Hydroponics Emergency--Please Help!!

This is my first hydro run so spare me. I transferred these two plants from soil to hydro about three days ago. They initially responded fine to the move but have since changed. I believe the problem was too much nutrients. This morning I woke up and saw that both of the plants were drooping heavily with yellowing on the lower leaves. I have changed the rez to a little under half strength nutes. They look somewhat recovered but not really, probably been around 5 hours.

What type of system are you using? What is the temp of the water? Looks like lack of O2 at the roots. Make sure the res PH is at 5.5.

Im using DWC. There are bubbles floating straight to the net pots. The ph is slightly above 5.5, more around 5.7/5.8

As far as water temperature im not sure. The air temp is lower 70's so im assuming that the water temp isn't far from that.

5.5 is a touch too low, 5.6-5.8 is perfect. I would say shock is most of it, just leave them alone for a couple more days and pay attention to new growth. Remember in dwc with roots constantly in contact with nutes that they need much less nutes so stay below half until u know ur nutes.

It's also important to keep track of your ppm's rather than assuming 1/2 strength is sufficient, that would be one good thing to look into.

First...Welcome to the wonderful world of Hydro. I have about 3 years experience doing DWC.

1. Not sure if you expected this, but your plants will nearly always go through a mild shock when going from soil to hydro. They appear to be at least a few weeks old, and the older they are the harder the shock will be. When doing this, let them be in straight water for a few days pH'd to your hydro standard. You appeared to have given them nutrients during the first three days...that's a no-no. I mean, the plants are stressed out from the shock, giving them nutrients won't help and can only hurt (at least for the first few days). Once they're feeling better about their transfer, I would reintroduce the nutes at half strength (300ppm) for the first few days. Then go up to full strength.

2. Get a real hydroponic pH, TDS, and Temperature meter. Toss that stupid vial away. There's reasons why people grow in soil...one of the big ones, it's more forgiving (meaning hydro isn't). You're 100% responsible for the plant's environment all of the time and the plant reacts in a much more volatile way to unfavorable conditions. Once you get a meter, keep your pH around your sweet spot (5.5-6.0) depending on the strain...For plants that young, I'd keep the TDS around 600ppm. Your water temp needs to be about 10F lower than the room temp in an ideal situation. Make sure you're pumping lots of oxygen into your water...it's hard to measure, but go no the side of caution...cuz you can't over oxygenate your water.

I agree with Dipsomniac, Im doing my first DWC grow via bubbleponic set up (6 gallon rez) and when I transplanted my seedlings to it they seemed a little distressed at first. I halved the nutes to around 400ppm and ph of 6.0 +/- 0.2 and added an appropriate amount of vitamin B-1 containing supplement to the reservoir to help with the shock and the plant is doing fine now.

I transplanted several clones from soil to hydro and they all did great. How big was your root mass? Did you damage the roots when washing off the soil? Did you use room temp water when washing the roots? i used room temp and tried to save as much roots as i could. Amazon.com for a tds meter and ph meter for a good price. The tds meter I have is blue and was $15. I confirmed its accuracy with RO water, tap water, and most nutrients will tell u x mL in x L will raise your ppm x amount, for the money this one can't be beat. I started my ppm at 450 and the transplants showed no signs of nutrient burn or shock but my seedlings did get burnt a little. It seems like your on the right track and keep up the good work. I'm new as well but new or old everyone can learn from each others experiences.

This is an update after 3 days. I added a second air stone and pump to make sure its not an oxygen problem. I also diluted the solution to nearly no nutrients. It still looks terrible. Yellowing is spreading and lower 5 pointed leaves are drying up and dying. Is there still hope?

Ph.ph.ph.ph.

I just got my ppm/ph meters in the mail this morning and come out with a reading of 6.3 pH, and 330 ppm. Any thoughts?

You are going to need PH down or equivalent. Get it at or a bit below 5.8 and learn to maintain it. I am a rookie grower, but you will have no success like the success you will have when you get the ph and nutes dialed in. I ran right at 300ppm starting at end of week 2 and up it a few every week now I am at 800ppm. Temp and agitation ( air stones) are going to have to be looked at as well. Get some PH 4.0 solution and never let your ph meter dry out.
Keep at it, now you have the tools, the rest is all lab work.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice

R48197 said:

I just got my ppm/ph meters in the mail this morning and come out with a reading of 6.3 pH, and 330 ppm. Any thoughts?

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Boom. 6.3 is too high. Knock it down to 5.8, raise your ppms up to 400. Once your pH gets down and stays down for a couple of days and you see improvement, bring your ppms back up increasing at a rate of 100ppm per day.

Even if these plants are screwed, which they likely aren't...you now know for the future. Hydro is a real mofo...the plants react quickly to both bad and good things. That's why hydro grows more faster when things are good, but dies quicker when things are bad. Fortunately, it literally is a weed...and it's hard to kill. The question I always ask myself in these situations, does it make sense for me to continue growing plants that I don't think will ever produce very much product? Or should I just toss them and start over and save my nutes, electricity and time? Only you can make that decision.

Just my 2 cents but it looks to me like the plant is suffering from a mineral deficiency more than anything

NiigataOp said:

Just my 2 cents but it looks to me like the plant is suffering from a mineral deficiency more than anything

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Which can be caused by a ph lockout.

Or lack of food. Since the pH is in decent range. Anywhere between 5.5-6.5 and your fine. I like mine between 5.8-6.1 either way the plant wouldn't be showing that much of a sign in the pH range he's in.

Also what's the ppm of your water before you add nutrients?

Yes the plant would considering the stage of growth it is in. When plants are young they need more of what is available at a lower ph, 5.6-5.8. A continuous high ph will definitely cause the issues shown. Lack of nutes would show entirely different starting with lighter colored new growth.

NiigataOp said:

Or lack of food. Since the pH is in decent range. Anywhere between 5.5-6.5 and your fine. I like mine between 5.8-6.1 either way the plant wouldn't be showing that much of a sign in the pH range he's in.

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As ss said, 6.5 is way too high for younger undeveloped plants, you might get away with it on older plants, but it will do no good for the babies, as is obvious with the op's plants. I have seen what f'ed up ph does, and your plants will lose that battle, every time.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice