Hydroponic Research User Thread

Onetwothree said:

Thanks for the info sir!! I might look into getting a blumat style system as well. Looks like they'd help simplify keeping mothers.

Click to expand...

They are a bit tricky to get dialed in so to speak. Don't use a medium with perlite, either straight coco or soil.

SlabLabCO said:

Just use plain water through them or it'll turn into a giant mess from clogging since they're gravity based.

Click to expand...

I never had a problem with them clogging, just runaways when I was using a coco/perlite mix.

Sup guys! I recently got 1lb of RO/Soft formula and brought up my r/o water to .3EC with tap as per instruction. I then added 1g to a 1 gallon jug just see how things would mix up. It seemed to mostly mix up quickly but I could still see very small particles floating around hours later but not alot. It's hard to tell unless you look very close.

I also tried it with straight R/O and got the same results.

Anything to worry about?

justiceman said:

Sup guys! I recently got 1lb of RO/Soft formula and brought up my r/o water to .3EC with tap as per instruction. I then added 1g to a 1 gallon jug just see how things would mix up. It seemed to mostly mix up quickly but I could still see very small particles floating around hours later but not alot. It's hard to tell unless you look very close.

I also tried it with straight R/O and got the same results.

Anything to worry about?

Click to expand...

same here..it's some sort of mica catalyst or something..my boys say if ya scoop it out, it will feel warm to the touch. I learned the best way to do things..is to have it stirred up as you feed..most guys feed via a rez with pump..keeping it stirred with a cheap mixing pump. The stuff will stay floating in suspension when stirred.

CelticEBE said:

They are a bit tricky to get dialed in so to speak. Don't use a medium with perlite, either straight coco or soil.

I never had a problem with them clogging, just runaways when I was using a coco/perlite mix.

Click to expand...

Probably because when I used blu-mats years ago, I ran h&g which always slimed up any irrigation lines.

Natural said:

same here..it's some sort of mica catalyst or something..my boys say if ya scoop it out, it will feel warm to the touch. I learned the best way to do things..is to have it stirred up as you feed..most guys feed via a rez with pump..keeping it stirred with a cheap mixing pump. The stuff will stay floating in suspension when stirred.

Click to expand...

Ya i mean if nobody is seeing any nutritional problems from it then I could care less. Good to hear it seems to be working fine regardless of what I thought could be bad. Thanks for chiming in @Natural

justiceman said:

Ya i mean if nobody is seeing any nutritional problems from it then I could care less. Good to hear it seems to be working fine regardless of what I thought could be bad. Thanks for chiming in @Natural

Click to expand...

With you on this one, have seen some unknown particulate settle after V+B mixes, but no issues surrounding the nutrients with the plants.

I am now in my first run with HR veg/bloom and shine and honestly I am getting better results using these than Heavy 16 and its way cheaper and super easy to use. I can upload a picture when my lights turn on to show my current growth.

Post some pics! Tell us what formula you are using(RO, HD, Tap, Dirty?)and what your water quality is if you don't mind.

I use tap water with veg/bloom hard 5 grams per gallon, Shine 2 grams per gallon, the PUSH week 5 or 6 depending on how they are looking. I have this in a 20gal reservoir running on a dripper system. I am currently day 41. Sorry for the hps lighting.

Lookin good! What strain is that? And I forgot to ask what medium you are using. Promix? Coco? Rockwool? I'm considering adding shine into the mix. Seems solid and fairly cheap since you don't use a lot of it.

CoCo and yes you should try the Shine along with the PUSH it will give them an added boost. But I also defoliate them on day 1 and 21 of flower. Oh and they are Super Glue.

Do you feed at 5grams per gallon all the way through or water in between?

Nickracer9 said:

Do you feed at 5grams per gallon all the way through or water in between?

Click to expand...

5g per gal is a general guideline, but sometimes you have to go lower depending on your environment or plant stage.

If growing in coco/rockwool you'd want to feed every time. If growing in peat/soil/soilless mix you'd probably want to do something like feed, water, feed OR feed, water, water.

I've been going full strength with a light feed occasionally in promix and it looked great but ended up a little fluffy :/

I do 5g per gallon of Veg/Bloom from Day 1 of flower to finish. I added 1g per gallon SHINE on Day 8 and on Day 14 I upped it to 2g per gallon. The only time I use just water is if they have a buildup or nutes and I need to flush them. I feed every day and I am going to add the PUSH foliar feeding on day 49, I only do this once during flower, although sometimes I will do it twice but no more than that. Also I'm not pumping CO2 during this run so I am getting a good gauge of what the nutes are doing.

I ramp up.....and ramp down, just like I would with any other base. I'm in coco and don't like to see a lot of runoff so I actually feed at 4.3 grams per gallon on HD and .7 grams per gallon on Shine. This run I have been adding 2 ml of Anasazi Gold Fulvic to the mix to help break things down. Hands down probably one of my best runs to date. Sometimes less.....is definitely more.

Running at 5g per gallon in promix I can really green up the plants fast but at what point do you start to slow down growth? Like if my leaves were really dark green but no tip burn or clawing would you continue to feed at that strength?

Nickracer9 said:

Running at 5g per gallon in promix I can really green up the plants fast but at what point do you start to slow down growth? Like if my leaves were really dark green but no tip burn or clawing would you continue to feed at that strength?

Click to expand...

I am not a fan of Promix. What is your ph runoff? How often do you feed?

What's wrong with promix? I usually do a feed, feed, then half feed all the way through at 6.0-6.2 ph. Runoff is usually 100ppm more then input and ph is around 6.0-6.3 coming out. Those feeds are typically 5g dirty and 1 g shine with the half feed at 2grams only. Thanks!

Different strokes for different folks. Some like coco(me), some like promix, and some like rockwool. They all kick ass if you treat them correctly.

Your numbers seem solid. I'd reckon the fluff you got was due to some other limiting factor. Most likely environment wise. Light intensity(lamp age) could have diminished, humidity/temps, or genetics have a roll to play in bud structure more so than nutrients. Without optimum conditions it doesn't matter what the girls get. They'll only provide given the limitations of what ever the weakest link was.