Rockwool to Hydro DWC - time to move?

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ispy

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Yeah just treat it for the whole 4 days like the post. If needed longer
I noticed today my smaller plant that I am treating with the bacteria has yellowing on the bottom leaves. I read it is probably a nitrogen deficiency but since I am giving the bacteria, wanted to ask your opinion if it may be related.

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I

ispy

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I noticed today my smaller plant that I am treating with the bacteria has yellowing on the bottom leaves. I read it is probably a nitrogen deficiency but since I am giving the bacteria, wanted to ask your opinion if it may be related.

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@Cashmeh - where is the nitrogen in the General Hydro series? Or do I need to get some additional - if this is my issue
 
Cashmeh

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I would grab some test strips from any aquarium store or amazon. Nitrate levels need to be around 150 fall to 50. . top off to 150. . and so on.

The N is in the Micro bottle. Also the calmag has some N in it also.

That plant is small and not flowering sitting in about 4 gallons of solution. I'd ppm it to 100ppms with calmag, perhaps 150. Then add 3ml of micro, , 3ml of grow, and 1ml of bloom. Add in your hydro guard too. But yea lower leafs always go first when Theres issues. Easy fix, just keep your ppms under 800. .hell ive hit 1200 during flower and been fine. . i mean if your testing individual levels its easier to run higher ppms cause your not running extreme levels on just one nutrient.
 
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I

ispy

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I would grab some test strips from any aquarium store or amazon. Nitrate levels need to be around 150 fall to 50. . top off to 150. . and so on.

The N is in the Micro bottle. Also the calmag has some N in it also.

That plant is small and not flowering sitting in about 4 gallons of solution. I'd ppm it to 100ppms with calmag, perhaps 150. Then add 3ml of micro, , 3ml of grow, and 1ml of bloom. Add in your hydro guard too. But yea lower leafs always go first when Theres issues. Easy fix, just keep your ppms under 800. .hell ive hit 1200 during flower and been fine. . i mean if your testing individual levels its easier to run higher ppms cause your not running extreme levels on just one nutrient.
cool thanks!
 
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ispy

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You in the right zone… 600 now 800 at flip imo
@Aqua Man / @Cashmeh - well best laid plans never go as intended. I just flipped yesterday. Cleaned it up a bit today cause it is so bushy (not shown). PPMs were over 800 yesterday, checked today and it was about 235. Is that possible or did I maybe get one of my readings wrong? It did drink about 1/2 gallon of water last 24hrs.

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Aqua Man

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@Aqua Man / @Cashmeh - well best laid plans never go as intended. I just flipped yesterday. Cleaned it up a bit today cause it is so bushy (not shown). PPMs were over 800 yesterday, checked today and it was about 235. Is that possible or did I maybe get one of my readings wrong? It did drink about 1/2 gallon of water last 24hrs.

View attachment 1276405
Yup that’s possible
 
Cashmeh

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Yea its a big plant, sure is possible. Id also make sure you have ppm calibration solution for your meter. This way you can check it and calibrate it.
 
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ispy

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@Cashmeh , @Aqua Man , meant to ask. I have read a few times to let PH creep up over 6 after flip. True?
 
Aqua Man

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@Cashmeh , @Aqua Man , meant to ask. I have read a few times to let PH creep up over 6 after flip. True?
Mid flower i start crawling up a bit starting at 5.8 and letting it drift to 6.2. I dont let it drift higher than that personally
 
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ispy

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Mid flower i start crawling up a bit starting at 5.8 and letting it drift to 6.2. I dont let it drift higher than that personally
I forgot to ask - what about light intensity in bloom? Light is raised pretty high with intensity turned down. Need to check what it is but was wondering if there is a recommended or followed method if it needs to change
 
Aqua Man

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I forgot to ask - what about light intensity in bloom? Light is raised pretty high with intensity turned down. Need to check what it is but was wondering if there is a recommended or followed method if it needs to change
So you increase by the change in light cycle. The reason you do it this way is you should already know where the plants are at intensity wise.

so if going from 18/6 to 12/12 you increase light intensity by the same amount you resuce the light cycle so by 1/3 (33%) say 600ppfd veg at flip then you increase by 33% would be 800ppfd flower and you continue to push as the plants increase in mass and can handle more.

24/0-12/12 then you increase by 50% at flip
thats just a safe way to transition
 
I

ispy

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So you increase by the change in light cycle. The reason you do it this way is you should already know where the plants are at intensity wise.

so if going from 18/6 to 12/12 you increase light intensity by the same amount you resuce the light cycle so by 1/3 (33%) say 600ppfd veg at flip then you increase by 33% would be 800ppfd flower and you continue to push as the plants increase in mass and can handle more.

