hi, this is my first grow and have learnt so much in the last 8 weeks or so, ive encountered various issues, ph,over nuting, temps, etc now to give some info of what i have and possible help/suggestions to problems that might still be present... home made flood and drain (2 containers one smaller inside a larger one) with 450 micro jet oxy (supposed to put air into the water as it pumps it?) water pump wardrobe groom mylar lined 4inch rockwool cube with hydro clay pebbles 250watt dual spectrum hps bulb 5inch rvk fan 5inch phat filter 4inch passive intake (just a big hole in back to ensure negative pressure) ionic nutes (still in vegg) ph dropped to 5 put it back up at 6 as it keeps becoming more acidic ec 120 yesterday, but after i added some epsom salts it went up to 150 watering cycle 15minutes 4 times a day (every 6 hours) temps vary from 24-32 C (i open doors and leave fan blow in if i notice its to hot) barneys blue cheese i think many of the problems ive been having are ph linked as i broke my last pen and had to wait for a new one to arrive on ebay so was trapped with the test tube type tests. However, my recent growth appears to at least look a bit more greenish, as it started to generally look more yellowish with some old leaves dying, they have now been removed (tonight), but may still appear in the attach pics. plant is around 15-16inchs from the pebbles, and nearing my chosen size as i want to start 12/12 soon but want to ensure the plant has enough leaves and is healthy before doing so. the plant has also appeared to growth more rapidly the last few days, probably because ive kept close eye on ph and temps, however, new growth leaves are a bit greeny/yellow and curling inwards on themselves and tips seem to point upwards. some leaves have brown dead parts and on tips/edges. as they say a picture tells the story of a 1000 words please take a look and provide some advice, i can upload new pics if needed. thanks
Nute burn and over watered. If your ph is constantly dropping that is a sign of over feeding and or root root which can be cause from lack of o2 to the roots aka over watering. Please read this attached link and learn how to read your plants eating. http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/1143567-healthy-hydroponics-ppm-ph.html
i had a look at the plant yesterday by digging up some of the clay pebbles and washing them - as they were already out, the roots i could see didnt look brown/grey which is what ive read they should be with rot. ive not investigated any further than this yet as that will require me to totally remove the plant from the container. ive never tested the water temp, and dont have a thermometer at present to be able to do this (will get one soon), but some leaves do have some spots on them and i have read elsewhere that this could be the signs of root rot. i have also read that if i got root rot its always easier to bin it and start afresh as it will require alot of time and effort and will never be 100% cured. what would you recommend i do, and if it is root rot what can i try to help me cure it as best i can, as i would at least like to try to fix it, so if i encounter the issue on 2nd grow i will know what to watch out for and catch it early on, rather than make same mistakes over and over
i was also wondering is there any other way to get o2 to the roots, i have seen these oxygen tablets on ebay but dont know if they really work?
Yes. A few ways. The most common is a a air pump and air stone in your reservoir. Or you can use a fish tank water fall style filter (minus the filter) this will also add o2 to the water. Another good way to add o2 to water is hydrogen peroxide but not the kind you use on your cuts you need to use food grade and for 30% food grade the app rate is 1-4ml per gal. I use 1. Hydrogen peroxide or h2o2 is nothing more then water with a added o2 molecule and the added o2 molecule is mistevious little trouble maker looking for and type of organic matter to attach to and oxidize its self or aka explode and takes the organic molecule with it. Food grade is safe to use and plants love it in small doses but it can be lethal if too much is added so don't guestamate your measurements. Also h2o2 needs added every 3-5 days if no bennies are used. Never use h2o2 and bennies together. I use to have root rot all the time. It was caused from overfeeding. I always suppress it with root bacterias and it helped but it took me a yr or so of fighting it before I realized it wasn't my water temp or bad water supply or even low o2 just simply to much nutes that were burning my roots because high doses of nutes will ALWAYS damage the roots first then the foliage. Once the roots are damaged they die and rot starts. You don't need to bin it but the flowering time will be extended. Just run the lowest amount of nutes that will keep your plant healthy and you will never get rot. I promise. You will be surprised just how little nute a mj plant actually needs to flower beautiful buds. If you already have the rot and its taking over then I would advise to disinfect with food grade h2o2 and then dump that and start fresh with some root bacterias such as mycorrrhizal or bacillius strains. They will fight it off. A great myco product is great white even if you don't have rot it will enhance root growth. I use to always use it but not anymore. So in short no worries your not flowering. Just lower the nutes, add some o2 to the water and start flowering once she seems to be stabilized. If you flower now or shortly the stress could be to much for her.
