When I grew with DWC, I found that one problem with the standard method is that the airstones used for aeration get clogged with salts from the added nutrients and their output is reduced. To address that problem, rather than using an air pump and an airstone, I used an aquarium power head that had an aeration function. The way that works is a short length of clear tubing - like you would use with an air pump - is inserted into the output nozzle of the power head with the other end above the water line. Then, when the pump is running, the flow of water past that tubing creates a vacuum that pulls air into the stream and mixes it with the water - thereby, aerating it. This method is far more consistent over time and requires no replacement of airstones, or monitoring their condition. The power head also produces much better circulation of the nutrient solution across the roots. Making this change made a noticeable improvement in the performance of the system overall. Of course, I no longer grow using the DWC method. I now use an ebb and flow/flood and drain system. The roots are flooded with nutrient solution for 15 minutes every hour and then their containers are allowed to drain completely back into the nutrient reservoir which exposes the entire root structure to air, while leaving them wet with nutrient solution.. This process aerates both the roots and the nutrient solution. The roots get aerated during the drain portion of the cycles. And, the nutrient solution gets aerated during the flood portion of the cycles - through the movement of the nutrient solution through the containers and draining back into the reservoir. The action of the nutrient solution falling back into the reservoir causes splashing and disturbance of the surface, which aerates the solution.

@jakekeys8171

4 жыл бұрын

why does it matter if the nutrient solution is being aerated in your ebb/flow system? the roots are getting oxygen directly from the air

@richardowens9061

4 жыл бұрын

@@jakekeys8171 It matters to prevent the rise of anaerobic bacteria. The aerobic bacteria are helpful, but not the anaerobic bacteria.

@jakekeys8171

4 жыл бұрын

@@richardowens9061 thanks for the explanation, I didn't know that

@hummingbirdbumblebee4618

3 жыл бұрын

@@richardowens9061 Richard, The Kratky method seems to work well, too, but there must be a rise of anaerobic bacteria in those jars/buckets. Yet the plants seem healthy. What difference do you see?

@greenmold99

3 жыл бұрын

i used to grow in passive wick system, then i tried aerating it, it seems like the aerated crops grew a week faster than before. i said wick system but its similar to kratky since in the end the roots are drinking straight from the nutrient anyway. i use those long black rubbery flexible pipe as air stone, im sure there are other factors but a week faster is fascinating to me.

Thanks for doing these experiments and videos! I really appreciate how honest and rigorous you are compared to other people on KZread and on the internet. For example, you show us your inconclusive result and talk about the small sample size. KZread videos where people compare growing methods with a sample size of 1 are my pet peeve. I really appreciate your work.

This is a great video. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I will be watching part 2 tomorrow. Love your subject matter and your approach.

University of KZread, thank you for important research!! 💚💚💚

@mandiegarrett1706

4 жыл бұрын

Youtubniversity....LOVE it!

Thanks Man, your're an inspiration! Keep it up. You have advanced my knowledge immensely . I appreciate your experiments, and in-depth information. You are doing a true scholastic education, which is so needed, but not being stated by others.

Thank you for being clear with your methodology. Very useful to repeat your experiment. Glad you realized sample size prevents a clear conclusion. Great explanations to what's going on with the water nutrients.

I'm liking your videos and the approach you take. It's also nice to see someone who appears to understand that "science" (the scientific method) is a method, not an entity, not a person, and not an authority or celebrity in a white coat. Haha. Respect. And thanks for taking the time to do what you're doing and to share it for everyone's benefit. Peace.

Thanks! Great to see somebody testing both methods in a (more or less) scientific method.

Nice video with detailed information, thx for sharing your experience. I hope your next part will be more conclusive. Good luck.

Thanks GA. Your insights and methods are appreciated.

Learned something today. Thanks for the great video.

This is some great info.. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

I feel in love ;-) & clicked subscribe when you said you were going to make some clones so you could repeat the experiment with control of the genetic factor.

wow thanks for the very clear info!

