First RDWC Grow - Taking the Deep Water Culture Plunge

[Cashmeh]

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

Do you think me having 2000ppm air going through the venturi will be benefitial to the solution or the roots? I am just now realizing thats what im doing. My air pump is in my lung room. Oh shit also should I not dry the weed in the lung room? Like is 2000ppm bad? Its carbon particles right? idk what it is honestly. . can you help me understand something again, for the 1 millionth time ;)

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Where is the air pump located?

You can't see it in the photos but it's on top of the chiller next to the system monitor, outside of the tent and elevated above the water levels.

I will keep an eye best I can during the day. So far, lights have been on since 2 am and it's holding steady at 5.4 so no real rise during lights on that I can see.

I'm wondering in my ignorant state if during that initial ~12 hours after the res change and roots bath that things were just adjusting themselves based on any salts that might have been left over in the buckets after getting most of the water back in after the roots bath? Just going off what this is teaching me and perhaps there were still a bit of those salts and it's taking a minute to stabilize, and stabilize a bit lower than I would like to see? From what I understand 5.8 is the ideal and we're a bit lower than that atm but still not bad eh?

 

[Aqua Man]

Do you think me having 2000ppm air going through the venturi will be benefitial to the solution or the roots? I am just now realizing thats what im doing. My air pump is in my lung room. Oh shit also should I not dry the weed in the lung room? Like is 2000ppm bad? Its carbon particles right? idk what it is honestly. . can you help me understand something again, for the 1 millionth time ;)

No its fine… you may see a slight decrease in PH depending on the dkh of your solution. A weak buffer you will see more pronounced ph drop.

But i will say that high co2 in the rootzone can inhibit o2 absorption and the opposite is true in the atmosphere. To what extent depends on the levels.

 

[Aqua Man]

You can't see it in the photos but it's on top of the chiller next to the system monitor, outside of the tent and elevated above the water levels.

I will keep an eye best I can during the day. So far, lights have been on since 2 am and it's holding steady at 5.4 so no real rise during lights on that I can see.

I'm wondering in my ignorant state if during that initial ~12 hours after the res change and roots bath that things were just adjusting themselves based on any salts that might have been left over in the buckets after getting most of the water back in after the roots bath? Just going off what this is teaching me and perhaps there were still a bit of those salts and it's taking a minute to stabilize, and stabilize a bit lower than I would like to see? From what I understand 5.8 is the ideal and we're a bit lower than that atm but still not bad eh?

AN nutes forget about PH if ints between 4.5-8. I was just thinking outloud

 

[Smokey0418]

From what I understand 5.8 is the ideal and we're a bit lower than that atm but still not bad eh?

5.8 is great for veg were 6 is better for flower in hydroponics
Holding steady at those number would be my goal , or a trickle in the 12hr you speak ( .1)
5.4 your running on the edges of certain lockouts.

 

[Aqua Man]

5.8 is great for veg were 6 is better for flower in hydroponics
Holding steady at those number would be my goal , or a trickle in the 12hr you speak ( .1)
5.4 your running on the edges of certain lockouts.

AN nutrients… they are not your traditional nutrients because of the chelates used… when you mess with the PH adjustments you will almost always see a problem.

Thats why i dont like them. Not because they dont work but because the traditional rules go out the window and ppl try to mess with them and in turn mess up thier grows

 

[Smokey0418]

AN nutrients… they are not your traditional nutrients because of the chelates used… when you mess with the PH adjustments you will almost always see a problem.

Thats why i dont like them. Not because they dont work but because the traditional rules go out the window and ppl try to mess with them and in turn mess up thier grows

Doesn’t sound like something I would like either.

The way he speaks with the ph drop would be one of two for me.

Rot or not enough nutes in the mix.

 

[Aqua Man]

Doesn’t sound like something I would like either.

The way he speaks with the ph drop would be one of two for me.

Rot or not enough nutes in the mix.

Yeah its just AN nutrients i think. I know i keep forgetting he is using them.

They also need to be at a certain EC to maintain PH.

@SweetLeafGrow what ppm are you running again? I suggest 800ppm.

If your pom gets low they wont buffer properly either.

Lol i keep remembering things about these nutrients. The one thing i never forget about them is i hate them

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

when you mess with the PH adjustments you will almost always see a problem.

If I remember right, your great words of wisdom went something like this, "Fuck with AN nutrients and they will fuck with you.". I took that to heart as I learn how to use these nutrients. They really do simplify things and if one does like you say and don't deviate from manufacturer recommends, they seem to work. I get that it's hard to throw out everything you ever learned.

@SweetLeafGrow what ppm are you running again? I suggest 800ppm.

The AN guy said not to pay too much attention to PPM either but after adding nutes it should be around 1400, which is right where it's riding right now @1410 after adding the recommended nutrients along with hydroguard and the enzymes. Looking back at the photos right after the res change, the ppm was 1390 so right where the AN guy said it should be.

 

[Aqua Man]

If I remember right, your great words of wisdom went something like this, "Fuck with AN nutrients and they will fuck with you.". I took that to heart as I learn how to use these nutrients. They really do simplify things and if one does like you say and don't deviate from manufacturer recommends, they seem to work. I get that it's hard to throw out everything you ever learned.


