First try with hydro from long time "soil" grower

[DillyTrying2Learn]

Ok airstone in the water bubbling continuusly. Im keeping the sprinkler ring until I have a respectable volume of roots going in the water but I have cut it shorter so that the ring is under the leaves so they dont get wet. Water volume slowly going down as does EC which to my mind means that the plant is both eating and drinking, PH rises slowly through the day in a well mannered fashion. I think I shall start blasting the light near full power any time now.

Funny you can really notice the difference in size daily now. I think were on a good road.

You EC should stay the same along with PH as your level drops, if your EC is dropping that can mean you're feeding too light.

 

[polpotoflove]

So here I am again. This time my leaves start to curl their tips a litlle bit. Some of them at least. When I left for work 8 hours ago they were ok. PH is 6, EC is .850, temp is 20.5C/70F. First thought was light stress so I lifted the light to a good 3ft and power down to 50%. Then when I checked my old diaries I remember some years ago I had another indica thet would do that when overwatered so I lifted the upper pot and the roots looked perfectly good, so my next measure was to stop the sprinklers from watering the pebbles. Cant think of anything else. Ideas anyone?

 

[polpotoflove]

I also noticed some of the pebbles had a greenish hue on them. Algae? Fertiliser residue?

 

[DillyTrying2Learn]

I also noticed some of the pebbles had a greenish hue on them. Algae? Fertiliser residue?

Definitely algae, I would stop spraying the hydroton if you have roots in the water already. I put my plants into my net pots as soon as there is tap root coming out the bottom and I don't top water at all. I have great growth rate doing it this way. Your pebbles being wet constantly and getting light is just gonna breed algae and slime.

 

[polpotoflove]

Thanx man. I turned off the sprinkler the moment The first root touched the water, but it seems it was too late. Also looks like the central root is rotting. Today I lifted the bucket to check and it was not easy to notice with naked eye but it is there. That root was probably annoyed by my flash light so she cut herself loose and fell to the floor. I did a smell test on her and she smelled like fresh dug earth.. Very very discreetly but I still noticed.

What on earth was I thinking? As you said that was inevitable. Moisture+food+light=algae. And if that happened with the water on 1/4 of the day time, then what happens if you let it go 24/7 as per manufacturer instructions? Or maybe I did something wrong because I see other people have very good results with the exact same configuration.

Anyway Im not used to cry over spiled milk so I shall let the pot on the pedestal to dry while I am curing some more hydroton to replace as much as I can without disturbing the plant, I also stuck a small hose in there driving air from the systems air thingies (cant call them compressors really), while I dissinfect and dry out the exterior bucket before puting the thing back together. I think she can make it 12-16 hours with no water. Other thought I had was to flush the whole system with H2O2 but I think the plant is too young to handle it. I also noticed the roods suck up A LOT of water. The underside of the bucker is dripping for a couple of hours now. I thing I will have to drill more holes there.

Lets see how this goes.

 

[amneziaHaze]

from reading your diary only thing you said you will do is make the lamp closer soo could be from the light.ppm and ph in a post before where on the light side but still perfect for growing healthy plant.
i would reccomend stopping top feed its pointless now that plant is taking from the bottom and you are just making algea on the stones

i never tried to leave the roots for 12h outside the water. i guess it all depends on the humidity of the room but would it be better to just put the roots in some tap water until you do your stuff. clorine in the water will disifect them a little as well

 

[DillyTrying2Learn]

Thanx man. I turned off the sprinkler the moment The first root touched the water, but it seems it was too late. Also looks like the central root is rotting. Today I lifted the bucket to check and it was not easy to notice with naked eye but it is there. That root was probably annoyed by my flash light so she cut herself loose and fell to the floor. I did a smell test on her and she smelled like fresh dug earth.. Very very discreetly but I still noticed.

What on earth was I thinking? As you said that was inevitable. Moisture+food+light=algae. And if that happened with the water on 1/4 of the day time, then what happens if you let it go 24/7 as per manufacturer instructions? Or maybe I did something wrong because I see other people have very good results with the exact same configuration.

Anyway Im not used to cry over spiled milk so I shall let the pot on the pedestal to dry while I am curing some more hydroton to replace as much as I can without disturbing the plant, I also stuck a small hose in there driving air from the systems air thingies (cant call them compressors really), while I dissinfect and dry out the exterior bucket before puting the thing back together. I think she can make it 12-16 hours with no water. Other thought I had was to flush the whole system with H2O2 but I think the plant is too young to handle it. I also noticed the roods suck up A LOT of water. The underside of the bucker is dripping for a couple of hours now. I thing I will have to drill more holes there.

Lets see how this goes.

I would not leave the roots out of the water for 12 hours, just asking for more problems.

 

[polpotoflove]

from reading your diary only thing you said you will do is make the lamp closer soo could be from the light.ppm and ph in a post before where on the light side but still perfect for growing healthy plant.
i would reccomend stopping top feed its pointless now that plant is taking from the bottom and you are just making algea on the stones

i never tried to leave the roots for 12h outside the water. i guess it all depends on the humidity of the room but would it be better to just put the roots in some tap water until you do your stuff. clorine in the water will disifect them a little as well

I have stopped top feeding the moment the root touched the water. And yes the bucket dried in a couple of hours so I did exactly as you propose. The roots hanging in clean tap water, sounds logical. Thank you for your input.

