Hydroponic watering schedule

gloombird

gloombird

Member
This is where I screw up every time with indoor hydro. The last time I started planted I had timer set to come on for 30 min 4 times per day. Cotyledons appeared quickly,. and first true leaves did as well. Second leaf set was over an inch above the first node. They were stretching like crazy. They were under 18/6 (long day treatment).

Previously, I had them on 1 hr once per day, hardly any growth, and eventually wasted away.

Can someone please advise a good irrigation regimen?

I am using the Baby Bloomer from American Hydro, with LED lighting 3" from plants. Nutrient level is according to bottle recommendation.

Thanks gang!
 
DankShasta

DankShasta

Active Member
When I am vegging, I normally run feedings that are 15 minutes long, twice a day. I messed around a lot with different timings before, but now I just go with 24/7 lighting for vegging. When i have had some pests I'll drop down to one feeding a day, or even just hand feed them. Sometimes it's OK to let the rockwools dry out a bit. IE when I am treating the cubes for larvaes or other pests. Your plants will get everything they need pretty fast actually. There certainly will not need to have feedings totaling over 30 minutes in a 24 hour period. Not on hydro anyway.


Just so you know though, most stretch problems are LIGHT problems. LEDs are cool, maybe they are even the future, BUT they are not the present. There are some pros out there growing mad bubonic on LED, but it's rare. Really evaluate your lighting if the problem is stretch. Strain is also a big variable on "stretch" or percieved stretch anyway. Somes plants just have spaced out nodes when compared to other strains. Still though for what it is worth, if I had a problem with stretch, I would look right at my light source first. If I was also using LEDs?? I'd really scrutinize the lighting set-up.

Good-Luck
 
gloombird

gloombird

Member
I would agree with the LED lights, IF i hadn't grown a successful crop a few years ago with them. The past few times though, I went about the irrigation willy nilly. I played with the nutrient concentration too. But what I got from you, is that my irrigation schedule is excessive. I now plan to go once per day during veg, then maybe up it to twice and observe. The more I read, I think the LED coupled with overfeeding is the problem. I can fix the overfeeding, but not the lighting just yet due to $$$!

New seeds are on the way, so I'll have plenty to experiment with.

DankShasta said:
When I am vegging, I normally run feedings that are 15 minutes long, twice a day. I messed around a lot with different timings before, but now I just go with 24/7 lighting for vegging. When i have had some pests I'll drop down to one feeding a day, or even just hand feed them. Sometimes it's OK to let the rockwools dry out a bit. IE when I am treating the cubes for larvaes or other pests. Your plants will get everything they need pretty fast actually. There certainly will not need to have feedings totaling over 30 minutes in a 24 hour period. Not on hydro anyway.


Just so you know though, most stretch problems are LIGHT problems. LEDs are cool, maybe they are even the future, BUT they are not the present. There are some pros out there growing mad bubonic on LED, but it's rare. Really evaluate your lighting if the problem is stretch. Strain is also a big variable on "stretch" or percieved stretch anyway. Somes plants just have spaced out nodes when compared to other strains. Still though for what it is worth, if I had a problem with stretch, I would look right at my light source first. If I was also using LEDs?? I'd really scrutinize the lighting set-up.

Good-Luck
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