Aerogarden Northern Lights Hydroponic

[Stangupcomic]

Hi Everyone,
I decided to experiment with my first grow with an Aerogarden Bounty elite. I’m growing a Northern Light auto flower feminized. I’m on day 71 but that’s including the approximate 15 days of germination. I have done 2 flushes. I stopped giving cal mag about 10 days ago. No tent, no extra lights other than the 50 watts.
Would appreciate any advice, comments or feedback. Here’s some pics.

View attachment 1988841View attachment 1988841

 

[BigBlonde]

We have the same model of Aerogarden, or it's close. I have thought about using it to grow cannabis, but didn't think it would work. Apparently, it can. So, I'd like to know more about how you did it. I just might try it.

Would appreciate any advice, comments or feedback.

It looks like the plant is close to harvest. The nutrients might be a bit off, but there's probably some senescence, too. What nutrients did you use?

 

[Stangupcomic]

Just know that depending on which model of Aero garden you have will denote how strong the lights are. For example, the elite bounty has 50 W whereas the basic model Bounty is 30. As this was my first try it was really just an experiment. I did not want to spend much more money other than the bounty Elite but did purchase a bottle of cal mag. Next grow I will get the proper nutrients.
Once I saw the seed sprouting I gave it the AG nutrients every 14 days for 4 weeks and then switched over to the cal mag. I stopped that on day 55. Have flushed twice since then. After the first flush the leaves started to droop and wither.
When I started I really didn’t think I would even get this far so I’m pleased. The only thing you have to lose is a seed if you already have the AG.
I have tried to root both gorilla glue and amnesia but so far (3 seeds) no luck.

 

[BigBlonde]

@Stangupcomic - We have the Bounty Elite. Our #1 crop is basil. Dill grows well, too. We grew tomatoes for our first crop and ended up harvesting the seeds to grow outside. With two grow tents, we probably won't grow cannabis in the Aerogarden. It kinda did get us started with indoor growing, though.

 

[Stangupcomic]

That’s how I got started. One Aerogarden for Christmas and now I’m up to 9! I love growing stuff but am fed up because the only thing we really use are chives! And the cherry tomatoes. Funny thing is, even though I have a medical license and insurance pays for it I have found this whole growing experience very rewarding. Truth told I don’t like smoking but I will certainly try my crop if I get to that point! And for some reason ever since this plant grew I have lost interest in other herbs.
It would be really fun if you tried your AG and we could compare results.

 

[F.Dupp]

I'm not trying to be a dick, but there isn't much good to say. You need to run a sterile rez. You need to change out the nutrient solution weekly. You need to aerate TF out of it. You need to adjust whatever feeding schedule you do or don't appear to have. Maintain a constant EC or PPM. Maintain a pH between 5.6 - 6.3. Don't put the light close to a stressed and unhealthy plant. Get some airflow. And cal mag is a micronutrient that is extremely overused. With the correct nutrient line, you should never, and I mean NEVER need cal mag.

I would take the plant out of the system and soak the roots in a sterile solution, under a less intense light, for 18 hours to kill the root rot. Stir the plants roots around in the sterile solution every few hours. Put your hands in the solution and massage the roots to help remove bacteria and rot. Then put it back in the aero garden with a fresh reservoir with a PPM no higher than 600. Back the light off the plant and allow it to recover for 48 hours or until you see fresh white roots growing.

 

[Stangupcomic]

I'm not trying to be a dick, but there isn't much good to say. You need to run a sterile rez. You need to change out the nutrient solution weekly. You need to aerate TF out of it. You need to adjust whatever feeding schedule you do or don't appear to have. Maintain a constant EC or PPM. Maintain a pH between 5.6 - 6.3. Don't put the light close to a stressed and unhealthy plant. Get some airflow. And cal mag is a micronutrient that is extremely overused. With the correct nutrient line, you should never, and I mean NEVER need cal mag.

