benes or dm zone?

[kritical]

what would you recommend for the undercurrent? i got rot this first time around around month two real bummer. so now im gonna flush weekly and get myself a chiller. for nutes i plan on running

veg
h&g aqua flakes
h&g roots excelerator
botanicare cal mag plus
canna rhizotonic
canna cannazym

bloom
h&g aqua flakes
atami bloombastic
botanicare cal mag plus

guy at the local shop said roots excel is pretty much the same as rhizo and cannazym but i seen jack running both so i figure ill try it or should i just scrap the rhizo and cannazym and run dm zone?

 

[Farmer Jon]

I too have been debating a living rhizosphere vs. a sterile root zone (the phrase sterile rhizosphere somehow offends the ear) It seams as though DM Zone is the preferd method around the farm. I have yet to test Zone, so I can not attest to it's effectiveness.
As far as DWC goes I don't have a whole lot of experience, I have ran a few crops with a modified water farm, and on my second run now with DD's MPB system. Every run under my belt involving any type of water culture has always been with Hygrozyme and beni's in the mix (Subculture or Great white)
maybe i'm lucky but have yet to run into root rot or foam funk of any type, (knock on wood and thank God) although ph has been an issue from time to time.
Here is couple shots of the root system in my last MPB run:

The roots are stained a bit but smelled fresh...(these picture's were taken the day I cut the crop) :harvest:

I must admit, that for the room i'm setting up now I am clueless as to how to proceed. I guess I should mention that the plants will be grown out in a 3 gal. bucket filled up 3 in. with chucky perlite (to hold the rest of the medium in) and sunshine mix #4 topping the buckets off, as opposed to Hydroton (clay pebbles)
My current MPB run is set up similar to this and the plants suffered very little lumen shock when I moved them into the flower room. As opposed to the run before this, when they were ran in Hydroton. (they went into lumen shock and did nothing for a few days)
Sorry for the long winded post but this exact question has been on my mind all day...due to UCMENOW's rebuttal regarding Hygrozyme's usefulness in the UC. (Glad he did, it has had me thinking)
FJ

 

[kritical]

regarding lumen shock i have lumateks and set them to super lumens is that creating a problem? i keep my lights about 18" to 24" away...

i ran zone this last time and got the rot but i think it was due to lock out i tried adding silica to the mix and had a big grey dustcloud so i added it wrong apparently.

this time around i have bought (3) 32 gallon brutes with hosetaps and im gonna pump the system out every week and refill quickly with all the nutes and ph premixed r.o. water (fill them up the day before) other than that i think a chiller and hope i get better results this go around.

 

[noone88]

First few runs, use a sterile/dead res. It's fool-proof. DM Zone/Superthrive or Hydrogen Peroxide/Superthrive.

Once you get familiar with DWC, you can try organics.

 

[kritical]

bump anyone else care to chime in?

 

[motherlode]

Im using DM gold a/b - zone and magical in veg and its unbelievable - only just started pushing them to 600 ppm

keep it clean and simple is the rule of thumb

drob your rhizzes and zymes

 

[kritical]

Im using DM gold a/b - zone and magical in veg and its unbelievable - only just started pushing them to 600 ppm

keep it clean and simple is the rule of thumb

drob your rhizzes and zymes

ok then for my run im gonna go with

veg
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
H&G roots excelerator (1 ml per gallon)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

bloom
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
Atami Bloombastic (half strength)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

drain and refill every week
chiller so roots at 65 and room at 85 with co2
lumatek 1000s set to super lumens 18" to 24" away

 

[motherlode]

ok then for my run im gonna go with

veg
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
H&G roots excelerator (1 ml per gallon)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

bloom
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
Atami Bloombastic (half strength)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

drain and refill every week
chiller so roots at 65 and room at 85 with co2
lumatek 1000s set to super lumens 18" to 24" away

that seems like a fine way to start out - but you shouldnt have to change out your water weekly, I was gonna mention that earlier

 

[kritical]

i think thats the best way to keep the system fresh and sterile and keep the nutrients balanced.

is it ok to drain the system completely and refill it in under a hour or will that shock the plants or cause the roots to rot?

and if so how do you guys make the switch from veg to bloom?

