Post UC Questions and Concerns Here

[hogan400]

Hrocks,
I tried to find anything causing that brown residue and figured it was minor mineral build up since the roots look great.

tds meter is fine. I tested/calibrated it. (too many times this week)

Just finished reading a lifetime of r.o, and r.o de-i info. R.O is fine as long as you add cal mag and the minerals removed. HOWEVER, "De-i" is cation exchange and positive charges the molecules to bind cal, mag, iron, etc.. and exchanges them for salts!
I read an article saying its no good for hydro because h2o is positively charged and forces minerals in nutes to fall out of solution in reservoirs.

Any one else know if this is true? Could be my problem?!

 

[HydroRocks]

De-i is not good for hydroponics as I mentioned in the above post already.

You should also NOT have any brown residue buildup of ANY kind.

Those are two obvious problems that stick out that need to be fixed, then see what you have after those are corrected.

Cheers!

 

[woodsmaneh]

De-i is not good for hydroponics as I mentioned in the above post already.

You should also NOT have any brown residue buildup of ANY kind.

Those are two obvious problems that stick out that need to be fixed, then see what you have after those are corrected.

Cheers!

I not sure where you read this or how you came to a conclusion but every thing I have read from manufactures of nutriants to instrimuent makers says the exact oppsite. Use RO/di water. Would like to see what your source is for your info.

 

[smokie]

Could the brown film be from the Zone Foam?

 

[hogan400]

i was thinking it was accumulative from my hydroton and nutes since it had a reddish tint to it.

woods,
I read so much and surf private, I dont save info. De-i has been a major debate many times. You can do some searches. FUNNY thing, some meter manf companies say use it only, to clean probes, others say no way! De-i I believe if let sit, is fine but if added directly it can lock out nutes. In my case, I use it fast as my r.o produces. R.o is great, you just have to add back proper elements. The issue here is De-i portion. another funny thing is some r.o makers run water thru de-i first then r.o and others last. Ill try to find that nasa study i just read. Ill put it on my thread if I find it

 

[woodsmaneh]

Cool I have looked and read a pile of stuff but can't find much againest it, there are a few but old stuff. I would like to know as I use Di last in my RO and it makes a difference in my ppm when I use it.? It's easy for me to take it out if needed.

"In the deionization process, water first passes through the pre-filtration and the reverse osmosis systems. It is then filtered through a special deionization medium, which further “polishes” the RO Water by removing the 1-2% of trace minerals that may remain."

 

[phup]

JRex, I had a look at your pics in DS's thread. Those ladies only look like they are about 8-10" tall, which means they are still very susceptible to shock. Having your water level that high will work great to root them up once they are boosting but I suspect right now your plugs are waterlogged and need to dry out a little. I'm no expert but I would drop the water to just below the net pots and top water 2-3 times daily. Once the roots have emerged from the bottom you can raise the water level to help speed hydration without risk of over watering.

 

[HydroRocks]

I not sure where you read this or how you came to a conclusion but every thing I have read from manufactures of nutriants to instrimuent makers says the exact oppsite. Use RO/di water. Would like to see what your source is for your info.

My original source was Daniel from CC.

I have since read countless articles of testing experiments and studies. Some of you guys REALLY need to find another source of information other than google, read a book.

 

[Marsdude]

Hello. Great thread here with fantastic info.

I acquired an 4XL13 system on which I just use for flower I just did my first grow on the system. Although, after reading this tread I have realized I did almost everything wrong I still had a nice harvest and no problems with the plants. I now have some questions:

1. On the CC website it recomends using just 4 gal per bucket for flower, so that would be a total of 20 gal for my system - correct?

2. According to this thread and the CC website it is suggested that I run my nutes at 1/2 strength. I use Canna and the recommended feeding schedule for 20 gal they give is: Vega A&B at 190 ml, CannaZym at 190 ml, and Boost at 152 - 304. So I should cut these all in half - correct? What about the Boost?

3. After reading a lot I believe it is ok for me to just change out the nutes ONCE during the flower cycle - correct?

Thanks in advance for the help. In closing I read and earlier post about the inflatable pipe plug for over $100- ouch. This is what I use:



It works great and is under $30.

 

[UCHQ]

1. On the CC website it recomends using just 4 gal per bucket for flower, so that would be a total of 20 gal for my system - correct?

Needs to be updated as that rec was made when only the 8 gallon system existed. Dropping the solution level is still a good idea in the 13's but to about 6-7 gals.

2. According to this thread and the CC website it is suggested that I run my nutes at 1/2 strength. I use Canna and the recommended feeding schedule for 20 gal they give is: Vega A&B at 190 ml, CannaZym at 190 ml, and Boost at 152 - 304. So I should cut these all in half - correct? What about the Boost?

Generically you should cut to 1/2 strength...though during the plants life cycle you may find it necessary to increase or reduce relative to overall plant usage and needs.

3. After reading a lot I believe it is ok for me to just change out the nutes ONCE during the flower cycle - correct?

Some once a week...others not at all. How often you change your nutes has a lot to do with how you manage your nutes...but one change out could work well assuming things are going well.

 

[johnnyrex]

Hello UCHQ my I know you and everybody says don't worry about PH swing upwards but how come no matter how much I try to lower my PH to 5.3 or 5.4 in matter of half hour it goes up to 5.9 6.0 my ppm stay stable water temps are also stable plants have no defency and recovering very nicely thanks for the feed back

 

[smokie]

Johnnyrex
Are you adding PH down directly to epicenter and getting it to 5.3-5.4. If so, maybe it is that after the uc turns itself over a few times and actually balances everything, the ph is really the 5.9-6.0 after thoroughly mixed with the rest of the system .


