First Time 12 Site Ebb And Grogro

[jumpincactus]

So I'm filling up the reservoir tonight, I will get to see what ppm my tap is going to provide, and maybe get some nutrient suggestions. I will rinse the clay pebbles clean. I will let the system flood and drain throughout the rest of the day/night with no nutrients. From what I've read, is that the clay will effect the ph and should give it time to adjust/settle to the system before moving forward. I will take advantage of this time to start my germination of my seedlings. No clones this time around, starting from the ground up. I will/should be growing flo (thats a hole other story).

Hydroton is inert, it does not affect Ph. But do be sure to rinse well and looks like you have that planned already. I have always had good luck letting the Ph gently swing thru the range for maximum coverage on all the macro and micro nutes . I allow mine to range from 5.2 thru 5/8 5.9 before adjusting down again to the lower end and allow it to raise up again over the following week. Dont get too anal about getting your Ph to hold steady without too much variance as depending on where you set it you may miss some of the other nutes in the outlying ranges that wont get taken up . I hope that makes sense.

 

[wasfromks]

Hydroton is inert, it does not affect Ph. But do be sure to rinse well and looks like you have that planned already. I have always had good luck letting the Ph gently swing thru the range for maximum coverage on all the macro and micro nutes . I allow mine to range from 5.2 thru 5/8 5.9 before adjusting down again to the lower end and allow it to raise up again over the following week. Dont get too anal about getting your Ph to hold steady without too much variance as depending on where you set it you may miss some of the other nutes in the outlying ranges that wont get taken up . I hope that makes sense.

Yes it does. But my question is more about my flood and fill cycle.

 

[tattoojim]

Post a pic of your controller bucket with water in it

 

[wasfromks]

I will here shortly.

 

[wasfromks]

now my fill pump isn't turning on at all. Even when it should be on the fill cycle, the pump isn't turning on.

 

[wasfromks]

Posted pictures, should be doing the fill cycle but the fill pump isn't even turning on.

 

[wasfromks]

I'm going to test the fill pump by unplugging it from the controller bucket and seing if the pump turns on. I have zero experience in this but I believe that would at least tell me if I have a bad pump vs issue at controller bucket.

 

[wasfromks]

Wow! I unplugged my fill pump from controller bucket and plugged it into an outlet, simply to test the pump. It does not work what so ever. At this point I now know the fill pump is faulty. It sucks but I am happy it wasn't the dump pump (lol). It may set me back on moving forward however. Seeds are in germination, and all of them have definitely got the sprout. I did 12 fem flo seeds and 100% hatch success. They have been in germ for 36 hours approximately.

 

[Irie Farmer]

Hydroton is inert, it does not affect Ph. But do be sure to rinse well and looks like you have that planned already. I have always had good luck letting the Ph gently swing thru the range for maximum coverage on all the macro and micro nutes . I allow mine to range from 5.2 thru 5/8 5.9 before adjusting down again to the lower end and allow it to raise up again over the following week. Dont get too anal about getting your Ph to hold steady without too much variance as depending on where you set it you may miss some of the other nutes in the outlying ranges that wont get taken up . I hope that makes sense.

Inert means void of nutrients and has nothing to do with pH. It definitely affects pH and will drive it up even more than Rockwool, even after it's cleaned and soaked in a solution of 5.5 for 48 hours. It will stabilize but your pH will still rise as it runs through your system and the ionic reaction in your root zone will cause it to rise. Also I wouldn't suggest running a pH of 5.2 even though it will rise very quickly as you stand a good chance of nitrogen burning your roots. Anything below 5.4 can get sketchy if it's making direct contact with the roots with no buffering like you have with soil. Run your micros through your system only at a pH that low if you notice a deficiency, which I don't think you will if you are using a complete nutrient solution at a starting point of 5.6 and within a week you'll be up around 6.3 or so when it's time for a solution change.

 

[Irie Farmer]

Wow! I unplugged my fill pump from controller bucket and plugged it into an outlet, simply to test the pump. It does not work what so ever. At this point I now know the fill pump is faulty. It sucks but I am happy it wasn't the dump pump (lol). It may set me back on moving forward however. Seeds are in germination, and all of them have definitely got the sprout. I did 12 fem flo seeds and 100% hatch success. They have been in germ for 36 hours approximately.

That's what I was guessing, or your float valve was sticking or not properly installed. I think you can replace it for about $15 or so? And send it back and you'll have a back up. Best of luck with your new system and I think with every new system I have a hiccup in the beginning which at least you caught it's malfunction now and not a month from now it malfunction and your girls suffer from it. Props on a good eye. Best, Irie.

