DWC Hydroponic VS Kratky Non-Circulating Hydroponic - Which Grows Lettuce Faster?

[@JenMarco]

I’m shocked! I thought the kratky wouldn’t grow nearly as fast as the one with the air circulation water system. Thank you for stopping me from wasting time and money on pumps and electricity

[@MB-qj9vl]

Dwc is a good method to grow something very nutrient and oxygen hungry. Idk whether you could get away with kratky on long living photoperiod cannabis for ex. But seems to be doing great for the quick cycle plants like lettuce!

[@Lemonz1989]

@@MB-qj9vl I think you are right. I think this maybe has something to do with CO2 and access to nutrients. This is only a guess, but I think agitating the water might release CO2 from it, making it more difficult for the plant to access it when needed (imbalance between O2 and CO2). The bubbles will most likely also reduce the root’s surface area contact to the water, making access to the minerals in the water more difficult. A larger plant like a tomato will need more oxygen, and might create a CO2 and O2 imbalance the other way in the water (too much CO2 and not enough O2) in the water, making the water stale.

[@genloke98]

I am also very surprised by this. I was planning to get some pumps. Now, I guess I can save some money

[@francisgill1929]

wow me too

[@toastiesburned9929]

@@Lemonz1989 when you bubble, you're not adding pure oxygen. CO2 is also introduced. In fact, the added CO2 can make your pH swing.

[@pookoos]

Your channel is really really useful and so well done. No nonsense- you just get to the point and your experiments are really thorough. I'm trying hydro for the first time ever, after decades of soil growing. I'm not getting around so well after cancer surgery and this seems like a great gardening option for folks with limited mobility, like seniors. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@dlm1166]

Thank you for showing us this comparison. I'm starting out with Kratky and am happy to know it works as well, if not better than, DWC. I'd love to see a comparison on fruiting vegetables as well!

[@samljer]

more videos show kratky being worse then videos that show it being equal.

[@sparkymikey25]

The top roots are called air roots. Too much bubbles can cause the water roots to slow but in longer grow time plants dwc will catch up and surpass. Lettuce grows in short spans especially indoor and hydroponically so they do well in kratky, low maintenance setups. I run my pumps at the same time as my lights and my 5 gallon bucket dwc is growing basil, tomato and watermelon 2-5 times faster than my soil comparisons.

[@highway1052]

Your test produced some interesting results. Its amazing how the roots adapt to the different environments. The results of this test give us a better understanding of the plants oxygen needs and how it develops to achieve survival. I very much appreciated this comparative test on video.

[@MattGarver]

Great experiment, since root size with Kratky can depend on container size and the amount of nutrient drop, using 5 plants in a 5-gallon bucket might create competitive growth and nutrient use that would make bigger lettuce heads.

[@barbarak6626]

Great experiment. On the Kratky lettuce, it appears that the 3 plants in the 5 gallon bucket produced more than 3 times the amount of lettuce than the single plant in the 1 gallon container. Please confirm if this is the case. If it were the distance from the light, I would expect the 1 gallon lettuce to look leggy which it did not. What would cause this since in both cases, there were plenty of nutrients/water left. I look forward to hearing your response. Thank you.

[@vhnguyen9447]

Hi Khang. I have been enjoying ur videos for a few years now. Thank you once again for all ur informative videos. As for this experiment, my opinion from my experience is the dwc using rockwool and peat pellet is that they are so saturated with splashing water that make the lettuce plant struggles at the seedling/young stage. Once the water level from the container drop enough to not get saturated by the splashing water, the plant will start to thrive. And i also think there is a relation with the water consumption from each type of plant. Lets say dwc bok choy vs dwc lettuce. Bok choy intakes more water than lettuce so it does not matter that the rockwool or peat pellet is wet from splashing water. Now as for dwc lettuce vs kratky lettuce...they all touch the water at the beginning thus they all get saturated. Then...wich one will have a dry rockwool/peat pellet first as water drop? I am no expert. I just want to share u my experience as i once had to ask myself why my kratky lettuce grows better than my dwc in a 30 days frame. U should try dwc lettuce in only clay pebbles without rockwool.

