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Greengrower8
- 102
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I'm not saying airstones don't work. I'm pointing out that there is a limit to their oxygenation powers. I run a tropical fish business for a living so I can tell you what works better when it comes to oxygenating water and airstones suck my balls compared to just sticking an airline in there without anything restricting the airflow. Just let the big bubbles flow and use a valve to reduce it if your air pump is a beast and that's way better than airstones. Plus it won't get clogged from salt buildup which can restrict airstones flow very quickly. Airstones oxygenating powers come from the fact that they move water. The actual air being pumped through the stone is not dissolving oxygen at a rapid rate and is not a big source of what dissolves into the water. The airstone moves water and that gets water to the surface which is where oxygen can be transferred more rapidly. Aquaculture facilities use really expensive oxygen injection injections systems because they're just to stupid to know about airstones...:D
Your water temp is fine around 70. Plenty of oxygen able to dissolve at 70. DWC leaves a lot to be desired in terms of a growing system in my opinion
I'm not trying to tell you what your problem is; I'm merely making suggestions and trying to help you move forward in figuring this out because sometimes you just have to keep thinking and troubleshooting. Your pumps are flowing and air is moving so...sounds like you got it.
Have you ever had your well water tested. take some pics of this sludge you refer to. Also is it just the water that is sludge like or are the roots themselves weak and covered in slime. This would indicate root rot.
I'm leaning towards your source water possibly being part of your problem. Well water can contain all types of nefarious pathogens. I had a partner years ago used well water and nothing helped his hydro setup until he sourced a RO system and then all problems disappeared.
I have thought about this. But — I would need about 100gal of RO water per week. I have no idea how this would be possible. I honestly have no idea how people use RO water on any decent sized grow. Unless they have some sort of purification system in their home. Cuz buying and simply transporting this much water is crazy talk. Maybe I’m missing something. I’d love to have cleaner water. But I have no idea how this would be possible.
I’ll have to look into an RO system if they are that inexpensive.
Good to hear that my assumptions about GH 3 part are confirmed. I’ll look into something simpler, but the fact is I’m comfortable and very familiar with using these nutes - I’d rather not fuss around with a different regiment. Unless there is a big upside to switching.
I have measured ppms periodically. My well water out of the tap is about 350. They run about 1000 after being fed. I haven’t been diligent enough to test them regularly to see how much they eat, etc. Although I’ve read this info can be very useful. Dealing with these other root rot issues has been monopolizing my time.
I’m confused about your ppm statements. First you said set it at a specific level and check it in 12-24 hours. If it goes up then set it higher, if it goes down then set it lower - which really doesn’t make sense to me. Then you said if it’s at 700 and then it goes down to 600 then set it higher to 750 which contradicts what you first said (if it goes down, set it lower)??
Also, regardless of which way to adjust it, I have no idea how much of a single nutrient, let alone a trio of nutrients, to add to get the ppm to increase 100ppm or whatever. That is a ton of trial and error, adding and subtracting nutrients. It sounds like a huge pain in the ass. This is another reason I haven’t been measuring this, cuz it doesn’t sound as easy as everyone says.
First off, thanks for all the great info everyone here has provided. You guys rock!
5 stage RO filter ordered. I will get it early next week. My own fault for not researching this long ago - I always just assumed a filter system like this was way more expensive.
I went out and bought 25gal of RO water and I have replaced 6 of the buckets that are having the most trouble. And nothing is really in nightmare trouble - it’s just like one side of ugly roots and one side of beautiful roots. Or beautiful roots growing out of ugly ones. In any case, it’s stunting growth big time, and I’m tired of futzing around with it. Hopefully well water is the ultimate culprit with all this. It seems like I have dealt with and corrected anything else it could be.
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