have the same brand light as you, so I can't be sure what height you need it to be at this point. But my plants were under a 100w light at that age, and I have to keep it within 6 inches to get them growing. But LED's have a wide range of capabilities, and I'm not sure that yours needs to be closer, or is perfect.

I'm also growing with tap water, and it hasn't hurt my plant's growth at all.

Since I'm nearing harvest of my first grow, I've learned some of the pitfalls along the way for DWC. The first lesson that I learned when my plants were your age was NOT to overreact, I nearly killed my plant twice in the first 3 weeks trying to fix problems that I wasn't sure even existed. Good luck, a couple more weeks and the plant will get stronger, and then it gets fun!

Also, read up on training the plant. I didn't do it early, and now I've got a plant growing into the top of my tent.

Hey N2G!
Ok, so 3 things:
1) I don't see any roots growing of your plug of the seedling sitting onto. What were your roots looking like before transplant? Stan is correct, Hydroton doesn't have a high water holding capacity, so if the roots aren't sitting in your nutrient water, you need to water them manually.

This is how long i got my roots in the cloning tray before moving them into the DWC i'm currently doing for a breeding run. Then they go into pots that have the bottom 1/3 sitting in the solution.


2) What is the humidity in there? When small plants are first transplanted into a new room, you need to make sure it's humid enough so they're not stressed, which she clearly is.

3) See how the new leaves have interveinal ridging? That a sign of a root problem in an established plant. This is just probably due to my first 2 points though. ;)

So just make sure those roots are in the solution and get your humidity up. She should be much better in a day. :)

Good luck!

Welcome and may your grow be green and not yellow!

Hi Guys,

Thanks I am taking this all in and will learn a lot on the way I may try see how lowering the light goes should I leave at 75%? When should I up it to 100%%

MrCannabis the roots are just slightly hanging out of the cube I’m a little thrown by over watering and you’re advice to have the roots sitting in the nutrient water. Should I raise the water level so it reaches the bottom of the cube(touching cube or just below) or should I manually feed until roots grow longer and have only the roots in water?