[@estherlee4243]

This answers my earlier question to you on why my the roots of my cherry tomato cutting keep dropping off and rotting. I cut some of the roots off and changed to the kratky method and it began growing roots and leaves again!

[@CBsGreenhouseandGarden]

Great experiment ya done here. Kratky works super well no doubt. Lettuce is easy to grow so not much needed for them. Would like to see this same experiment done with tomato plants.

[@FirstLast-zr9cy]

Check out Tikki O’s channel. She has videos on tomato plants using Kratky method.

[@bobbiwest6625]

What temp. Is the grow tent kept at for the lettuce. Great experiment. I love those kratky roots. Almost like a birds nest. Take care. Thanks for videos.

[@njabulodzonzi]

Trying hydroponics for the first time this week and this has been super helpful. Thank you

[@mikeavon3246]

Excellent experiment! I grow Kratky and was thinking of experimenting with DWC. But you covered it. Thank you.

[@mytech6779]

I believe the DWC should maintain high water level, with floating raft being the extreme. Advantage is many different age plants in the same system. Also, the air flow may lower water temperature and possibly react with some forms of nutrient to change pH or availability of difficult nutrients like iron.

[@Junzar56]

Kratky, what an amazing method!

[@rohitjain7059]

how many hours of light do u recommend per day?

[@remka2000]

The difference in the roots is super interesting. Explains a lot. Everytime you mention disturbance I think about Star Wars and the Force 😊

[@gmainb]

Great experiment! Try weighting the produce!

[@jgmcgonz]

Hi Mr. Khang, i'd like to know by any chance did you conduct the weight comparison between the 2 experiments.? More informative video indeed. Keep it up!

[@tammyreyers1119]

I have used the aero garden solution as well. Their 3 pod system is actually less then a gallon and I have the 6 pod system that is close to a gallon and on the bottle of the aero garden it suggests 2 teaspoons for the 6 pod one gallon system with that Same metrics it would appear that 10 teaspoons would be good for for the 5 gallon system however many recommend using much less with new plants but I’ve never had a problem when I used the full solution on young plants in the aero garden. I thank you for the demonstration, I love the large bucket would be super good for some large plants. If your plants are growing well with much less fertilizer solution, I might cut back on the fertilizer a little as well.

[@tommyb133]

Thank you for posting! Personally I like the Kratky method, less work and just easier in general. Thank you

[@yapdog]

That's interesting. Every other DWC vs. Kratky had the DWC growing faster and the root systems always much denser.

[@cesargr772]

Great video. I’ve a question. How often do you change the solution on both systems ? I mean How often do you add the nutrients ?

[@KhangStarr]

for the duration of this 30 days, I didn't change or add anything.

[@jethrotull5847]

I greatly appreciate your testing things, the results were amazing and unexpected !

[@saurepommes90]

Can you check the pH value of both systems? May explain the color difference.

[@justinwhite2174]

Thank you for doing this, this is a great low-cost method of hydroponics that I am absolutely going to do myself.

[@engineerjay420]

Ph is extremely important on what nutrients the plants can uptake!

[@robinthomas732]

Thank you this was very informative I'm considering this because I've had a double lung transplant and I can no longer mess with soil

[@montanateri6889]

excellent video! Blowing all preconceptions out of the WATER.... haha.. So air pump causing more oxygen and circulation is not a guarantee to a better crop, at least on lettuce. I am going to be trying cherry tomatoes on kratky, it was a real pleasure to see you had the exact same nutrient that I have ordered - Arogarden - that's the only one I found that's one simple container to measure and pour in. Also, one could do with less height on the container with Kratky, as it hasn't used that height, roots are not even 1/2 way down, so thats an eye opener when deciding what container to use. You have clarified so many things for me that I can't even list them all! Very impressive video. Just what I was looking for!

[@A.L.P.D.]

What an informative video. Thanks a lot. I think maybe there is algae on the small dwc due to the size of the leaves and their transparency. Since they are smaller than the kratky ones, and much lighter, there is more chance for the light to pass through down the container.

