What is wrong with my plant? Any input is appreciated!

[graab187]

I started a WaterFarm set-up about 3 weeks ago. For the first week it was going fine. Plant was adapting nicely and looking healthy, but only about 4 inches tall.
The second week it started to show a little nutrient burn, yet i left it alone for another 2 days. The nutrient burn only got worse so i decided to flush it out with fresh water, no nutrients for a couple days.
The nutrient burn went away so i started with a SUPER weak solution and after a couple days my leaves started twisting and growing extremely weird. My plant looks weird as fuck in general for some reason. Its growing pretty trippy and doesnt look like a perfect healthy plant like it should if i was doing things right.
I decided to flush it one more time with fresh clean water with a little tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide to clean everything out.
Its been a couple days now and i just added an even weaker solution back into the res. My ph has been perfect all throughout this process(5.7-6.0). And now my PPM is around 250-270. The twisting is still there but im hoping it goes away. My roots are just barely coming out of the bottom of the bucket into the water. It seems like my root system should be waaaaay more developed and filling my reservoir with white lush roots. But they are just barely stringing out of the bottom.


Can anyone give me ANY KIND OF INPUT on my plant. Any suggestions, things i can do different, things im doing completely wrong, etc.

Here's some pics:











Thanks guys!

-G.Raab-

 

[*BUDS]

The stretch is due to high temps. Must be high rh you have mildew everywhere, get large osc fans, dehumidifier and/or sulfur burner.

 

[Hugo Phurst]

Get the rockwool and the stem dried out, they shouldn't be wet. As far as I'm concerned, the top layers of the hydroton should be dry too.

Looks like algae and possible stem rot to me.

Good luck.

 

[graab187]

The stretch is due to high temps. Must be high rh you have mildew everywhere, get large osc fans, dehumidifier and/or sulfur burner.

My temps are usually lower than they should be. During the day its around 76 and at night around 71. Is my root growth way behind? And can you explain the twisting leaves?

 

[graab187]

Get the rockwool and the stem dried out, they shouldn't be wet. As far as I'm concerned, the top layers of the hydroton should be dry too.

Looks like algae and possible stem rot to me.

Good luck.

My hydroton gets wet everytime my drip turns on. Should i bury the drip ring under the hydroton a little bit? How would i dry out my rockwool?
And if i do have root rot how do i fix this problem??
Thanks for the replies.

-G.Raab-

 

[cannofbliss]

exactly as hugophurst said algae and rot...


break off the rockwool take ALGAE out of it without damaging stem or roots... spray with h2o2 solution couple capfulls in 20 oz spray bottle... then clean out your TOP LAYER OF hydroton and replace it while spraying the rest of the h2o2 solution around and then clean out your tank... otherwise your plant is going to be competing with the crap that has been allowed to grow on it and just muck it all up...

 

[graab187]

break off the rockwool take plant out of it without damaging stem or roots... spray with h2o2 solution couple capfulls in 20 oz spray bottle... then clean out your hydroton and replace it while spraying the rest of the h2o2 solution around and then clean out your tank... otherwise your plant is going to be competing with the crap that has been allowed to grow on it and just muck it all up...

My roots are all throughout the hydroton and coming out of the bottom of the bucket. How am i supposed to take the rockwool out? Haha any suggestions

 

[cannofbliss]

not break off all of "the rockwool" just the parts that have all that muck growing on it silly... jsut be careful not to break the main taproot while doing so...

 

[graab187]

okay i just picked off all of the mold and dug a little deep into the hydroton and the lower half of the rockwool has no mold on it at all, so now its mold free. but whats wrong with the rest of my plant LOL

 

[cannofbliss]

if cleaned out then it just takes time and hopefully the plant will either pick back up in a couple of wks or not... but the plant itself doesnt look too bad so you might have just caught it in time...

 

[ANC]

Taping the top of those pots shut a bit so there is less evaporation will help alot.

