Grow Mediums Taking the DWC plunge

[Mañ'O'Green]

Hi z-bop:

I just stumbled into your thread and wanted to say that hydro is the way to go. Your plant is looking super. Some things you are likely to bump into as the plant and root system get larger are rapid and wild PH changes. The root system will fill 50% of that 5 gallon bucket, that is really 3.9 gallons if you are running .75" below the net pot, leaving about 2 gallons of nutrients that can be influenced by the plant root emissions in a very short time. So Keep your eye on the PH. Check it twice a day and make small corrections. It is ok to let the PH fluctuate between 5.6 and 6.4 but keep it in that range. I have never had a problem just going to the target PPM right away as long as you aerate your water 12 hours or more before you mix your nutes adjust PH and then change the reservoir in that order. Aerating releases chlorine from the utility system and calcium ions (helps stabilize PH). Botanicare HydroGuard is the most important additive I have used - period. If you are using a silicone additive (You should and I recommend Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt) be sure to mix that into the water first and give it some time before adding the rest. I learned the hard way to NEVER EVER use any brass, copper or aluminium metal anywhere in your hydro system. I used a brass bulkhead on my top-off tank once and killed the entire grow.

Good luck!

 

[Z_Burp]

Hi z-bop:

I just stumbled into your thread and wanted to say that hydro is the way to go. Your plant is looking super. Some things you are likely to bump into as the plant and root system get larger are rapid and wild PH changes. The root system will fill 50% of that 5 gallon bucket, that is really 3.9 gallons if you are running .75" below the net pot, leaving about 2 gallons of nutrients that can be influenced by the plant root emissions in a very short time. So Keep your eye on the PH. Check it twice a day and make small corrections. It is ok to let the PH fluctuate between 5.6 and 6.4 but keep it in that range. I have never had a problem just going to the target PPM right away as long as you aerate your water 12 hours or more before you mix your nutes adjust PH and then change the reservoir in that order. Aerating releases chlorine from the utility system and calcium ions (helps stabilize PH). Botanicare HydroGuard is the most important additive I have used - period. If you are using a silicone additive (You should and I recommend Dyna-Gro Pro-Tekt) be sure to mix that into the water first and give it some time before adding the rest. I learned the hard way to NEVER EVER use any brass, copper or aluminium metal anywhere in your hydro system. I used a brass bulkhead on my top-off tank once and killed the entire grow.

Good luck!

Wow!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this up. Kinda went in half blind.
Much appreciation!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Wow!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write this up. Kinda went in half blind.
Much appreciation!

My pleasure. I have been doing hydroponics for a long time and I learn or relearn something new every day. I think I knew about copper toxicity years ago but I forgot and really screwed up.

My next grow is going to be with rockwool cubes and drip irrigation which is a form of hydroponics that is new to me. I will be getting that started in the next week or so. The thread will be titled "Incredible Bulk Adventures".

 

[Z_Burp]

My pleasure. I have been doing hydroponics for a long time and I learn or relearn something new every day. I think I knew about copper toxicity years ago but I forgot and really screwed up.

My next grow is going to be with rockwool cubes and drip irrigation which is a form of hydroponics that is new to me. I will be getting that started in the next week or so. The thread will be titled "Incredible Bulk Adventures".

Please tag me in when you begin posting. I'd love to sub and learn

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Please tag me in when you begin posting. I'd love to sub and learn

Take a look at the grow I just finished in the thread "My new grow room" in my signature. The first half is building my new space and the second is Fast Buds Green Crack Auto, Girl Scout Cookies Auto, Zambeza Blueberry Auto and Cream of the Crop Amphetamine Auto. The COTC is just now drying. I have to make some changes in my space before I start the Inb grow.

 

[Muddy]

If your ppm is rising your nutes are too strong. That can also play hell with your pH. You want to see a stead drop, indicating that the plants are using the nutrients. If it goes up high enough you can cause nutrient lockout, a situation where the nutes are so high the plant stops feeding. Ideally your pH should slowly rise while your ppm drops.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

If your ppm is rising your nutes are too strong. That can also play hell with your pH. You want to see a stead drop, indicating that the plants are using the nutrients. If it goes up high enough you can cause nutrient lockout, a situation where the nutes are so high the plant stops feeding. Ideally your pH should slowly rise while your ppm drops.

Muddy you're on the right track here but usually the cause for PPMs rising (other than adding nutrients) is that the plant is using water that is not being replaced or topped off thereby concentrating the salts in less water. Yes this can adversely affect PH which in turn is the mechanism for lockout. I recommend using a top-off tank with a float valve in your reservoir to prevent this type of fluctuation. The nutrients held in your top-off tank are aerated and about 25% of the strength of the nutrients in your reservoir. This replaces both the water and nutrients being utilized by the plants. The idea here is to keep your PPMs steady. So if you are already running your nutes at 50% of manufacture's specs that means (.25x.50) = 12.5%. Yes it is more complicated but the results are worth the effort.

Bubbleponics is so efficient at providing the nutrients to the root system that you need to use nutrients at about 50% or less than the manufacturer's schedule. I have used Dyna-Gro @ 50% strength and Hydroguard (full strength) very successfully in bubbleponics. I recently added Mammoth P and love the results. Here is a spreadsheet of what I actually used in the grow in my signature thread. I have adjusted it to 5 gallons , the nutrients are in ml/gallon and my water is is 150 PPM to start with :

Always add Pro-Tekt first. Stop using Foliage-Pro 3 weeks prior to flush. Mammoth P is used at .6ml/gallon in hydro.

 

[Z_Burp]

Sundaze Day 23:

7 gal RDWC
420 ppm - dropping slowly
5.83 pH - stable

Nothing unusual to report.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

 

[Raoul Duke]

Lookin good!

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Looking Great!