Under Current ?'s

[ohboy]

Greetings,

I am looking for some direction for my next run on my undercurrent 6XL. I have learned the hardway about chillers with this system and devolped root rot and lost 4 out of 6.. most of them dying many weeks into flower. I was able to produce very healthy and huge plants, but some of them coukldnt fight off the root rot from early warm water temps in the UC during the first week of veg.

I am running Cutting Edge Solutions for nutes. I wanna switch that up. What do u recommend as a feeding schedule for the UC? I clone in a Turbo Cloner, Then Veg for 2 weeks in a rain forest, and then veg for 1 weeks in the Uc before flippin into flower. Does this sound like a good plan?

So really I am looking fo what nutes you have been having good success with? What type of feeding schedule for those nutes?

Also I wanna run 4 1,000's over this 6XL, do u think that is too much? Everything is aircooled,blockbluster 6" hoods, I can get my air temps and leaf temp dialed.

Let me know your thoughts on what I have going on.

Thank you

 

[Texas Kid]

House and Garden Aqua Flakes, the entire regime according to the charts

Tex

 

[BudGoggles]

I run Dutch Master Gold. Very stable. I go 2-3 weeks with out a res change and dont add ph up or down the entire time in between.
Good luck

 

[deacon1503]

Im with TK, try the HG Aqua Flakes at half strength and go from there. Follow the schedule.

 

[UCMENOW]

Seeking the Root of the Issue

Seems like you're approach is solid.

Are you using RO water?.....what is you water source...municipal or well?

If the plants did/do begin to struggle, be it root rot or otherwise it's important to reduce light concentrations to help the plants stabilize. What was/is the distance of the 1000's from the tops of the plants.....4x 1000's sounds a little heavy on the light concentration as unless I'm mistaken the system foot print for the 6XL is roughly 3.5' x 5.5'.

I'd listen to TK or Bud Goggles and switch up to DM or H & G, maybe Canna.....all these nutes are very stable and work well in water culture.

I'm sure the growers here on the Farm will be helpful in getting you dialed in.

 

[squarepusher]

I have a few UC questions :)

Do you recommend putting the cuttings in Rockwool before placing in (hydroton) in the UC? If so, which size rockwool, starter cube only, or 2-3". I had a problem with a similar system where the rockwool has always soaked and it led to some root issues...

 

[Ben Derdundat]

House & Garden works great in the Under Current. The only times I flush is at the transition from Veg to bloom, after using Top Booster and at the end of my run... The easiest nutrients I have ever used and House & Garden gives great results. bd

 

[REGISTRD]

I have a few UC questions :)

Do you recommend putting the cuttings in Rockwool before placing in (hydroton) in the UC? If so, which size rockwool, starter cube only, or 2-3". I had a problem with a similar system where the rockwool has always soaked and it led to some root issues...

GREAT ?
Im guessing the water level needs to be lower than the net pot if theres rw to start...
:evilgrin0040:

 

[deacon1503]

House & Garden works great in the Under Current. The only times I flush is at the transition from Veg to bloom, after using Top Booster and at the end of my run... The easiest nutrients I have ever used and House & garden gives great results. bd

Ben, i asked Jack about his add back process and im curious on yours. With so few flushes, do u feed once a week with everything, then add back A+B as needed, or have ur 110gal ready to go with the current concentration for top off?

 

[Ben Derdundat]

My nutrients are mixed up in my top off tanks.

 

[ohboy]

Thanx to everyone that has commented on this thread! Really stoked to harv this 1st run and start the next. Gonna be using GDP and Pineapple express in this next round. Had really good success with Banana this last run..,. besides the death cuz of root rot. The sour dez i had didnt do as well as the Banana.

So Ben, You said that ur nutes r mixed in ur top off tanks.. thats against what Daniel recommends.. right? did u try just toppin of nutes at the epicenter? as Daniel recommends?

Def leaning towards the House and Garden.. did a lot of reading on HG and Canna, just gotta decide between those 2 now.

 

[ohboy]

A big thanx to everyone commenting on the thread!!

Plants didnt really struggle... were vigorous and healthy one night and then pretty much dead the next morning... just happen to another today.. lights went off plant looked like it was fine.. lights kicked on tonight and it was wilted like it had been fed in weeks... so pretty much I have one left.. hoping it makes it thru the last 10 days! Gonna start flushing in 5-6 days.. straight water.

No RO.. just tap water.. from what I have been told to be from a well.. thats what the water company tells me.

Ben a few questions about ur top off method.. so u add ur nutes to the top off rez.. not the epicenter as Daniel recommends? If so y? U have run the House and Garden full strength according to there feed chart? Normal or Aggressive?

