Hydroponic Feeding Schedule

[mike827]

Alright, I have been majorly fucking up when it comes to feeding plants.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the optimal way to grow bud from seed is:

Place seed in cup with warm water, cover with saran wrap, place in warm, dry place.

After seed cracks and taproot appears, transplant (in my Hydro system case) into bubble bucket (which is a 5" net pot with a 2" rockwool cube filled with clay ball grow medium) with pH adjusted water to ~ 5.5. NO NUTRIENTS. Water level should be about 1/2" above the bottom of the net pot. (So capillary action draws water into rockwool).

After the first green shoot comes from the ground (hypocotyl) and first leaf set develops (cotyledons), it is safe to use small amounts of nutrients, (about 200-300ppm).

After 4th or 5th leaf set, it is safe to use half strength nutes (? or full strength?)

Im not even gonna get into anything past this point, because i haven't gotten past this point.

Please tell me if im wrong about this procedure ^^^

because what i did was follow the instructions on my nutrients. I used liquid earth (i bought "grow", "bloom", and "vigor") and they have the following instructions:



(it also says [not shown] that one unit is equal to 1 teaspoon of nutrient per gallon of water)

So i followed them and put 4 teaspoons of grow and 4 teaspoons of vigor into my 5 gal bucket filled with 4.2 gallons of water. changed ph to ~5.8.

so now i have 8 teaspoons of nutrient solution (.01 gallons) in 4.2 gallons of water.

According to the way my plants got fucked up, im assuming this was way too much.

At what point is it safe to use the half or full strength nutes?

please any insight would be extremely helpful

[balla420]

hey man whats up.... for the most part you have everything right. i usually wait until the first root comes out of the bottom of the rockwool cube before i transplant into my hydro setup (no matter what kind i'm using) but i use 1" starter cubes, instead of 2" cubes like you. so maybe just wait until the first true set of leaves (actually shaped like pot leaf) come out, or till the first root comes out of the bottom of the rockwook cube (which ever happens first) i usually start out with about 200ppm for first week or 2 then go to about 400ppm, then full strength (about 700-800 ppm) and also you don't want to leave the seeds in the cup of water till the tap root comes out, cuz if it comes out under water, it will suphocate. sometimes what people do, including me, is put the seeds in the cup of water until they sink(usually about 12hours), but then take them out and put them either in moist papertowels until tap root comes out or directly into your growing medium. also if its been longer than 24 hours and the seeds don't sink, that probably means they won't germinate.

also i don't know if you've ever used those nutrients before, but i used LIQUID EARTH brand vigor, grow, bloom, for my first indoor hydro grow and had very poor results, now i use either advanced nutrients micro, grow, bloom or Gener hydroponics micro, grow, bloom and have had much better results so its something you might want to think about, getting different nutes..... yeah, you will have wasted a little money, but better than wasting 4-6 months of your time and a whole lot of your patience

[mike827]

thanks for the insight, what do you mean by poor results, sick plants or small yield?

i guess im gonna have to get some better nutrients

[chimera]

Originally Posted by mike827

thanks for the insight, what do you mean by poor results, sick plants or small yield?

i guess im gonna have to get some better nutrients

The nutes will due fine, what your problem is is you need a TDS meter, and then all you do is listen to your plant! I'll cover how in a minute.

You said your using rockwool cubes, did you pre-treat them in europonic rockwool conditioner, if not this is your first problem. Like was stated just let the seeds sink don't leave them in the water until the tap root comes out. Everything else sounded good. What type of light(s) are you using and what are your temps including the temp of the nutrient.

LISTENING TO YOUR PLANT, chimera's feed guide to hydro growing.

Start your nutrient off at 150-200. After that take daily readings and if the ppm's drops 25 points then raise your overall nute level 50 points above the previous reading. If it goes up 25 points lower 100 points below what your previous reading was. Last through the feed chart away as for the most part those chart were not meant for MJ. One final tip, epsom salt, a teaspoon per 10 gals of nute every time you change it, which should follow the following schedule, cahnge initial nutes after 14 days, thereafter every 7 days!

[Al B. Fuct]

I don't think it's fert burn- I think the problem is overwatering.

Originally Posted by mike827

Water level should be about 1/2" above the bottom of the net pot. (So capillary action draws water into rockwool).

If you do this, the rockwool will remain constantly saturated. Plant growth will be slow and sickly, possibly with yellowing leaves, starting from the bottom of the plants and going upward.

Rockwool holds an awful lot of water. It will wick up enough water to drive all air out of the material, which can kill roots. Cannabis does not like "wet feet."

You may need to find a way to dampen the rockwool only once a day until the roots drop out of the netpots. Even after then, you must not allow the rockwool to be constantly saturated. Lower the water level, reduce the number/length of watering cycles per day, etc.

[mike827]

Originally Posted by chimera

The nutes will due fine, what your problem is is you need a TDS meter, and then all you do is listen to your plant! I'll cover how in a minute.

