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First Hydro grow early problems


Duracell
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I've run into immediate problems my 4 new babies after placing them in the DWC.

Water temp was too high at 25 degrees, but I have managed to get it down to 21 degrees now.

Feeding "Grow" powder feeding from Hydro Herb Africa; started with 0.5g/ liter of water - reduced to 0.33g/liter because the leaves look like nute burn (see photos).

Had some light leaks on the Addis container, but closed most - only light getting through now is between the clay pebbles.

Was told to use "Proplant" in the water to prevent algae and root problems, but it doesn't seem to do any good as I had major algae issues.

Keeping PH between 5.5 and 6.5 but found that it increased radically overnight.

Changed complete container, water and nutrients today.

 

Any input, diagnosis and theories will be greatly appreciated.

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Doesn't look like nute burn to me, more like a deficiency caused by PH issues

 

I'm not experienced with DWC but my guess is that the light leak caused the algae growth which causes the rise in PH which has caused that def. Maybe give your res a good scrubbing

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@Duracell  hey bro, hydro-noob so take 2 cents with pinch of salt.

 

As others said, pH swings is *likely* what you're seeing on the leaves.

 

However, overall root health is critically important. 25c is quite high temp, higher temps gambles for root problems (root rot, pythium, 'the slime', etc.) and also less dissolved oxygen the higher the temp. Light leaks need to be removed.

 

Res. temp, sufficient oxygen (check airstones and pump), no light leaks, sterile environment (or bennies) are critical. Root issues will lead to a variety of symptoms and once hydro-herp has set in it's really difficult to manage with lots of peeps scrapping and starting over. What do your roots look like? Hesienberg tea (bennies), or individual products which comprise the tea, is the option chosen by many to try and combat rot once it's set in. Others running sterile go H2O2 / bleach route, which often apparently doesn't help, many scrap, sterilize, start over.

 

All the above should be looked at first. Secondary:

 

How high is the water level in res?.

 

Are you using rockwool? Holds a lot of water and your drippers shouldn't hit the rockwool. I have removed my water pump after the roots hit the water in the res both to avoid over soaking the medium and leading to "wet feet" symptoms, and to reduce res temperatures. conversely I need to run a small water heater for short bursts on the really cold days. Your water pumps will create quite a lot of heat.

 

What are you using for pH down?

 

Haven't used your nutes; do you have an EC / TDS meter? 

Checked Grow powder: 0.5gm / l is apparently 1 EC, which is strong for DWC, especially seedlings that small. Your girls will only need half that, if even.

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Hi Narnia, thanks for the input.

 

Got the res all cleaned out and the temp stable between 20-21 degrees C.

 

TDS meter now indicated around 315ppm with 0.33g/liter nutrients. Left out the "Proplant" completely as the instructions do not cover hydro at all.

Roots are still very short, but the ones that are visible seemed to be brownish. 24h after res change it seems that new small white growths are forming.

What product can I use for Bennies? Have read good things about "Hydroguard", but don't know if it is available in SA.

I used Nirvanas germination kit to germinate and transplanted to DWC, drippers are not wetting the substance but only the roort growing down.

Will give the girls a day or two to see what the new leaves look like and then report back.

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@Duracell Noice one, new white growth, good news.

 

Are those germ. kits peat? 

Peat holds a lot of water, as does rockwool, rapid rooters less so, but still. A common issue is over-watering if the medium is saoked, especially noticeable with seedlings, much like a soil-grow. Organic material falling in the res is also not the best. Apparently some use them, no worries. 

 

Ya sadly I just cannot find any of the products suggested for bennies in SA. I have a Bennie thread going here, but haven't heard too much on it, I'm using Environoc 401, mostly due to that being one of the only products I could find: 

 

https://www.420sa.co.za/index.php/topic,1287.0.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, it seems I've learned a few lessons and have the girls getting stronger by the day.

 

The problem was Ph swing caused by massive algae growth in the tank. To rectify the algae problem, I washed and cleaned EVERYTHING (including the roots😁), paid a lot more attention to light leaks into the reservoir, set the AC in the room down to 18 deg and left the tent open 24/7. This now gives me an air temp in the tent of around 21 deg, water temp of 20-22 deg, temp on the reservoir at the plants of 26-28 deg and humidity of 40-50%.

TDS meter indicates 390ppm with tap water (50ppm) and 0.3g/l nutrients.

Some roots are now 30+cm long and growing vigorously.

 

Photo taken a couple of days ago, will post more.

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