Never had a harvest this is the last try..

Hey Chief!

No experience with your nutes, but I'd like to see you successful this run! My suggestion is keep it simple and stick to the basic dose of the one part and leave the additives for next time (if ever!).

What happened that made previous attempts unsuccessful? We'll try to avoid those things this time!

Do you have a TDS and pH meter? With such a small rez in a single bubble bucket, watching those two things can prove invaluable. The nute directions are for 7ml per liter (targeting EC=2.0), so you'll need to measure your rez and convert to liters if you're stateside. Don't pussy foot around with the nutes by trying to adjust the strength downward...use as prescribed! Test EC/TDS and pH (nute manufacturer recommends a range of 5.5-6.2). Mix and text a fresh batch, top off with plain water until you've added back the equivalent of the original volume; then change rez for a fresh batch. (Nute manufacturer recommend adding back nutes to maintain EC, and we'll get to that, but we're going to watch your readings for a bit first.)

Tell me more about what you've got...rez size, air pump wattage, air stone size? Temps in grow area and rez?

I'd get my seedling started under CFLs for a couple weeks then switch to the HPS for the remainder of veg...sure it's a redder spectrum, but lumens are where it's at when comparing a couple bluer CFLs and a 400 watt anything!

And I think you can put it in your rocks any time, just continue to hand water with plain water until you get a couple sets of three blade leaves.

Give this a once over if you please...AskLucas.com - Bubbler Principles

 

> this guy sounds like he knows what's he's talking about..
I won't pretend to be the be all, end all of growing, but I'm glad to help where I can!

> my Rez size is 3.5 gallon bucket
Regardless of which bucket you're using, measure the amount of water you'll actually be using by filling the rez with a one gallon jug and whatever else you need to be as accurate as possible. If you're sure of the conversion of your TDS pen, the accuracy of your measurement isn't THAT critical, but you need to be pretty close.

> 4 inch air stone
Plenty of stone, and I assume your air pump is at least 2 watts...1 watt per gallon is optimal for a smaller bucket, especially if heat becomes an issue. I've never had a problem with algae on an air line, not saying it can't happen, but I've not experienced it. It should be dry above the water and shaded where it gets wet.

> will just stick with the ionic grow, bloom an bloom booster.
Your call, I looked for a guaranteed analysis of the Ionic formulas to run it through the PreMix spreadsheet, but couldn't find the numbers. Still, I would wager the single part Bloom is enough, and in the interest of success in walking before you run, I'd still just use it alone. But I understand that you've spent the money on it and don't want it to be for not!

> right now don't worry about the pH
pH is always important! If you're using RO water, it's likely no where close to a trouble zone, but there's no harm in dropping your probe in from time to time to be sure. (just saw the pH=7 note) Nutrients will lower the pH of 7 to the acceptable range. I'm not sure I'd leave it there without nutes, but I'm interested to see what happens!

> solid 75 - 77 degrees at the top of the plant.. Humidity is at 45 - 50% right now
I think those numbers are right on time for the duration. Temps will go up with the 400 and hopefully you'll be able to tweak to maintain appropriate levels.

> what happen with my last grow
Probably a deficiency, sure, but adding the deficient nute would likely not have done anything! Treating the symptoms and not the cause will get you no where, fast! My guess is several things were happening: Not enough oxygen in your water, probably under strength mix of nute soup, warm water (depletes O2 further, encourages bugs and dying roots), dying roots (will lead to dying leaves and drop your pH as you describe, although such a wide swing in a small amount of water makes me think there may be something hinchy with your meter, or there was no movement in the rez at all).
The moral of the story as it relates to this time: LOTS of bubbles, full strength nutes, maintain temps (canopy and rez), stay within your pH range.

> Might have been light burn..
If the light was 18" away, I doubt it...bleaching would be more toward the top, sounds like your symptoms started at the bottom.
> Maybe my Rez.. The temps of my water may have been hot..
Sounds like it. For DWC temps below 72F are recommended. You can get away with as high as 84ish in Ebb/Flow, so that may be something to consider if maintaining lower temps becomes an issue.
> Maybe I put too much ph up and down into the Rez..
Could be, a good rule of thumb for what is too much up/down over the life of a rez is 3ml per gallon. Using RO/distilled water and nutes only should keep you pretty close to the desired pH range, and since you'll be changing the rez every couple week(ish), I doubt you'll need to worry about using too much up/down this time.