24/0-12/12 then you increase by 50% at flip
thats just a safe way to transition
Ah OK. I assumed to mimic Fall or w/e, you keep dropping intensity. Maybe that is why the top grew like 6” seemingly overnight? I found one chart that jives with your comment and it was a crazy number so I figured I should check in. Will crank it up some today.
Thanks
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Ah OK. I assumed to mimic Fall or w/e, you keep dropping intensity. Maybe that is why the top grew like 6” seemingly overnight? I found one chart that jives with your comment and it was a crazy number so I figured I should check in. Will crank it up some today.
Thanks
I lower intensity near the end a bit but its dependant on strain and light response
 
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ispy

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@Cashmeh - well finally had a chance to convert to RDWC. Not pretty but it is slammed together - I wanted to get it ready before end of day. Some cleanup to do.
Got an Active Aqua 1/10 hp chiller and their 250gph pump. It is not a super active flow but I checked PPMs one tank to the next and it tracks perfect in 5 minutes as I added nutrients. 17 gallon totes, I assume about 10 in each so this sure will help not messing with this every day. Just have to deal with the small one now until this one is done. Leak detectors ordered and after this plant I am going to build out the platforms with 2x6s and line them to prevent any major pipe failures. Already had one setting it up. I was so worried about my PVC joints I failed to notice my chiller fitting was loose until about a gallon leaked out. Right after the wife said she'd kill me if it leaks lol. She did not see it. ;)
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Cashmeh

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@Cashmeh - well finally had a chance to convert to RDWC. Not pretty but it is slammed together - I wanted to get it ready before end of day. Some cleanup to do.
Got an Active Aqua 1/10 hp chiller and their 250gph pump. It is not a super active flow but I checked PPMs one tank to the next and it tracks perfect in 5 minutes as I added nutrients. 17 gallon totes, I assume about 10 in each so this sure will help not messing with this every day. Just have to deal with the small one now until this one is done. Leak detectors ordered and after this plant I am going to build out the platforms with 2x6s and line them to prevent any major pipe failures. Already had one setting it up. I was so worried about my PVC joints I failed to notice my chiller fitting was loose until about a gallon leaked out. Right after the wife said she'd kill me if it leaks lol. She did not see it. ;)
View attachment 1277886
I like what your doing, I wouldnt have reccommended the chiller, but if you can afford it and have space, hell yes. Id set it to 72F for now, since your running a live system with bacteria. The only issue I see is possibly clogging that return line with roots. If that happens, your res will empty onto your floor lol. When using bulkheads, you gotta do it right, expecially if your not on flood trays. Hell even my tents tray held water when the pump disconnected and sprayed the lid. . yea it went right up through the netpot and out the tent. So what you think your sitting at 20 gallons per plant? I think you will like it alot. Id also paint that white pvc, you will be suprised at the slime that builds up in it from the light. The leak light enough that I painted mine. If you really want to make sure your roots dont clog those lines, you can always add another. Looks like you got room for multiple. My first rdwc had 3 one inch lines, with rubber bulkheads, worked great too. anyways. overall your on the right path. Id aalso mention keeping 2 systems going at once, one for flower and one for veg is the way to do it. You can take that plant and transplant it in there and supercrop it and yea. . 2 month harvests. Im glad to see you gotta passion for it man, and are building shit yourself. You learn so much more. . I think your year 2 hydro shit will be pretty wild ;) Just keep innovating my man
 
I

ispy

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I like what your doing, I wouldnt have reccommended the chiller, but if you can afford it and have space, hell yes. Id set it to 72F for now, since your running a live system with bacteria. The only issue I see is possibly clogging that return line with roots. If that happens, your res will empty onto your floor lol. When using bulkheads, you gotta do it right, expecially if your not on flood trays. Hell even my tents tray held water when the pump disconnected and sprayed the lid. . yea it went right up through the netpot and out the tent. So what you think your sitting at 20 gallons per plant? I think you will like it alot. Id also paint that white pvc, you will be suprised at the slime that builds up in it from the light. The leak light enough that I painted mine. If you really want to make sure your roots dont clog those lines, you can always add another. Looks like you got room for multiple. My first rdwc had 3 one inch lines, with rubber bulkheads, worked great too. anyways. overall your on the right path. Id aalso mention keeping 2 systems going at once, one for flower and one for veg is the way to do it. You can take that plant and transplant it in there and supercrop it and yea. . 2 month harvests. Im glad to see you gotta passion for it man, and are building shit yourself. You learn so much more. . I think your year 2 hydro shit will be pretty wild ;) Just keep innovating my man
Thanks. I really lamented on the chiller but I had a gift card and some rewards from a CC so it was kinda free. I went that route because unless I plumb in an AC vent I was not going to be able to drop my temps and the bottles of ice got old REAL quick keeping water temp down. Def putting in flood trays because it is a big fear. I offset the netpot hoping to help root clog on return. I also put an extra netpot over the return to hopefully prevent the clogging - read a lot about that clogging. Once I get my leak detectors going I plan to setup some kind of sensors to detect level differences in the two buckets to alert on potential clogs I will probably wrap the pipe in foil - I have seen you metion that in many posts, just ran out of time today. My eventual plan is to do 2 Autos since they are smaller (we shall see) but I'd love to run two setups it just will require a grow tent in my office which may come in time but my boss is not up for that yet. I am hoping once I start providing her free THC for her nightly drink she will come around. I actually bought and returned a Gorilla Grow tent that I have a perfect space in office for - my intent was to separate grows in closet but when I realized the vents were on the side and it would not work I returned it. I like theirs because you can extend the height. Really looking forward to this one completing and getting the next in line going. I got LST early on it and it seems to be doing good even with the continual root rot and diminutive root system.
Thanks again for your guidance.
 