You said your using rockwool cubes, did you pre-treat them in europonic rockwool conditioner, if not this is your first problem. Like was stated just let the seeds sink don't leave them in the water until the tap root comes out. Everything else sounded good. What type of light(s) are you using and what are your temps including the temp of the nutrient.

LISTENING TO YOUR PLANT, chimera's feed guide to hydro growing.

Start your nutrient off at 150-200. After that take daily readings and if the ppm's drops 25 points then raise your overall nute level 50 points above the previous reading. If it goes up 25 points lower 100 points below what your previous reading was. Last through the feed chart away as for the most part those chart were not meant for MJ. One final tip, epsom salt, a teaspoon per 10 gals of nute every time you change it, which should follow the following schedule, cahnge initial nutes after 14 days, thereafter every 7 days!

Wow, thanks for the detailed info, you really know your stuff.

Finally ordered my TDS meter, i guess i overlooked the importance

All of the materials im using can be seen in my shitty grow thread. I am using:

2 - 4' t8 34w fluoro tubes

5 - 90w equivalent (forgot actual wattage) CFL's

2 - 18" 1200 lumen (forgot wattage) fluoro tubes

1 - 10" fan for stem agitation and air circulation

2 - 5 gal bubble buckets with double outlet 150 gal air pumps (using 2 1" air stones), 5" net pots and 2" rockwool cubes.

in a 5ft w x 3ft d x 8ft t closet

Originally Posted by Al B. Fuct

I don't think it's fert burn- I think the problem is overwatering.



If you do this, the rockwool will remain constantly saturated. Plant growth will be slow and sickly, possibly with yellowing leaves, starting from the bottom of the plants and going upward.

Rockwool holds an awful lot of water. It will wick up enough water to drive all air out of the material, which can kill roots. Cannabis does not like "wet feet."

You may need to find a way to dampen the rockwool only once a day until the roots drop out of the netpots. Even after then, you must not allow the rockwool to be constantly saturated. Lower the water level, reduce the number/length of watering cycles per day, etc.

I am growing in a bubble bucket and dont use any watering cycles, but i guess i could raise the net pot higher out of the oxygenated nutrient (actually no nutrients right now) solution. Although i do have 2 monster air pumps in the reservoir.

[GrowDesignsLLC]

Go a little higher on your pH, the color should be a green-yellow, so around 6-6.3.

[Cornflake]

To the above post. That doesn't make any sense, if you're going to tell him to use a high pH at least explain why.

Originally Posted by mike827

I am growing in a bubble bucket and dont use any watering cycles, but i guess i could raise the net pot higher out of the oxygenated nutrient (actually no nutrients right now) solution. Although i do have 2 monster air pumps in the reservoir.

If the medium looks absolutely drenched you should change the net's distance but from what you describe it's fine. You're way more on the ball than I was when I started my first hydros have fun with that harvest.

[Al B. Fuct]

Recommended pH for most hydro systems, particularly those with rockwool, is 5.3-5.8. Going higher reduces nutrient availability. 6-6.3 isn't a big jump, but I can't see why you'd do it.

[GrowDesignsLLC]

6.0-6.3 does not have the least bit of an impact on nutrient intake. The only time pH plays a significant part in nutrient uptake is when you do not have sufficient lighting or air movement. Any range from 5.3-6.7 will not alter any chemical aspect of the plant enough to notice, its when you get above 7.0 that boron, calcium, and cobalt (aka micros) are significantly affected!

[mike827]

I don't know who to believe! Charts say one thing, (but who knows where they got the info), first hand growers say conflicting things, what do i do!

[GrowDesignsLLC]

seasoned vet...I say ~6.3

[kinky19777]

I have never done the hydroponic thang but I always heard 6.2-6.4

[Al B. Fuct]

The nature of rockwool is why the pH should run a little lower than 6 in rockwool based systems. Rockwool usually contains a bit of limestone dust which can cause the pH to jump up. The basalt rock itself which comprises the majority of rockwool is fairly unreactive, though. This is why it is recommended to flush cubes with plain water then soak them 24h in a pH 5.0 solution before use.

The resultant pH at the root barrier in rockwool isn't easily measurable, but would have to be fairly close to 5.8-6.0 with a nute soln pH of ~5.5-5.6.

Mike827, for what sort of media was that band chart of nute availability? Soil, perhaps?

[frog-godbee]

PH range for soil is 6.2 - 6.8 .... hydro is alot lower 5.5 - 6.5 .... Canna recommends a hydro PH of 5.2 - 6.2 .... personally i like 5.8 - 6.0 ... In soil you need a much higher PH because the micro organisms and shit needed to break things down cannot survive in high acidic soils and your plants will fuck-up real quick with a low PH in soil.


just read your last comment Al B.fuct about soaking blocks in low ph 5.0 - 5.5 ...... so true man .... i agree 100%