I am growing a fem lemon skunk from greenhouse seeds. I have it in a bubble bucket and it is just over a month old. Over the last week it seems to be drooping. There is still new growth going on. pH is kept at 5.8 and sometimes spikes as high as 6.2. I am feeding it FF Grow Big @ 2tsp/gal with b'cuzz veg @3/4 tsp/gal. It is under 286 watts of CFL and temps never get much over 80. Am I overfeeding it? There doesn't appear to be any nute burn. The instructions for the bubble bucket say to keep the water level so the bottom 2" of the basket are submerged. There are a few roots poking out through the sides of the basket but none out of the bottom. The first pic is from sept 20th when it looked healthier. (the leaves were all pointing up) and the others are from today. Any input would be appreciated.
Im not an expert, but your ph look fine, but you should try to keep temperature down by at least 5 degrees and do you have a fan blowing at the plant? And are you sure you aren't giving too much nutes? and a good way to know if your water lever is too high is if your rockwool cubes is retaining too much water and you can check that by pressing a finger into it and feel or see lots of water around your finger when you press on it. also how many airstones do you have in there and what's your airpump?
The tent never gets over 82 and usually stays around 78. I have two 4" fans blowing at the plant and a large axial fan for exhaust. Ran plain water through it for a day and changed out with 1/4 str nutrients. My rockwool is too deep in the hydroton to check the moisture level. I have a 4" disc airstone in the center and a 24" flexible airstone around the inner perimeter of the bucket. Hooked to a dual diaphram air pump (around 8l/min I think) The drooping seems to have stopped since I put the pure water in but now my lower leaves are turning yellow.
the bottom of the basket should not be submerged at all... your water level should be 1" below the bottom of your net pot
I am not so sure this is accurate....yet. I have no roots poking through the bottom yet, just a couple visible from the side, about 1/3 of the way up. If I keep the level below the basket, the visible roots wont get wet from the bubbles splashing up. Last night I lowered the level below the pot and this morning the visible roots had yellowed and the real thin ones were dried and broken. I think my biggest problem is that the basket is so large. Next run I am using a 6" net pot so the roots will grow through quicker.
i have never grown in a bubble bucket but from other growing experience my plants have looked like that when over/underwatering and at night time.
I'm only going by my personal experience, but greenthumb951 makes a good point. I had the bottom of my net pot submerged for the first week of my grow and saw minimal root growth. I then lowered the water about 2 inches below the net pot and within a few days the roots were really growing towards the water. I'm assuming the minimal root growth, in your case, is caused by the roots not needing to 'search' for the water. It also sounds like your air pump is whack. Your air pump should be pumping enough bubbles into the bucket so that they will in fact splash the clay pebbles, keeping the roots nice and moist. My current girls are about 2 weeks old and are about 3 times as big as your plant, with extreme root growth. I'd suggest getting a better air pump, mate, as it sounds like yours isn't providing enough bubbles. Keep us updated. Good luck!
It is coming around nicely. You were right, after keeping the water a couple inches below the basket for a few days, I have a bunch of roots growing through. I doubted it but tried anyhow and it paid off, thank you. I also raised the pump so I could remove those restricting check valves. I can see an obvious increase in bubbles. Also, I replaced the clear air line with some black stuff.
hopefully someone will chime in with the proper water level below a net pot for young plants with roots still contained in said net pot. Ive been keeping the water level high (submerge .5" netpot) until the roots are touching water. Then I lower it so that the root is stretching towards water until the level is an inch below the netpot. After the plant starts drinking a lot water height fluctuates between topping so 1"-2" seems fine to me. Any other feedback to clear this up ??
I grow DWC and I agree with other advise here. If me I would get a new air pump with dual outlets and add 2 6in air stone to your plant. The water level is dependent upon the medium being used and the depth of the net pot. If the plant is young with no roots showing threw the net then I always keep the water with in 1/2in of the rockwool or whatever starter I am using. The increase in air from the 2 stones should be enough to water 1/2in. 1ce the roots show threw then 1in below the pot. To little light can also cause the same symptoms or an improper light timing. I have also had my plants do the same thing when there hungry. That is how I run my system. I start the system with 1/4 the nutes then when the plants droup or I see a little yellow on the lief tips then I increase the dose. I am offering this info for the future as I see by reading the thread that you may in fact have found the trouble. Take care...
Thanks for the backup on the ideas. The problem was solved and the plant has been harvested. Check it out.... http://forum.grasscity.com/harvesting-processing/509492-my-first-hydro-harvest.html