 

[BudGoggles]

What I do is set the chiller to 67f and flush every 10-14 days. Its just a waist of nutes dumping them every week theres no need. I let mine ride 3 weeks a few time but every time I dump and refill fresh I seem to get a huge growth spurt so now Im going every 10-14 days.
Good luck
BG

 

[crossouttheiis]

i think thats the best way to keep the system fresh and sterile and keep the nutrients balanced.

is it ok to drain the system completely and refill it in under a hour or will that shock the plants or cause the roots to rot?

and if so how do you guys make the switch from veg to bloom?

I really wouldnt worry about an hour lapse wont do any noticable damage at least. Ive been running bennies and have had no issues at all im going to be trying out zone on my next run

 

[kritical]

What I do is set the chiller to 67f and flush every 10-14 days. Its just a waist of nutes dumping them every week theres no need. I let mine ride 3 weeks a few time but every time I dump and refill fresh I seem to get a huge growth spurt so now Im going every 10-14 days.
Good luck
BG

if your getting a huge growth spurt why not dump every week lol? my entire system is about 100 gallons and nutes at half strength will last forever...

i am sanitizing the room now getting it ready for round two! i will be keeping a journal and pics daily to get feedback from everyone on the site and help me keep it in check.

 

[UCMENOW]

The balance your nutes can achieve once it stabilizes makes it advantageous to keep topping off as opposed to dump and reinvent. When the nutes balance and stabilize it becomes much easier for the plant to uptake.

 

[kritical]

The balance your nutes can achieve once it stabilizes makes it advantageous to keep topping off as opposed to dump and reinvent. When the nutes balance and stabilize it becomes much easier for the plant to uptake.

ive had a problem where the p.h. would not go down at all unless i drained some water and added back some fresh r.o. and nutes. so id rather dump it every week or two and feed it fresh instead of bombing it with a bunch of acids.

 

[BudGoggles]

Trust me your not going to have to add anything except water and top off nutes once a week and youll be golden for 2 weeks at least. Thats with DM Gold anyways
BG

 

[crossouttheiis]

Trust me your not going to have to add anything except water and top off nutes once a week and youll be golden for 2 weeks at least. Thats with DM Gold anyways
BG

Canna as well.

 

[BavarianFarmer]

ok then for my run im gonna go with

veg
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
H&G roots excelerator (1 ml per gallon)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

bloom
H&G aqua flakes (half strength)
Atami Bloombastic (half strength)
Botanicare cal mag plus (150 ppm)
DM Zone (5 ml per 5 gallons i believe)

drain and refill every week
chiller so roots at 65 and room at 85 with co2
lumatek 1000s set to super lumens 18" to 24" away

I was under the impression that DM Zone would defeat the purpose of roots excelerator by just killing it off. Thats what the current culture folks were saying at least.

 

[UCMENOW]

Doubt That

No mis info on biologicals from CC like that Bavarian.

The roots excel is not living, it's the bi-product of an anerobic process. If that's what you heard in your conversation I'd call back and get clarification as that's not the answer I got when I asked that same question.

 

[UCMENOW]

ive had a problem where the p.h. would not go down at all unless i drained some water and added back some fresh r.o. and nutes. so id rather dump it every week or two and feed it fresh instead of bombing it with a bunch of acids.

If that's the case you've likely got incompatible components in your nutes causing the issues. You might consider using a reduced concentration solution if you're having issues that are solved by diluting your solution.

What was you're blending together in your solution?

 

[Shafto]

If you're using benes you might want to give this a read:

http://www.invalid.com/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-how-breed-your-own-beneficial.html

It really seems to be a root zone cure all - for very cheap.