New Grower G'Day from OZ. 1st time grower here going to use the Auto-Pot Hydro System

[randy]

Yes, that meter measures Totally Dissolved Solids as opposed to Parts Per Million, but to be honest, it's the P.H. meter you want first. I'd give that plant a flush if it was mine, not a lot else you can do, but i know my water is okay.Sorry i can't offer more answers.

 

[nomis]

ugh, she's not looking good man
do you have a pet/fish store near you? Should be able to get at least some basic PH paper test strips there.

 

[Duggy]

Hey smeg.. try switching the water off to aquavalve for a couple of days and just top feed for a few days and see if they perk up.. In the pic the light looks too close ( 600w?). I'd aim for around 24" for a few days then drop it back down to reduce intensity..:smokebuds:

 

[wwwillie]

How goes the battle, man? Been thinking about you today...

 

[Smeghead]

I flushed out the AGP last night with about 5-6 liters of plain tap water and turned off the autopots. Unhooked them both. The 60 day wonder looks ok but shows some curling edges. I raised the lights up to 2 feet above tops as Duggy advised. I'm still waiting on a Can Fan which will help replace the POS growlush can fan, which I'll use as an exhaust fan. That should help control temps without an Aircon blowing in the tent.

I also setup a new autopot with 1/3 prepped growstones at the bottom with an airdome below that with a 50/50 phat cocos (cal mag enriched) and perlite for another AGP bean but will wait until I have the new PH meter to sow the seed. I'm still waiting on a PPM/TDM meter from China, ordered a month ago.

Some questions that are unclear to me are how much do I water when it first pops out of the soil? Some say spray the area down with 20 spritzes until she pops up a couple times a day. Then give her a shot glass full of PH'd water and NO NUTES for 2 weeks while I water top down around the base of the stem. Do make up a batch of 3L of PH'd water with 1/8th nutes and water shot glass size amounts for the first few days? I think that was in Duggy's Mazar guide.

Can someone provide exact amounts of water and nutes to give for the seedling stage and how often until I can turn on the autopots? I've been following Duggy's journals and some of his waterings were 600ml's with mild mild nutes and PH'd water. Only root stim nutes I have is seasol, can I use that in the seedling stage? The seedling stage is what perplexes me the most. I know to cover with clear plastic bottle bottoms with holes cut in them to up the humidity.

Essentially, can someone guide me thru the first 2-3 weeks on a watering and nute schedule or point me to a guide or journal who's doing the same thing as me? Coco/perlite in Autopots? I'm trying to follow Duggy's guides. I got some amounts but not frequency or if I should nute up a batch to top feed.

This is a guide that I've been trying to follow but doesn't give water amounts or frequency of watering.

• The feeding schedule was as follows nutrients per 10ltrs of water
  
• Week 1 & 2: Water from top no nutrients as the seedlings have all they need built in
  
• Week 3 & 4: 2mls of Grow A & 2mls of Grow B
  
• Week 5: 2.5mls of Grow A & 2.5mls of Grow B
  
• Week 6: change to Bloom
  
• Week 6 & 7: 2.5mls of Bloom A & 2.5mls of Bloom B, Week 7, 0.5mls Explode
  
• Week 8 to 12: 3mls of Grow A & 3mls of Grow B, Week 8, 0.5mls Explode, Week 9 to finish 1ml Explode
  
• When Buds were nearly ready I turned off the system and fed top down to flush the plants

Also, how does this 60 day wonder look? Overwatered? Think she will make it?

 

[Duggy]

Hi Smeg.. When I mist the seed/seedlings I only mist the top of the soil as you dont want to let them dry completely but dont want to soak either. PH'd water is ok for first week then 1/4 strength nutes for a week. At that stage the plants condition will determine treatment, likely increase nute strength and once established aquavalve and airdome can be switched on... I'll try to work out volumes for the water given.
Wash pebbles in 5.8 pH water and pH all water and nutes to 5.8...
:smokebuds:

 

[Smeghead]

Hi Smeg.. When I mist the seed/seedlings I only mist the top of the soil as you dont want to let them dry completely but dont want to soak either. PH'd water is ok for first week then 1/4 strength nutes for a week. At that stage the plants condition will determine treatment, likely increase nute strength and once established aquavalve and airdome can be switched on... I'll try to work out volumes for the water given.
Wash pebbles in 5.8 pH water and pH all water and nutes to 5.8...
:smokebuds:

I just soaked the Growstones in tap water and hand mixed the coco and perlite. Do I need to flush the pot before sowing a seed in there? Some had said just pop the cracked seedling right into the coco/perlite without a flush. Need my oakton PH meter to get started on this new grow and correct these 2 struggling seedlings. Thanks for the fast reply. I want to follow your example of using coco/perlite and autopots/airdomes.

How about that 60 Day Wonder in the pics above, does she look ok? She's going on 2.5 weeks and I cut her off the autopot until I can PH the rez. I'm scared to even water her now until I can PH my tap water.

How do I know the roots are established enough to turn on the autopot? I know the 60 day wonder was drinking from the autopot before I switched her off but not a clue what the PH of the rez is but I did use 1/4th strength nutes and 1/4th strength seasol.

 

[Duggy]

Once you can pH to 5.8 you can feed her again. Dont let het dry out, give a little water... Once you have the meter let us know...:smokebuds:

 

[Smeghead]

I just got a new Can Fan today and set that up along with heavy duty ratchet hangers to replace the dodgy yo yo's. Much improvement in keeping the xtracool tube cool. While moving and rearranging my growlush 600hps blub broke, well the filament inside broke so I had to replace it with a GE Lucagrow.

Then, I dumped my rez and filled it with 13L of tap water + 2.5ml of grow A + B and 2ml of Seasol. I hooked it up to the 60 Day Wonder only and I'm letting my sad AGP dry out. GOnna let my 60DW drink from the rez for a while until I get my PH meter and PH sorted out. Best I can do for now.

So, any comments about my 60DW?

 

[wwwillie]

Other than yellow she doesn't look too bad. I know you'll get the yellow worked out. My first suffered, had a good bit of yellow as well and she looks OK now.