Hi folks, new member, first time posting. Few years dirt experience, newer hydro (less than two years). Hydro is a bit more involved and quite frankly can be a pain. I have been running into this vein yellowing issue quite a bit recently and I’m going a little bit nuts! My initial guess was a deficiency (maybe cal, mag, iron or nitrogen). After going through my prep notes all seemed good and my ppm (EC) was in my desired range (perhaps a little higher than normal with the CalMag but there isn’t any evidence of nute burn that I could tell). Next guess was LED stress. I measured the PAR value and was low (150 PPFD). Here are some data points: 1. RDWC/aeroponics hybrid 2. PPFD 150 3. Bloomspect S1000 LED (qty 4/tent, 1/plant) 4. 24” from plant at 25% power 5. Humidity 55% 6. air temp 77-81 7. GH flora trio with calmagic ( I add cal/mag as I use distilled) 8. EC 0.7-.0.9 8. Strain LSD 25 Auto 9.water temp averages 72 with hydrogaurd 10. PH target 5.8 , daily range 5.6-6.0 11. Tent(s) Spider Farmer 5x5x7 let me know other specs you may need let me know if cannot zoom in enough and I can take closer shots. Cheers folks
@trojangrower @Jaboc33 @HydroDawg421 @jollyrancher1 This person has been on other forms for days with no responses I don't grow like this no idea here
should describe this more. advise increasing to 350 ppfd also see from attached .pfd recommendation. just be aware these are actually 100W lamps. increase to ~65 during early veg, but 55 is ok. fine should describe the amounts/ratio that's high. too high. recommend maybe 250-300 uS. this is also #8 point. hydroguard can be substituted with Garden Friendly Fungicide. You get more for much le$$. Also, I endorse Earth Alive. Comes as a powder and $5 worth lasts me a very long time. It has three species including the one from HG and GFF. /edit: I use it in hydro/aero system as well. Also recommend lower temps, like 55-65°F. Can you add ice packs to reservoir? fine 400W led power will not power that size of tent. /edit: In a 5x5 tent, you have 25 sqft. It is generally accept that 35w per sqft is a minimum requirement, which means 35w x 25sqft = 875W. I'm talking flowering btw. how well is the water aerated?
Holy shit I apologize I didn't know how much explanation this would take. Really appreciate you taking the time to lay all that out.
Should have said this first trojangrower, thanks for your quick response and valuable information. I kinda was panicking lol. Thanks GroBuddy for your navigation assistance. I’ll implement these over the next couple of days
I don't own this particular light and cannot say (maybe like 18")? It would be well worth it to invest on a meter; I use a Dr. Lux and just convert (for references), but generally start my plants at 20,000 lux. I have a sure way to start hydro plants... and I'm never looking back. aeroponic-model-4z0-stoner-experiment-5263199-rev_3-a.2866132
A water chiller is an absolute must in hydro. Sure you can play the frozen water bottle & hydro guard game . . . BUT WHY? Get a chiller and sleep easy at night!!! And then cross any heat-related water issues PERMANENTLY off your list!!!
I really didn’t wanna believe that that was true however you are absolutely correct. Do you have any recommendations for the type of set up I have? Considering I run a RDWC/aeroponic hybrid with only 7 to 10 gallons per system.
Active Aqua and EcoPlus are budget-friendly options. I have a JBJ Arctica as my primary and an EcoPlus as a spare. I also recommend buying the extended warranty on your high $$ items like chillers, LED's, dehumidifiers, etc . . . I ALWAYS find a claim to file just before it expires!!! I loved RDWC but found it a bit complicated with ALL the hoses, return lines, multiple buckets, multiple points of failure, etc... so I switched to flood/drain. I top feed and gravity drain back to a central 20-gallon reservoir. So much easier!!! KEEP IT SIMPLE!
My 1st RDWC. No matter what I did, it seemed like I was having a leak, plugged line, or clogged filter. The top feed flood/drain that I currently run is a DREAM compared! Nutrient changes are simple and quick.
Depending on the size of the reservoir required, one can build a refrigerated reservoir. In fact, I dare suggest that the newer refrigerated coolers that are about $350+ could be easily converted to such a reservoir, and I probably would have gone this route, but I have dedicated too much time and money in a personal build. I am very near completion, but I paused to care for more pressing matters, being the summer and all. If you look around, you can find some models with a built in drain. Set the temp, done. Also, I've used frozen bottle replacement for years. I found switching out a bottle each day did the trick. I used bleach bottles that I filled with RO + calmag, but I wouldn't fill them up 100%, just 80%, and squish the bottle a bit before sealing so to prevent bursting (ie. frozen water expands). If in the case that a bottle bursts, its just RO and calmag, but this seldom happened (but it did). I don't suggest using other bottles due to cheap plastic.
Sound advise indeed, no arguments here. For my own sanity I need to at least produce a decent harvest before side lining this monstrosity I’ve made. I also don’t want my wife telling me “I told you that you over complicate things”. I’ve heard this for 30 yrs now lol.
Thanks for all this guys/gals. This forum is awesome but only because of the culture members have created! I really need to take all this and digest it. I hope I don’t ask you folks too many questions but be prepared lol. Cheers folks!
Can’t lie this sounds so much better. I believe that you have coco or do the clay pebbles fill the entire container? Do you have a problem recirculating the runoff due to sediment?
Wow I would love to mess around working that cooler into a build! Like you I’ve invested in my current system. In Hindsight I wish I had not been so arrogant and thought I could take this on with some of the not so good advice floating around the net. Should have been here first gathering this advice before attempting. Oh well move forward….
I use Air pots and grow in hydroton. I make sure to rinse the hydroton well before I use it. I don't have any issues from sediment.
You could just buy a chiller for $385-ish and be done with it. I'm all about DIY projects, but this is too simple to solve. Go buy it, connect it, and FORGET IIT!!!