When to transition from starter tray to DWC bucket?

[Brother_Antioch]

Hey, folks.

So, as the title suggests, I'm looking for some guidance as to when it's time to move a new seedling over to my DWC 7 gallon bucket. This is my first attempt at hydro, so I don't want to do it too early and lose the seedling, nor too late and mess up the roots. Currently it's only a few days old (about 1" tall) with its first pair of serrated leaves. She's standing tall and proud, not lanky and weak, and when I put the seed into the rockwool cube the taproot was approx. 2" long and poking out at the bottom/side of the cube when going into the starter tray. It's currently in a starter tray with a humidity dome inside my tent. I've cracked open the vents just the tiniest amount on the top of the dome, and give it about 15 minutes a day with the dome off. Humidity is in the high 60's and temperature is around 78F in the tent. I've turned off all the fans except the intake fan for now as it seemed to prevent the humidity from reaching the desired targets, but will be turning them back on once the DWC system is operational in the tent, seeing as it adds humidity to the grow.

Ideally, I want to have my water in the bucket and stabilized a day or two prior to transferring it over since it's really good tap water (I've gone over the town's water report carefully) so it just needs to off-gas first and I'll have the air-stones in the bucket with the water during that period. So I suppose the key question is, at what point do I transition to the DWC, so I can get things prepared for it ahead of time...but not far enough ahead that the water starts to stagnate.

Sorry if this is basic information, or if I'm not clear enough in my question. As I said, first time growing in a hydro set up. I've included a pic of her at the stage she's at as of now, as that's a lot easier than trying to picture "a few days old", seeing as that varies wildly from strain to strain and medium to medium. Appreciate any information, and thanks ahead of time to those who can help out!

Cheers,

BA.

From the top down:

I included this next shot so you can see the humidity level in the dome. Not "rainforest dripping" just a light and consistent fogging.

 

[Smokey0418]

I start my seeds in oasis. Holds water like rockwool but is neutral.
Once my seedlings root has reached the bottom and exits , I’m game to plant.
I use a current culture net pot , which has a 1.5 riser built into the cup, so I add my corn until I have a single layer across this area , about 2 inches in depth around the sides and 1/2 across the raised section.

I then take my new plant in hand and gently swing my arm with plant to remove any soaked waters in cube which gets splattered to the cement floor.
Put it in the centre of cup and surround remaining space with more hydro corn until it’s covered.
Put cup into lid of bucket.
Will be enough moisture to keep alive and since my block is mostly dry , roots start looking.
Will take 2-3 days and roots will emerge from netpot.
I also have been running live, so after planting I would scoop a Dixie cup of nutes and add Hygroben for example whatever dose I’m using and would add this to the Dixie cup . 3-5 ml per gallon .
Then pour this supercharged bacteria laced drink around the perimeter of the cup trying not to get any on the cube I planted.

Baby seedling or rooted clone, I mix my nutes to 1.2ec period , ph5.8 and 6 for flower.

Sorry for the long winded explanation.

Enjoy and good luck with your grow.

 

[Brother_Antioch]

I start my seeds in oasis. Holds water like rockwool but is neutral.
Once my seedlings root has reached the bottom and exits , I’m game to plant.
I use a current culture net pot , which has a 1.5 riser built into the cup, so I add my corn until I have a single layer across this area , about 2 inches in depth around the sides and 1/2 across the raised section.

I then take my new plant in hand and gently swing my arm with plant to remove any soaked waters in cube which gets splattered to the cement floor.
Put it in the centre of cup and surround remaining space with more hydro corn until it’s covered.
Put cup into lid of bucket.
Will be enough moisture to keep alive and since my block is mostly dry , roots start looking.
Will take 2-3 days and roots will emerge from netpot.
I also have been running live, so after planting I would scoop a Dixie cup of nutes and add Hygroben for example whatever dose I’m using and would add this to the Dixie cup . 3-5 ml per gallon .
Then pour this supercharged bacteria laced drink around the perimeter of the cup trying not to get any on the cube I planted.

Baby seedling or rooted clone, I mix my nutes to 1.2ec period , ph5.8 and 6 for flower.

Sorry for the long winded explanation.

Enjoy and good luck with your grow.

Thanks tons for the advice, Smokey. As for the "long winded explanation", I much prefer a detailed explanation with the "why" explained, rather than just a "soon as you see *this*".

The net pot I'm using is a 6", with a flat bottom. I'm planning on putting a few inches of hydroton clay pellets in the bottom to bring it to the height of the top of the pot, and initially keeping my water level up to just below (1/4" or so) from the bottom of the rockwool cube. From what I've read, the pellets will wick up the moisture (well, stay wet, anyway, with the airstones creating bubbles) and keep my cube moist while not absorbing the water directly into the cube and damping off on me. As the roots grow over the next few days or a week, I'll slowly lower the water level until it's a couple of inches at most below the bottom of the net pot. I'm avoiding any nutrients until I see a third set of true leaves showing, but from what I've read here and other places, that should only take a few days, more or less, so I'm sure it won't harm it. But, seeing as she hasn't seen anything other than straight water so far, better safe than sorry, right?

Again, appreciate you weighing in on this for me.

Cheers,

BA.

 

[Smokey0418]

Personally would start my run with water touching my pots, 1/2 inch.
That would put my said cube about 1-1.5 inches above the waterline.
And yes for sure there will be lots of moisture to get it going.
Just have patience for the first few days.
Should not wilt, visually it should look normal while you wait for roots to reach water , start sipping and then transforming.

 

[amneziaHaze]

I start in dwc