 

[Irie Farmer]

Yes it does. But my question is more about my flood and fill cycle.

Sorry but I couldn't help but chuckle. At least you got it figured out on your own bro.

 

[wasfromks]

Sorry but I couldn't help but chuckle. At least you got it figured out on your own bro.

Lol the manufacturer is overnighting. Me the entire kit. They told me to take what replacement parts I need and to send the rest of it back. They paid for all of it. Pretty happy about that. Its not the floats, it's the pump. The system didnt do this at first. Just noticed it was doing this while I was letting the system run just to cycle and test as previously stated. I will just take the pumps and controller bucket and send the remaining kit back. Should be here by Tuesday.

 

[wasfromks]

Flood and drain*

 

[wasfromks]

My germination process.

I took a plate and bowl and made a greenhouse effect. Under the bowl is wet folded paper towel. The bowl over the top keeps it dark, but the lamps are providing the heat.

 

[wasfromks]

My germination process. View attachment 581454 I took a plate and bowl and made a greenhouse effect. Under the bowl is wet folded paper towel. The bowl over the top keeps it dark, but the lamps are providing the heat. View attachment 581456 View attachment 581457 View attachment 581458

100% sprout success.

 

[wasfromks]

these are the nutes I have to use for this grow. I'm open to suggestions as I need to be getting prepared for the early veg. I have only used gh 3 part. I'm kind of curious about these others. However nutrients is something I am new to and don't have confidence with. Please don't suggest another nute right now, my budget is definitely tapped out.

 

[jumpincactus]

Inert means void of nutrients and has nothing to do with pH. It definitely affects pH and will drive it up even more than Rockwool, even after it's cleaned and soaked in a solution of 5.5 for 48 hours. It will stabilize but your pH will still rise as it runs through your system and the ionic reaction in your root zone will cause it to rise. Also I wouldn't suggest running a pH of 5.2 even though it will rise very quickly as you stand a good chance of nitrogen burning your roots. Anything below 5.4 can get sketchy if it's making direct contact with the roots with no buffering like you have with soil. Run your micros through your system only at a pH that low if you notice a deficiency, which I don't think you will if you are using a complete nutrient solution at a starting point of 5.6 and within a week you'll be up around 6.3 or so when it's time for a solution change.

I have always been told that expanded clay pellets do not increase or decrease your rez solution. there was a time a few years back when there was a lot of inferior hyroton being marketed and I understand that was causing all sorts of Ph related issues. However it is my understanding that this is no longer the case. I use Hydroton all the time and dont have any problems with Ph control. FWIW

 

[Irie Farmer]

Lol the manufacturer is overnighting. Me the entire kit. They told me to take what replacement parts I need and to send the rest of it back. They paid for all of it. Pretty happy about that. Its not the floats, it's the pump. The system didnt do this at first. Just noticed it was doing this while I was letting the system run just to cycle and test as previously stated. I will just take the pumps and controller bucket and send the remaining kit back. Should be here by Tuesday.

Right on!

 

[Irie Farmer]

I have always been told that expanded clay pellets do not increase or decrease your rez solution. there was a time a few years back when there was a lot of inferior hyroton being marketed and I understand that was causing all sorts of Ph related issues. However it is my understanding that this is no longer the case. I use Hydroton all the time and dont have any problems with Ph control. FWIW

Your pH is going to rise over time no matter what hydroponic medium you are using just from the ionic reaction in the root zone. Hydroton takes a while to stabilize and will cause your pH to rise even faster until it does, which can be a few days to a few weeks. Just have to keep an eye on it and watch for spikes until it's consistently moving up from around 5.6 to 6.2 or so over a weeks time which will allow for all of the nutrients to become available in your solution. Different nutrients are absorbed at different pH as you stated, I just think 5.2 is a little too low unless you're ONLY running macro nutrients through the system as you are risking nutrient burn and possibly lockout if it stays that low for long and that's a big fluctuation of where your plants are going to change the pH to the low 6's. But what ever works for you. Best, Irie.

 

[wasfromks]

Ok can we move forward from the clay effecting ph levels. I'm glad I did cycle the system prior to planting even if it's not going to effect the ph. 1. I had read it was a good idea to do. 2. I had a bad pump on the system and glad it was discovered prior to planting. Ok so next time I won't say I'm doing this because of ph, but because I want to have a safe/trial period testing system before planting.