[@usewisdom2]

Thank you so much for this demo. Very well done. I learnt something very important to air pumping vs still water with Kratky. Also its still cheaper to do kratky, saving electricity. It would be interesting to compare taste because the more green (healthier) the better taste.

[@JesseJames83]

"Expert" is a relative term! 😁 leadership changes with perspective

[@csevergreen1478]

A great experiment indeed💚👏 Congratulations po.. Happy planting. Happy growing More blessings to come😇

[@HectorPerez-tb8hn]

I will recommend you to keep doing more research on this topic !!

[@richardwinstanley2014]

Is there a difference in ph and or how the water smells or looks after some time spent in the buckets

[@judykaspar7402]

I have a question. I have hydroponic systems and I'm wondering if the pump stops working, won't they still work, only now as a Kratky system without a pump?

[@lizardking5002]

Leave more gap between water and net level when using dwc and the finer the bubble the more explosive the growth. Good video mate👍

[@steveo420]

the air will make the ph swing high. that locks out nutes. ph that down you have a big difference.

[@BarefootBeekeeper]

I'm not altogether surprised, since roots are not normally subjected to aeration or continuous disturbance. interesting experiment, though.

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

Pretty cool to see the differences, and to see how it didn't really make the end product better. The KISS principle strikes again!

[@jps99]

Thanks for making this great video, well done experiment, love the side by side comparisons!

[@MyTube4Utoo]

A very cool experiment. I'll always add an airstone though, especially for longer growing plants.

[@ugponics]

Is this comparison also in 55 F temperature? I watched the earlier salad culture comparison. At temperature of 55 F there is probably no benefit in terms of mechanical aeration, I'm thinking. Reasoning logically, I would guess, that you would begin to see benefit from mechanical aeration only past 70 F / 20 C degrees water temp.

[@ironrose888]

Great experiment…I wonder if some plants would do better with kracky and others do better with the air pump. Maybe some plants need more oxygen to the roots than others. I’m thinking about trying this with other plants. Baby bok choi? Green onions, or kale?

[@threedogsandacamper503]

Excellent video! Thanks for your effort on this experiment.

[@FoodThymeAndGarden]

Great experiment with the two methods. I'm attempting Kratky at the moment

[@abraham0014]

I think it’s a flawed experiment if you didn’t test and adjust ph. In both videos you thought that the air stone root disturbance limited plant growth in DWC, but what if it just so happened that the Kratky buckets had more ideal ph for nutrient uptake? I’m just curious myself and thanks for listening

[@avoncalling4608]

Thanks for sharing that experiment. I truly learned and understand each method better now.

[@Jamestw621]

Did you keep your lights on full power? how many hours ON/OFF?

[@wi54725]

The important question I never see addressed is: How do the two test subjects taste compared to each other and compared to regular in the ground lettuce?

[@JenMarco]

Great question! In the end it would be worth it if the air circulation water system tastes better. Otherwise, it’s not worth the time and expense

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

Lettuce has a flavor? This isn't arugula.

[@Kasp559]

Hello, I have grown multiple kinds of lettuce in Dwc and and nft set ups, dwc i used airstones and kratky as well, and I can sadly confirm that lettuce is just kind of lettuce no matter what way it was grown, something like a tomato on the other hand for whatever reason always seems to taste better from the ground in my opinion.

[@markbsb7176]

@@Kasp559 definitely agree. I would have to say because the ground, soil etc has much more diversified nutrients more than just NPK and water.

[@genrix8912]

All I know is, that light usage determines flavour. So it has less to do with air circulation.

[@rmstreeter]

Great video, could you tell me where to get the small 1 gallon, black jars? Thank you for the videos.

[@dasledogg64]

Thank you for another informative video brotha. I am new to hydro and tried to do the same experiment with my lemon tree seedlings. I started two months ago and my seedlings haven't died, but there has been no growth all. Do you have any idea why they are so stagnant?

[@tln8424]

Did you keep these under the grow light continuously and at only 20%.? Thanks your video is very helpful.

[@alanrussell8658]

Great side-by-side experiment! Did you have a warming mat in your grow tent?