To do addbacks i have been using the Epicenter Nurse lol or the Day Dripper and it has helped me keep everything balanced and nice and slow even distribution in the UC . Im lovin it.

 

[johnnyrex]

Johnnyrex
Are you adding PH down directly to epicenter and getting it to 5.3-5.4. If so, maybe it is that after the uc turns itself over a few times and actually balances everything, the ph is really the 5.9-6.0 after thoroughly mixed with the rest of the system .


To do addbacks i have been using the Epicenter Nurse lol or the Day Dripper and it has helped me keep everything balanced and nice and slow even distribution in the UC . Im lovin it.

What I'm doing is diluting the ph down in water first. Before adding it in to the epic bucket but what I don't understand is lets say right now my system has been running all night and it's now at 6.0 and if I were to draw water out of the epic in a bucket add ph down the. Add it back to the epic center the ph will come down to let's say 4.8 gradually rise to 5.3-5.4 stay there for 15 min I'll come back in an hour or 2 and the ph will be 6.0 again even if I do it again It's seems that it always goes to 5.9-6.0 don't understand why thanks for the comment

 

[TwistedShaman]

The enzymes in these bottled zyme products are very effective in bioremediating substances such as sloughed off or broken roots, root exudate (sugars exuded by the roots to feed microbes) and tiny leaf debris......in most hydroponics systems. In the UC on the other hand these types of products have provided mixed and in many cases poor responses including pH problems, solution clouding and most often the formation of mucous like biofilms that coat roots and airstones rendering both less efficient. Once the biofilm establishes it's not unusual for algaes to become established as a result of the reduced turbulence and atmospheric O2 introduction to the solution. It seems as though something in the bottled zyme products also feeds and encourages the algae worsening any problems that may already exist

OMG... we were thinking it was the Humboldt Roots or the microzy's causing this issue so stopped adding those as found other info on HR being an issue with UC system...and i just did a flippin' rez change and added that hygrozyme...oh man...!

The very thing we thought it was going to help with, it is "increasing the undeseried affects you are saying!?!?!?

Thanks for stating this UCHQ!

 

[UCHQ]

Hello UCHQ my I know you and everybody says don't worry about PH swing upwards but how come no matter how much I try to lower my PH to 5.3 or 5.4 in matter of half hour it goes up to 5.9 6.0 my ppm stay stable water temps are also stable plants have no defency and recovering very nicely thanks for the feed back

It has to do with your water chemistry and the interaction between the minerals in solution. Consider contacting your nute manufacturer for more insight on the operation of their nutes.

 

[UCHQ]

OMG... we were thinking it was the Humboldt Roots or the microzy's causing this issue so stopped adding those as found other info on HR being an issue with UC system...and i just did a flippin' rez change and added that hygrozyme...oh man...!

The very thing we thought it was going to help with, it is "increasing the undeseried affects you are saying!?!?!?

Thanks for stating this UCHQ!

Hum roots and Microzyme could cause issues as well if the concentrations are too high.

We've gotten mixed to poor feed back on the Hum. Roots in the UC and the Microzyme is pretty bacterially dominant so take care when using these as well.

 

[phup]

Strange deficiencies

UCHQ, we spoke on the phone earlier today. I thought I would post some pics of the issues. The first picture (leaf discoluration) is in the system with 270ppm(0.7 conv)/ph.60

The second pic shows the height of most plants.
The third pic is an image from the system with 390 ppm/ph5.9

The strange thing about this discoloration is that I also see in the plants I have in the aeroflow, so they would be unaffected by the hypothesis that I am putting too much air into the solution (EDIT: Actually I have a 12" sweetwater glass diffuser in the reservoir that bubbles like mad). That said, those plants do, in general look better. They are in a solution of 450ppm/6.1ph

Anyone else who would like to chime in feel free. I'm welcome all comments.

 

[woodsmaneh]

It's possible to put too much air in the water but your not going to do it with air pumps and air stones, so that's not the issue. How's the humidity? Your Ph could be a little lower 5.5 but even at 6 your still good.

 

[phup]

I am using 2 Regenerative blowers that move 75CFM each for a total 48 bucket system.
So there is the potential with that much air, but I too am skeptical, especially since Fe and Mn are chelated in solution making it hard for them to oxidize out.

My humidity has been around 60, but for the last 2 days closer to 40RH.

Here is another excellent example of what I am seeing throughout the room:

 

[UCHQ]

Suggested experiments.

1) Leave nute ratios the same and reduce to 50% aeration.

2) Reduce CM to 1 ml. per gal. and continue same aeration.

3) Reduce CM to 1 ml. per gal. and reduce to 50% aeration.

CalMag at proportions of more than 1-2 mils per gal+ Heavy Aeration = nutrient def and interveinal chlorosis from our experience here at CC. It seems to be worse the higher you raise the humidity...60% is good but avoid raising further while this problem is occurring. Burners often increase humidity with may be another contributing factor to the worsening of the plants when you initiated CO2.

It may be that by simply reducing the CM in your recipes that you lessen the likely hood of mineral imbalances that lead to defs.

The relationship between Mg, Ca, & K is very catalystic to the plants functions like amino acid production, photo synthesis, etc.

Especially with your spring water you could likely do fine with little to no CalMag supplementation, IMO.

Keep in contact with us as things progress.

BTW...could we get a pic of your aeration in a mod at full power and another pic at half that?