G13 Pineapple Express and UFO Skunk #1 from Attitude. First Time Hydroponics Grow

Sorry, don't know what happened with the pictures. Here they are again:
And I read thru your grow journal, your PE looks way better at day 12 than mine does at day 9. I have the same issues more or less with the leaf tips though. When I topped off my reservoir this morning I used ph adjusted tap water @ 6.0 and added it to the reservoir which was @ 6.8 w/ a ppm of 290. I noticed that the water from the drip tube was splashing ontop of the leaves, which would result in foliar feedings 24/7 I would assume. Could this be the cause of the yellowing in the tips? I adjusted the tube and now barely any water splashes ontop of the leaves. Also, checked the Skunk #1 this morning and its also starting to develop a tiny bit of yellowing in the very far edges of the leaves. No pics for it yet, but later tonight.
Heres the PE.

And isn't pouring nuted water over the hydroton a no-no? Lol. I've always been confused about this; I read that when you top off with ph adjusted water only, you can pour it over the hydroton. But when you are adding 2 gallons of nuted water you are supposed to pour it right into the reservoir. But when doing this, I feel like I'm going to damage the roots by picking the basket up and shifting the hydroton all around. Or are you supposed to pull the drip ring out and pour it through the tube its fed from?

Day 9
Couple pics of the PE. Have only added a half a gallon of 6.0 water to the reservoir since last pics, turned the light down to 75% power to keep temps down a bit more until I can get the other fan to pull hot air out of the top of the tent, or until she gets a bit bigger. It's pretty hard to keep the water from splashing up onto the leaves, while making sure I feel like its dripping down to the roots of the plant.

Hey raylan ive seen a few people put foil over the top of there water farms with X cut out and the ends folded down to create a square around the plant that mite help with the splashers also i think it stops the hydroton and you dripper gettin salt build ups......im no expert tho mate its just what ive seen on other grows

peace

I did the samething pushing nutes too early and lights too low/humidity too low. Seedlings dont need nutes until at least threee weeks. Optimal pH for hydro is around 5.8. Tap water can and will buffer you up if it started hard. I ended up switching to a blend of Poland springs and DI water. Rez changes, esp on seedlings should be every two- three weeks. Go slow on nutes, trust me- I burned the crap out of my 4 widows and hurt my two carmelicious as well. All now covered now but too much heat/light and nutes will burn the babies.

Day 11
Changed out res, nuted water to 100ppm only, adjusted PH to 5.9 and let her go. She almost doubled in size, but still has a tad bit of yellowing in the tips, and she's got a odd look to her. Here are the pics. I made a big mistake when I planted her, and didn't put enough hydroton in the bucket so she's well below the drip ring...if I had planted her higher, I could cover the top with foil so she didn't get splashed all the time. I really believe that's 90% of my problems...its causing a dried look in the leaves, and leaving evaporated nutrient buildup on her as well. I disconnected the drip ring so that the water just pumps out of the pumping column and drips around the base of the plant for now. Do you think this will have a negative effect versus leaving the drip tube connected? I only plan to leave it off for a day or two, until shes tall enough to cover the drip ring w/ foil that way she doesn't get splashed anymore.
Open to all suggestions/ideas. Thanks guys.

It wouldnt matter if it was below the foil as long as theres a hole above the seedling light will reach it, will soon grow above mate

Yes, but the water is spraying randomly from the holes in the drip tube, so the foil would only correct this problem if the plant was above the foil. If I covered the drip tube with foil and cut a hole for the plant it would still splash around under the foil and get on the plant. It's all good hopefully lol.
Day 12/13? Lost count.
Skunk #1 died. Well, technically. She was looking horrible and the MV lamp I was using for her died on me last night, so I pulled what was left of her shriveled body up out of the hydroton and will start a new strain in a few days. Have two regular Blue Haze seeds, and one fem Vanilla Kush should be here within the next few. Can't decide if I want to start one of those two or wait til the PE is a little bigger and clone ehr. Anyways, went to the grocery store, bought some Crystal Springs distilled water, and some Kroger brand.
Crystal Springs PPM = 1
Kroger = 0
No idea if it's actually possible that Kroger got the ppm to 0, but either way it's only 88 cent a gallon so I'll definitely be using it from now on as my tap water is 52 ppm and the PH does not buffer well with FloraDuo. After adding 1 teaspoon of part A and B to 2 gallons of distilled water the ppm came out to 100 and the PH buffered down to 5.8 exactly. Hopefully she'll be happier like this, and the splashings effects might be reduced. Pics in the morning of her progress.

I ment cut a X in the foil and bend the V shape pieces down mate to create a sqare hole, the pieces you fold down should help block the splashers.... but she should be tall enough soon like you say anyhow.

Gutted bout the S#1 mate

be back for pics later

peace

Pukka bud is correct cover with foil now so you only need to make a small hole in the foil,if you wait you will not be able to easily fit the little girl through the hole.The foil will slope down no probem if anything water will collect on the foil and drip off by the stem which wouldnt be a bad thing. Try not to over complicate things.

Here's an idea. You said you were going to start another strain so start it in soil. You can watch her grow and enjoy her while you learn how hydro works.

Solved the splashing issue by adjusting the airline from the pump/cleaning the drip ring. Will still be doing the foil idea later tonight as that was my original plan, I was just waiting on her to get a little bigger as I said. Thanks for following along and suggesting things Pukka, you seem interested in the grow as well as helping out when possible. I always try to keep things as simple as possible, I'm quite lazy at heart.
And thanks CaptainCaveman, but I intend on enjoying the PE growing in hydro enough to hold me off til I can decide what to do with my other unit. I've done soil before, which is why I'm taking a shot at hydro this go-around.

Day 13
Temperature: 79
PPM: 99
PH 5.8

Comin along nice now mate!! glad you sorted the splashin thing out....i cant really tell by the picks has the yellowin of the leafs gone/stopped?

peace

Yeah, its exciting to see new growth each morning. And it's still there slightly Pukka, but it's mostly refined to the original leaves that were effected, the new growth doesn't seem to have any. I put the foil down as well, so splashing is completely a non-issue now. I'm hoping all the yellowing will be gone in a day or so now, guess I'll have to wait and see. Pics when I get off work tonight.

Day 15
PPM - 102
PH 5.8
Temp 81
A little hard to take a picture with the foil in place, for some reason it kept coming out dark in the picture even though it wasn't very dark to look at. She's growing nicely it seems.

Looks like growth really speeded up since last pics mate.....cant wait to see it pack some wate on now!

I read your vegging under a MV light.
I Believe you can run a MH lignt in most MV ballests?
They put out twice as much light. An better spectrum.
I could in mine, doubled the light for 15$.

My ballest said it takes, "H39 an M57 bulbs". check it out.

Yeah Pukka she seems to be growing like crazy now. Going to try bumping her nutes up a little with tomorrows res change and see how she takes it.
And yeah Scarhole, you're right. I tried to read-up on it, but most of what I read said DO NOT run a MH in a MV ballast. But being stubborn I tried it anyways, and it worked fine. Got a bulb for $25. But the Skunk #1 that was growing under the light is no more, so I ended up taking the bulb back for the time being. Worked well though, saw no negative side effects and I ran it for a few days straight. It ran much cooler than my MV bulb did too.

Go slow with nutes- they are still very young. I made that mistake too at week 3. Only bump when you see ppm come down faster than water level- the planst will tell you how much they are eating.