New to hydro. Clones coming today.

[chuey316]

Just set up a rdwc system, and I have 2 rooted clones coming later today.

System consist of two 27gal black totes, a pump pulling water from the res, which is sitting on the cement floor, outside the grow cab. It's pumping the water through a 25' coil inside a mini fridge, and then out of the fridge, and into the grow tote. Cab temp is 77f, and the water temp stays at 72f. I have an air pump with 1 stone for the res, and another with 2 stones for the grow site. I'm going today to buy a much bigger air pump, and more stones. I'll be using Sensi ph perfect for nutes, and hydroguard if need be. My water with nothing added is 208ppm.

The roots on the clones, I'm told, are well established in solo cups with soil. I plan to gently rinse the roots, and replant into my net pots. Do I need to use nutes at 1st, or let them get acclimated before feeding? I've got a few soil grows under my belt, but this is my 1st time with hydro. Right now the water line is maybe an inch above the bottom of the pots.

 

[Aqua Man]

I run RDWC also. Typically I use jiffy pellets for my clones/seeds and transplant them directly into net pots.

With loose dirt I would not do this. I would get a small container and gently swish the plant around to remove the dirt. Put about 2" of your hydroton into the bottom of the net pots. Place the clones on top of this and gently fill the rest of the net pot.

You want the water about 1" below the net pots with the airstones directly under them so that the bubbles breaking the surface are splashing the bottom of the net pots making your hydroton moist for the first few inches. Do not have you water line at or above the net pots.

At 200ppm to start with that's about MY max upper limit when using tap water. At this point you might consider mixing 50/50 with RO. For the clones you will want about 150 ish ppm of nutrients the first week to start with. So if you are using 200ppm tap and 150ppm nutrients you would be sitting at 350 ppm. Once the roots hit the water you can bump it up to 300ppm and watch how the plants react by daily ppm readings. This will tell you if they are asking for more or less food. Also pay attention to new growth.

Until the roots hit the water you can expect slow growth and a lot of time people think something's wrong but just wait it out once the roots hit the water and you have your parameters dialed in growth will explode.

 

[Aqua Man]

I would recommend hydrogaurd. In a new clean system I would run it at least 6 weeks. After that the plants roots are well established and if the plants healthy I personally think you can stop. However I only used it until I could establish denitrifying bacteria. To be safe for a first time grower it's probably best to stick to using it all the way through. I can explain more on this if you like but there is a ton of info and I don't want to overwhelm you by complicating things to much.

 

[cemchris]

Make sure your rez is at the exact same height as your cab and totes

 

[oldskol4evr]

i would def isolate them clones too if you have plants already going,those you pic are outside plants,also clones coming from other sources could already be infected ,so what is 2 week holdup if you dig

 

[chuey316]

Thanks everyone. Definitely going to wash off all the soil before transplant. Don't want dirt flowing through my pump. I'll pump out some of me water and replace with RO as well, Thanks for the tip on that. 1st time dealing with ppm's and all.

I have some hydroguard read to go. Figure I'll be using it through most, if not all of the grow since I can't get my res under 72f.

You called it oldskol. Picked them up a bit ago and my buddy said he thinks they have mites. I looked at them through my loupe, and didn't see any bugs, but I did see what may have been a few individual strands of webbing. May have been nothing, but something has definitely been chomping on the leaves. I've heard of mixing milk and water, and foliar spraying them to get rid of pest. Does this work? They're outside right now, cus I don't want them anywhere near my other ladies. I haven't even went to check on my others yet after handling these.

 

[chuey316]

I sprayed them down with a 1 part milk, 3 parts water mix. Have been unable to find an answer as to how long after spraying til it's safe to put them in with the others, so they're still outside for now.

 

[cemchris]

That wont really do anything for mites. That's a fungus spray that doesnt really work anyways.

 

[PlumberSoCal]

Thanks everyone. Definitely going to wash off all the soil before transplant. Don't want dirt flowing through my pump. I'll pump out some of me water and replace with RO as well, Thanks for the tip on that. 1st time dealing with ppm's and all.

I have some hydroguard read to go. Figure I'll be using it through most, if not all of the grow since I can't get my res under 72f.

You called it oldskol. Picked them up a bit ago and my buddy said he thinks they have mites. I looked at them through my loupe, and didn't see any bugs, but I did see what may have been a few individual strands of webbing. May have been nothing, but something has definitely been chomping on the leaves. I've heard of mixing milk and water, and foliar spraying them to get rid of pest. Does this work? They're outside right now, cus I don't want them anywhere near my other ladies. I haven't even went to check on my others yet after handling these.

Did they charge you extra for the mites? Very common. Sucks. I'd try neem oil.

To apply a premixed neem oil correctly, thoroughly wet the plant, agitating the sprayer constantly and paying particular attention to the undersides of the leaves. Reapply the neem oil once a week at the minimum. Because spider mites are arthropods -- they have external skeletons -- you might have to apply it even more often than that. So in short, if the neem oil is not killing your spider mites, it might be because you aren't applying it often enough or maybe you are applying it at the wrong time. Never apply neem oil when temperatures are above 90 degrees Fahrenheit or when the plants are water stressed, meaning they need water or are going through a period of drought.

 

[chuey316]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate it. Haven't seen anymore signs, but I'll be keeping an eye on them.