The AN guy said not to pay too much attention to PPM either but after adding nutes it should be around 1400, which is right where it's riding right now @1410 after adding the recommended nutrients along with hydroguard and the enzymes. Looking back at the photos right after the res change, the ppm was 1390 so right where the AN guy said it should be.

Yeah go with that… i just remember a guy was having issues when he was running low ppm with RO water. I didn’t think it was required that high but if thats what the man says then that’s what I’d do

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

So the PH has again been slowly dropping and this morning is sitting at 4.5. I'm super frustrated at this point. Everything topside looks great although I'm not sure if all this stuff has slowed growth in the flowers or not. Roots look great, no smell, no slime. I'm considering my options.

Question- Would changing nutrient lines at this point be counterproductive to getting to the finish line here? I have the Humboldts Secret line that I have used in soil and they say it's good in hydo too, just not sure how to use it. Perhaps if I use traditional PH/PPM numbers for this more traditional line I can overcome these issues and get through this grow successfully. Not sure if that is a wise move or not.

Alternately, I can try doing another root bath and res change and try one more time to see if I can get this thing to stabilize. I'm going to run out of nutes fast if I have to keep changing out the res ever 2-3 days.

I'm open to other ideas if anyone has them.

 

[Aqua Man]

So the PH has again been slowly dropping and this morning is sitting at 4.5. I'm super frustrated at this point. Everything topside looks great although I'm not sure if all this stuff has slowed growth in the flowers or not. Roots look great, no smell, no slime. I'm considering my options.

Question- Would changing nutrient lines at this point be counterproductive to getting to the finish line here? I have the Humboldts Secret line that I have used in soil and they say it's good in hydo too, just not sure how to use it. Perhaps if I use traditional PH/PPM numbers for this more traditional line I can overcome these issues and get through this grow successfully. Not sure if that is a wise move or not.

Alternately, I can try doing another root bath and res change and try one more time to see if I can get this thing to stabilize. I'm going to run out of nutes fast if I have to keep changing out the res ever 2-3 days.

I'm open to other ideas if anyone has them.

Dont get caught chasing numbers. Plants look good, roots look good etc etc etc….

Is it worth changing nutrients because of a number?

I only say this because its AN nutrients. This is where a lot of ppl get caught chasing their tails with them

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Is it worth changing nutrients because of a number?

I only say this because its AN nutrients. This is where a lot of ppl get caught chasing their tails with them

Thanks for the reality check AquaMan. I do not want to change nutes but this ph thing has me very worried, I know it's just a number but I thought it a pretty important one and I can't afford to have this important medical grow go south on me. Since my last post the ph has gone down another tick to 4.4. I'm going to let it ride see if it drops below 4.0. If that happens I might just have to do another bath/res change or just wait to see if she shows any deficiencies. If something were to go wrong with this low ph, what would I be looking for as an early sign of problems?

As you say, everything looks good so I probably am just being paranoid, but I do want to stay ahead of things if there is something I can do. I'm wondering about my meter and if it's reliable. I did check ph with my Blue Lab pen and it's reading pretty close to the same thing. Thanks again bro.

 

[Aqua Man]

Thanks for the reality check AquaMan. I do not want to change nutes but this ph thing has me very worried, I know it's just a number but I thought it a pretty important one and I can't afford to have this important medical grow go south on me. Since my last post the ph has gone down another tick to 4.4. I'm going to let it ride see if it drops below 4.0. If that happens I might just have to do another bath/res change or just wait to see if she shows any deficiencies. If something were to go wrong with this low ph, what would I be looking for as an early sign of problems?

As you say, everything looks good so I probably am just being paranoid, but I do want to stay ahead of things if there is something I can do. I'm wondering about my meter and if it's reliable. I did check ph with my Blue Lab pen and it's reading pretty close to the same thing. Thanks again bro.

Yeah give it to 4… what the actual volume of water your system holds?

You want a rea change once youve added back the volume of actual water it holds. Its like they can drink a gallon a day each plant and sometimes more

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Yeah give it to 4… what the actual volume of water your system holds?

6.5 gallons.

 

[Aqua Man]

6.5 gallons.

Yeah you may be doing res changes every 3-4 days. That the actual volume of water right?

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Correct.

 

[Aqua Man]

Correct.

Im thinking you are seeing the normal decline in performance of the nutrients based on the low volume of water

 

[smokedareefer]

Thanks for the reality check AquaMan. I do not want to change nutes but this ph thing has me very worried, I know it's just a number but I thought it a pretty important one and I can't afford to have this important medical grow go south on me. Since my last post the ph has gone down another tick to 4.4. I'm going to let it ride see if it drops below 4.0. If that happens I might just have to do another bath/res change or just wait to see if she shows any deficiencies. If something were to go wrong with this low ph, what would I be looking for as an early sign of problems?

As you say, everything looks good so I probably am just being paranoid, but I do want to stay ahead of things if there is something I can do. I'm wondering about my meter and if it's reliable. I did check ph with my Blue Lab pen and it's reading pretty close to the same thing. Thanks again bro.

Are you running a air stone?

If yes, try cutting your air volume

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Are you running a air stone?

If yes, try cutting your air volume

Yes, I have an air stone in the Reservoir and one in the plant site. I always thought I wanted as much air in the water as possible?