I really love your way of methodically testing and thoroughly explaining these phenomena and I really enjoy your videos. Keep it up :)

@honeybadger6127

4 жыл бұрын

agreed

You are awesome young man! I subscribe 🙏🇺🇸👍🎯

Great video I love it. Quality information and great explanation. I’ll suscribe. I just have a question how many time did you leave the air pump on ?

Used to aerate my hydroponic basil... it does increase yields (~15 - 20%) but by proper pruning of my basil plants (harvesting once or twice a week) I've been getting more basil than I can use without the extra hassel (e.g. topping off water volume) of aeration. At the end of the season there's a huge harvest for flash freezing... and for lots of cuttings for the (much smaller) indoor winter basil crop.

Results look at it and make your own decisions, thanks dude nice vid.

Nice shirt. thanks for the vid

i wouldve thought it was uneven lighting and possibly other conditions that caused the consistent difference in growth

Hi love your videos seriously.Really helpful ! And i wish to ask, if i use the liquid fertilizer, do I still need potassium, calcium nitrate etc? Because I saw you add something else beside the fertilizer in some other video. Thanks alot once again for such wonderful videos

@GrowingAnswers

5 жыл бұрын

If you use liquid fertilizer that’s meant for hydro, you should not have to add anything. Some plants may benefit from additional Nitrogen or calcium though.

You need to pick one plant and clone it, so that all of them are the same, then start the experiment with all the exact same plant, then you won't need to grow 50 plants and average your results, you will get a better result I think? Cool video!

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

Magic Smoke FPV I did clone it. that was in the following video. I always do it both ways to see if results vary.

wanna ask question, if we put a bigger air pump in a small bucket with single plant what would be the negative impact? If any? The pump which is designed for 5 gallons bucket to provide air thru air stone and we are feeding that much air to a single one litre jar. Will it create problems??

As your video DWC , is not necessarily full hydroponics, because in DWC our water levels drop. ? Other question ,should i be keeping water levels about 1in below from net cup ? Thank you for your time ! New subscribers..👍

Great video. I appreciate your science outlook. You seem to contradict yourself about aeration, PH, and PH "stabilization" vs "PH creep" which is what most need to deal with as the water sits in a container with roots in it... AS water evaporates, it will climb in PH faster, yes? And thus the water looks more contaminated, higher salts, and we need to change out the water more often, yes? And, we need to check the PH more often, as many plants crave acids, and are not happy in hydro over 6.5, THUS, we are constantly fighting PH creeping up and up over time as water evaporates, and is a major issue on how often water needs to be changed out.

If your dwc water temp goes above 68`f the available oxygen is dramatically decreased causing a stunt which is usually the case since most of these dwc youtube vids do not run chillers or even insulate their res. Kratky method is not effected by the water temp since it is breathing from the upper roots.

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

Five Star this was done during winter. My basement is usually 63-65f during the entire season. I also mentioned I keep the water level the same in both methods (as if both were kratky.)

THANK YOU for using Science! I appreciate you not trying to be a comedian etc. and instead using concepts of sample size not being sufficient to draw conclusions. Even without sample size being definitive it can be enlightening to see "trends' emerge from carefully constructed experiments conducted without bias. Thanks again. Keep pushing the SCIENCE (our country needs some of that at this point).

Do you have a video experiment of grow quality when doing water changes vs. not doing water changes and just topping off with nutrient solution? I'd like to see a video done with either DWC or Kratky. I know some people do not do water changes and all they do is check TDS and Ph, they just check their TDS levels and add accordingly. I've always wondered how this effects growth and overall health of plants. I've always done complete water changes with new nutrient solutions myself using DWC.

@GrowingAnswers

5 жыл бұрын

HD Bagger not a dedicated one, but I’ll consider it. kzread.info/dash/bejne/aKx7mbduf7rZYrQ.html

Do you change water levels in DWC as root grow to bottom of the bucket ? Or just change out water at same level? Great video explaining DWC and krack !! 🌱👍

@GrowingAnswers

4 жыл бұрын

real DWC you leave the roots submersed. aerated kratky is just kratky with bubbles and you let the water level drop.

