this is probably a simple stupid question but what is the easiest way to do a water change in a 5 gal DWC bucket?? I dont run DWC as of yet but thinking about doing a mother plant this way and continuing E&F in my cab and tent. so if I have a 5 gal bucket, netpot lid, airstone and pump what would the simple method be?? just didnt think popping the lid of and exposing roots to light to change water was a good idea but I have no clue hehe

Just need another bucket. Mix it up exactly the way you want, set it along side the DWC, and just swap 'em. No biggie. Brief aeroponic experience for the plant! I've seen peeps be positively brutal on roots and the plant didn't seem to mind(?)

yeah all it is is transplanting.

try not to do it in direct light,but u wont ave any problems.i personally just use an exact empty container,some people fill it with straight water and swap it over,just be fast about it if u are going to do it empty.

I knew it was something simple

Go for it Tinytoon, I don't know why I resisted as long as I did.

I'm running 6" net basketa with coco in 5 gal buckets with a 5" disk airstone right now and it seems like they're growing in fast forward.

18" in 8 days !!!

I premix the water and swap the buckets and I'm done.

M.P.

Tinytoon,

I'm curious why you want do grow a mother in DWC? If you need the rapid growth I suppose it makes sense, but if you don't, you're just exposing yourself to more things that can fail. For example, if your power goes out, a mother in soil will be fine for a few days, but in DWC your mother dies. You also have to rely on air pumps, which can fail. Just trying to save you some headache.

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Grow log: First MM attempt
Second MM attempt

hmmm didnt give the power outage a thought but the reason behind it all is ..
1) never done DWC and thought would give a try and would like to change my 4x4 tent into DWC instead of E&F.
2) we have been doing continuous clones .... we clone about a week before flower so we can start the next grow and tired of waiting on plants that fall behind.
3) have 2 grows atm 2x3x6 cab which will stay E&F and a 4x4x7 tent which the E&F setup in the tent is wasting alot of space so thought turn that into DWC.
4) thought to start 1 DWC (mother) to get my feet wet (no pun intended) and get used to it before chamging tent over.

now I have a quick question ....... I understand in DWC if the airpump stops then the plants can basically drown, so if power goes out or pump dies what is an estimate on time before drowning would occur?? and is PH a real pain to try and keep in line?? my E&F trays hardly ever change much more than like +/- .4 or so

Ithink the ease of DWC is worth the risk,theres alot that can go wrong with any system,I leave 4"humid zone between my pot and H2O.The bubble will
mist up to wet the medium,eventually long roots find the water but,there is always humid air in that four inch zone and the power can go out and it doesntkill the plant,helps prevent root rot also.

Check this out.PA051069.jpg
Those wet roots are at least 8" from the H2O,its all in the wicking properties I could shut down the pump and
thew would stay wet,while the submerged roots share the O2 the unsubmerged roots take up,the result is no suffocation.

thank you for your input beach

What I found really helpful was to get a checkvalve and put it right after the tube comes out of the bucket, just disconnect and take the bucket to where it needs to go. That of course is if you had the hose drilled through the bottom side of the bucket. Its also nice to have a caring hand to hold the plant while refilling, preferably the person you are growing/living with.

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Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures wildly available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.

hehe I dont think going out to the sidewalk and saying "excuse me you got a min to hold my plant while I change water" would work out very well

so 5 gal bucket x2 for water changes, 6" netpot lid, airpump and airstone and of course water, nutes, hydrotron, etc.
Am I forgetting anything??

I took a paddle bit and drilled a hole in my buckets at the bottom
and insert a inline valve should come with a grommet get them at any hydro store.Drains with the turn of the valve.makes checking ph easy.But when I change my solution
I simply have a clean bucket with solution to change out.Exposing those roots during solution chage is no tgoing to hurt your plant. Spring for an extra bucket.

I have

use the extra bucket method - it works perfect.

just mix solution as directed and set the lid on the newly filled and clean bucket.

I have also

just set them in another bucket Dry

Set them on the floor with nothing.

held them in the air while someelse went and got the bucket clean and filled

what ever it takes. and the roots like to be touched. I wave my hand through the water to separate the roots sometimes, they seem to enjoy it and are always fat.

LOL, you sound as organized as I am. Roots love to be out of the bucket
as much as possible just keep em moist.

ok 5 gallon bucket with 2 6" bar airstones and a 6" bucket basket, how high should water level be for a newly rooted clone??

hmmm .... nobody knows water level??

I put a small hole in my DWC lid and have a battery operated pump that sucks all the old nute solution out and I fill the same way. I have a empty bucket that I fill and unfill into. This whole process only takes minutes.

TT, I couldn't find what you've got the clone in. Rockwool cube in hydroton?

I'm using coco and it's real forgiving. Any bubble-splashes get wicked all through the coco real well. Almost touching to 2" away, it was all good.

I'm sorry DH. Clone is in a Rapid Rooter which is in the Hydrotron inside a 6" bucket basket on top of a 5 gal bucket

Newly rooted clones water level is just barely below the bottom of the netpot. Bubbles splash the bottom and keep it wet. Then the water can be lowered a bit when roots hang down good. Air ball roots stay fairly dry but moist.

kk ty

Roots out of the basket after 9 days
Pics tomorrow

ok been going for about 2 weeks or so now and plant has roots (about 4) hanging down to the water and roots look great, growth however is slower than a turtle that was hit by a semi-truck!! Was running a pair of 75w cfl's over top of plant and just upgraded those to a pair of 100w cfl's. Could it be low light levels being the cause of slow growth? Comparing to the plants under the 400w MH which were started about 2 days earlier, the cfl plant is about half the size.