Grow Mediums Recharge in DWC

[CannabisMingus]

I have read some of the older posts on this issue but am looking for more recent experiences/opinions. I am using GW in a DWC system right now but haven't been all that impressed with the roots. I haven't gotten a massive Pythium outbreak - which is great - but just re-evaluating my bene plan.

I spoke with Real Growers Inc (Recharge) who advised to dose it in the res a few hours before a res change as opposed to dosing it after. Any thoughts on this method or whether Recharge is appreciably better than GW?

Thnaks in advance growmies.

 

[CannabisMingus]

Bump for responses. Thanks!

 

[LabRat]

Personally I wouldn't use Recharge in DWC as it's mainly for soil and I've always run sterile DWC. Wouldn't mind some for my potted grows tho.

 

[BII]

Keep in mind that ReCharge contains a good dose of molasses (sugars/carbs) along with some other organics, such as kelp. I don't do DWC, but I presume you don't want to add sugars or other nutes that will readily support fungi, bacteria, spoilage/fermentation, smell, etc. in the reservoir.

 

[CannabisMingus]

Keep in mind that ReCharge contains a good dose of molasses (sugars/carbs) along with some other organics, such as kelp. I don't do DWC, but I presume you don't want to add sugars or other nutes that will readily support fungi, bacteria, spoilage/fermentation, smell, etc. in the reservoir.

I believe that's why Real Growers Inc (Recharge) ) recommends dosing it prior to a res change in DWC. FWIW, I'm dosing Bud Candy the last 3 weeks of flower in my current DWV grow and roots are fine, but I am dosing very lightly, along with supplemental GW, fulvic acid dosing and enzymes. IMHO, YMMV, etc.

 

[HisHolyModalMajesty]

I'm doing this now, will probably make a journal at some point. ~1/4 tsp Recharge in ~1 liter of RO water, pour over the hydroton so it gets to the entire root system. Can't see any significant foaming in the water, and the slightly musty smell I had last week seems to be gone.
Granted, you should take this with many grains of salt, as I am 2 weeks into my very first DWC grow, after a series of horrendous coco grows.

 

[HisHolyModalMajesty]

Yeah so I haven't started a journal yet (7 month old baby+line cook doesn't leave as much free time as you'd imagine) but I can say that I think the recharge is working well. Adding it right to the water seemed to work great, but it did foam up which I imagine could (eventually) clog up airstones/waterpumps. Using it the recommended way (making a quart or so of recharge solution and pouring it on the roots through the hydroton before the res change) seems to have worked just as well.
As I mentioned, this is my first DWC grow, so my opinion is worth what it's worth, but there are two reasons I really do think it's working. First, temps here have swung wildly over the duration, from 15-28c (~60-80f), and res temps have too, but I've gotten no signs of rot. Second, my ph pen apparently severely lost calibration over the first month, which meant the plant spent at least a week or two in ~4.0 ph during its first month, and while it was stunted it's nowhere near as bad as a similar accident during a coco grow caused, and generally not as bad as you'd expect. I can't think of any reason other than the recharge why this would be so.

 

[CannabisMingus]

baby+line cook doesn't leave as much free time as you'd imagine

What!?! I'm shocked!