Aeration of the water is deep water culture. As you CAN and SHOULD BE fully submersing the roots in the water and continue to top up fully. Not aerating the water is the kratky method. Using a gap in the water and media for the air roots to breathe and should only top up minimally to avoid drowning the air roots (1-2cm)

Or add a drip system into dwc bin to compensate for water loss

I've been playing with DWC Basil for about two years now and i've found that an aquarium filter like the "Eheim Aquaball" work well enough for aerating the water. Also when i close the Cabinet i can even sleep next to it. I think Basil might not need that much oxygen especially compared to Tomatoes or other fruiting crops. Also i've found that when i use fresh cuttings they seem to produce best on the second to about fourth or fifth Harvest. After that they either get some kind of Mold (usually my fault) or just seem to take longer and longer to bounce back. Also the taste/smell changes as the plants get older. Does any of that fit your observations? btw: What pH and ppm values do you use? A pH of 6-8 and PPMs of ~700-1200 work pretty well for me. Do you adjust the pH only once or do you let it sit for a night to check again (i never do because im lazy but its highly recommended by most non-lazy hydro growers).

@GrowingAnswers

7 жыл бұрын

I had not thought about using a fruiting plant. I wanted to use basil cuz I could taste it. I wont eat tomatoes. But I did use tomatoes in the other videos and had great results. Not to mention fast growth. I do not let the water sit when I PH. I have done it so many times that I have it down to a science and know what it will be after it sits. Its usually Ph to 6.5. I know it should be higher to start for hydro though. PPM for the aggressive veg nuts solution was 1400. Last hydro grow I noticed some mold on the tomato plants. I believe that air circulation needs to be much stronger with hydro to prevent mold. also pruning the lower parts helps.

@GrowingAnswers

7 жыл бұрын

I also left the ph alone once I put it in the bins. I didnt want to alter anything so that I could better log what happens to the properties of the water.

@Ultrazaubererger

7 жыл бұрын

Same here for pH-adjusting: I measured how much in need once and it usually works out well. I think pH 6,5 is right for hydro-basil, i found 5,5-6,5 somewhere and been running 7-8 for a while without major problems. The mold starts usually at the base of the stem when the plants get really old and woody and the weather gets warm and more humid. In Winter everything works fine usually. I could put a fan in but i think basil doesn't really like wind or any other kind of weather. I don't think its a problem though because the younger plants seem to grow more aggressive anyways and it gives me an excuse to try new systems ("the plants are dead anyways, lets try a bed of Hydrocorrels with constant flow now"). Also the roots get quite massive over time and i suspect that the ones inside of the tangled mess don't get much nutrients or oxygen. In a perfect world i would have another box just for starting cuttings and getting them bigger so i could start new plants for every seconds harvest or so.

And or add nano bubbles into the mix

When you aerate - process wise you *must* balance pH *after* either the water has reached max oxygenation or the supply of aeration is at maximum effect. Stops any 'overnight' pH drifts due to oxygenation. As for alkalinity - you should be exhausting those buffers prepping the water in the first place. Just like using something stable and preferably strong to alter pH - yes strong - weak acids have a far more reversible action (lemon juice, some vinegars, phosphoric acid). Do the above *correctly* and all you have affecting pH from the hydro is plant feeding and actual evaporation - the aeration affects nothing, you should be at max oxygenation. The larger the volume of water in your reservoir - the slower your pH will drift when all is right and well. That's how you concisely cover pH and aeration in relation to water for hydroponics. Doesn't even touch on how photosynthesis cycles and heat changes create changes in pH, but I digress, this is about pH and aeration.

