Few New Things Im Trying Now That I Feel Comfortable... Any Experiance?

[slimjimham]

So now that I'm pretty confident in growing in under current I want to try a few things that I haven't...

-Water level in flower... as is suggests on cch2o's website
"Water Levels: Water levels should be maintained fairly high throughout the growth and bloom cycle encouraging dense lateral root growth from the net pot. In the later parts of bloom and as roots fill the Growth Module, water levels can be incrementally adjusted down exposing more of the root mass. Creating drought like conditions in late bloom helps hasten flower formation and essential oil production."

I was wondering where experienced people put there water levels, and how low they drop them... this is vague...

currently i keep my levels about 1.5" below net pots i think... i have them set there on the float and they always stay at that level throughout flower. when should i start dropping the water level and how much. If i dont get any input ill just try dropping it an inch on the last week.

-Ph... currently i do what they say let it ride between 5.5-6.5, I feel like most of the time it ends up at 6.1-6.4 and I try to steer it with the res, by doing a 5.5 topoff if its in that range but it tends to either keep it in the 6.1-6.5 range, never really lowering it to the ideal 5.8 area.

should/can i ph the topoff way lower than the plants would like because its added slowly in the res, like do a top off of 4.5 if the ph in the system is 6.4?

-sterilizing agent... i still use the uc roots but if its really just diluted poolshock congrats to them for marketing but i can say 100% ive had some shit problems just in veg and every time add like 6-10ml a gallon of uc roots to the system and it clears it right up and things grow bright white after, new root growth overnight.... so should i try pool shock diluted on just one system? I also try to be conscious of what i put into the plants because i want it to be as healthy as possible to consume... is the pool shock going to make the end product unhealthy to ingest?

nutrient change outs- I've been doing them every 2 weeks, its been working and plants seem to be happy... is that what you think is best, or would they be even happier and heavier with weekly change outs? (topoffs are adding to system the whole time, so thats "fresh" if you will)

cleaning the system- i currently just drain, vac everything out, add fresh water with about a cup of bleach to the 30gallon system and let run for 24 hours, drain, vac everything out, refill with nutrients and that's it... is there a better way to do this, i feel like the bleach option is the cheapest...

thats a lot ill leave it to that for now ha.... oh yeah and random but whats the ppm of co2 you guys run in a perpetual room (always plants at different stages?)

ha see if i get any replys to this smorgasbord of questions

 

[All4freedumb]

Hey what's going on? It's great to hear things are going good for you. Here's my experiences with your questions. I hope you continue to rock away...

currently i keep my levels about 1.5" below net pots i think... i have them set there on the float and they always stay at that level throughout flower. when should i start dropping the water level and how much. If i dont get any input ill just try dropping it an inch on the last week.

I lower my water levels later in flower, how much and when varies with strains. Heavy eaters I lower a bit sooner than light eaters. My og's, I turn off my float valve when I start flush. Then, I let my water drop by 2 in. or so and if it drops lower than that I bring back up an inch, half of where I started. Heavier eaters I start this process earlier and let the water drop lower, 3 in or so. Also try dropping water temps during flush, I've found some girls tighten up some..

-Ph... currently i do what they say let it ride between 5.5-6.5, I feel like most of the time it ends up at 6.1-6.4 and I try to steer it with the res, by doing a 5.5 topoff if its in that range but it tends to either keep it in the 6.1-6.5 range, never really lowering it to the ideal 5.8 area.

Maybe they want more food?

should/can i ph the topoff way lower than the plants would like because its added slowly in the res, like do a top off of 4.5 if the ph in the system is 6.4?

I have used this technique.

-sterilizing agent... i still use the uc roots but if its really just diluted poolshock congrats to them for marketing but i can say 100% ive had some shit problems just in veg and every time add like 6-10ml a gallon of uc roots to the system and it clears it right up....

Sounds costly, one of the reasons I switched to tea...

nutrient change outs- I've been doing them every 2 weeks, its been working and plants seem to be happy... is that what you think is best, or would they be even happier and heavier with weekly change outs? (topoffs are adding to system the whole time, so thats "fresh" if you will)

I like every other week in veg and weekly in flower...

cleaning the system- i currently just drain, vac everything out, add fresh water with about a cup of bleach to the 30gallon system and let run for 24 hours, drain, vac everything out, refill with nutrients and that's it... is there a better way to do this, i feel like the bleach option is the cheapest...

Works..

thats a lot ill leave it to that for now ha.... oh yeah and random but whats the ppm of co2 you guys run in a perpetual room (always plants at different stages?)

600 - 700ppm...

So now that I'm pretty confident in growing in under current I want to try a few things that I haven't...

 

[ken dog]

I set my water level an inch above the pots... & I use small rocks for half the net pot, and rock wool for the rest... my rock wall stays dry on top.
I let my levels drop about an inch and a half during flush.

I use RO water, and my top off res comes in at 5.8, and I don't mind a little swing now and then, but anything above 6.1, I adjust.

I have each grow isolated in my grow room, so I follow the recommended co2 levels that current culture gives for super charged systems... in fact, I follow the entire chart regarding total values, even though I don't use CS nutrients.

Regarding cleaning, I disassemble the entire system, and soak everything in bleach for 30 minutes... And run bleach through my filter and pump and hoses.
I rinse it off well, let it dry for a day, reassemble it, run water through it for 24 hours, dump the water and I'm off.

 

[RoeBuck]

Sounds like you're in a similar place as I am. I'm on my 5th UC grow and finally feel like I'm getting the hang of these systems. Not only was I new to UC, but also new to hydro, so a big learning curve.

I had issues with root slime my first two grows and tried using teas, which unfortunately only made things worse. After doing some research here I've switch to bleach at the rate of 2 ml per each 60 gallon system, every 3-4 days. Since then I've had no problems with slime and my roots are bright white.

I'm using RO water which generally pHs to around 6.8. After a system change I pH down to around 5.8. I then mix my top off res to about 6.0. This has been keeping my system pH in the 5.8 - 6.0 range and I'm able to go about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks between system changes. Top off res pH is something I'm still working on and just started a thread here on that subject, so hopefully we'll get more specific feedback from the experienced UC users here.

The cleaning routine you outlined is basically what Current Culture recommends. I'm also using that method and so far it's worked out very well. I've been using sponges and a bottle brush to clean with but am noticing some salt buildup on the inside of the pots, above the water line. I don't want to use something like a greenie pad to remove them for fear of creating scratches in the plastic which could harbor bacteria. So next time I'm going to try using some Doobie pads. I'm thinking they will remove the salts without scratching the plastic.