I did the same experiment with a Desert Rose. The Kratky mason jar plant grew bigger and bloomed 2 months quicker than the DWC.

I’m not sure why anyone would get upset, your videos are experimental & informative. Just discovered your channel & love your videos

Note to those calling this experiment "bad science": It's not automatically bad science, per se. Could the experiment be improved? Obviously, as is implied several times throughout the video. The results simply show that in this single, 1 to 1 comparison trial, DWC mod versus Kratky, in a relatively cold room, provided similar nutrients and light levels (and visually similar sprouts), the outcome was that the plant growing in the Kratky method performed better. While it's obvious that this was an extremely small test group, I believe this experiment still has considerable merit. Yes, it could be argued that the cold ambient temperatures caused the DWC plant roots to remain at a relatively cooler temperature than its Kratky counterpart, due to the circulation of ambient air created by the air pump and stone. Personally, this is my suspicion. However, this may simply show a possible strength of Kratky method versus DWC in cooler temperatures when growing short cycle, leafy greens. To be sure this is the case, one would need to do another test that included tracking nutrient solution temperatures throughout the experiment and comparing the results based on ambient temperature and method utilized. The experiment could also be replicated in a warmer environment, to see if temperature was the critical/limiting factor. Additionally, it is also possible that this modified DWC method behaves differently enough from true DWC that the results may not accurately represent outcomes using traditional DWC methodologies. In most DWC I've seen and used, DWC required roots always completely submerged and nutrient solution aerated. This is typically achieved through floating raft systems or DWC "bucket" systems utilizing float valves and additional solution reservoirs to keep the nutrient solution completely topped off at all times. If someone wanted, they could perform this type of experiment with those changes. I'd be interested to see if the results would be any different. In the end, there is no point in attributing emotions to small sample experiments such as this. It's clear that this in not a completely comprehensive, long-term, exhaustive study of the two methods (stated several times throughout the video.) DWC does not need our appreciation, nor does the Kratky method. There is also no prize (real or imagined) in championing one method over another as being objectively superior in all situations. Having been directly involved in hydroponic and aquaponic systems for years, I can personally state that both methods (DWC and Kratky) have their strengths and weaknesses, from both a production and financing perspective. In my experience, Kratky is often superior to DWC when it comes to small scale, short life, fast growth, leafy greens and herbs (leaf lettuces, basil, etc.) Why pay to buy the pumps/tubing/airstones/float valves/reservoir tank/floating rafts/etc and use additional electricity to aerate nutrient solution if growing two or three small heads of lettuce is the goal, and there is enough dissolved oxygen or oxygen available to the roots suspended in the air gap to grow in an extremely healthy fashion using the Kratky method? Kratky is simple and very approachable for this type of usage. Kratky does, however, often encounter considerable trouble when trying to grow larger, longer-life plants such as peppers and tomatoes, as the growing solution often needs refilling , and oxygenation via air pump is generally necessary (no longer Kratky at that point.) This is where DWC really shines, as this method excels at growing these types of long-life plants that need a constant supply of nutrient solution and considerable amounts of dissolved oxygen to grow well over long periods of time. For these applications, DWC is almost always superior. In my opinion, although this experiment was not extensively comprehensive and the test group was small, it is still quite good science. For the practical purposes of a person getting started in hydroponics by simply growing a single head of lettuce under a grow light, I think this is a valuable guide that demonstrates the strengths and simplicity of the Kratky method of hydroponics.

Rematch ! Rematch! Rematch!!!!

Regardless of the outcome failing to meet expectations, it may provide support to the argument that the Kratky method is probably the easiest 'ponic method being almost failsafe and probably the one for a first-timer to try.

Khang, I enjoy your videos and thanks for the mention. With Kratky, the plants initially deal with a lot of water. They respond by pumping water out their leaves through transpiration and putting on lots of vegetation. This increases the amount of roots exposed to air for gas exchange. The DWC plant has gas exchange provided by the air pump and in your video makes a tighter head of lettuce. Over more days, the DWC lettuce will likely be 15-20% heavier and more compact. Maybe the DWC plant would have been closer in comparison if the air gap around the net cup and the aeration were adjusted. Rockwool holds a lot of water, and the constant splashing permitted the lettuce in DWC to stay hydrated, while the Kratky plant had to keep reaching with it's roots to get water.

Great video. KRATKY REALLY DOES WORK! Mike Vanduzee taught me real well and for the first time after many years of trying, I ate my first bowl full using his KRATKY method! Khang, you taught me how and Mike taught me how to perfect it. I thank both of you for all you do!

You have been very humble and transparent. I liked it. I enjoy all your video clips. Quite informative. Thank you.

