DWC, I need some advice and guidance

1-2 inches of waterline below basket is good. Should be fine because the whole point is to provide air by use of an air pump, not exposing the roots to surrounding air. However, I've read since ambient air has 20% oxygen and air pumped into water only delivers about 8% oxygen, it's actually better to expose roots to room air. I suspect this is why aeroponics works so well. With that method, your roots get sprayed with nute mix either from the side or trickle down from the top, the nute mix runs down the roots and pools at the bottom of the bucket where it's get pumped out and cycle around again. You use a water pump instead of an air pump. There are some great videos on youtube on how to build this and it really isn't much different. There should be a difference in plant growth however. I can't explain your low ppm being effective, unless the higher ppms that I'm used to reading about really isn't correct data. When you've got something that works, you should probably stick with it, but personally I can't wait to try an aero method. The reason why your plants won't drown in so much water is because you have adequate oxygen being pumped into the water. Doesn't have anything to do with how far the water level is below the netpot. I've read that the ideal hydro pH is more like 6.3. I doubt if you need to change your res. I'd use distilled water bought at the store which shouldn't have much ppm to it. This will give you a baseline of zero or close to it and a better idea of what your real ppm is. I think pretty much anywhere in 6's should be fine for pH. Grow them another 6 inches, then put into 12/12 light cycle. Raise ppm some using distilled water, so yes, a res change is in order if you used tap water. pH around 6.3. Should be good stuff. Gonna get stinky!

Thanks for the info Polish, good stuff. Yeah my air pump is a 385 watt commercial... Works very well, quite happy with it. I got to believe this is a large reason for my success. I'm still in AW when I was changing out my rez's and I was looking at the root masses underneath the plants. I was worried about the roots growing around the air hose and it only did in a few buckets, so I was lucky. I've always wondered about AERO.. This is my first hydro grow and I'm already won over when it comes to dro or soil.

So I measured all my plants and the tallest is 25", the smallest is 11". I took the average by adding up the heights divided by the # of girls, and I came out to 18". I just got done changing the Rez's out, and i'm going to start flowering now. I mixed my tigerbloom and big bloom. I just followed the chart and ppms with just the dosage given is about 800. Almost double the ppm levels from before. What kind of store sells large quantities of distilled water? Hell yeah they are already stinky, but I got my homemade cat liter can filter haha.. Just need to hook it up!

I just realized when you wrote to grow them another 6" then flower, I looked at my post and it said they were a foot tall. I was guessing the average at that time, but they were bigger then I thought! Always a good thing

check Walmart for your water

Lol... I should of known that was a silly question.

Ok so It's day 2 of flower and plants look good. Growth has stopped and they have been at a stand still. Earlier in the thread, in Veg stage, I fed according to the Fox farms nute schedule for hydro. My ppms were 400-500. I think I just realized why my ppms are lower then some.. On the chart it shows "Solubles" and also "Bush Doctor" . I haven't tried these products, but they are added along with the trio pack of tiger bloom, big bloom, and grow big during the life of the plant. If I were to of added these per dose at specified times, I'm assuming my ppms would of been closer to 800 or so. I'm thinking about picking these up and giving them a whirl. It depends on $ of course. I had a few questions:

For soil, towards the end of the flower stage, 2 weeks to be exact, it is suggested to stop feeding completely. Is there any rule for hydro on this? I haven't heard anyone say to just use tap water in Rez for remainder of time or such..

Also, I am running two 400watt HPS batwings now.. I think I read that 400watt is a 3x3 area for coverage? Currently I have my plants aligned in a 7x4 area, and they are rubbing elbows in a bad way (figure of speech). I've been looking into 1000w systems and have seen a few on ebay that have caught my eye. If I was going to go 1000w, I was thinking of the hood with a tempered glass setup, having a duct run from one of its side to displace the heat. But what I was confused about is the other style that just has the cool tube, with sides as reflectors... Is this one just for ease of mounting, or does it have a better cooling mechanism? I'm thinking the only way to cool these is to take the heat and move it elsewhere. So in a sense, the first option is way better when you have a room for use? The mountable one is more $ too... 1000w is 10x10, even at 2-3ft above the canopy correct?