[@KhangStarr]

Nope, no warming mat.

[@secureopsbotserver]

excellent video man....how long did you run your lights for per day?

[@jimmyboy2165]

I have to say I am so happy I found your channel a little while ago. It/you have helped me so much with things I just didn't know, being I am pretty much a rookie at gardening/growing veggies. I am hopeing you or anyone can help me with this. You made a comment you will have lettuce for quite a while, well I don't seem to have much time with my lettuce after cutting down. It goes very limp almost soft looses the crunchyness in 2-3 days. Is there a reason for that maybe I'm doing something wrong possibly?? Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

[@aclark7970]

Thanks for your presentation. Can you calculate how much electricity you are using and estimate the cost?

[@cholt0225]

Great experiment and great results! Bravo!!

[@zephheine9681]

thanks thoroughly enjoyed your watch..

[@bentgenetics8623]

Great experiment, thanks for sharing with us.

[@reesysorganicworld1989]

How often did you change the water for the kratky method? Great video I am learning so much 😀

[@Calicomartin]

Great looking . Can you tell me if you ever get aphids or small black winged insects an if so what can I do to get rid of them. Also I don't want to use anything that is dangerous to eat. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks

[@dkroen17]

Thanks for the video. I'm trying to decern the difference between the two growing methods? Maybe I'm missing something, but both involve a bucket of nutrient laden water. Is it just the airpump?

[@craigb1777]

DWC makes more efficient roots. DWC needs more nutes because the roots can take it.

[@mahargleopenaws]

HI. I think what happens in the DWC, wrt to the Algae. Just a thought. When the air bubbles pop on the surface, the slight explosion happening, causes tiny amounts of mist to rise into the air, and the supplied lighting is able to refract along the mist, and assist in the growth of algae. I hope this means something. Just a thought. Thanks. Graham from South Africa

[@lino222]

probably the air would work better on a NFT system, the roots would be 'safe' from the air bubbles. nothing like trying to see what works best, so thank you for that.

[@KatiTheButcher]

New sub after a few pepper vids and finally this one. I have a nice large unfinished basement Im planning on starting small and when Im good at it and Im looking towards aeroponics since atomizers put off more heat, it gets cool here in the winter.

[@KatiTheButcher]

Also I have super hard water. I can see this being an issue.

[@mssavedin92]

I wonder what exactly, the 5 gallon buckets are best suited for? I would prefer the fill it and leave it method. I would LOVE to know that answer.

[@ThinkingBiblically]

Air injection in DWC will cool the water by evaporation and perhaps slow growth.

[@cproteus]

I love the Kratky method, the man is a genius for food production.

[@urbanbackyardfarmer9159]

Nice video! What light do you use?

[@jonzoppa7593]

I HAVE SMOKED FOR 50 YRS NOW. WHAT IS MISSING IN TODAY'S POT IS THE BLACK RESIN THAT DRIPPED OUT OF THE END OF THE JOINT ON TO MY LIPS AND TEETH. THAT POT GOT YOU HIGH LONGER IN TIME AND BETTER HIGHS THAT MADE POT FAMOUS. I GROW THAT POT ITS THE BEST IN THE WORLD

[@paulsherman7802]

Thanx for the vid! I learned quite a bit. I have a couple of questions though. Have you considered trying to have the air pump on a timer? Or is it necessary for it to run all of the time? Lastly, would your light kit power a solar pump? Thank you.

[@rocket5557]

Great video. Thanks for sharing. I’ve made up my mind thanks to you!

[@Dikinbulk]

I wonder if you time it, Keep the air stone off untill 10-15 days Once it reach 10 or 15 days turn the bubbler on for the rest of the days Cause it looks like dwc was slow to start But finished a little stronger

[@grammym1643]

This was a very helpful video!

[@swimbait1]

They all look very similar. Good experiment

[@tlacson7]

Its a very good experiment. Keep it up. Im excited to see more

[@AB-kg6rk]

Your narration is incredible 👏

[@excellentarts]

how frequent u need to refill the vaporized water?

[@krllyy]

Late here but glad i watched...THANKS !! Where'd ya get the black buckets ?

