Auto Northern Lights Grow (pH - PPM - EC Questions)

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by ffhfh, Sep 1, 2012.

  1. I've got a few questions about pH, PPM and EC as well as my nutrients.

    Setup

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    I've got an air pump that pumps the air into the larger black reservoir, which then pushes the water out the tube and into the 3" wide net pot container. The water basically fills the container until the water in the reservoir is completely empty, which then in turn pushes air through the tube causing water in the container to oxygenate. I'm using tap water that was left out a 24 hours beforehand.

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    Both the pump and the lights are on two different timers, however since my stain is auto flowering, I've been leaving it on a 24/7 period.

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    I have 2 soft white (2700k) and 2 daylight (6500k) CFLs.

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    I'm growing Nirvana - Auto Northern Lights which are feminized, with clay pellets as the medium.
    My plant is in the middle of it's 4th week (26 days) since seedling. Temperature ranges from 26.0 Celsius, to 29.0 Celsius.

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    I've been adding literally only drops of my FloraNova Bloom and the pH ranges between 5.8 and 6.0. On the back of the Bloom container is says add 0.625ml/L (1/2tbs) which should at least give me 250 PPM and 0.5 EC. The net pot container holds almost a full litre, which means I should put about 0.5ml of the Bloom into the reservoir. Currently my pH is at 5.8, PPM is 90-100, and EC is 0.12 to 0.16.

    My first question is, will adding the 0.5ml/L Bloom into the reservoir, which then decreases the pH level drastically and increase PPM and EC, then after, using baking soda to increase the alkalinity of the solution until it falls within the proper range work? Will that range the pH between 5.8 and 6.0, PPM from ~250 to 500, and EC between 0.2 and 0.5?

    Are letting the roots soak in the solution for 15-20 minutes harmful?

    At what point should I switch over to the FloraNova Grow solution? Does it matter if I use both at the same time?

    Thanks for any help in advance. :D
     
  2. Is your plant 26 days old in that pic?
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. First. You should be using Floranova Grow, not Bloom at this stage of growth. I've added a link to their nutrient calculator.
    GENERAL HYDROPONICS

    Second. Looks like you need to up your nute strength somewhat. That plant needs some food to grow!
    Get the PPM's to where you would like them (I would use about 1/2 of what the calculator recommends) then adjust the PH to between 5.5 and 6.2 with PH up or down and rock and roll.
    15 mins in the soultion is no problem but make sure you flood often enough to keep the pebbles moist in the root growth area
    G/L
     

  4. Yeah, I had to leave it alone for a week and when I returned from vacation the pH values were off, and I think that may have slowed it's growth.
     

  5. Alright, thank you, I'll definitely water it more often and start using only the FloraNova Grow. Also ordered the pH Up & Down, so should be getting that soon.
     
  6. Alright!

    So my plant is on it's 8th week (50 days) since seedling phase and it's looking healthy so far. However, when comparing it to other grow journal who grew the same strain as mine, I find that my plant is a little small for it's age. I can understand that using Bloom instead of Grow for the first 26 days may have stubbed it's growth a little there.

    I also over nute'd it once, pretty badly. It was literally sloping down, but I quickly noticed and flushed the nutes out. That's probably why some leaves turned yellow and that there are small brown dots on one or two leaves at the lower part of the plant.

    I've also been getting lower EC and PPM values than I was expecting. At this stage I'm expecting to use anywhere from 300-500PPM with an EC of 0.5-0.9, yet my results are usually lower than 300PPM and around 0.3 EC.

    I calibrated my pH probe but not the PPM/EC meter. So I don't know if this could be a problem either.

    I don't know, what are anyone's thoughts?

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    The leaf is about 2-3 inches long from the stem.
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  7. Ok I'm still learning and a begginer but you need to do a lot more researching and reading because those small mistakes you're making now could cost your harvest later. The nute mixup and overfeeding and leaving the young plant alone probably caused the growth stunt.

    Also your leaves edges are tacoing, im a rookie so i cant say why and be correct but i hope someone notices and helps you out.
     
  8. U have to take into account ur heat humidity and from ur pix I see a cfl box I think....hps is way bttr...n lastly are the breeders the same...same strain does not mean u will have the same results if its different breeders n ur using cfl as opposed to mh and hps
     

  9. Yep, both are from Nirvana. I understand using HPS would increase the plants growth, however at the moment I'm going to stick with CFLs since it was easier to get.
     
  10. Srry if I was unclear lol...the plants u r comparing too....wat lighting are they using...only way to fairly compare is if the lights r somewat similar....if they r usin hps then of course they will look bigger than the same exact strain under cfls
     

  11. Makes sense. The one I was comparing too was using HPS and LED, so that definitely would make a difference, however that doesn't explain my EC/PPM issues :/
     
  12. #12 Jayaday, Sep 25, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2012
    Well I re read ur posts n saw tat u havent calibrated ur ec meter....ive nvr owned an ec meter like u have....but most require u to calibrate it with the calibration solution satchel tat comes with the meter...but ive nvr owned tat combo meter so dnt take my word for it but try tat n see if it works
     
  13. 2 on the ph scale or 30ppm from the original calibration made. I keep the electrode immersed in Hanna storage solution and use a hand held trigger sprayer to clean the film and residue that accumulates on it. To estimate TDS, one can use a meter that measures the Electric Conductivity (EC) of a solution, and convert the number to TDS in parts per million (ppm). Many meters will do this conversion. Nutrient ions have an electrical charge, a whole number, usually a positive or negative 1, 2, or 3. EC is a measurement of all those charges in the solution that conduct electricity. The greater the quantity of nutrient ions in a solution, the more electricity that will be conducted by that solution.
     

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