I would take the plant out of the system and soak the roots in a sterile solution, under a less intense light, for 18 hours to kill the root rot. Stir the plants roots around in the sterile solution every few hours. Put your hands in the solution and massage the roots to help remove bacteria and rot. Then put it back in the aero garden with a fresh reservoir with a PPM no higher than 600. Back the light off the plant and allow it to recover for 48 hours or until you see fresh white roots growing.

Thank you for your feedback. I have been monitoring the PH which is usually 6.5 and PPM is typically 588. You don’t sound like a dick…you sound like someone sharing your point of view and opinion which is exactly what I asked for. What do you suggest for a proper nutrient line?
I had no idea I had root rot. I will investigate this further. Thanks again.

 

[F.Dupp]

For our system such as yours, you want to run the most basic salt-based nutrient line. I would recommend the general hydroponics flora series Lucas formula. Google it. Then use pool shock to sterilize your system. When you remove the plant to soak it in sterile water, take the machine and scrub it out completely. Then scrub it out again. Then take all of your neoprene collars, the pump, and every other part of the AeroGarden, and scrub them all out twice. Do the best job you can. Take every single piece of the pump apart and scrub it. Then run bleach or a heavy dose of hydrogen peroxide through the system for 12 hours. Then rinse. Rinse twice if using bleach, as that can leave a residue.

Don't return the plant to any hydro system that hasn't been thoroughly cleaned and sterilized. Otherwise whatever form of rot you have will come back almost immediately. Avoid any organic inputs in your system. Learn how to make hypochlorous acid with pool shock and run sterile for cheap. The gh Lucas formula works well in a system such as yours. It's cheap and easy. No calmag required. And top off your rez water daily. Treat with pool shock every 3 days to maintain sterilization.

While your roots don't have a severe case of rot, they have reached a point of stagnation. And you should be able to smell a slight decay. Keeping roots healthy long term can be difficult and maintaining a sterile solution is very important. If you see or smell rot, always dump your res, scrub it, and refill with clean solution. Keeping air lines, stones, and every other fixture clean is also required. Even after doing all of this, that plant is hardly smokeable. But use these techniques next time for a much better result. And you should always start out in dirt. It's much more forgiving.

I don't have a lot of root pics, but here are healthy roots at day 13 of veg. By day 71 they are massive.

 

[Stangupcomic]

Thank you for all that information. I’m just about to tackle the cleaning. I picked up a fresh bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Do you recommend cutting parts of the root system off? I will look for some pool shock on Amazon tomorrow if I can’t find it locally today. Much appreciated.

 

[F.Dupp]

No, don't cut any roots off. You should see new white growth in a few days. It might take up to a week because that plant is pretty far into flower and has been unhealthy for some time. I would feed 1/4 nutrients until you start to see new flower and root production, then ramp up your ppms as the plant returns to health. Also back the light off a bit until you see health improve. High ppfd will cause further stress to a weakened plant.

 

[BigBlonde]

IIRC, I've seen it suggested to soak the roots in a mild hydrogen peroxide solution. In addition to helping the root rot, it also provides oxygen. I'm not sure who recommended it, but it probably was @GNick55. My apologies to Nick if I'm wrong.

 

[F.Dupp]

I would only use the h2o2 to sterilize the AeroGarden. After you scrub it out completely, full it with water and h2o2 and run it for 12hrs. Put all parts of the machine in the h2o2, including neoprene collars. Everything must be sterile.

For sterilizing the nutrient solution you should use pool shock or hypochlorous acid. In your situation I highly recommend hypochlorous acid. Athena cleanse and UC Roots are good brands. It's expensive, but your application rate in that machine will be so miniscule that a gallon should last you a year. And it's worth it for healthy roots. I use pool shock, but I don't recommend that for beginners. Nor do I recommend bleach.

So every day you will top off your reservoir, then test PPM and pH. Adjust both accordingly. Then every 3rd day you will re-dose the nutrient solution with hypochlorous acid. And once a week you will dump your rez, rinse, and refill with fresh nutes. And when you do these things, your plant will produce 4+oz of top shelf bud.

If you don't, your gonna eventually get so depressed by looking at sick plants, that you will begin planning your own death (at least that my experience)