My guess is moving water disturbed the roots way too much. Your setup was creating big bubbles which moved the water like tsunami. An air stone should have been used to divide the air into fine bubbles like champagne. You should try with a sump pump that periodically pumps water up and drain back down through the root system or use a water mister to mist the roots but keep the water level below the root system. I have seen other people's comparisons and they have just the opposite results. The benefit of the Kratky method is it saves energy, i.e., no need to use any electricity, but at only a slightly less vigorous growth. I believe your DWC was pretty much drowned the whole time.

You're a fantastic teacher, I love your videos!

Mr.Starr, I want to thank you for taking the time to make this video and sharing! I honestly think that it was just the seedling, that had its difficulty from the beginning. I don’t think the experiment had flaws. Maybe just do 4 plants the exact same way. I’m saying this because it just is the luck of the draw with the seedling and the plant, contrary to everyone’s negative comments. Cheers to you my friend for taking the time to share with everyone. I hope everyone values all the hard work it takes to make a video like this and share. Stay safe and healthy, you definitely gained another subscriber here!

Just found you channel. Thanks for all the time you took and sharing the information. I've seen that the aerator will change the ph on the water if to much air. Got my subscription✌🏼

I find these videos helpful. Yes, there's a lot of variables that aren't considered, but at least it's a start and helpful. Much appreciated. Thanks.

I love your containers that you used thanks

I have to say I like watching your videos they are very informative and help me and my wife growing peppers and lettuce ty.

Thanks Khang!! Great video. Interesting results! Hope your well.😊🥗

love the experiment and all the helpful critiques. This was a real comprehensive science lesson.

Can you repeat the experiment with more plants? Sometimes seedlings that look the same grow at much different rates. Sometimes some of the plants grow poorly made due to the plant’s genetics in the seed. A higher sample size will probably give you more accurate results. I agree with you that adding air to the number should have produced better growth.

He's putting out a new video today! But that is amazing, I never would have guessed that!

Awesome video as usual!! Nice to have someone experiment with things and record for people to learn from. Helps me alot. Thanks man🤙

Thanks a lot for sharing these precious & helpful info. I'll buy some seedlings and get "kraking"!

That's a surprising result!

Great experiment, very informative 👍🏼 thanks

Love the experiments as always Khang! Keep rockin' it! It's not a perfect experiment, but then again, even the genetics from one seed to the next will never be perfectly the same...so therefore even the best of experiments under controlled situation would never end up perfectly the same.

Happy Thanksgiving!! Love your videos!! 🥰

I watched the whole play list on this thank you let the growing begin 🏆👍🏻🌱🌶🙏🏻

Great experiment. Take care. I did expect the dwc to be bigger. Surprised me.

To avoid the chance of damaging the roots of the seedlings, you could Sprout the seeds in the rock wool cubes instead of in soil.

Thank you Mr. Starr. You make things look simpler than they really are. Please kindly repeat the experiment with multiple lettuce plants on larger DWC container like those of Mr. Peter Stanley and compare to Krakty method multiple plants as well. Thanks.

Khang Star, I have just started my first hydroponic grow, thankyou for the information

On the DWC I think your supposed to leave 1” of air space between the bottom of the net pot to top of water level. This will allow for air and oxygen circulation. Great video!

thank you for your videos. i really appreciate it!!!!

That is awesome….. I just started the Kratky method, if mine does half as yours I would be happy. Thank for the video.

WOW A NOTICEABLE IMPROVEMENT WOW I AM SO EXCITED TO START THIS METHOD

Thank you so much for sharing all of your work with us.What are the various materials you can plant in besides rock wool?

Thumbs up khang , great experiment Thank you for sharing I learned a lot from you.

Hello. I am Kevin from Mauritius. I subscribed your channel which i find very informative. I am new to hydroponics and your video helps a lot. I wish to ask you what percentage of the root must be submerged into the water and how much must stay above the water? I am growing lettuce. This information is rare and almost none of video i watched on KZfaq mentions this. Thank you

Thanks for the video! Where did you get those containers? They're perfect for what I need.

i didn't know you had a channel! hell yeah!

Cool experiment. Just starting to learn about non soil alternatives. I am a psych major, don't stress out about not being perfectly scientific.😎😎😎

I had 6 Black Seeded Simpsons in a mortar box last Summer. I threw in an air stone with a small aquarium pump. As I moved the stone around the tank, the roots closest to it did the worst. I finally yanked the stone, and went full Kratky for a good harvest. I don't think there was anything wrong with your test. I think that lettuce just doesn't like the bubbles.

great, until today I thought that, with aerator you got unbeatable results .. I will implement your idea .. thank you very much .. greetings from Argentina.

