this is my diy bubbler bucket,,its the first time ive done any hydro so im learning a lot,, Uploaded with ImageShack.us a cpl of weeks later Uploaded with ImageShack.us and the latest picture 3 weeks into flower Uploaded with ImageShack.us ive been making a new res every thursday since i started this bucket,,i only got my ec reader last week so i never knew what was going on,, now i have a ph of 6.45 and an e.c. of 1.1,,the ec is down from 1.8 or 2.0 and the ph is up from 6.2, the res looks a hell of a lot clearer than it did the day i made it up and it looks like most of the nutes have gone into the plant because the roots have all turned brown i have been topping up with fresh water every day and the ph was 6.21 before i added todays top up and as i topped it up the ph went back to 6.45 is this a reasonable shift in ph because of evaporation or will i add some top up water morning and evening to make it less of a change over night?? am i supposed to keep the res ec at the 1.8 or 2.0 by adding more nutes or should i just keep making a fresh res every week and let the thing do what its doing now?? thanks lads
Here is my experience - which might help. EC will depend on the nutrient mix and the age of your plant. Most of the dry nutrients I have run across run 1 to 2 tsp per gallon. With GH MaxiGro my initial EC is on the order of 1.6 with 1 tsp. My day starts out with adding RO water to make up what has been used over the last 24 hours. I let it sit in the res for about an hour before I pull the sample (about 400 ml). My pH creeps up every day do I have to add some pH Down just about every day. I try to keep pH in the 5.8 (+/- .1) area. Because I add pH Down every day there is some added salts into the solution so EC can creep up also. I add the pH Down into the fill hole and return the sample to flush it into the res. Every 7 to 10 days I refresh the entire res load with new mixed nutes. BTW - your effort looks real good!
5.8-6.0 is where you want to be... Looking good though, and yes do to evap and also the plant, your ph will go up and down slightly, If its going up daily they may want more food, but for your first grow id keep going like you are, just get that ph down and youll finish a very happy camper... Gluck Slinger
Might want to light-proof those white buckets or get some black ones. You could get algae. Aluminum tape works well also. Just thought I would let you know. Nice job though Good Luck!
made a new res yesterday ec 1.6 thats from following the directions on the labels and the ph is now 5.8 after i added ph down from tap water of 7 ,,i got up and checked today and this was on 2 leaves right at the top of the plant is it nute burn what can i do?? its a low ec tho so what gives Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Wow Raoul, You really have to add PH don everyday? I am 5 weeks into my new grow, using bubble buckets. Lights go out tonight for 12/12. Anyways, I am using Real Plant Water, Drip Clean, GH Micro, and GH Bloom. I have not had to add a drop of ph up or down yet. My ph has stayed between 5.7 - 6.0. I have flushed one bucket once so far, the other has had 3 flushes due to cracking buckets and having to build new ones. (Ball valve issues). But I am wondering why you would have constant PH shifts. Is it something you can fix? I find that once I find my ppm dial in #, as long as I don't let my res get too low, since my ppm are staying relatively the same, my ph is also remaining steady. I had issues my 1st grow when I used the big rubbermaid, and did no flushes the entire grow. I did use PH up and down during that. But none this grow. Anyway, I hope you can find the cause. I would hate to have to adjust my ph daily. That would be a pain. Peace.
no raoul,,not a chance of that happening at all,,the day before it happened the first time i had added top max to the res for the first time,,maybe that had something to do with it what do u think??
a mate of mine has given up growing for a while and has given me al lhis stuff,,, i have a load of nutes at my disposal,,are these any good for me i would like to do away with the bio bizz bloom and use a more suitable nute,,i have holland secret grow 2.1.7 and bloom 0.6.4 these bottles have 3 part formula written on them and it seems like the micro part is missing or he never bought it,,i do have some bad bing,made by the same company,,but i dont think its a micro nute,,think its a booster also have the full set of general hydroponics europe flora series.. grow bloom micro,and one called ripen thats used in the last week(fulvic acid) and one called diamond necter which is a booster too id say what do u think? could i use either set of these? would it be silly to change the nutes 4 weeks into the flowering part? should i keep going with the vita link ab and the bio bizz bloom with canna pk 13/14 on week 5 thanks for the help,,at least on my next hydro grow ill be able to start off with one set of nutes and stick to them right the way through
can anyone tell me what they think is going on here this started to happen a cpl of days ago,,it doesnt look like the ordianry yellowing of the bigger leaves at the end of the plants life,,is it a nutrient problem res temp 20 air temp day 28 air temp night 19 rh 40% night 70% at the hottest part of the day due to having the bubble bucket in the room i guess ph 5.4 and swings down to 5.3 with evaporation ec 1.2 this is a small plant in a dwc of 9 litres top up done every day about 1 litres goes in a 24 hour period, new rez made every thursday with vitalink a and b grow and bio bizz bio bloom made to labels specs heres a picture,what do u think?? thanks
yes its very low but would that make the color of the leaves happen,,its not happening to every leave just about 5 or 6 leaves so far,,could it be lock out due to low ph maybe,,cal mag lock out??? i have added calmax to the res,5mls for the 9 litres following the label of course
since your pH is swinging i would think its a lock out. Regarding your nutes though, i think you should stick with the ones your have now. Use the GH ones later. I heard the GH floranova series are great nutes with stable pH. happy farming
When u say tap water...thats regular city water that your using? And are you letting this water sit over night for a period of at least 24 hrs(shorter if u add in a airstone and pump) Cuz if your not you could also be harming your plant by the chlorine and other things in your city water....
when the ph gets under 5.8 it locks out cal and mag. thats what ur seeing.. dont let it get below 5.8, if its bouncing around keep it at 6.0 this gives you room for the bounce.. Slinger
thanks mate,yeah i have decided to stick with what im using,,dont wanna make myself any more problems than i have already by doing that,,ive read the gh nutes are cool too,im delighted to get them off my mate yes regular city water,im letting my water sit for nearly 2 days,i used to have some fish thanks so i understand the need to klet chlorine out was thinking of using my ro unit to filter my water what would i need to add to it to bring it back up to scratch minerals wise???? im making my new res tomorrow so ill bring it up to 6..will this lock out get better then???