First RDWC Grow - Taking the Deep Water Culture Plunge

[Aqua Man]

I can tell you 2 things for sure,

1 - Aqua man and Moe.Red are 2 completely different weed nerds.
2 - One username is enough for me, no alts here. It's like women, one is plenty to handle, why would I want 2?

I just think it is funny how 2 different dudes in different countries who never met each other before this forum could end up doing virtually the same stuff, grow styles, book lernin' you know. We were both doing our own thing before we met here, they just happened to be the same stuff.

Yeah i made one alt account… Aqua man2 or something close to that. I forgot my password so i used that account for a few days when i came back from a break until it got reset on this one.

Honestly working with @Moe.Red here and on other things is great. We have a lot of similarities in knowledge and likewise questions to try and answer

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Update-

Been super busy guys and will have time to catch up and digest all this great info this weekend.

I am a bit disappointed at this point as there seem to be some issues going on but just not sure what they might be and/or if there is even anything to be stressed about. Topside, to my untrained eye, everything looks fantastic. I've never had a plant frost up like this, could be a lot to do with genetics, but also could be that things are going very well. The roots look good although they are stained light brownish per recent photo, no slime whatsoever. Temps in the res holding steady at 67.4F. The ph has slowly drifted down since the res change on Wednesday, was 6.1 after res change, gradually going down to 4.9 by this morning. I thought my meter might be out of calibration so I calibrated it, no real improvement. For what it's worth, the meter is flashing that the ph probe needs maintenance. I gently cleaned it with a small brush and then re-calibrated with no change but I still get the maintenance code so it could just be my meter is not giving accurate readings.

I am going to keep an eye on things and when I get home from work tonight, if things keep drifting downward, my plan is to change out the res again and ph the water up to 8+ before I add any nutrients back in. I have watched the nutrients bring the initial ph down so perhaps I just need a bit more headroom in the ph to get me through to the finish line. I've got less than 4 weeks to go and the last week, if I am not mistaken, will be a nutrient free flush? My thoughts are that it may waste a bunch of nutes, but if I change things out more frequently maybe I can baby this girl to a decent harvest?

It may not be a good plan, but it's a plan A and a learning experience. I may need a plan B, C, D???

 

[Aqua Man]

Update-

Been super busy guys and will have time to catch up and digest all this great info this weekend.

I am a bit disappointed at this point as there seem to be some issues going on but just not sure what they might be and/or if there is even anything to be stressed about. Topside, to my untrained eye, everything looks fantastic. I've never had a plant frost up like this, could be a lot to do with genetics, but also could be that things are going very well. The roots look good although they are stained light brownish per recent photo, no slime whatsoever. Temps in the res holding steady at 67.4F. The ph has slowly drifted down since the res change on Wednesday, was 6.1 after res change, gradually going down to 4.9 by this morning. I thought my meter might be out of calibration so I calibrated it, no real improvement. For what it's worth, the meter is flashing that the ph probe needs maintenance. I gently cleaned it with a small brush and then re-calibrated with no change but I still get the maintenance code so it could just be my meter is not giving accurate readings.

I am going to keep an eye on things and when I get home from work tonight, if things keep drifting downward, my plan is to change out the res again and ph the water up to 8+ before I add any nutrients back in. I have watched the nutrients bring the initial ph down so perhaps I just need a bit more headroom in the ph to get me through to the finish line. I've got less than 4 weeks to go and the last week, if I am not mistaken, will be a nutrient free flush? My thoughts are that it may waste a bunch of nutes, but if I change things out more frequently maybe I can baby this girl to a decent harvest?

It may not be a good plan, but it's a plan A and a learning experience. I may need a plan B, C, D???

Careful mixing nutrients at high PH it can cause precipitation.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Thanks for the heads up AquaMan, would you consider 8.0 high or too high even? Anything that can be done to reduce or eliminate the possibility of precipitation? I think my RO water is sitting at about 7 so it wouldn't be a huge tick up, or maybe it would be?

 

[Smokey0418]

Update-

Been super busy guys and will have time to catch up and digest all this great info this weekend.

I am a bit disappointed at this point as there seem to be some issues going on but just not sure what they might be and/or if there is even anything to be stressed about. Topside, to my untrained eye, everything looks fantastic. I've never had a plant frost up like this, could be a lot to do with genetics, but also could be that things are going very well. The roots look good although they are stained light brownish per recent photo, no slime whatsoever. Temps in the res holding steady at 67.4F. The ph has slowly drifted down since the res change on Wednesday, was 6.1 after res change, gradually going down to 4.9 by this morning. I thought my meter might be out of calibration so I calibrated it, no real improvement. For what it's worth, the meter is flashing that the ph probe needs maintenance. I gently cleaned it with a small brush and then re-calibrated with no change but I still get the maintenance code so it could just be my meter is not giving accurate readings.