Cashmeh

Cashmeh

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Thanks. I really lamented on the chiller but I had a gift card and some rewards from a CC so it was kinda free. I went that route because unless I plumb in an AC vent I was not going to be able to drop my temps and the bottles of ice got old REAL quick keeping water temp down. Def putting in flood trays because it is a big fear. I offset the netpot hoping to help root clog on return. I also put an extra netpot over the return to hopefully prevent the clogging - read a lot about that clogging. Once I get my leak detectors going I plan to setup some kind of sensors to detect level differences in the two buckets to alert on potential clogs I will probably wrap the pipe in foil - I have seen you metion that in many posts, just ran out of time today. My eventual plan is to do 2 Autos since they are smaller (we shall see) but I'd love to run two setups it just will require a grow tent in my office which may come in time but my boss is not up for that yet. I am hoping once I start providing her free THC for her nightly drink she will come around. I actually bought and returned a Gorilla Grow tent that I have a perfect space in office for - my intent was to separate grows in closet but when I realized the vents were on the side and it would not work I returned it. I like theirs because you can extend the height. Really looking forward to this one completing and getting the next in line going. I got LST early on it and it seems to be doing good even with the continual root rot and diminutive root system.
Thanks again for your guidance.
So I veg them in half the space I flower them in, but generally I veg alot at once. Usually I start 6 under a 250w led, top them at like the 3rd node, and wait for the spiderweb of branches to shoot up. Generally at 1.5 months they tall enough that when supercropped they can fill a 4x4. Im sure you have seen me do that then too lol. My veg tent is a 2x4 and my 3 flower tents are 4x4s. My veg lid has 6 netcups, so atm, I can pick which ones I want. Like I left 2 in there, and just let them sit in RO water with the door open, so they get some light, but not enough to grow. I dont even have a pump in that tote lol. . roots are prolly rotting, but when the time comes, I can cut them off, clean them and boom they take the spots of the other ones. Veg tent will be down for this grow cause I dont need 6 more. Anyways..you can cram alot of vegging plants in a small tent, just giving ya the options.
Just wait bud, if you think root rot is bad, wait till you get some stunted growth in the middle of your flowering, or pestssssss. . anyways. . id like to say your over the hump, but with hydro, it just takes time
 
I

ispy

167
43
I like what your doing, I wouldnt have reccommended the chiller, but if you can afford it and have space, hell yes. Id set it to 72F for now, since your running a live system with bacteria. The only issue I see is possibly clogging that return line with roots. If that happens, your res will empty onto your floor lol. When using bulkheads, you gotta do it right, expecially if your not on flood trays. Hell even my tents tray held water when the pump disconnected and sprayed the lid. . yea it went right up through the netpot and out the tent. So what you think your sitting at 20 gallons per plant? I think you will like it alot. Id also paint that white pvc, you will be suprised at the slime that builds up in it from the light. The leak light enough that I painted mine. If you really want to make sure your roots dont clog those lines, you can always add another. Looks like you got room for multiple. My first rdwc had 3 one inch lines, with rubber bulkheads, worked great too. anyways. overall your on the right path. Id aalso mention keeping 2 systems going at once, one for flower and one for veg is the way to do it. You can take that plant and transplant it in there and supercrop it and yea. . 2 month harvests. Im glad to see you gotta passion for it man, and are building shit yourself. You learn so much more. . I think your year 2 hydro shit will be pretty wild ;) Just keep innovating my man
well shit, that did not take long. i had a worry about one of my bulkheads but woke up to both with leaks. not bad enough to ruin anything but enough to halt and reevaluate. took them out, cut pipe and i am going to do some extended tests with flex seal. you can float a boat with it right? ;). in the mean time i will probably go to one tote for more water and no reservoir. going out of town for a week this month and i want to be sure i am OK while gone so this will be delayed a while. dang water, it finds all your flaws!
 

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