 

[AWnox]

For GODS sake DO NOT take out any hydroton and do NOT take out the plant, you WILL kill her if you do!!!! This may work with soil but with a waterfarm you can't do that!!! What you need to do is first empty your reservoir and rinse and drain out a couple of times with pH'ed water (6.0-6.5) and 5-10ml of H202 at 30%, make sure you pour over every part of the top of the waterfarm so that all the hydroton gets rinsed with this solution. To me it seems to be a problem with pH and lack of light or heat. The rinsing with pH corrected water will help the pH issue and the h202 will help with some of the stem problems as well. She otherwise looks nice and green to me.

Abnormal growth is usually associated with rapidly fluctuating Ph levels and/or a root problem.

 

[graab187]

For GODS sake DO NOT take out any hydroton and do NOT take out the plant, you WILL kill her if you do!!!! This may work with soil but with a waterfarm you can't do that!!! What you need to do is first empty your reservoir and rinse and drain out a couple of times with pH'ed water (6.0-6.5) and 5-10ml of H202 at 30%, make sure you pour over every part of the top of the waterfarm so that all the hydroton gets rinsed with this solution. To me it seems to be a problem with pH and lack of light or heat. The rinsing with pH corrected water will help the pH issue and the h202 will help with some of the stem problems as well. She otherwise looks nice and green to me.

Abnormal growth is usually associated with rapidly fluctuating Ph levels and/or a root problem.

Thanks so much for the reply!

I definitely didn't try and take the roockwool out haha. I just cleaned the top of it off and picked out all the mold.

I'm going to do your h2o2 suggestion. Should i run my reservoir with the h2o2 solution as well for a couple days? Or just rinse over the hydroton a couple times and then replace with nutrient solution?
My plant gets about 20 hours a light a day so its not a light problem. My temp in the room is always around 74 degrees so maybe it is a "heat" problem? Im not sure.


Yes, the growth is pretty abnormal compared to my other soil plants that look healthy and growing beautifully.
I think you nailed it with my PH problems. I check my PH twice a day and it raises pretty rapidly throughout the day/night so i constantly adjust it with PH down. Maybe its because i adjust it too rapidly or too often and thats affecting the plant? I just always thought that i could add in PH up/down whenever i wanted if my PH was even slightly off. Any suggestions on how to regulate the amount of fluctuation in my res?

 

[graab187]

Taping the top of those pots shut a bit so there is less evaporation will help alot.

As in, tape across the bucket completely covering the drip ring and hydroton? That could also help with my splash problem.

 

[AWnox]

Thanks so much for the reply!

I definitely didn't try and take the roockwool out haha. I just cleaned the top of it off and picked out all the mold.

I'm going to do your h2o2 suggestion. Should i run my reservoir with the h2o2 solution as well for a couple days? Or just rinse over the hydroton a couple times and then replace with nutrient solution?
My plant gets about 20 hours a light a day so its not a light problem. My temp in the room is always around 74 degrees so maybe it is a "heat" problem? Im not sure.


Yes, the growth is pretty abnormal compared to my other soil plants that look healthy and growing beautifully.
I think you nailed it with my PH problems. I check my PH twice a day and it raises pretty rapidly throughout the day/night so i constantly adjust it with PH down. Maybe its because i adjust it too rapidly or too often and thats affecting the plant? I just always thought that i could add in PH up/down whenever i wanted if my PH was even slightly off. Any suggestions on how to regulate the amount of fluctuation in my res?

Hey graab, no problem, here to help my friend. About the h202, after you've rinsed the hydroton a few times , prepare your nutrient solution with 10ml of h202 and leave it in the reservoir until the next res change and then you don't have to put back in the h202. pH raisng in waterfarms using hydroton isn't something unusual, this is why it is recommended to leave your WF running about a week or more with pH'ed water to get the hydroton to the appropriate pH level before even putting in your cutting or seed but if you didn't your still ok, once you get your nutrient solution anywhere above 800-900ppm the nutrients themselves will "buffer" your pH and it'll keep it at 5.5-6.5 . After your first grow you won't have to worry about your hydroton as it'll already be "seasoned" to a more favorable pH. For now just keep your eye on your pH and empty out and replace your reservoir every few days. Keep the pH below 7.5 at least, soon when your nutrient solution becomes more concentrated you won't have a problem because the buffers in the solution will keep the pH at bay. Hope it helps, let me know if anything.