> I have a new different question about the nutes.. The amount of nutes don't ever change in this case so I wouldn't be starting at 1/2 strength or even 1/4 strength..? Start at the full 7ml per.. And yes I need to convert this measurement to gallons.. Approx 2.5 gallons of water will need howich nutes..??
Correct, full strength, or go home! Well, unless you're still under CFLs. I would let her get a couple sets of three blade leaves and at that point start feeding at about 4 or 5ml/liter (target EC of about 1.4, 1000ppm @ .7 conversion). It's not a lighter recipe for a smaller plant, it's a lighter recipe for weaker lights. When you switch to the 400 to finish veg, you can just add nutes to bring it up to ~ EC 2.0 (not over 1400ppm @ .7).

Converting gallons to liters is as easy as opening a browser to Google and searching for "XYZ gallons to liters" where XYZ is the amount of water you measure you're actually using...no approximates!

Hope this helps!

 

Your TDS pen - Google the brand and model, or add 7ml (only!) to one liter of water and take that measurement. That number will be YOUR target for YOUR setup (under HPS, less for under CFLs). If it's around 1400ppm, it's .7, if it's closer to 1000, it's .5.

If you're using RO or distilled water as I've seen you mention a couple times, pH shouldn't be affected by oxygen (a little drift is normal and desired), better to have copious amounts of bubbles than not! And two air stones isn't as important as the size of the pump. If your water tends to be warmer, about a watt per gallon is a good rule of thumb. And yes, water leaves the bucket in more ways than one, nutrients only leave as they are taken up by the plant. You must top off with clean water or the TDS will rise, and as it does so, the pH will drop.

You can start the bubbles now, sure, but wait on feeding nutes for a little more development. Once you've got a couple sets of "real" leaves, you can start with the lower dose of 4-5ml per LITER! There's a big difference in liters and gallons! You'll be horribly underfeeding if you dose ml/gal! After a week or two, I would switch to the 400 to continue vegging and increase the nute mix to 7ml/liter. (FYI: converting to gallons, it's 26ml per gallon for the 400w mix, and about 15ml per gallon for the CFL mix.

I don't have a problem with 24 hours of light. I see plant growth as a cycle of chemical reactions. Plants don't "rest"...they take what amounts to a break when part of the equation for the process is removed (sun), but given all the pieces, the formula will continue to execute!

 

Check out the canna feed guide@ canna.com,I know you ain't using canna but it does give you a guide as how much and how often to use it,it also converts litres to gallons,good luck pal,I'll be dropping in from time to time and your PH is way over the top pal,you should be using between 5.8 and 6.0 for vegging

 

I use Google. Not to find a converter, to do the converting! If want to know how many liters are equivalent to 2.75 gallons, in the search field type: 2.75 gallons to liters. The very first result is 2.75 US gallons = 10.4098824 liter. If you need a conversion calculator at that point, there will be a ton of them listed beneath the answer.

If your CFLs are the same distance from the plant as in the earlier pics, you can move them a little closer, but don't expect a crazy growth explosion, you may be disappointed!

 

Sounds good pal I'll be tagging along

 

Looking at your airstone you don't have nearly enough air. You want the water to look like it is boiling.
I'm not an expert in DWC, only on getting root rot in DWC at that I'm a grand master.

Take a look at rumps thread, a long read but full of valuable info.

For me I'm going to coco and blumats for the summer to avoid root problems.

 

Ditto what mile said...bigger air pump.

It's been said several times that your pH is worth paying attention to now...5.7 is far more appropriate than 7!

The last things you should see in a brand new grow rez are bits of roots and hydroton from the last time! Yes, change the water. Rinse your hydroton really well.

 

Best thing I have found so far is sm90, used to use pool shock but it needed to be added every 2-3 days, now just using 90 on my last run and not a trace of rot. Not sure what the recommended dosage, I use 1 oz in my 12 gallon rez.