I would not leave the roots out of the water for 12 hours

You are quite right I wont either. Thanx.

 

[polpotoflove]

So what I did was change the solution to clean tab water with some purification tablets added (these are the ones we were issued when I was serving, a looong time ago) and let the system circulete it overnight. I then replaced as much hudroton as possible with freshly conditioned and dried pellets and replaced the water with a half strength feeding solution (EC .7). I deliberately PH'd it to 5 so that it will dissolve any accumulated salts left from the tablets. I expect at some point today that the PH will climb up due to this fact and probably EC too, so I will replace the solution with a normal one. Tomorrow I will be also buying enzymes and/or pythium eating bacteria just to be a litlle safer.

I also drilled more holes on the bottom of the upper pot for better straining of the water and so that the roots wil find it easier to grow and reach the water. I also reduced the water volume to 16 liters so that there is at least an inch gap between the water level and the bottom of the pot. Now I can hear the sound of water droplets. I have to say I am amazed by how much liquid the roots suck up with trichoid phenomena.

The light is at half power 2ft away temp is 75F, humidity at 60% ...and my fan died.
Lets see how this goes.

 

[jadins_journey]

So what I did was change the solution to clean tab water with some purification tablets added (these are the ones we were issued when I was serving, a looong time ago) and let the system circulete it overnight. I then replaced as much hudroton as possible with freshly conditioned and dried pellets and replaced the water with a half strength feeding solution (EC .7). I deliberately PH'd it to 5 so that it will dissolve any accumulated salts left from the tablets. I expect at some point today that the PH will climb up due to this fact and probably EC too, so I will replace the solution with a normal one. Tomorrow I will be also buying enzymes and/or pythium eating bacteria just to be a litlle safer.

I also drilled more holes on the bottom of the upper pot for better straining of the water and so that the roots wil find it easier to grow and reach the water. I also reduced the water volume to 16 liters so that there is at least an inch gap between the water level and the bottom of the pot. Now I can hear the sound of water droplets. I have to say I am amazed by how much liquid the roots suck up with trichoid phenomena.

The light is at half power 2ft away temp is 75F, humidity at 60% ...and my fan died.
Lets see how this goes.

Hydroguard and hydrogen peroxide. Products a DWC grower needs to understand if your goal is to keep things clean.

 

[polpotoflove]

OK 30 days since seed and I think we are entering the official vegetative state. Yesterday I did a water change followed by a flush clean. and I changed my feeding plan to a more apropriate vor vegging. I also added an analog of hydroguard that I found readily available. PH 6, EC 1.400, RH 55%, light 18/6 18 inches high at 70% power. Problem is water temp falls to 64F but I will deal with it pretty soon.

 

[DillyTrying2Learn]

OK 30 days since seed and I think we are entering the official vegetative state. Yesterday I did a water change followed by a flush clean. and I changed my feeding plan to a more apropriate vor vegging. I also added an analog of hydroguard that I found readily available. PH 6, EC 1.400, RH 55%, light 18/6 18 inches high at 70% power. Problem is water temp falls to 64F but I will deal with it pretty soon.

You're like 3 weeks into veg already. Also I have never flushed or cleaned my system or plants between res changes. I think you're trying to do too much too often. Why are you flashing and cleaning with changes?

 

[polpotoflove]

Really? I thought I had to do a clean every time I change the water!!! Ehehe... this is why I lurk in the forums. I learn s..t! You may be correct, doing hydro first time makes me a litlle too anxius. It actually reminds me of something totally different..

Anyway I got a sinking heater and after the necessary tinkering we have a constant 21C or 69.8F in the solution everything else same.

 

[polpotoflove]

And what is this now? The book says fungus. Anyone???

 

[polpotoflove]

Congratulations!! Its a girl!!!

 

[polpotoflove]

Six weeks and this is what she looks like 10 inches tall and spreading out. growing at a snails speed.

 

[polpotoflove]

Because every 3-4 days I lift the pot and the roots look like this!!!!

 

[polpotoflove]

Then after therapy they clean a litlle bit and look like this. I clean the whole system with H2O2 make new feeding solution and add a recomended dose of white shark which is a collection of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that are suposed to help with discarding dead roots, eat the pythium and generally promote healthy roots and such. I was advised to add some H2O2 in my rez but I think it will kill all jujus both bad and good. My perception is that you either go for a sterile system (with the peroxide) or for a live one with the microorganisms. Am I wrong?

 

[amneziaHaze]

Ĥ

Congratulations!! Its a girl!!!

Why is it a girl?

And you are correct you kill all or you let them fight each other and make a controled enviorment. Both doesnt work.

Is there a chance you break your roots each time you go look at them? That doesnt look like a lot of roots for 30 days

 

[DillyTrying2Learn]

Your plants and root balls are very very small for this point in their life in a hydro system, they should be 3 times that size. I did a 6 week veg and my plants are almost 3ft tall and the roots are the size of basketballs.