Question about hydroponics best practices

[Smokey0418]

It is hard to hold the lid up and take pictures with a phone but maybe this will help? See attached.
The smell is familiar, but I can't place it. It makes me think of some type of medicine I use to hate, and stinks.

The roots have a bit of brown in them but I have noticed some new roots growing. I will have to get some type of root formula.

Living north of the boarder has its problems obtaining certain products, like fungicides for example.
So it’s hydroguard , way over priced and primarily water.
Orca , nice stuff , way stronger but still overpriced.
Then comes along Hygroben , what’s this.
It’s the same 5 bacteria as orca and stronger yet.
But why is the price so reasonable.
Well because they not taking you the cleaners .
No pun intended, this chit works and keeps my roots clean .
The price point is a no brainer if you’re buying products from the hydro store.
Hygroben from Hygrozyme for the win.

 

[Smokey0418]

It is hard to hold the lid up and take pictures with a phone but maybe this will help? See attached.
The smell is familiar, but I can't place it. It makes me think of some type of medicine I use to hate, and stinks.

The roots have a bit of brown in them but I have noticed some new roots growing. I will have to get some type of root formula.

I would say you have some slime of sorts suffocating your roots.

As you can see from my posts I run live , so I would massage and wash that chit off.
And then use a bacteria to fight it.
Pouring my bacteria through my net pot.

Same would apply if you choose kill instead, I would then add my , bleach, pool shock, h202 into water and then apply as to not overdo .
Like mix your nutes and kill in your pail then switch pail.
Dip a Dixie cup in mixed up pail and pour a couple through the pot to help kill.

Were as I could dip my cup then add Hygroben in a much stronger solution pouring through my cup without harm.

Hope that’s not confusing.

Enjoy

 

[Latvian]

I would say you have some slime of sorts suffocating your roots.

As you can see from my posts I run live , so I would massage and wash that chit off.
And then use a bacteria to fight it.
Pouring my bacteria through my net pot.

Same would apply if you choose kill instead, I would then add my , bleach, pool shock, h202 into water and then apply as to not overdo .
Like mix your nutes and kill in your pail then switch pail.
Dip a Dixie cup in mixed up pail and pour a couple through the pot to help kill.

Were as I could dip my cup then add Hygroben in a much stronger solution pouring through my cup without harm.

Hope that’s not confusing.

Enjoy

I don't know, hydrogen peroxide or bleach it's to of an aggressive approach for this issue, just wash the roots, this should do the trick

 

[nc420toker]

I read you would use 1:2 ratio with hydrogen peroxide and water to clean roots. I have not done this yet but good to know I can do this in an emergency.

It likely is due to some perlite/dirt that was still in the root system when I transplanted it. I should of cleaned it better but my concern was messing with it to much. I was able to gently massage that root system and got a lot more dirt out and some dead roots. Looks much better.

 

[Smokey0418]

I don't know, hydrogen peroxide or bleach it's to of an aggressive approach for this issue, just wash the roots, this should do the trick

Washing the roots is temporary and does not resolve the issue of having bad bacteria on your roots and imho in your net pot.
So you wash and wait for more or you wash and start killing .

 

[amneziaHaze]

Washing the roots is temporary and does not resolve the issue of having bad bacteria on your roots and imho in your net pot.
So you wash and wait for more or you wash and start killing .

Wash change solution and put some in the solution i think 5ppm.or go live and buy trichoderma they would eat all the bad bacteria but thsn you cant use cemicals anymore

 

[nc420toker]

There has been an acceleration in the growth. Lots of new roots, but still some brownish to them and on the new roots. I ordered some Hygroben and it is on the way. I will swap the water out once it gets here with some fresh tap water.

This is what it looked like yesterday.

Today


You can see that new root system on the left, but it also now has some brown in it. Hoping it will clear up once I add hygroben.
There is some slight discoloration on the leave there in that picture. I just added liquid foxfarm 3-2-6 yesterday so hoping that will improve.

 

[AZreefer]

Being as proactive as you are now should help get things back on track early and get you a smooth grow!

 

[nc420toker]

Does this look like some sort of nutrient issue? It is just these bottom leaves that are yellow with some brown.
I am still working on cleaning up the roots with Hygroben which have expanded a lot with new roots etc but the old roots still have a brownish to them.
Could it be to much fertilizer?

Trying to go off this chart https://www.plantprod.com/news/how-to-identify-early-nutrient-deficiency-in-cannabis/

I am still on 24 hours of light but I think soon I will move to 18/6 although I read 24 would work until the flowering stage. The water was changed out last week and I will change it out next week.

 

[mstrpkl]

Hello,
I am working on my first grow. Very exciting. I have a 2 week old seedling in soil indoors and I want to move to a 5 gallon bucket that is setup for drip irrigation. More just to get experience using it.

It is a Vivosun 5gallon dwc top drip. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JSBJXRF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

My pressing question is, should the water always be running in that system? It doesn't have a timer so it is on or off(air pump). I guess my question comes from knowing the roots will be in the water, do I leave it running or just run it for a short period each day?

I have a vivosun setup, but i decided to go with a letpot drip system because the vivosun one isnt controllable through the app on my phone. Check it out!