One last thing. I read on a few grow logs when people were asking when they should flower, and and it was said to wait for preflowers?? What do preflowers look like? Do pistils come out before you even change 12/12? It was said that the plants will tell you when it's ready to flower, and at a certain period, you will get 2 inches of bud for ever inch of plant? I've never seen or heard of that.. I may have just graduated to a horticulture apprentice.. lol

I've never used a flower stage additive, so no comment there. Just be carefull how you use it. I honestly doubt if most grows really need it.
Stop feeding a week or two before finishing. Probably at two weeks but like I said earlier, it's kind of trial and error. Certainly at one week before finish, to get rid of alot of the fert inside or they taste bad. Nothing but water.
I don't think I'd buy the 1000w. Not much point to replace two 400's. You'd be wasting your money. With two 400's you have more flexibility, one low one high, or just use one light if you want. Just enough to continue photosynthesis. Rotate the plants around so not just one is under the light all time. Takes a little effort but might be worth it and will save you about 300 on a 1000w. People say more light, the better, but I suspect that the truth is, you just need enough to get the job done. You can get new reflector for ductwork and still use the 400's if you want. You might try just a couple of fans to get the heat out first. Try simple stuff first. The money you save could be your own and summer is coming to an end, but then, I don't know where you are.
Flower when you want. Two feet tall is plenty tall enough, maybe too tall. They should continue to grow in flower. Are you sure they've stopped growing? don't follow rule of two inches of bud for every inch of plant. Flowering is dependent on genetics and environmental factors. DWC promotes good growth when done right. Let that be enough.

Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated. Yeah so for the last two weeks or so, the Rez's will be simply pH'd water. :thumbsup:

Yeah this is probably my 6th overall grow, and I've never used any other additives besides the FF trio. For a trial last grow in soil, I used water only, no nutes. It was amazing how well the plants did.... But really, I just hate soil with a passion now. Plants get rootbound so easily, and its so harsh on the growth when they do. Fixing that via transplanting seems to only fix the problem for a week! I understand the theory though, of giving the roots what they need so they don't have to grow so big to search for life, but even in prior grows with nutes, it's the same deal. But I fault my experience on that. It's just night and day the success i'm having when comparing hydro to soil. The setup for hydro was a little harder, but even the maintenance for hydro is easier.

The only reason I'm considering the 1000W is because the plants are entangled in each other, and only the tops of them are getting the light. With the added light, I could space them out more, and the whole bush would be getting hit with light. But ya 300$ is a lot of doe. Oh and BTW, I live in Washington. So the heat is actually desired in the winter haha. One of my first ever grows, I had this giant 1000w mh with the 360 reflector. The bulb was about 18" long or something like that, (huge). In the winter time, it kept the whole house 10 degrees warmer.

When I think preflowers, I just imagine well developed fruit shoots. If that is so, then I'm there..

Yeah, sounds like you're there.
Nanaimo, Chelan, Pullman, Port Angeles... wherever you're at, that's where you are. :thumbsup:

Lol, I'm in Enumclaw, outskirts of SKC.

Update: I was wrong about growth stopping. I just said that because I flipped the lights, but they bearly missed a beat. I had to start trimming some fan leaves to allow light penetration on some nodes. But I didn't go nuts. One plant has curling leaves, downward this time. One or two others look like they may follow.

This is the 4th day on 12/12 with a new batch of nutes. I mixed full strength FF nutes, tigerbloom and big bloom. PPM's were around 700-800 to begin. Checking them now, some where 400, and a few were in the 300's! They needed a top off, so I gave them pH'd water only at 5.3 to allow for a rise because each time the plants drink water, pH goes up. PPM's after the top off were 200-400. I'm thinking i need to mix nutes again in the next day or two, but like I said its only been a four days.

I read a few threads on curling leaves, and some say its lack of nutes? There are a few blotches on some leaves, but for the most part, no discoloring of leaves and most of the leaves tips are green. Whats the aftermath look like when theres too much water in the rez? (Drowning) I'm finding a lot of responses say it's almost impossible to overwater in hydro, specially with 4" airstones in a 5gal bucket.

watch ur PH drift as some strains will reverse the direction of drift on u in flower