Help with hydro.

Hello all.....new to this forum but not new to the culture. I need some ideas on what may be going on.

Here's my set-up.
(3) aeroponic systems made from (3) 25 gal tupperware containers. Each container has (1) 250gph pump w/ 5 sprayheads and 2 large airstones (each connected to a different air pump for redundancy).
1400w of HPS over all 3. After sexing ( I don't grow w/clones) I usually end up with about 6-8 plants and a harvest approx 10-12 oz of primo bud. The plants look wonderful but I'm a perfectionist and believe I can make it better.
I'm using BGH 3 part, hygrozyme, and epsom salts.
NO co2 generation.
Generally keep ph around 5.5. I've read that 5.8 would be good for hydroponic and 5.2 is better for aeroponic. Any ideas here?

Growing 3 types: Aroura Indica, Bubblegum, and Chrystal. All mostly indica variety.

Questions:

Everything I read tells me my plants should be able to handle around 1000ppm although over 750 usually shows nutrient burn. Have any idea what the problem is, or if there is a problem?

Plants show excessive stretch when set in flowering. They probably gain almost 4 feet. I grow under 1400w of MH for 2 weeks (about an 8"plant) then drop to 12.5 hrs with HPS. They stretch so much it is causing problems.

Lastly, although the leaves are beautiful some of them have a slight curl (at the edges) upward. Is this too little Epsom salts?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

How far are your lights away?

About 3-4" from the top of the plant. I'm fairly sure they aren't "reaching" for light.

BTW...Thanks unity. I was suprised at how few replies for such a popular forumn. Got any ideas on the ppm or leaf curl issues? I'll post some pics tonight when lights come on.

gohydro said:

BTW...Thanks unity. I was suprised at how few replies for such a popular forumn. Got any ideas on the ppm or leaf curl issues? I'll post some pics tonight when lights come on.

Click to expand...

Thanks gohydro, I know I must be a lost cause since very view people are replying

I'm probably not competent enough to give advice above the very basic at this point, but I think that we should look at each plant individually as it relates to their food and water needs. Some grow faster than others even when they are the same genetics and will therefore need different amounts of food and water. Since I burned mine when they were seedlings I've learned my lesson regarding overfeeding.
To give you an idea, mine are about 7 weeks old and I feed them about 1300ppm of sensi bloom a&b. My total ppm is about 1800-1900ppm of which 500ppm are addetives. My nutes drop between 240-380ppm in a 24 hour period. Now, do the math and you come up with a res change out every 5 days. I change when it gets close to 500 ppm.
Btw, my Hana meter is calibrated to the 700 scale or .7 convertion, I think that is important to mention, since Advanced nutes works of the .7 conversion scale. EC is probably a more unified standard
To be honest though, I used always less than the label recommends, exept my very first batch, that's how my seedlings got burned.
I talked to Roy from Advanced n. , he told me that they are actually missing the first week dosage on the label and for smaller seedlings I should only have used 150ppm combined ab instead of 600 each ab. Go figure

As to your leafs that are curling up, that's often caused by heat stress but lets wait for your pics mate.

Good luck,
Andreas

Hey Unity....Thanks again....you seem to be the only one here. With respect to nutes I've stayed with the BGH 3 part system and I add Epsom salts about every other nute change(1week)...usually about 2tsp/10 gallons which I think is a small, but safe amount. I have this fear of other nutes/additives as another member in my co-op experimented with some other products and started this funky smelling rootrot almost immediately...thus killing the whole batch. I doubt you'll be disappointed with the pics. I'm just being obsessive about the whole thing. I've grown for many years but only recently (1 yr ago) started the aeroponic systems which blow away soil mixtures. I just can't figure out why my plants show leaf burn at such low concentrations. I do not use RO water .( I find the PH of my tap water stabilizes after 2 days)so I do fill a spare resevoir 2 days prior to filling the tubs and let it sit. Generally the PPM of the tap water is around 300ppm. If I shoot for a final concentration anywhere above 800 I get leaf burn. Anyway, then I add nutes, correct the PH and fill the tubs. I'm using a top of the line TDS/PH/Temp meter and calibrate it frequently so there is no issue there. Plenty of oxygenated water (2 pumps per tub)...plenty of air moving around, low water temps, correct PH as far as I can tell. OK...lights on...gotta go to work!

Hey unity...here ya go. Since I don't clone I'm use to getting about 40% fems. This time I got 78% fems. Whay am I gonna do with all this weed????? Sorry about the color.....set the camera to 2800k but they still look a ittle yellow.