first grow ,what I've learned from GC

Is there anything in you rez other than water, nutes, pH adjuster and air stone?
What nutrients are you using?
Most hydropinic nutes have pH buffers that brings down the pH level from pH7 to pH5.8-pH6 and then stablizes. Although when i use weak nutrients for my seedling i need to use a little more pH down than i would use for full strength nutes.
Your pH rising .2 within an hour and a half is a pretty big jump. Just use plain pHed water and see if it rises.

 

Just use plain pHed water, and see if it rises.
Yes, get nutrients for hydroponics, it should have the right pH buffer.
20-20-20 isn't the best. For vegging try and get higher nitrogen (N), than phosphorus (P)and potassium (K)

 

hey john. thats very interesting and something i hadnt considered.

for my last watering, (im in soil) i prepared everything a few days in advance. used molasses and chemical nutes. and let them stand for about 3 days.

only when i was 2/3rds through watering did i notice that the water remaining in the bottles was actually yellow. and smelled funny, and fizzed when i poured it over the soil.. ... .......


im guessing this is algae or fermentation of the sugars in the molasses or something?

my plants didnt really look bothered but im definitely going to make sure it doesnt happen again

 

Yes, there shouldn't be a root ball at that age of a seedling, you can carefully rip the rockwool apart, gently, so not you damage the main root.
But before hand, give the new rockwool cubes a good rinsing under the tap, then presoak in pH5.0 water (to bring down the rockwool pH level).
Because you are in a rush, presoak them for about 5 or 6 hours (i usually soak over night).
Rip the new presoaked cubes in half, and place the roots from the seedlings between the two halves and tie thread around the cubes to keep them sandwiched together inside the cube. I did this before, but i'm wrecking my brain why i did it, i don't think it was a pH problem, anyway i only did it with one and it worked fine.

Dont drip feed a cube/seedling that size.
All you have to do is, have a clean bowl, with around 5mm of pHed 5.8 water, and dip the bottom of the cube in it for about a second or 2, just enough to keep the cube moist until the next watering. Then place the moist cubes/seedlings on a tray (with a clear dome over them) under a CFL. If your funds are low, an upside down clear tupperware container will do for a propagator (to keep the humidity high). When the seedling have estabilished a nest of roots under the cube, then you can transfer them to the system and give them 1/4 strength nutrients. Also when you transfer the cube/seedlings to the system, cover the rockwool cubes with your hydroton pellets (or lightproof material), you want the light kept from damp cubes aswell, mold will grow over the surface of a damp cube.

 

slanesh, try and make the right amount of nutrint mix to do you for a feeding. If you want to premix a barrel of your nutrients for a week or so, you will need to drop an air stone or air curtain into the solution, to airate it and keep it circulating, because if it get stingent, the molocules will stick together and the solution will become bad.

 

wmemae i'll not be back online until tomorrow (fucken harvesting, hate it!). Hope you get it sorted between now and tomorrow.

 

Nah, i never bother taking photos, i've gone past that stage now. Anyway, the cops took my last computer tower. They busted my house, for an offence unrelated to growing (and before any smartass (like myself) asks, "the answer is 'no', it wasn't kiddy porn!"), but i did have a file on that hardrive with a hydro grow from start to finish. I was a member of another grow forum, and kept the photos of that grow on my hardrive (silly me!). I'll just have a bit of explaining to do if they come across it (i disposed of the camera that took the photos). I don't just grow for personal use, if you get my drift , and the cops don't (well didn't) suspect me of growing either.

Anyway getting back to your Ph problem, any change?

 

Why won't you just take those cubes/seedlings from the system, and rinse/flush the cubes under pH5.5 water, and keep them out of the system until they establish a nest of roots under the cube. And at the same time keep you system running as it would, without the net pots, rockwool and hydroton. I explained that to you before.

You are right, i'm not from France.

 

How are your seedling doing by the way? Do they look healthy, any signs of nute burn?

 

Sounds like the seedling with the yellow leaf tips has a bit of nute burn.
I was looking at your system again, and was wondering are you going to put the seedling into flower as soon as they establish a nest of roots, cause that system doesnt look like it could hold a large root ball from each plant.
That system looks like it was made for small plants, or for flowering clones. And also doesnt look like a flood and drain, but to have a sprayer between each plant, like an aeroponics system. Just a thought, incase you might get into difficult in the near future.

 

12 mother plants is a bit extreme for 24 clones, you will only need to cut around 30 clones from 2 mothers every 2 months.
I don't know what to say to you mate.
I really don't like that system as a flood and drain. Flood and drain is better done on a table, which you can flood.
That system you have would be better for aeroponic, by drilling a hole between each pot and screw in a sprayer to spray nute on the roots, you would also need a larger nute pump.
There are 101 different things you could do, i cant tell you what to do. If you make your mind up on what to do, i will help you out.