I am going to keep an eye on things and when I get home from work tonight, if things keep drifting downward, my plan is to change out the res again and ph the water up to 8+ before I add any nutrients back in. I have watched the nutrients bring the initial ph down so perhaps I just need a bit more headroom in the ph to get me through to the finish line. I've got less than 4 weeks to go and the last week, if I am not mistaken, will be a nutrient free flush? My thoughts are that it may waste a bunch of nutes, but if I change things out more frequently maybe I can baby this girl to a decent harvest?

It may not be a good plan, but it's a plan A and a learning experience. I may need a plan B, C, D???

Nope, would not want my tote doing that. I feed what they eat , not what the bottle says.
Stable 6 ph with the ec trickling and ph barley rising is the ticket in flower, kind of makes things boring, but being in the zone all the time I think is best.

 

[Moe.Red]

Thanks for the heads up AquaMan, would you consider 8.0 high or too high even? Anything that can be done to reduce or eliminate the possibility of precipitation? I think my RO water is sitting at about 7 so it wouldn't be a huge tick up, or maybe it would be?

Yes, 8 is too high. PH after nurtes are added and mixed well.

With RO you have no buffering, so the resultant PH from adding just nutes should be in the correct range. The nutes will buffer a little. But adding a buffer to get you solid at 5.7 - 5.8 with a little drift is the optimum set point that I have found.

I'm going to be very interested to see what PH does after your res change. This will dictate my next piece of free advice worth every penny you paid for it.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Yes, 8 is too high. PH after nurtes are added and mixed well.

AN says to PH first, then add nutes. Perhaps I need to clarify with them. I know the AN line is different than the norm. Not doing anything at least until tomorrow. As far as a buffer, do you suggest using something like silica? I have a silica product called Tree Trunk that I could use if ya'all think it might help.

With RO you have no buffering, so the resultant PH from adding just nutes should be in the correct range. The nutes will buffer a little. But adding a buffer to get you solid at 5.7 - 5.8 with a little drift is the optimum set point that I have found.

I did find this to be true and initially the ph settled right at 5.8. However, as time went on, it began to drift down and then went down fairly quickly before seeming to stabilize now at 4.8. We'll see what happens when I get home tonight.

So far this morning ph is holding steady at 4.8 but if it continues to drop when I get home from work this evening, I will evaluate my next steps and any advice ya'all give.

 

[Moe.Red]

AN says to PH first, then add nutes. Perhaps I need to clarify with them. I know the AN line is different than the norm. Not doing anything at least until tomorrow. As far as a buffer, do you suggest using something like silica? I have a silica product called Tree Trunk that I could use if ya'all think it might help.

I did find this to be true and initially the ph settled right at 5.8. However, as time went on, it began to drift down and then went down fairly quickly before seeming to stabilize now at 4.8. We'll see what happens when I get home tonight.

So far this morning ph is holding steady at 4.8 but if it continues to drop when I get home from work this evening, I will evaluate my next steps and any advice ya'all give.

Damn I keep forgetting AN.

You gotta do what they say on this, they have mystery products that beat to a different drummer lol.

If I recall correctly, this PH issue started after you added more water to the system. Here is what I am thinking, but I could be wrong.

The bottom of the net pots are constantly sprayed with bursting bubbles. This would seem to say that the areas that are not in direct contact with roots (hydroton, plastic) will become heavy with nutes / salts. If you then wash those areas off and collect all the salts in your system water by raising the water level, things might go a little haywire. Again, with AN nutes, I do not have experience so I'm guessing. But dumping that into the system probably knocked it out of balance.

I'm hoping a res change will clear this up completely.

If you are feeling froggy and want to give your roots a spa day, you can treat them with enzymes while the system is empty. Then just fill it back up and whatever enzymes are left over will be part of the water in the system continuing to protect roots. I would expect them to become immediately white and PH fluctuations due to dead root material to be minimized within a day or so.

 

[Aqua Man]

Haha yeah i forgot AN also. Just add the nutrients and forget the PH dont add other nutrients… dont PH adjust at all imo

 

[Aqua Man]

This is where many using AN get caught and create issues. If the plants look good then leave it. If the ph gets outa sorts just do a res change.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

If the plants look good then leave it. If the ph gets outa sorts just do a res change.

This is great advice and same as my gut feeling on this. I'm learning guys

If you are feeling froggy and want to give your roots a spa day, you can treat them with enzymes while the system is empty. Then just fill it back up and whatever enzymes are left over will be part of the water in the system continuing to protect roots. I would expect them to become immediately white and PH fluctuations due to dead root material to be minimized within a day or so.

