After doing a few good soil grows thought it's time to try hydro! I chose drip because it's economical with water, which is necessary in my situation. 3x PPP from Nirvana, about 2 weeks old 8x 2' T5 bulbs on 18/6 off GH Flora grow @ 500ppm Feeding 3 times a day, 8am when the lights come on, 2pm and 8pm. Two questions: the PH in the system seems to rise every day. It was at 6 yesterday, now it's at 7.1... Also, should I add more drippers? Not all the hydroton seems to be getting wet. What do you guys think? Any recommendations or something I missed?
it doesnt look like your drips are placed correctly... you need to have the drip directly on the sleeve that you have the clone in so that it stimulates the root production!
I'm confused - are the tubes coming from above, and then go down into the hydroton, or are they sticking up out of the hydroton? I used drip system just once, and had a coverage problem, same as you. One thing I did was get screw in sprinkler heads that fit in 1/8" tubing. Super cheap, 35 cents, and if you run a little higher pressure, you can cover a decent range in your tray with them sticking out of the hydroton, just like grass sprinklers. For me, it was the difference between a stagnant root ball that limited growth, and roots grew every where, leaving the plant to explode with growth.
hey guys thanks for the replies! To clarify the 5 sphaghetti tubes come from behind the rubbermaid container, 3 of them drip directly into the rockwool cubes nested in the hydroton while the other 2 drip in between plants. Good idea with the sprayers - I will pick some up tomorrow. Ph seems to have stabilized a bit - only went up from 6 to 6.3 over a day.
Did you wash the hydroton with corrected ph water? They are high ph out of the package, and if you used tap water to rinse, they're loaded with high ph.