SweetLeafGrow
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Reading through your thread hm7 and sorry to hear about all your problems. You are certainly in the right place and in good hands with Aquaman.I was using AN Sensi A & B that round with hydroguard. Everything was fine in the beginning, until I added B52 (which I believe is kelp based, but they claim it's supposed to be DWC friendly). Within 8 hours of adding B52, the entire system slimed horribly - and I could never get rid of it. I could only 'keep it in check' by cleaning everything once a week in veg.
Once I flipped her, I used Bud Candy after reading such great things and the problem intensified 10x - the slime was horrible every time I used that stuff - it was from that point forward that I was having to clean and soak everything 2-3x a week throughout the entirty of flowering until finish just to get through the grow - and even then, I was obviously still dealing with problems. I switched from Hydroguard 1/2 way through flower to Orca hoping to see an improvement, but it didn't help. I'm still amazed it made it through to the end.
I contacted AN near the end when things started getting really bad after I added BudCandy, and they weren't a whole lot of help - only saying that 'b52 and bud candy won't cause these issues', then basically advised running a ton of h202 through the system, but she was so close to the end at that point, I just continued manually (and very carefully) cleaning everything by hand several times a week. It got really old.
After that experience, I switched to H&G Aquaflakes this time, and am now afraid of using any sort of additives at all for fear of sliming everything in this new system.
I'm trying to keep it simple this round, yet each time I think I've discovered the problem or solved it, it creeps back up lol.well if you go basic and keep it aimple its pretty easy if you keep your environment and parameters in check. Sgit happens to the best of us and you just meed to take it as a learning experience… hell i always have self created issues from being lazy while knowing better. Youll get there and then you will get lazy and still have some issues to learn from.
Reading through your thread hm7 and sorry to hear about all your problems. You are certainly in the right place and in good hands with Aquaman.
I had a similar experience with AN nutrients and ended up switching during the grow because of all the problems...I feel your pain!
FWIW, here is my grow diary where I had all the issues.
First RDWC Grow - Taking the Deep Water Culture Plunge
Greetings Cultivators! I have 3 full grows under my belt indoors in soil but now am opening a new chapter and taking the plunge into RDWC. I have been impressed with folks growing this way and so I decided to give it a shot but I have to admit, I feel like I am starting all over again....twice...www.thcfarmer.com
Don't give up, you got this! The learning curve is steep but it sounds like you have learned a lot already and you are in the right place here at the Farm. Best of luck!
I can see you in great hands.
Also looking at your post , if my plant were your size .
I would take your water ,add calmag to 150-180 then I would go to at least 400 with the a-b feed . Maybe even 5 but that’s me.
Could you explain your 5ml of shock. Like straight up??
Os megacrop what you run?Yeah avoid the organics in hydro… if you have a small source thats ok but then you must use enzymes to break it down fast but ideally stay away from them. Every nute manufacturer is going to say their stuff is good for everything but yeah you obviously have seen thats not the case
an easy one i found was mega crop 2 part with massive in flower. Silica and fulvic acid are good additives and thats all you need unless your looking to boost sulfur at the end. Potassium sulphate, mag sulphate or something like floralicious that contains those is also ok
On your next go round, you could try adding a drip ring to the grow basket. GH stopped making them, but they are still available. They are a few dollars more now.. Using a drip ring on hydroton will provide all the dissolved O2 a plant needs. I stoped using air stones many years ago. I've had my GH air pump for more than 7 years.. I bought a rebuild kit for the pump and have needed to use it.. Adding a no-load air filter to the GH pump is really simple. https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/air-pump-running-hot-any-ideas.142226/#post-2846792
Im running jacks now but will be swapping back to mega crop 2 part.Os megacrop what you run?
I read recently alot of people where steering away from megacrop, stating the mix seemed to be different than it was a few years ago and the nutes where clumpy. Thats why i asked, so im assuming you obviouslt like the mega better than jacks or just the familiar setting of it to you?Im running jacks now but will be swapping back to mega crop 2 part.
I have used shock before but I weighed then diluted to a gallon then used.Yeah, you're absolutely right - according to H&G's calculator, I should be between 400-500ppm. Again, this is another thing I kept reading online over and over all over the place "don't give ANY nutes until at least 3 weeks has passed!" or the classic "only give them 1/4 of the manufacturer's recommended amounts!" .... I've read both of those so many times it's ingrained in my mind and I'm realizing that's bad advice. Maybe that works for people who have really crappy water I guess, but for me, it was always causing me problems with yellowing seedlings/deficiencies. This is the first grow I started giving nutes (started at 220ppm) right form the start, and for the first time ever, my seedlings were actually a nice shade of green and growing well ... at least before these issues just started.
