Hello all! I’m new to the community and growing marijuana in general. I don’t have any local resources for helping with my problems along the way but with the internets help I’ve done decent so far. I’m running into some issues that I need some more help with, and I’ll have to include pictures and information to explain what I mean. First let me start by explaining that I was growing in soil up until recently. I ran into a few problems with soil along the way but nothing major until the fungus gnats larvae had stopped my root growth and I didn’t know how to kill them for good until I found the BTi bacteria. Anyway, around the same time I was fighting gnat larvae I decided I was going to need to build a hydro setup that involved less frequent maintenance because sometimes I would have to leave my plants unattended for a couple days at a time and with soil it wasn’t possible. So not really caring about the fate of my current plants (the gnat thing had them in bad shape pretty quickly) I decide to build a hydro setup that I would repopulate with new clones. After the system was finished, I had also been treating the larvae for a couple days with great success. My plants were looking healthy again so obviously I can’t just pitch them, so I googled if a soil plant can be converted to hydro and I’ve seen people have luck. So I take one of my plants and start scrubbing it’s roots clean to move to the new hydro system. The first night it spent in the hydro setup went great, it was looking good the next day. It spent the whole next day under light and getting 24 hours of flowing water. I should also mention these plants are about a week into flower at this point. Toward the end of its first day in the hydro setup I noticed two things, a tiny spot of blueish/black mold on the roots and some wilting in the leaves. I figured I was drowning the roots and decided to put it on a timer giving it a thirty minute flow with an hour in between waterings, and no water overnight. You’ll be able to tell how my system runs from the pictures, it’s kind of a hybrid system that’s most like an ebb and flow but with more of a drip/steady flow style feed, but also will have the benefits of a dwc setup when roots reach the bottom of the buckets. I’m flexible to changing the feed method as well, my plan was to add internal misters to the buckets after my roots started to develop a little more for something of a low pressure aeroponic effect. There’s a fourth bucket outside of the tent that sits lower than the three inside the tent and recirculates everything back up hill. The ph is set to around 5.8 and I have what I would consider a proper nutrient solution in the bucket currently. The whole system holds about 7 gallons of water and I circulate with a 400 gph pump. Basically what I need help with is this. The plant that I’ve tried to move from soil to hydro isn’t looking any better with the different watering timing and I’ve put it back into veg lighting to hopefully see any signs of improvement. (I know I’m stressing the shit out the this plant but my goal is to test the system, not necessarily crop out this round). So what is happening with my hydro system that needs adjusted? I was overwatering at first and then dialed it back about perfectly to the golden rule of “until it’s almost dry again, then rewater” and now it looks thirsty. And dead as a door nail. And the roots have some mold growing on it. Should I try converting the other two plants that are mid flower, in soil, to this system? With some major adjustments of some kind, obviously. The incentive to do that is that the hydro system is in a charcoal ventilated grow tent and I’d really prefer my nugs in there. If you’ve made it this far into this post I appreciate you more than you know! I’m going to start including pictures pretty much in the order that they happened. They’ll include some of the construction of the hydro table just to illustrate how it works. The last photos are of my current plants that are just on the shelf under an old hps light in my basement that I really have to do something with soon, even if it means growing them in soil in buckets inside the hydro table in the tent. Step one is trying todiagnose the hydro system though!
It's definitely over or under watered .I wouldn't go all night without watering those roots dry out and it's dunzo
hi @Joe’s nugs, welcome to the community So, first off, nice rig buddy. Good choice to go hydro, but there's a few things you should get a grip on. The soil-->hydro transplant is probably going to result in transplant shock; possible to survive, but I hope you know that. What you got constant feed? I suggest you look up CCH2O's feeding schedule and try to follow their LOW EC recommendations for a constant feed. I found that 5 min on and 10 off works great. look forward to some success with your rig
Thanks for the input! I really appreciate it. I made a few adjustments to the rig and tried again for the soil conversion with one of my healthy soil plants. So firstly I changed the feed system to sprayers, and for now isolated the other two buckets so I’ve got the 400 gph pump feeding only three small sprayers inside the first bucket and I was actually really impressed at the quality of the mist. I’ll need to upgrade my pump to achieve the same mist in al three buckets down the road but for now it works. I also took more time to ensure that there were no detached root fibers remaining entangled in my roots, waiting to rot. I think I had a little bit of this going on last time. After the sprayers went in I flushed the whole system and put the new plant in and left the pump running all night long. This morning I just switched them to 5 minutes on and 10 minutes off. I’m also trying to keep this girl in flower, last time I ended up switching it to 20 hours of light in a panic to get it to grow better/stay alive. I’m following my Advanced Nutrients’ grow micro and bloom light feeding chart at the moment, I’m new to hydro and still need to get myself a ppm/ec meter. But she’s just about to go into her first full day of light after the hydro conversion which should be informative at the least.
OK another criticism! heh heh Just yesterday, I was organizing and -remaking my hydro kits. I had run out of hydroton, so I went to the city and purchased a 50lb bag. When I got back, I made it an issue to pick out all that shitty cheap hydroton that is irregular. I'm not sure when I mixed in that lower grade hydroton, maybe a year ago, but I discovered it has a tendency of falling through the netting and getting stuck in my return lines. I see you have that same low grade hydroton and now I see its already getting to the bottom of the pails. When you get a chance, pick up a large bag of higher quality hydroton (that will last for years) and toss out the lower grade stones. I like the bulkheads you are using; they seem to sit flat on the bottom; mine stick out higher. Good job btw.
Ah good to know there’s better stuff out there! This is my first experience with it. So I’m not at home to check on it but I have an old ip security cam that I set up this morning to keep an eye on her and she’s not looking too hot. Definite wilting. I’ll post better pictures when I get home. Would you adjust anything or let her ride it out?
