I have all 4 plants in a DWC setup. Low strength nutrients, about 9 days planted in rockwool after their roots started to show. Some of the leaves are withering are look to be, and curling a bit. I took the best pictures I could. I try to make sure the lights are a reasonable range away..they seem to be good. I have fans blowing in the area they are growing to keep temperatures cool and air regulating. Please please any advice is more then welcome...I have much to learn. PLANT #1 It looks pretty health to me, but if the problem the others are having may affect this one..I'd like to be proactive. PLANT #2 I feel this plant looks the least healthy. I have made sure that the rockwool is moist and have really been keeping an eye on the poor little girl (hopefully). PLANT #3 This one really isnt looking terrible, but the leaves are kind of pointing down, and the plant is doing the same thing the second one started to do before it started to look so bad. Sorry the quality of this image is poor: PLANT #4 I can make out some small yellow areas on this one. The size is fairly large compared to #2 & #3 but I want to make sure I catch the problem early on. THANKS!!
PH is around 5.5. I am not sure how to check the PPH...sorry I am still learning . Thanks for the replies so far! So far the roots are not reaching the nutrient mix in the buckets. Should I PH balance water to 5.5 and flush the rockwool a bit to get out any nutrients I've given them so far?
There are a few tools that are absolutely essential to a good hydro grow. A good pH meter, a good TDS meter (or EC meter - same thing, really). Some pH UP and pH Down (the type designed for growing, NOT the stuff you get at the pet store). And of course, a good line of nutrients. pH should be between 5.5 and 5.8. At your stage of the game, your plants should be getting feed a WEAK nutrient solution - around 200-250ppm. Also, I hope you remembered to soak your rockwool cubes before you planted. Otherwise they may be too acidic for your young plants to grow in.
I did soak the rockwool before the seeds went in, for 24 hours+. I don't own a TDS meter unfortunately, but I do own a PH meter. 5.6 is the last check I got off the PH meter. I had been feeing them a weak nutrients mix untill I saw all the problems quickly start, and now I went to a 5.5 PH water feeding for a week in hopes they would start to look better. The leaves coming in new are green and healthy looking, the first few leaves may die off from what I can see so far. I will take more pictures for further feedback. Thanks for your help so far.
did you ph correct the nutrients when you fed them, I suspect possibly not by the wild twisting that is visible in the leaf blades...if the new growth is green and healthy continue plain water a couple more days to dilute the rockwool ph correct your water after you mix the nutes
Get one. Seriously. The odds of you being able to successfully complete a hydro grow without a TDS meter are pretty low. Yes, it *can* be done, but you're seriously hurting your chances of doing so without one.
To be honest, in a DWC environment, he'll probably have better luck controlling pH inside the reservoir, rather than trying to mess with it while he's mixing nutes. As the plants eat his pH will shift naturally on its own, and by adjusting the reservoir AFTER he's added in the nutes, he'll only have to make one adjustment at a time. Also, depending on the line of nutrients he's using, it can take up to 24 hours for them to stabilize in the reservoir, and he won't be able to tell his true pH until after that happens.
I have updated pictures and it *seems* that my babies are doing a little better. I have yet to name them because if some turn out male I will feel worse killing them if they have names. So, I will keep using #s to address them below. The undergrowth on some of the plants has dried a bit and the new growth seems to not be effected by the previous problems. I have listed out a few questions that I would greatly appreciate your assistance! 1) Is it safe to pull out the CFLs and go with my 600 & 400 watt HPS lights yet? These 4 have been in the rockwool/DWC buckets for roughly 15 days. 2) How the hell did seeds from the same strain turn out so far in such a large variety of size? I used the same sollution and PH between all 4 buckets I mixed them identically. 3) Would it be wise at this point to just flush all 4 buckets and go with the normal Veg solution? All 4 of the plants have roots in the buckets now. PLANT#1 So far I can see very few things wrong with this plant. The leaves seem to be coming in normal, and no yellow that I could find. PLANT#2 This plant was looking the worse and it seems to have really picked up. The undergrowth area looks a bit dry and eaten away, but the new growth up top seems pretty healthy. PLANT#3 This is certainly the runt of the group. Very little growth but it doesn't seem sickly. I just don't understand with the same lighting and setup how it is so tiny! PLANT#4 This plant is huge compared to its other siblings. Their is a large area of yellow on one of the leaves, and that has me a bit concerned. I also wonder if I can switch to HPS at this point, as the plant seems to be neglected in certain areas on lighting.
Hydro setup PH is sitting around 6.3 2x 42 watt CFS per plant, 8 in total. Adding in a 400 and 600 watt hps on Thursday in addition to the existing lights in the setup.