Wow! Very nice experiment!

surprising !! Thanks for the video

Hi Khang! No need for all the apologies! Your experiments and videos are all appreciated. The temperature in the garage probably had something to do with the outcome. Nice job and thank you for your work. It IS appreciated and helpful :)

Both have place and I use both. Great video

Thanks for awesome content. Can you please let me know if you have tried the same experiment with fruit bearing plants and whether the results are same?

Fascinating. I'll stop hankering after an air pump system now!

awesome video thank you

Really quality video. I liked a lot your Channel. I’m in my way start with those methods so I’m learning and you’re videos help me a lot. Although I prefer dwc. One more thing is a question actually. for the kratky method, do you move the water to give the roots oxygen or you just leave the bucket all the cycle ?

Blooming pot garden I like your video easy and great

I know this is an old video but I love revisiting all of your old videos, the experiment vids as well as the educational vids. I just have one question: What kinds of jars are those? I like the fact that they have a screw-on lid. It makes it more convenient to move w/o worry of having the lid lift off.

From what I can assess, the flaw in the experiment was using the pump before significant growth started, as it may have also pumped in cooler air than the other plant had to suffer. Add also that the pump may have supplied CO from outside that will kill anything. But the Kratky method looks like a great start up system while building a large Aquaponics system for my purposes. :-)

something for you to consider and try again, when Airaiting in such a small container you may have been over saturating the roots with the air bubbles bursting on the surface splashing water. I belive a simple air pump in the Kratsky setup would prevent bacteria over longer time, as in beyond 30 days.

Nice video Khang! Lettuce is a great fit for a one-gallon Kraty system. Not sure why the DWC didn't perform as well.

This was an awesome video thanks. New subscriber here

Personally, I think your experiment speaks for itself!!! Fantasti!!!!👍😁💖

Good job and yes do it again with 3 plants each

I suspect the air bubbler chilled the roots of the lettuce with the cooler garage air. Jeb the Gardener did the same experiment in his office with basil, and the air bubbler basil grew a lot faster and then stopped once it was big and let the kratky basil catch up.

WOW...in theory.. it would seem that the DWC would have been slightly larger than the plain kratky...but awesome experiment! ..I love teaching the basic Kratky method to beginners..they are always so amazed at how it works. I'd say if you have time and like to do this.. a larger number of side by sides in the two formats would be great.

Great videos! I've just discovered about kratky method but I'm concerned about mosquitoes. Do u face any mosquitoes issue? How do u resolve it?

I started getting into hydroponics after following your videos on pepper pruning/lettuce growing and seeing they were Kratky . Now I have built a vertical rotating tower set up to hold 144 net cups in a 14sf area in my sun room. Got my first hydroponic tower system in place and have some sprouts in there now. Hoping to see some progress in a couple weeks. Thanks for your videos, I'll keep watching!

aeration cools off the plant, so if its cold, then dwc get it even worse

I think I'd keep the pump in a controlled temperature and keep growing. The smaller one may just catch up by 60 days now that roots are hitting the water well. I think the aerated water culture plant may have had an issue. Worth an update.

The cook air and bubbles have damaged the roots, which are not really designed to be getting agitated constantly. Great simple experiment

I have an adjustable air pump and I discovered that too much aeration causes slow growth in my plants. When I slowed the air pump to just barely bubbling, the plants took off and started growing much faster.

I have a larger setup using DWC...for 3 fig trees and an experimental basil plant. Water level is barley half the container. Roots dangle in the air mostly and my bubbles are at medium level with a long air stone & an air adjusting attachment when needed. Roots up higher get bubble backsplash, basically. When they barely had roots I brought the level right to the tips of those roots, bubbles at a reasonable level due to the amount of water in container (medium level), it stirred, but the airstone made super fine bubbles. Not enough to bother them. Your lack of space, a good air stone, and adequate space for the veggies roots growth, needs to be redone, your bubbles you have are just forcing water around and it is too much stress on the plant. Hence why your other plant did so well. I also know that whatever fertilizer you're using will also make a difference in plant size. Ive tried quite a few, even a root booster later on for one of my other experiments. My 3in basil turned into 19inches tall, and my fig trees are nearing 3ft, when they were barely 7in tall. Again, with what I am using...(im sure my root booster helped), bigger roots, bigger plant. 😉 My 3rd year growing plants, from using steer manuer and soil mix outside, to indoor hydro. SideNote: Not all species of basil like hydroponics. 😅 especially the purple ones. LoL.

Interesting result

The extreme difference in root mass seems like the DWC subject is not a good plant. It happens. I would love to see a repeat of the same type of plant and see if the results are the same.

Yes more plants and try experiment again. just wanna see another video

Thanks for doing the video. Very helpful. ? Do you fill the liquid, just touching the bottom of the rock wool cube, leaving an air gap. Thanks Joe. Again thanks I’m Learning a lot.