WTF Another plant killed in the hydro setup that I spent a lot of time and effort on. What am I doing wrong.
I did a lot of research on rdwc and just decided I'll stick to hand watering plants in coco. I think it will be better overall to keep it simple cuz it works. Probably saved myself a lot of trouble.
Like the setup had something very similar I would reccomend a big air pump like a 6 outlet one and some botanicare hydroguard. At the very least some hydroguard, you need to create a environment that the roots will love and having that hydroguard should help you alot. Did many transfers from coco to hydro and as long as i had the beneficial bacteria they all seem to thrive and not lose any at all. You need to get some more surface agitation when their is water in the buckets that why i suggest a air pump too. The more you can circulate the water the better off you will be, so if you could try and get that water moving.. If you gonna do anything get that hydroguard and i bet a lot of your prob will be solved. As for the timer i would run like 30 sec on 5 min off and slowly mess around with the timings maybe work its way up on the off timing.
how full is each bucket i would prob run some more water too if you only using 7 gal for 3 girls should be a few inches from roots
dont get discouraged had many prob with hydro til i started to understand it and now it like a walk in the park but its not like it will be overnight but i see it as a learning exp unfortunalty
Hey cool, thanks for the info. I’ve got Hydroguard coming from amazon today that should be here soon and I’m definitely excited to get that in there. I switched the water cycle yesterday to 30 seconds on 3 minutes off. You think I could possibly have an air deficiency? I can add air lines but I thought with the misters and the quicker timing I’d be circulating the water decently. Today’s my day off and I’m going to baby this plant to hopefully see ANY signs of improvement. I’m going to add a small humidifier in there for today and I’m also going to add ice packs throughout the day to get down to that 68 degree mark. I ordered a water chiller on amazon as well.
Well, It’s not a dwc. More of a low pressure aeroponic setup than anything else. There’s only a couple of inches of water inside the bottoms of the buckets, they aren’t reservoirs per say. And honestly I’m thinking my main issue is just that these soil roots aren’t acclimated to taking moisture and nutrients this way yet and especially in flower it’s too stressful of a transition for them. I’m pretty confident that the aeroponic clones I have started are going to do well in here.
Im a former Hempy/Dwc grower and now im so glad i went simple. I always had great success with other grows but this type of system is auto pilot nice. Not much smaller then my Hempy Bottom fed with airstones. I’ll never go back. I have 2 more weeks on these Cinderella 99’s Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Okay so here’s where we’re at on transplant number two. I got some Hydroguard in the system about four hours ago as well as added a humidifier and turned down the fan and closed the vent. Kept the exterior vent fan running but on low. Also I’ve been adding ice packs to the system all day and have kept the water below 70, but I’ve ordered a water cooler to do this for me. Not sure which of the combo did it but we’re finally showing positive root signs! Tbh the plant itself hasn’t shown much improvement but I’m optimistic at this point. The roots have started to branch out in spots. On the first transplant, the roots never showed these signs and started to yellow after the second day. These roots are nice and white. (The dark spots you see is leftover soil debris, I was more gentle with washing the roots this time) Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
u r kidding yourself? because they do not look snow white to me at all. I don't know how your plant is getting water. Why not just use a halo ring and top feed it. That way you would be assured the roots are getting wet. why do you have a halo ring if its bottom fed? link your system? I think bubblers are the easiest; is that how you are running it?
And ya don’t get me wrong I get that they’re not frosty white I just meant they’re retaining a much healthier color than their poor late sisters’ did a few day ago. When you say you don’t know how they’re getting water, did you not see my reply about switching to misters? They’re getting misted for 10 second intervals and then 30 seconds off. I’ve been changing the water cycle around a lot which i know isn’t good but that’s what I’m going to leave it on. The roots developing those small white branches are what I’m looking for, from what I’ve come to gather the soil roots just aren’t capable of receiving nutrients and moisture from the small micron mist I’m giving it. I’ve turned off the light directly above it, it should still be getting plenty of light from the other two in the tent I just don’t want to roast her while she’s transitioning.
yes I'm sorry I did, I was distracted (ok, I' stone all the time just to let u and me know ) but wouldn't it be easier just to top feed? idk man, I just finished up a bunch of this stuff on my own too. I compared some rockwool and rapid rooters in just the cube vs the aeroponics, plants like the aero better, but I moved the plants now to a drip system and am running 5on15off. I am big time paranoid of root rot because I have lost plants before, big plants, lots of time... I am testing RootShield and added SM90 to the system, but it just seems easier to me. You know later on the roots are going to hit those sprayers. Maybe just check multi-national grow we got going on to see what I mean, I just posted some pictures last night. And just to let you know, I've upgraded my drain lines to 3/4" this time around because the roots, they get to be a mess, a thick azz 4" mat of the floor. I have to pick up my plants and scrog and everything, place my hand underneath the matt, grab the pony tail and either cut it off, or whip it up and around (which is better imo). beyond that, transplant shock... try some superthrive? I ordered some ha!
Well I started with top feeding originally and it seemed to rot the first one out fast. And yes I know the sprayer will eventually get roots on them with the current set up, I’m planning on doing more of a ring around the inside of the bucket when I go to install sprayers on the other two buckets, I just threw together a quick little 3 sprayer manifold with parts I had on hand that night. And as far as the roots reaching the drain, I haven’t really crossed that bridge yet. I did everything with 2” pvc though so honestly I don’t really care if they go down a bit I don’t think it could clog anything. Even if it slows the draining process I just get something of an ebb and flow effect in my buckets haha.