I'd have thought oxygenating the water would've had a more noticeable effect. Although in a shallow tub the 02 doesn't have long to diffuse bubbling to the surface. Looking forward to seeing how it goes with the clones in pt 2

@GrowingAnswers

7 жыл бұрын

Russell Raccoon that could be true. Thanks for the comment

@voidremoved

6 жыл бұрын

Hello. is that relevant? my understanding from running an aquarium is that bubbles bursting on the surface of the water is what causes oxygen. it is the movement of the water surface. this is why the shape of a fish tank can make a difference. so if you have 2 fish tanks, both 50 gallon but one is tall and the other short and wide... the shorter one could house more fish. due to a larger surface area, which can allow for more air in to the water... but don't trust me, this is just what I read on the internet whilst doing research into fish care.

@voidremoved

6 жыл бұрын

the bubbles going up doesn't add the air. but it does stir the water around so it doesn't go stale or something... but smallest bubbles are better, because millions of tiny bubbles breaks up the surface way more than a few large bubbles. problem with a larger surface area is of course larger footprint required

@SL8408

6 жыл бұрын

Question; If you put a stone tip at the end of the tube (like you use in fish tanks) would that help with the diffusing of the O2?

In the Kratky method do you aerate or stir the water at all?

@GrowingAnswers

5 жыл бұрын

No

You must eat a ton of basil

That my friend is aerated kratke, which happens to grow plants much better than DWC in my experiments.

Circulation works better than aeration I use a water pump submerged in the system with no air stone Superior to both methods

Hi - cool video format. A quick request to make it even better: As someone not from the field at all, it would be really usefull if when characterizing stuff you could name quantities and their units. E.g. you characherized the tab water with 140ppm - of what? By later context, I assume chorine? This is not clear, since in many countries, tab water is clean enough to not to need chlorinating. You characterized your light by 6000K - do you mean lumen?

@GrowingAnswers

4 жыл бұрын

FoolWise 140tds (total dissolved solids). Not chlorine. 6000k (k =kelvin.) Color temperature of light. Nothing to do with lumens.

@foolwise4703

4 жыл бұрын

@@GrowingAnswers Ahh - that makes sense - thanks! I guess this is totally clear to people who work with these things. (Its surprising to me to characterize an LED light with a black-body radiation temperature, since that inherently should only work for classic lightbulbs that emit light due to their heat.)

@GrowingAnswers

4 жыл бұрын

FoolWise led emit heat no different than any other light

Which one had aeration? Right side or left?

@GrowingAnswers

5 жыл бұрын

Dyelon Joyce Should be mentioned or shown in the video. I don’t recall offhand.

I've read andecdotes of adding airation to kratky doesnt make a difference. I'm hoping for a true DWC Vs. Kratky video.

Hey. Why do you use Leca on the top? Thank you

@GrowingAnswers

Жыл бұрын

Just to cover the rock wool

@vargarobert196

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowingAnswers so it doesn't have any point or reason to use it? Just to cover?

@GrowingAnswers

Жыл бұрын

@@vargarobert196 you can use it in various ways. You can grow directly in it so long as you have a plant already because you can’t germinate seeds directly in it. Not easily anyways. I’ll use it in larger net pots as a space filler around small rock wool. It’s also commonly used in drain-to-waste growing. It’s a somewhat easy to clean reusable grow medium but I don’t use it that way. In the past year or two I have just used smaller net pots that fit the rock wool cubes perfectly so I don’t use any clay pebbles.

omg the sound.........

Not enough air in dwc is same as over watering in soil;)

why did you change from the floodlight ?

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

Hrad Records I never changed from the flood light. Not in this experiment anyway. I started off with a lower watt cfl cuz it’s cheaper to run and herb seedlings like these don’t need powerful light to start. It would be different it they were seedlings such as watermelon or tomato cuz they need more intense light to start or they end up reaching too much.

@hradrecords5277

6 жыл бұрын

do you think they are as usable as a standard grwlight ? I realize that is a complex question it's just i find the whole thing fascinating

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

Hrad Records in my opinion, virtually any light can be used as a grow light. So yes. the problem only lies with efficiency and spectrum. As long as the light is white light you really can’t go wrong if they are just used by the hobbyist. But when you get lights that are trying to create some “perfect” efficient spectrum with just red and blue, then that’s where things can be complicated. when dealing with warm or cool temperature white light it can matter then on what is being grown with it. Results will vary, but with white light the differences in growth characteristics are less dramatic vs being grown under various mixtures of just red and blue. weed growers will debate this till the end of time. point is, it’s simpler just sticking with white light, but it can be beneficial using a light that’s made with targeted ratios of a mix a differing colored light.