Thank you

 

[Texas Kid]

Top off the epicenter with nutes not the individual buckets with plants in them...

Tex

 

[UCMENOW]

Cch2o f.a.q. ala Daniel

What should the top off res be balanced to?

When operated properly, top off should be balanced the same as the solution in the system. Traditionally hydro growers have been instructed to top off with ½ strength or pure water to avoid nutrient toxicity but because the UC runs best with ½ strength nutes there is less of a chance of salt build-up. Ideally the solution in the system should stay balanced even as the plants use the nutrient and water. As a rule of thumb if the nutrient EC/TDS rises as the solution is depleted you are likely running your levels too high to begin with.
Conversely, if your EC/TDS drops it indicates you’ve started to low. Ultimately, as solution levels drop in the system the EC/TDS should stay stable, this is a good indicator that you’re dialed in. This EC/TDS stability will translate into improved plant health and greater pH stability to boot.

What if I experience drift in my nutes?

Correct it with your top off solutions. Example: system
started at 500ppm but has crept to 625ppm as the solution level has decreased. That’s a 25% increase, which can be easily offset by a top off res balanced @ 25% below the initial 500ppm. This results in a top off res balanced at 375ppm to compensate. Ideally solution strength should stay constant as the plants consume it. This is a good indicator that minerals & water are being used at equal proportions.

Does this help pH stability?

Absolutely! Any upward or downward fluctuations in EC/PPM can have an effect on pH. By avoiding excess TDS, the solution is easier to keep stable. If any pH adjustments are needed they can most easily be altered by the top off input. Example pH @ 6.0 to start drifts to 6.5 over a 5 day period can easily be offset by making the top off res slightly more acidic so when top off solution enters system it gradually maintains proper pH levels as the plants access the nutrients. This will help avoid any potential nutrient lock outs caused by adjusting the pH with concentrated acid or bases.Observations and slight adjustments are the best way to dial your system in when in doubt, give CCH2O a call.

 

[HG23]

Excellent post, thanks UCMENOW. So it's an out of the box recommendation to use half strength nutes with the UC?

 

[UCMENOW]

Their recommendations vary for different growers, varieties, specific conditions etc.

For Expert growers with dialed conditions full strength is their "current" recommendation from what I understand.

 

[Ben Derdundat]

So Ben, You said that ur nutes r mixed in ur top off tanks.. thats against what Daniel recommends.. right? did u try just toppin of nutes at the epicenter? as Daniel recommends?

Ben a few questions about ur top off method.. so u add ur nutes to the top off rez.. not the epicenter as Daniel recommends? If so y? U have run the House and Garden full strength according to there feed chart? Normal or Aggressive?

Thank you

The method I use is just one of the recommended ways to use the Under Current. The other two are to use an intelliDose and connect the float valve to a pure water source or to top off and do add backs by hand. All of these are done in the epicenter. As for House & Garden, I use it at normal strength per the feed chart.

I was able to take my plants to 1890-1900 PPM with very little signs of stress. I would not recommend pushing your plants this hard if you are a novice gardener and not experienced with the Under Current

 

[burnzalot]

I have a question relating to nutrient strength. I have observed that a guy Heath robinson, who has extensive posts, kick ass systems and yields only feeds at 1.4 EC max. What do people think about that? He says he uses ionic, or canna, an I believe home and garden all at the same strengths....

 

[Texas Kid]

Heath has alot more than that goin on for sure, he's on top of his bame and has been for years now.

1.4 ec is still kickin the nutes

Tex

 

[UCMENOW]

Ec, ppm, cf, wtf?

Truth is there is no magic recommendation for proper nutrient levels to succeed......every Farmer has to react to the specific needs of their plants.

I think too often gardeners are taking general recommendations too literally and trying to depend less on their grower intuition and plant empathy.

Learning to garden is the best way to dial in your nutrient schedule......short cuts just usually get you lost in the weeds.

One thing that I've learned about nutrient dosing over the past 20 years is this.............experience is king.

But specifically in UC style set ups....start at low dosages to get your plants metabolizing properly then once you establish a baseline for good health start increasing your dosages from there......typically in 10% increments, ie. 750 ppm being raised to 825 and see how the plants react.

Though a higher ppm may prompt more explosive growth, it will likely result in you needing to "flush" your plants more as a means of keeping them hydrated enough to continue using the higher salt (nutrient) inputs at this rate of growth.

Remember, high salt levels inhibit water uptake in the plant which ultimately slows growth or prompts a pest out break via excess stress.

To get it perfect is a bit of a high wire act....but then again, people ride the wire on the daily here on the Farm....watch and learn.