topwater feeding with DWC when starting?
 

Hello to all. I am new to hydroponics and have searched a lot for some answers that I cannot seem to find. I recently transplanted two tomato plants into seperate 5 gallon dwc setups.

One is a very small cherry variety about 6 inches tall. The other is a better boy that is about 20 inches tall. I am using Duo for nutrients and ph balanced to around 6 after the mix.

No roots are in the water yet...its been about 7 days. I was able to get most of the soil away from the smaller plants roots...but the larger still has a good amount of the potting soil mixed in the roots (next time ill start with a smaller plant).

My question is this. Should I be taking water from the resevoir and top watering the plants until the roots are hanging in the water? And if so...how often?

Thank you.

I'm new too to DWC but I've done extensive research and from what I've heard and read you can use a temporary wick between the net cup and the water until the roots drop down or you can adjust the water level until it just over the bottom edge of the net cup and will wick up by itself. But you do need to make sure the plant gets some water until the roots grow out.

From what i have seen the water level is supposed to come in contact with the bottom of the net cup, especially when you add new plants. FYI, planting with rockwool cubes or using a cloning bucket will avoid the soil mess.