@hradrecords5277

6 жыл бұрын

yeah when they are all using cxb3590 they are just white light but the thing that gets me is people are generating colour recipes combining different colour temperatures apparently this is supposed to effect the plants flavour and other nutritional or medical make up. I suspect the leds used for lighting have a much narrower bandwith is that right ? say if you got 4000k led spotlight and compared that to a metal halide the latter although of a similar 4000k temp rating the bandwith is wider. im thinking although its less efficient what would happen if you combined led and HID ... would you get plants that are much better nutritionally for us to eat? what are your thoughts ?

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

Hrad Records white leds actually have a much fuller spectrum than hid. the phosphor causes the light to be more evenly distributed. Hid creates lots of peaks and missing wavelengths. and sure if you tune an array of colored lights you can absolutely Taylor it to specific purpose and plants.

7:18 those wire connections look bad. Otherwise cool video and experiment.

@fillmorehillmore8239

4 жыл бұрын

How so. Wire nuts are fine to use are they not?

@aev6075

4 жыл бұрын

@@fillmorehillmore8239 They aren't cased, no strain relief and the connectors themselves are far from the IP they should be in that environment. They would never pass the standards where I come from.

@fillmorehillmore8239

4 жыл бұрын

@@aev6075 I box all of my stuff for the exception of anything not behind a wall. Strain relief for anything I have done is 8-16" depending on project (If it looks like you can hang anything beyond the nut/staples weight. I usually heat shrink/wrap most things but for what this is, I have seen far worse (electrical tape or even scotch tape) Code perhaps depends on region but I agree that more could be done.

@aev6075

4 жыл бұрын

@@fillmorehillmore8239 It's regional thing for sure. We haven't used wire nuts professionally in decade and consider them trash. I'd rather use small connection box with stress relief and wago connectors if you want to dismantle / modify your electrics later or if you just need to extend the wires make a good splice and cover the connection with heat shrink tubing. Worst connection i've seen is two wires rolled together and then covered with blue tack. I wasn't sure whether I should cry or laugh

Just so you know, it’s versus not verse!

These are the results that I obtained with aeration: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fKypxLSNca-7gps.html

you could have swapped the meathods over after each cutting to rule out genetics

He's such a daddy

These plants are way too crowded if there isn't enough room the plants fight to get to the light so they start blocking light from the other plants that's why the plants are all different sizes

@GrowingAnswers

6 жыл бұрын

In part 2 I covered that. They all started out growing to the same size until I cut them back like I did here. Some nodes had almost no new shoots ready to grow while others did. Naturally the ones with no starter shoots had delayed recovery while the others grew back right away and that set forth the repetition of how they grew back each time. Crowding didnt really give erroneous results though. If each plant continues to grow back the same in each container, then it's giving the results that we're looking for. If it had been a test on overall production and weight, then yes it would matter. This test is focused on looking at growth for the most part.

I would if you sealed bin as much as you could then pump pure oxygen into the water

@DMPB-fi2ir

4 жыл бұрын

don't even go there for use of pure oxygen first off you if system leaks O2 into house you increase fire hazard in home with use of pure oxygen just from the increase of o2 saturation, 2nd after a certain concentration level is reached o2 actually has the reverse affect and cause many plant and animal systems to shut down, 3rd as o2 level increase reactivity changes with various minerals and elements in the solutions this is also in part what you see as a change in ph the o2 drives off the co2 but it also reacts with metal salts changing the ion balance and oxidizes them , lastly if you saturated the air in the grow area you also affect the plant respiration of CO / O2 exchange and its at this point humans can also show the side effects of O2 of dry or bloody nose, tiredness, and morning headaches to mention a few

No.

Where my Spiderman 3 fans at