Veryy nice, love it.Go Kratky.

15:22, yes I think the key to doing an experiment like this would have been to add maybe 3-5 plants for each method, it would have given a more decisive conclusion. Still the experiment was very interesting, before you started I too thought the DWC method would be the bigger producer...the reason I thought so was the possibility of the nutrients settling versus the bubbler moving nutrients. Thanks for do this!

As a researcher and scientist, all experiments should be repeatable at least 10+ times in the same way to prevent bias along the process. If the results of those repeatable experiments show the same output data then the validity of the Kratky method will have the backup data needed to support the outcome. Here are some variants that you may want to consider for the next repeatable experiments: 1. Amount of air induced into the water (too much or too low) 2. Air distribution throughout the water 3. Cold air pumped into the water dropping the water temperature 4. Check the PH of the water from both buckets to compare levels (acid/base) 5. Damaged root - overall, you are taking the right steps to determine why one of the lettuce is bigger than the other. Try again and let's find out. Good work!

Nice experiment. Shortfalls-The pump was set up too early,as it was creating air bubbles right over the roots which probably must have impeded uniform water absorption by the plant. Also there was significant tip burn on both the plants due to excessive lighting. Having said that, it is scientifically proven that having an air supply into the nutrient solution increases yield by atleast 10-20 %.Therefore,DWC is more advantageous than kratky. It was a thoughtful experience, well done.👍

Looking at your test I see the intake vent is right at the back plant which is also being cooled by the dwc air stone. It could be that the water and direct airflow temp was much lower then the plant closer to the front of the tent. My .02C Cheers and happy growing :)

I'm growing reapers kratky method. Left them in soil for a while, they were pretty dormant. Once I changed hydro they are growing great. I did buy a pump to try but have not used it yet. I wonder if the air flow bothers the roots moving too much? Best two out of three experiments would be better khang? And I do understand you saying not a full proof experiment. Excellent video though. Thank you!

It’s so satisfying cutting the rock wool

thank you. thats great science. there is no flaw i seen the exact same results with peppers and tomatoes. i think the real benefit from dwc is to keep the solution from going anaerobic leading to pythium.

My question is in the summer can we plant or can we let it grow out side with only using the sun instead of the grow light in it. Thank you very much.

I would say it is a temp thing. Air pump constantly putting cold air around the roots. Maybe in still water there is a microclimate of warmer water around the roots.

U are awesome dude 👍💪

Khang, I don't remember if I commented when this video fitst came out, but I'm convinced the DWC method grew so slowly because the air pump was actually chilling the roots in your 55 degree garage. If you try it in summer, I bet the results will be reversed.

Nice video but I'm wanting to know how long would I be running the lights..changing the water..adding the nutrients and checking the ph levels..TIA

I'm so glad that I won't have to get an air pump for my hydroponic lettuce that I grow in mason jars.

The DWC plant had cold air being pumped into the jar, the Kratky method jars water stayed warmer.

You mentioned the temperature effects growth. You think having the dwc so close to a vent hole may have effected it's growth?

Thank you for this video.... Does the water smell bad in the Kratky methods?? Since there is no water change..... it seems like very discussing...

Interesting thanks for sharing! Maybe try several plants in each type to rule out and plant issues.

Great Video. I wonder if the cooler air introduced by the airstone affected the growth past a critical level, slowing the growth even more.

very good video could you explain RDWC

Do you think there's any benefits to putting the container on top of a heat pad to warm the container up?

Whoa, those microgreens grew to baby greens so fast! Do you remember what kind of lettuce you were growing for those baby greens?

I believe the dwc method is better for rooting clones/cuttings, because it has a nice strong stem to support the plant. For the same reasoning, I see videos of kratky being better for seedling because they're still so delicate that the movement of the water can be too much for a plant that can't feed itself from established leaves yet. I've seen this result happening in a lot of comparisons for seedlings and cuttings

I know you don't have much room, but a bigger sample set would tell the story better. Thanks for sharing!

8:58 what is your air pump power? with too powerful pump water intake water is changing PH so that might change things a little...

I think the kratky uses the desire for the plant to want water. If the DMC is causing water to splash around, then, the plant won't need to work as hard. Also,The Kratky method changes the root system as the water drops to absorb the humidity out of the air. For those having issues with experiment.. Try multiple of both at once. Let's say 3 of each DMC and Kratky. This way it should take away the possible problems that could occur.

do you change the water in the containers? how often? and everytime you change water you put the liquid fertilizer?

What are those containers you used and where to get them from?

Hi, I would suggest that the first step to a better experimental setup is to use more than one plant per condition! I would suggest something like 3-4 individuals.