New DWC grower

She's looking good. I might not end up reducing the PPM from 512. Ill see what happens with a PH around 5.8 when I change it out tomorrow.

she is doing way better now.

MiloTheDog said:

Thanks for the replies, I checked my tap water PPM and it was at 229 or .4 .5 EC. My nute mix right now is at 512ppm or 1.0 EC. I might need to buy a filter for my tap, I think it might be too high.

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Plain passive Brita filters.

She's looking good. Roots are nice and white, the reservoir smells like fresh lettuce. She's thickening up her stems a little. I started her on pro-tekt by Dyna Gro. I'm thinking of doing some LST or Fimming or topping once it starts getting taller. I kept her at 500 ppms and I lowered the PH to 5.8 like Mindmelted, and superstoner1 suggested.

500ppm seems bit high for that plant.. specially in DWC. Notice the purple stems.. you have issues or are going to have them soon.

I am at 500ppm before flower in veg with plants 2-3 times that size, specially if your temps are higher then 80. Also next time get that rockwool under the hydroton, seems to be little high and especially with no drip feed as well.

I was trying to find out if the purple stems was a characteristic of the strain. Some forums say that its not a big deal, others say its a bad sign. I emptied the reservoir today and filled it up with 400 ppm 5.8 ph nute mix per BigBuddahCheese. The leaves are starting to fold up in the middle, I read that this is an Mg issue, not sure what to do about that. I took a good look at the roots, there is some discoloration going on. I don't think I have a light leak anywhere. You're definitely right about the rockwool not being covered by the hydroton. I have to water the top of the cube everyday so it wont dry out.

I have grown many if not a lot of different strains none of them are suppose to have purple stems if they did they had issues. So I am on the side that says it means problems not suppose to be there. Purple stems or leaves usually happen in flower then veg.

How high you have water? I would have it half way up that net pot it's kinda big for that size plant to be searching for water or food that size. I have gone to two inch net pots with no hydroton at all just roots and water since I don't top feed as well, I should have done it years ago I can post my 10 day old juicy fruit baby if you want to see. The plants love it.

My water level is a about an inch below the net pot. I had always heard that once the roots start coming through to create an air gap between the water and the bottom of the net pot. Ill raise the water level and see what happens. Please post your pictures, I definitely want to see them.

MiloTheDog said:

But if the base PPM of tap water is already 229 how would I be able to lower that? If I dilute the solution with tap water, its still going to be above 229 right? I admit I'm not real clear on the perfect PPM for the different stages. Some folks even say that 800ppm is acceptable for seedlings, and can go up to 1700ppm in flowering.

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I cant believe someone said seedlings were ok at 800ppm. For the first 10 days they need 0-250ppm, day 20 I'd try 350-400 (at this point they're not really seedlings anymore) day 30 500-650 ppm
I use GH flora series, and this will vary with whatever nutrient lineup you are using, but 800ppm it way too high Id think for the first three weeks of growth from seed.

every 7-10 days I increase ppm by 150-200 depending on how they look.

MiloTheDog said:

She's looking good. Roots are nice and white, the reservoir smells like fresh lettuce. She's thickening up her stems a little. I started her on pro-tekt by Dyna Gro. I'm thinking of doing some LST or Fimming or topping once it starts getting taller. I kept her at 500 ppms and I lowered the PH to 5.8 like Mindmelted, and superstoner1 suggested.
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she looks a lot better. Purple stems could mean a deficiency, or it could just be the strain. I had some very purple stems during veg @ around day 15 - (killing fields f4 by Sannies) and I have some purple stems right now coming in at day 11 on my JackBerry seedlings.. I wouldnt worry about the stem color so much as your leaves.

Those are a little light green, if she is just recovering from the burn then maybe give her two days and up the nutes by 150ppm, she should be darker green than that, but still looks much better.