I'm so paranoid/afraid of burning them, that I've been afraid to bump the nutes up any higher - so, that's why it's low. Now that they are in such bad shape/stressed, I'm afraid to push more ppm at them right now too, as I honestly don't even know if they will recover at this point. I'm really thinking it may just be best to start over right now, but ... I figure it's worth giving them a few days to see if there's any sign of improvement considering I've got 3 weeks sunk into them so far.
The 5ml of shock came from using a chlorine calculator (https://www.publichealthontario.ca/...th/water-quality/chlorine-dilution-calculator). I read someone suggested 8ppm chlorine to combat issues (which I suspect I have) and, then 3-4ppm for a non-issue/standard dose. According to that calculator, 7.5% chlorine, for 12gal of solution, at a desired 8ppm - works out to 6ml.
I added 5ml to be safe - but I'm wondering if maybe it's too much, as I'm pretty sure the 'fish-boning' on the roots was going great, until I added that the other day - and now they look sad/mushy. Really wondering if it was too much and burnt them, but yes I measured out 5ml, and mixed it into some water, then mixed that straight up into my res.
There is some residue but i dont mind it… the 2 part i find works very well and the nutrient ratios fit my needs. I tind it extremely easy to use. The small amount of sediment makes no differenceI read recently alot of people where steering away from megacrop, stating the mix seemed to be different than it was a few years ago and the nutes where clumpy. Thats why i asked, so im assuming you obviouslt like the mega better than jacks or just the familiar setting of it to you?
Yea it should always be diluted first… imho live is just so much easier. I ran my first grow this run without for a few weeks and boom got crown rot… im sure between the humidity at the base of the stem and lack of bennies was the reasonI have used shock before but I weighed then diluted to a gallon then used.
For example 10 grams of shock to gallon or ro water, then using 10ml per gallon in a cloner.
Your application could be approx 40 ppm
It would be interesting to see how many ppm this 5ml put in.
I have used shock before but I weighed then diluted to a gallon then used.
For example 10 grams of shock to gallon or ro water, then using 10ml per gallon in a cloner.
Your application could be approx 40 ppm
It would be interesting to see how many ppm this 5ml put in.
Good to know. I'm gonna give these gals another couple days to see if there's any sort of attempt at bouncing back with the decrease in light and some top feeding ... but they have been wilting away for the last few days, and now that there's some sort of issue with those roots being brown at the bottom of the netpot, I just don't know if they'll make it, or ... if they do, if those roots are just going to cause problems in the rest of the res.You only need to too water once a day or 2 then you want to do it throughout the grow once a week
Honestly roots dont need to be white, they can be stained from nutrients or additives. Yours looks ok to me but if they turn dark brown and slimey then you need to worryGood to know. I'm gonna give these gals another couple days to see if there's any sort of attempt at bouncing back with the decrease in light and some top feeding ... but they have been wilting away for the last few days, and now that there's some sort of issue with those roots being brown at the bottom of the netpot, I just don't know if they'll make it, or ... if they do, if those roots are just going to cause problems in the rest of the res.
If they don't show some improvement in a few days, I'll sterilize the entire system / the hydroton, and try again just making sure to keep up with the top feeding every few days to keep that area clean and ... hopefully make it beyond the 2-3 week barrier I keep running in to. I still have no idea how my first run made it through in that bucket...
Yeah, I wouldn't be so concerned if the part of the root that was down in the nute solution was the same color, but it concerns me that the part that was in the air-gap and right under the netpot was dark, and the roots that were in the nute solution were pure white. I don't know if those will be okay or not once/if they grow down. I don't think there's really enough nutes in here right now to really stain anything at this point yet. They definitely don't look as bad as that 5gal bucket's roots did - those were horrendous!Honestly roots dont need to be white, they can be stained from nutrients or additives. Yours looks ok to me but if they turn dark brown and slimey then you need to worry
It’s probably air pruning and this is where is see root rot start all the time. The top feeding will help with that as well as deliver your live or sterile solution to those rootsYeah, I wouldn't be so concerned if the part of the root that was down in the nute solution was the same color, but it concerns me that the part that was in the air-gap and right under the netpot was dark, and the roots that were in the nute solution were pure white. I don't know if those will be okay or not once/if they grow down. I don't think there's really enough nutes in here right now to really stain anything at this point yet. They definitely don't look as bad as that 5gal bucket's roots did - those were horrendous!
I guess my concern here now is if these two will recover or not. I wish there was a way to definitively tell, but I think it's going to be one of those 'wait and see' things. I hate waiting for recovery, as it slows the entire process down. My original 5gal grow that suffered from all that rot and other deficiency problems took almost 7 months start to finish - I'm not looking to repeat that length of time again.
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