LetPot Automatic Watering System 2.0, Drip Irrigation Kits

LetPot Automatic Watering System for Potted Plants Bluetooth and Wi-Fi APP Control Interface, Water Shortage Detection, Silent Water Pump, Indoor and Outdoor IP66 Waterproof, Up to 20 Pots Automatic Indoor Garden Watering System

letpot.com

Im brand new as well, on my first grow, and i felt like it was way easier for me to have almost everything controllable through my phone.

To answer your question, you want to water until the entire media is wet, and then let it all dry up until the pot is light to lift again. Finger in the soil to first knuckle is an OK way to check, but it doesnt tell you how moist the soil is deep down. You want the soil to dry up a good amount so the roots can do proper gas exchange, and then soak it all down again. I do not recommend watering until runoff unless youre consistently feeding your plant, or if theres a problem and youre flushing it out.

So i have my letpot system set up with 2 drip halos. I measured the water output and timed my drip system to give water for 15 seconds and then stop for 1minute 45seconds. It waters at a rate of 0.5L every 10 minutes with this timing. You wanna slow water so that the soil properly soaks the water in. Im probably going overboard with the "slow" part hahaha but my plant seems happy with it so whatever lol and i use a 5 gallon jug for my reservoir, and i bought a distiller to give distilled water so i dont have to keep cleaning out the drip system. Also like the control it gives me over nutrients lol

Hope you have as much fun as i am! Check out my grow journal too, iv got a ton of good info from the people on this site, might have answers for some questions in there :)

 

[AZreefer]

That new growth is looking good. What nutes you running? Does it have cal mag?

 

[mstrpkl]

Does this look like some sort of nutrient issue? It is just these bottom leaves that are yellow with some brown.
I am still working on cleaning up the roots with Hygroben which have expanded a lot with new roots etc but the old roots still have a brownish to them.
Could it be to much fertilizer?

Trying to go off this chart https://www.plantprod.com/news/how-to-identify-early-nutrient-deficiency-in-cannabis/

I am still on 24 hours of light but I think soon I will move to 18/6 although I read 24 would work until the flowering stage. The water was changed out last week and I will change it out next week.

Looks like possibly nitrogen deficiency to me. Yellowing from bottom up

 

[TheGoldenRoad]

I am working on more equipment. The only fertilizer I have is some liquid Miracle Grow, although, I have no doubt that would be fine. There are some other options online I have seen. I hope to be able to get something soon.

Just say no... Look for something along the lines of GenHydro or Fox Farm. Miracle-Gro is a no-no for cannabis unless you really, really enjoy troubleshooting why your plant is ten different colors and looks like it got electrocuted.

 

[TheGoldenRoad]

There are a couple of things to watch for when using this particular system. I lift the lid occasionally to look at root health and development. When sitting the lid back down, be careful not to catch the blue plastic site tube under the lip. I did this unknowingly and it jarred the press fit connection at the base of the tube. This led to a small leak. It sealed once it was reseated but I always eyeball that connection when I check the grow.

The second item to watch is the tubing that runs inside of the bucket. Those tubes will become entangled with roots. When I checked my roots, I only lifted the lid enough to look in with a flashlight to keep the roots from tearing.

Happy growing! Keep us posted on your progress.


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That root ball is amazing. Great work.

 

[mstrpkl]

Just say no... Look for something along the lines of GenHydro or Fox Farm. Miracle-Gro is a no-no for cannabis unless you really, really enjoy troubleshooting why your plant is ten different colors and looks like it got electrocuted.

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Purple cow fertilizer is another great one :)

 

[TheGoldenRoad]

Purple cow fertilizer is another great one :)

I've used their soil but never their ferts. I'm curious if anyone has because I'd like to know how that worked.

 

[mstrpkl]

I've used their soil but never their ferts. I'm curious if anyone has because I'd like to know how that worked.

I used their soil and their fertilizer and its been great. The bio superchargers, liquilife, and the fertilizer together have made my plant very happy lol on my first grow ever so buds aint huge but theyre a good size i think. Wel see how they look when theyre cured lol

 

[nc420toker]

Just say no... Look for something along the lines of GenHydro or Fox Farm. Miracle-Gro is a no-no for cannabis unless you really, really enjoy troubleshooting why your plant is ten different colors and looks like it got electrocuted.

View attachment 2304368

I have FoxFarm and Hygroben. I have been using both and will be changing the water out again next week. It may very well have been that I used some MiracleGrow very early before I had anything else. In any case, I have not used any MiracleGrow since then.


I keep the PH levels around 6 but this is hard to say exactly because it is a reactive test. I have a digital PH meter coming tomorrow.

I will just have to keep an eye on it and make sure to fertilize properly going forward.
I appreciate the responses.

Follow up questions.
What do you think about the 24 hour lighting schedule? Should I keep on that or switch to 18/6?
Should I top the plant? Basically, everything I have watched online for hydro grows they always cut that very top stem so it doesn't grow as tall but wider.

 

[mstrpkl]

Aaaaand after actually reading everything i realize im an idiot, youre asking about hydro not soil sorry if i confused you at all lol

 

[TheGoldenRoad]

Follow up questions.
What do you think about the 24 hour lighting schedule? Should I keep on that or switch to 18/6?
Should I top the plant? Basically, everything I have watched online for hydro grows they always cut that very top stem so it doesn't grow as tall but wider.

18/6.

Aaaaand after actually reading everything i realize im an idiot, youre asking about hydro not soil sorry if i confused you at all lol

Still curious about the nutes.