DWC Rootball Question..

[spaceface]

Hello all...It's been a while. On my current grow I decided to try a DWC bucket for the first time. Kinda getting it down. I have a tangled rootball which is a reddish brown color. The rest of my roots are a beaming white. The rootball is not slimy, nor does it have a foul odor. I have been keeping the ppms very low only at 250ppm and I'm pretty sure I'm underfeeding. I'm just at my 4th node. I suppose my question is...Should I worry about the rootball? I have heard of nutes staining. Is this perhaps all it is? I am using Advanced Nutrients 3 part ph perfect line, with Aquashield. I have attached a picture of the rootball. Thanks for taking your time to read and offer your insights. The help is appreciated.

 

[jmansweed]

Spaceface, In my experiences my roots will brown with no issue. Typically the newest, fresh growth is white but it generally darkens with age. I add the tiniest bit of enzymes occasionally and that seems to whiten them a bit. As long as it's not brown algae or root rot your probably fine.

 

[WeedHopper]

Be carefull of your solution temps. Anything above 75 can be trouble in a DWC. I tried to keep mine below 70,,but its real tough in the south. I used frozen water bottles.
Also watch for light leaks,,they can cause algae.

 

[Locked]

Yeah I have only done DWC a couple times but one thing I learned quickly is you gotta keep temps down in your DWC buckets or things will go south quick.

 

[spaceface]

Thanks for the replies. jmansweed..I was gonna make a tea for DWC that i had found by a guy named Heisenberg. Google "Heisenberg Tea". It was a marvelous find on a horrible forum. This is what I originally got the Aquashield for...Still waiting on the ZHO powder though to make it. Are you familiar with using this tea? Anyone else?

Weedhopper...I worry about my temps. At the moment I have no way of taking a reading. Unless I could use the thermometer from an old fish aquarium??..Also did you put the bottles directly in the res?

And If I may...Is it a bad thing to drastically change the buckets ph? Say if I was at 6.8 and I wanted to be back around 5.8...If I was to drop that at one time will that be a shock to the plant? Or should the ph be brought down gradually over time...Or does it really not make a difference? Thanks again for your time.

Hey Hamster! Yea...Here's hoping I can keep it under control...That's my biggest worry as of now is that water temp.

 

[WeedHopper]

Yes the water bottles go directly into the bucket. Your PH should never go above 6.0 in yur DWC. I tried to keep mine between 5.6 to 5.9.
6.8 is way to high for DWC grow. It will cause nute Lockout. 6.8 is for soil grows. Yes the themometer you have should work. But it is very Important that you get yur PH under control and yur temps.
No matter what Nutes your using,,they will do no good in a DWC with PH at 6.8