P.S.Temps are fine, just keep adding the H202 to your feeding solution at least in 2 more reservoir changes and keep your eye on the pH.

 

[cannofbliss]

For GODS sake DO NOT take out any hydroton and do NOT take out the plant, you WILL kill her if you do!!!! This may work with soil but with a waterfarm you can't do that!!! What you need to do is first empty your reservoir and rinse and drain out a couple of times with pH'ed water (6.0-6.5) and 5-10ml of H202 at 30%, make sure you pour over every part of the top of the waterfarm so that all the hydroton gets rinsed with this solution. To me it seems to be a problem with pH and lack of light or heat. The rinsing with pH corrected water will help the pH issue and the h202 will help with some of the stem problems as well. She otherwise looks nice and green to me.

Abnormal growth is usually associated with rapidly fluctuating Ph levels and/or a root problem.

sorry about the misunderstanding graab...

i wasnt too clear about what i was telling you to "take out" as it was only the top parts that i was indicating to be taken out such as the parts that had crap all over it.., then to replace the top layer of hydroton and take out ONLY the part with algae growing on it...


sorry if i wasnt too clear on it and i edited my error so that if anyone else needs the correct info they wouldnt get confused... i added the words ALGAE and TOP LAYER are now in there and not the plant as it was my error...

thank you for better clarifying the specifics in which i was talking about... i guess what may be obvious to some may not be as implied to others...

thank you AWnox for pointing out my error and making that implicitly clear for him... +rep for that...

 

[PetFlora]

These guys are giving great advice. I basically flushed the rockwool off with running tap water over it and SLOWLY pulling at the RW in pieces until it was gone. Do not worry too much about losing some roots. New ones will take their place as soon as the plant regains it's health


Algae and root rot are now distance nightmares. Here is how I solved it

1. I now use Super Starter Plugs, they are both cheap, AND, biodegradable. I think they do the best job of providing moisture to delicate seedlings.
2. Cut plugs in half, soak, insert germed seed. I use a small instrument to push some of the plug over the seed
3. If possible cover seedlings with a dome or clear plastic cups over each
4. Spray moisture into dome or each cup several times a day and cover seedlings
5. I use a spray bottle to water.
6. Have ready 1" net pots (or bigger is ok), fill bottom 25% with hydroton (at least 2 full layers)
7. As soon as roots start coming out the end of the plugs move seedling in center of net pot. Cover grow cube with > 2 layers of hydroton.

The hydroton provides a quick draining (transporting) vehicle for nutes AND the surface is fast drying. I then move the nests into my DIY bubble Pod.

It's a Rubbermaid Roughneck tote (large shoe box); big enough for 6 seedlings. My bubbler is a 45LPH pump with 4 large Oxy stone cylinders. The surface water is completely covered in a cacophony of tiny oxygen enriched bubbles. As long I can keep water level within 4" of the bottom of the net pots, multiple roots appear within a few days. Once I have at least golf ball size root mass I move them to my main rigs; HPA & 21st Century F & D. However, due to the results I am seeing with my 21st Century F & D rig, I may put the hpa in mothballs

I have a journal going if you are interested.