Now that you mention it, it may be a froggy sort of day! Would be interested in treating with the enzymes, will do a search on that later this eve see what that is all about.

Thanks again guys and have a great weekend!

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

If I recall correctly, this PH issue started after you added more water to the system. Here is what I am thinking, but I could be wrong.

This exactly, this all started when I tried to get more water in the system.

The bottom of the net pots are constantly sprayed with bursting bubbles. This would seem to say that the areas that are not in direct contact with roots (hydroton, plastic) will become heavy with nutes / salts. If you then wash those areas off and collect all the salts in your system water by raising the water level, things might go a little haywire. Again, with AN nutes, I do not have experience so I'm guessing. But dumping that into the system probably knocked it out of balance.

This sounds very plausible. PH has continued to drift downward, sitting at 4.1 this morning. Just to be sure I am covering all bases, I calibrated my ph meter in the event it was out of whack. It was not. So I am going to go ahead and do a res change after my coffee. I am curious about a couple of things. First, if your hypothesis is correct, would it hurt/help anything if I filled the system with fresh RO water high into the net pot and let it run for a few minutes, then drain it all out and fill back up and add nutrients, sort of like a system rinse? I am also curious about the enzyme bath you spoke of previously. I did some internet searches and couldn't find much on the how to's for doing such a thing. Sounds like a great idea and I can do it when the system is empty this morning if I hear back. Otherwise, I am going to change the res and hope for the best.

The girl continues to look amazing, roots look real good, no slime whatsoever, no bad smell either. Here are some new photos.

 

[Moe.Red]

Won't hurt at all to do an RO bath first.

The product I have used is hygrozyme. Basically I just mix it up to the quantity you want for the whole system in a foot of water in a 5 gallon bucket. Then put the net pot in the bucket. When done with the treatment, the extra gets dumped in the res so you are not wasting the enzymes.

Your plant may be too big for that now to move it around, so you are going to have to get creative as to how to treat the roots. You will figure something out. Maybe a spray bottle with concentrated mix that you mist the roots with after your RO bath. If you can't get into the grow site to do that because of plant size, you will just have to put it in the water and it will take a little longer but still work.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Got everything changed out, washed the roots, filled the plant site with water and 8 ml enzymes and let it soak for about 5 minutes, drained and refilled.

Before and after of the monitor readings.

 

[Aqua Man]

Got everything changed out, washed the roots, filled the plant site with water and 8 ml enzymes and let it soak for about 5 minutes, drained and refilled.

Before and after of the monitor readings.

I used to run i think 1-2ml a gal of hygrozyme. But only added at tye time of res change. Enzymes continue to work once added so its only something you add with a res change. I found i could run a lower ppm because of how available they made the nutrients

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

So far, so good. Ph risen slightly and holding steady at 6.1. If I remember right, it was already dropping by this time when the problem surfaced. Tentatively optimistic this procedure bailed me out. Thanks guys, will try to chime in later this evening with an update.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

I watched the PH last night rise to about 6.3 and then it dropped little by little over night, sitting at 5.4 atm and been holding steady at least since about 2 am when I got up to check at lights on. I topped off with RO water and nothing really changed, added about 100 oz of water.

As far as I can tell, things have stabilized with the ph drops so I'm super happy about that. I get to go hang out with some Cannabis pioneers from my state today so we will see where we are when I get home from that.

 

[Aqua Man]

I watched the PH last night rise to about 6.3 and then it dropped little by little over night, sitting at 5.4 atm and been holding steady at least since about 2 am when I got up to check at lights on. I topped off with RO water and nothing really changed, added about 100 oz of water.

As far as I can tell, things have stabilized with the ph drops so I'm super happy about that. I get to go hang out with some Cannabis pioneers from my state today so we will see where we are when I get home from that.

Hmmm are you using an air pump?

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Yes, with an air stone in the res and one at the plant site.

 

[Aqua Man]

Yes, with an air stone in the res and one at the plant site.

Where is the air pump located?

Im just curious if it maybe drawing in co2 in high amounts. Dont worry about its only my curiosity.

See i used to inject co2 into my water through a co2 reactor i built for my planted tanks to control PH and add co2 for the plants.

Using a 4dkh solution and a couple drops of ph indicator solution. A 1.0 ph drop on the color chart would indicate a 10x level of dissolved co2 (carbonic acid) taking it from 3ppm to about 30ppm.

I highly doubt its the case but i do know when the plants are not photosynthesizing they still respire and that can lead to higher levels of co2 building up in the air in a smaller space.

If you see this trend of ph going up through the day and down at night it could be a possibility even as unlikely as it is.

Just something to keep an eye on. Its not harmful but just has me curious