Also - Idk what kind of air pump you have in there, but the more air the better- lack of sufficient oxygenation in the reservoir can cause symptoms like you had earlier (crisping and necrosis, stunted growth, rusty edges) so if you have a 15 LPM pump in a 5 gal, that might be ok, but anything under that is not sufficient IMO - more air will cool the res, you will have faster growth, and it will kill any algae growth (even though you dont have any) I have 15 gallon reservoirs with two plants in each, and I use a 45 LPM high output air pump, with a six splitter going to six weighted air rings.
*Also - cover your exposed rockwool and hydroton to prevent insects from seeing the delicious opportunity - fungus gnats and root aphids love rockwool, ESPECIALLY in DWC systems. Covering the pot willl also prevent light leaks from hitting the reservoir and causing algae growth.
i use duct tape to cover my 5in netpots.

ps > good move pHing down to 5.8, this is generally accepted as the best pH for the availability of nutrients for plants in a hydroponic system. I go as low as 5.5, never above 6.0 - your reservoir's pH will always become more alkaline throughout the day, so take this into consideration.

happy growing mang.

TGH

Thank you for your responses TheGreenHornet. I did end up covering the rockwool, thanks for the warning. I have one air pump and two air stones right now. Im not sure about the LPM of the pump. Reducing the PH did indeed make a difference. I find that she is using more water as she grows, I have to add more everyday to keep the level up to the net cup. Ill raise the PPM again in a few days and see if she gets darker. Thanks again for your words and happy growing to you as well.

Is it too early to start topping or fimming her? I don't want to lollypop her but she is getting bushy around the bottom. I have two 23w cfls for the lower levels, and I rotate her twice daily. I don't want to cut them down, I think more leaves can absorb more light. There are a couple of spots that look good to work. She's about 6" and once she hits 12" I'm going to get her ready for flowering.

shes starting to get that prettier green look to her, GJ dude. Remember not to have your water level too high. Most people say 1.5-2 in below the netpots is a good level for the water to be at.

Nope i've topped smaller before, just get your fingers in there and pluck off the growing tip. You might have to open up that closed set of new leaves in the first picture to get to the actual growing tip.

From what i can see, probably just a lil bit of a slow start, a day or two of shock in transplant, no droppers so its gonna take longer for roots to touch down. And the burn on the tips, is likely just from a little nute burn, with a PPM meter, you can see what goes in and exactly how much which I like a lot.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I don't think I mentioned it but this is my first grow and I'm glad forums like this exist. I'm going to wait till it gets a little taller before I do some trimming, I still have some room in the cab. x3gop1yr , I agree a PPM meter can make all the difference. I have the Hanna PRIMO meter and it works great.

I usually top at 8-10 true nodes then top those as well in Scrog. Seems to be enough to fill my screens up.

Day 39: Nothing new to add, she went through a growth spurt since the last time I posted. Im going to up the nute mix to around 600 PPM tomorrow. She's drinking a lot more also. Im still rotating her twice daily, and I've been tucking the fan leaves so that the lower growth can get some light.

Day 69, day 6 flower: Big growth in the last few weeks, I tried FIM method and I failed miserably. She still looks good though. I ended up adding an extra reservoir and a float valve when I went on vacation about a week ago. Everything worked out great and she was big when I came back. I built a new home for her and lined it with mylar. I noticed the lower leaves were starting to spot and die off. I just pluck these leaves off. What causes this? I dont think its a nutrient lock out, and I havent noticed any bugs in there either. Her PH is 5.5-6.0 and PPM at 830. The schedule is 12/12 with 2700k CFL with two 5600k CFL mixed in as well.The temp stays around 75 and the humidity never gets above 60. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

I lowered the water level in the bucket and reduced the PPM to 600. PH, temperatures, and humidity levels are the still the same. I added a 150 HPS and an 80cfm inline fan for exhaust. She seems to be doing better. Those lower fan leaves falling off does not have any effect on the overall health, so I'm not worrying about it. She's now 17 days into flower and shes starting to grow hairs. I would appreciate opinions and advice at this point.