many thanks for your help and advise, i also dug her up to have a look at the roots and was told by a mate that they didnt look to bad, and that it was ,my water tank that needed a good clean as there was still alot of dust from the clay pebbles and some scum around the water line (where its been going up and down) ive attached pics if you dont mind taking a look ? my local hydro sell 'liquid oxygen' made by growth technology (same as my nutes) which is h202, but i read it was 17.5%, i notice from your post that you say to get 30% food grade, should i not bother with this branded version? i also noticed some other brand of nutes have lots of products and two that caught my eye are "Canna Rhizotonic" and "Canna Cannazym", as they seem to have details about helping roots, but i dont fully understand what they are as some brands dont have something similar - i feel like a victim of buzz words
Yes, some company's sell food grade at 17.5% that is fine. Rhizotonic is a bacterial root stimulant and cannazyme is enzyme's. Enzyme's help break down dead root matter more rapidly. The rhizotonic should not be used with h2o2 and the enzyme I think would be fine with h2o2. You may get conflicting answers on h2o2 w/ enzymes. Some company's say yes and some say no. One company that advertises a h2o2 safe enzyme is hygrozyme. btw your pics didn't come threw.
thanks ill go get some of that h2o2 and stick a few drops in, ive attached some new pics, i must have pressed the wrong button last time. she still looks a bit yellowish at times, someone told me to get some cheap fizzy water and to put that into the tank as it is co2 which will help, its only pennies to buy per 2 liter, is it worth it or a waste of money ?
Co2 for the roots would not be useful they want o2. Co2 is only for the air so the only benefit from seltzer water would be if sprayed on the foliage. and it would be very little benefit imo. If you cant afford anything for o2 to the roots at least scoop some water out of the res and dump it back by hand a few times everyday that will add dissolved o2 for the roots.
not a problem, i bought some h2o2 and some liquid silicon (potassium silicate). things started to look really well with some new growth and being a bit greener, but its suddenly started to back track with ph dropping again and some edges browning with some new leaves closing in on themselves, sorta like a venus fly trap? im in the process of flushing and replacing the water to reset the conditions, despite this minor set back i do think she is feeling healthier this time around and roots appear to have more "legs" coming out them. However, i am more concerned as i still have some dead leaves, which im removing as they turn crispy brown, but also due to her height growth as she is nearing half the height of groom and still in veg and expecting her to double once i switch to flower mode...im also concious that if i pinch or top her that it might weaken her to much - what do you think ? ive attached some more pics
What is the humidity in your room? What about the humidity right under the light? Ph dropping means to much feed. The line can be very fine between just right or too much feed. Its better to stay on the too little side. When my plants get to tall I lay them on their sides. In a few days they will curve towards the light. You will have to tie the colas upright to support them later in flower. You can punch or cut (top) them if you like but I prefer laying them over or LST (low stress training) to solve height issues. You can do LST anytime of the grow.
dont know about right under the light but the room tends to vary from 35-45%, do you think its heat stress? should i put a small fan in there ?
No, I think the air is dry, adding to your problem. The plants seem to be burning more under the lights where the air is driest. It happens like this when lights are close because they are forced to push so much water towards the top where the air is overly dry to avoid from drying out. So in other words it causes an uneven transportation of nutes. Pushing more water to a certain area means that area will naturally receive more nutes and then you get top burn or light stress like some call it but imo that is a BS term because the sun is a million times brighter. Its not the light that stresses the plants its the dry air that surrounds the lights. If your temps are below 90F you're fine. A fan wont do anything for low rh. Although there should be a small fan in every grow room running for air circulation and evening out the hot top air and cold bottom air... I think you need some buckets of sitting water in there to evaporate and increase the rh. Or there is always humidifiers. But if you sit the buckets around you can put a air stone in there and let it bubble, that will speed the evaporation of the water. Its free if you already have those things laying around otherwise a $30 humidifier may not be a bad investment. Oh and get a cool mist humidifier if your having high temps in there already.