 

[graab187]

Hey graab, no problem, here to help my friend. About the h202, after you've rinsed the hydroton a few times , prepare your nutrient solution with 10ml of h202 and leave it in the reservoir until the next res change and then you don't have to put back in the h202. pH raisng in waterfarms using hydroton isn't something unusual, this is why it is recommended to leave your WF running about a week or more with pH'ed water to get the hydroton to the appropriate pH level before even putting in your cutting or seed but if you didn't your still ok, once you get your nutrient solution anywhere above 800-900ppm the nutrients themselves will "buffer" your pH and it'll keep it at 5.5-6.5 . After your first grow you won't have to worry about your hydroton as it'll already be "seasoned" to a more favorable pH. For now just keep your eye on your pH and empty out and replace your reservoir every few days. Keep the pH below 7.5 at least, soon when your nutrient solution becomes more concentrated you won't have a problem because the buffers in the solution will keep the pH at bay. Hope it helps, let me know if anything.

P.S.Temps are fine, just keep adding the H202 to your feeding solution at least in 2 more reservoir changes and keep your eye on the pH.

AWnox-

Awesome advice! I was unsure if h2o2 was even mixable with nutrients because i read somewhere that organic nutrients "cancel" each other out(im using GH FloraSeries-not organic-), so thanks for clearing that up for me. Im going to add about 10ml of h2o2 as you suggested to my reservoir right this instant and see how it goes.
I also heard that "Aquashield" is a good root booster and cleans off your roots real nice, but im thinking that its almost pretty much the same as h2o2 with a few other additives. Is it worth the money?
My res is only at about 300ppm right now because im scared to overfeed it so once its bigger ill up the feed, hopefully stabilizing my pH.

Thanks!

-G.Raab-

 

[graab187]

These guys are giving great advice. Algae and root rot are now distance nightmares. Here is how I solved it

1. I now use Super Starter Plugs, they are both cheap, AND, biodegradable. I think they do the best job of providing moisture to delicate seedlings.
2. Cut plugs in half, soak, insert germed seed. I use a small instrument to push some of the plug over the seed
3. If possible cover seedlings with a dome or clear plastic cups over each
4. Spray moisture into dome or each cup several times a day and cover seedlings
5. I use a spray bottle to water.
6. Have ready 1" net pots (or bigger is ok), fill bottom 25% with hydroton (at least 2 full layers)
7. As soon as roots start coming out the end of the plugs move seedling in center of net pot. Cover grow cube with > 2 layers of hydroton.

The hydroton provides a quick draining (transporting) vehicle for nutes AND the surface is fast drying. I then move the nests into my DIY bubble Pod.

It's a Rubbermaid Roughneck tote (large shoe box); big enough for 6 seedlings. My bubbler is a 45LPH pump with 4 large Oxy stone cylinders. The surface water is completely covered in a cacophony of tiny oxygen enriched bubbles. As long I can keep water level within 4" of the bottom of the net pots, multiple roots appear within a few days. Once I have at least golf ball size root mass I move them to my main rigs; HPA & 21st Century F & D. However, due to the results I am seeing with my 21st Century F & D rig, I may put the hpa in mothballs

I have a journal going if you are interested.

PetFlora-

I will definitely give the Super Starter Plugs a try on my next go-round. It seems way more efficient than rockwool and hopefully it will handle all the mildew problems.
Big ups!

-G.Raab-

 

[AWnox]

AWnox-

Awesome advice! I was unsure if h2o2 was even mixable with nutrients because i read somewhere that organic nutrients "cancel" each other out(im using GH FloraSeries-not organic-), so thanks for clearing that up for me. Im going to add about 10ml of h2o2 as you suggested to my reservoir right this instant and see how it goes.
I also heard that "Aquashield" is a good root booster and cleans off your roots real nice, but im thinking that its almost pretty much the same as h2o2 with a few other additives. Is it worth the money?
My res is only at about 300ppm right now because im scared to overfeed it so once its bigger ill up the feed, hopefully stabilizing my pH.

Thanks!

-G.Raab-

You don't need those additives friend save your money for more important things, h202 will work just fine. I'm also using GH series, they work great and buffer great once you get to a higher amount of nutrient volume. Good luck, keep us posted on how she does.