[@leetpg]

Did you do a nutrient top up or monitor pH/ec/ppm during their growth? What were your findings?

[@JohnThomas-nf1lv]

I do!

[@doodahgurlie]

Very interesting experiment. I thought for sure DWC would win by a long shot in both the big and small buckets. And how interesting that the Kratky method had greener leaves! What?!? Now if I can only get my stupid Kratky to work properly...my plants are always dying or on the verge of death. I even bought the special amber half gallon bottles for them to block out light! Ugh. LOL

[@jooooohn401]

How long do you have your plants going before they start to die? I didn't realize that after you refill/top off a kratky container 2-3x you want to dump out the nutrients water mix and put new water in. If you continually top them off, over time the plant will pull the nutrients it wants and leave the stuff it doesn't use behind, so the mix will get more and more diluted/weaker/lacking in nutrients if you are only adding a small amount of new mix to the old stuff. If your plants are dying right off the bat your light may be too intense (they will get tall and skinny if it's too weak).

[@doodahgurlie]

@@jooooohn401 They pretty much don't thrive at all. I've changed out the water totally once a month, oft times, the water is still pretty full. I probably need to start pH'ing and all that jazz.

[@sparkymikey25]

You can wrap containers in tin foil ad a cheap and effective option. It's not actually touching any food just the container so use the cheap brand.

[@torilyshel8947]

Maybe, or likely, the DWC bucket has a water PH level higher than the kratky’s as with the air stone bubbling the water creates disturbances/friction and therefore causes the PH to rise. If the PH has surpassed the “safe zone” or “best zone” then they’re may be nutrient lockout… You should test the PH and see if both buckets are the same, and if not then fix it.

[@2bNot]

Good Point.

[@drbelem]

Can you tell us about that differences between sizes of plants (1gal a d 5gal)? Did you see a significant differences between them?

[@bellabox5913]

Hi Khang, can you re-use the water after the cycle? I noticed that there's plenty of water left after the 32 days. Water is a precious commodity in Cali so it would be nice if it can be re-used, maybe just add the right amount of nutrient and additional water?

[@sparkymikey25]

Absolutely, but perhaps not again in hydroponic. I reuse hydroponic water in soil containers and if watering is sparse or in a plant that requires infrequent watering then the algae that may have grown dies. If you have no algae growth in your used hydro water then it could be reused for any soil watering.

[@michaelanderson1026]

Did you add more water or fertilizer during the grow?

[@quintinmurrell9089]

I'm going to try this with my broccoli baby plants.

[@emrahkartay689]

Is the water flow in the system running continuously? Could you let me know if there are working hours?

[@mariannem3748]

Thanks for recording this experiment.

[@jessicarickard2736]

dwc should have started 50 to 70mm below net cup thats why it took off slower the air bubbles need room for misting effects

[@robertodelacruz3920]

Excellent experiment! Can you pls share the brand name and specification of your grow light. Where did you buy from? Thanks

[@jimothy11]

Are those 2 inch holes? And what hole saw do i need to create those holes?? Thank you!

[@PureNaturalLiving]

Were you adding food/water throughout? If so, how much water did you need to add?

[@ooossssss]

Question. Can I use any medium to cover the top of the rock wool? Such as Perlite or other pebbles instead of the hydroton?

[@sparkymikey25]

I know this is a old comment but yet, it's just about giving the plant something to hold its weight. Like if you put a 20 foot pole sticking 1 inch in the ground then it would fall over but if you stuck it a few feet in the ground then it would be fine, this principal is called growing medium.

[@reginaldburnbridge2217]

Just a question, did top up the kratky or just leave well enough alone.

[@dingdongchingchong8659]

How did you record your hydroponics without the led flickering in the camera?

[@odemoura]

Do you have to add water and nutrient often? How do you avoid mold growth in the water?

[@horebeliot7090]

Hi, Khang! Have you tried intensive spacing for lettuce in a hydroponic setup?

[@andrewsinkinson2785]

I can tell by the sound of planes major metro probably tampa area maybe st pete fl. Also oscillation sound of air density southern us maybe Georgia probably florida