Debating on something advice wanted.

[StoneyBud]

Im curious. If ya think your PH is to high or low by looking at your plants,,what do you use to lower or raise the PH?
OR ,,are you saying your well water and nutes come out just right? Its just that with Hydro it always seems from what I have read,, PH is very important. So Im guessing you have been very lucky with good water to have not locked your plants out with a high or low PH. Man I wish I could watch you once to see what ya do. I am always watching my PH,,cause it seems to be so important. Since I started doing that my girls have been way bigger,greener and healthier. Anyway,,wish I had yur touch ya old goat.

I know this will slay you, but I've never had to adjust the ph.

My well water is pretty hard, but by using the "Hard Water" Micro nutes from GH, it resolves the problem.

Growing weed isn't rocket science. If it has a few problems during a grow, I just use the GH nutes to adjust the levels and it always improves. I guess you could say I adjust my ph with the nutes. I've never really thought of it that way.

I've developed a "feel" for what the plants need and what my water/nutes give them.

Piece of cake!

A pound per/crop. Always has been, always will be.

I have weed falling out of my ears.

Price of weed? I haven't a clue. Mine costs me about $300 a pound, cured. That's the electric, nutes and seeds.

 

[mr.greengenes]

Wow, impressive stuff here. Thanks for sharing all your experience with greenhorn newbies like me. I'm gonna learn a lot.

 

[MootPointBlank]

hehe, I started growing my first outside crop of weed in 1950. It consisted of me throwing a jar full of seeds, that were given to me, on one side of a berry patch on the edge of a clearing.

From that size to managing a 40 acre crop in Northern Mexico, I've done a lot of growing. The last 25 years of Hydro growing has been more fun than anything I've ever done.

During all that growing, I've seen every problem that can happen, I'm pretty sure. Don't get me wrong; I've had plenty of failure. More than I care to remember. Each failure taught me a lesson and brought me to where I am now.

I'm sure they must have had ph testers back in the 50's, but they were prolly as big as a bus and cost 200 thousand bucks. I have no idea.

I've just never used one, so even though I fully understand the PPM and each of the other methods used to define the standards of the grow environment, I don't use them myself. I just watch my plants and know what they need.

Plus, the system I use with the Ebb and Flow, combined with my well water and GH nutes, it's so easy that anyone could do it after watching me on one crop and taking a few notes.

Are you currently offering any internships? I swear I've made every mistake there's a troubleshoot for, and then some, and I still haven't grown anything I would even force my enemies to smoke. Okay that's a bit extreme, having barely made it through one season, so far. Heat and pH have been my consistent challenges, though, I think I've solved the heat issue and I have a solution being delivered Friday that should, hopefully, address the pH issue. Not that any of you really wanted to know any of that. I guess I this is a good sign that I should start a journal...

MPB

P.S. Look for my new journal. If anything it should be amusing to watch me stumble as I continue to step on my own d**k.

 

[StoneyBud]

Are you currently offering any internships? ...I continue to step on my own d**k.

Quit stepping on that duck!

hehe

What type of hydro are you doing?

Tell us about your setup. Room size, height, ventilation.

Lights, distance, nutes.

All the good stuff.

(I guess it would be more appropriate if you used your own thread tho'.)

 

[NorCalHal]

Cowboy, I too do not check my PH, and have not for at least 5 years or more. No Need. I too use GH and the hardwater Micro, and the PH balences perfect everytime.

I get alot of folks who ask me for a "recipe", and I cannot really provide that for them. It is all about how the plants are doing at that particular moment.
The plants will tell you what they need. I have to SEE the plants in order to reccomend a good nuit mix, which will only be goods for a week anyway.

I am going for lush green growth, with a slight leaf tip burn. That tells me that my nuit uptake is maxed. It all comes from experience and, as Stoney said, MANY failed crops. If you do not fail, you do not learn, imo. I too have been doing hydro since 1988.

JBonez, I understand what you are saying about the rockwool staying "wet", BUT the trick is to mix the rockwool up. I use Absobant and NON absobant rockwool in a 50/50 mix. High oxygen and the roots love it.

For me, the rockwool medium is a little more forgiving is a feed line comes loose for a day or another issue happens. It will sustain the plant without watering for a good 24-36 hours before drying out completly.
The Hydroton was just a pain for me. Do you reuse your hydroton?

Stoney, the GH Micro does act as a PH down and is the main culprit in keeping the PH lower and more stable. Most Household water is around 7.0, so when I make my mix, it ends up at around 5.7-5.8. Same thing man, If I see an issue, I usually add a little more Micro, which usually fixes any nuit/PH looking issue.

Also Cowboy, adjusting your PH daily does more harm then good imo. Do not try to keep your PH at one specific level allways. Let er drift a few points bro.
Initially, set it a little lower, like 5.5 if you are having a real big drift.
Maybe you can elaborate on how your PH acts for us.


I am HAPPY. Stoney, you and I are very alike when it comes to growing our friend maryjane. You are the first person I have met that does not check thier PH too. When I tell folks that, they laugh at me.
You should move out to Cali and get access to all our clone only strains man, you could retire quite comfortably and provide top notch medicine. Believe me when I say, Just because everyone out here is growing, doesn't mean that they are growing DANK.

Hydro FTW!

 

[WeedHopper]

Yes Sir thats what I do,,I let her drift,,but I check everyday when its at the last couple weeks of flowering because it drifts to high or low sometimes. But..Im sure given time I will figure it out,,,like a bigger rez. I have never used a PPM meter. I like you try and get my leaf tips to turn and burn a little. Course my PH drifts more cause I use a smaller rez then some.

 

[StoneyBud]

I guess we should mention something for the newbies, so they don't get the wrong impression; when we talk about letting out leaf tips burn just a tad, we're talking about only the new growth that we're watching. I say this because in my instruction to many people who are new to growing, they say to me; "Stoney, the leaf tips are all the same as the last three weeks!", and then they point at the "Old Growth" on the plant. Many don't realize that the leaves won't repair themselves and that they should watch only the "New Growth" that is a brighter green and just starting on the week that you've made a change to your plants environment.

That new growth will tell you how your changes have had an effect on your plant.

Old growth collects light and foliar nutrients. New growth tells you what your plant is doing during any given week. Watch that new growth closely. Any severe problems you have will show within a day or two on the newest growth.

The speed in which the new growth gets larger is a HUGE factor in nutrient adjustment. If, during normal vegging, the plant seems to stall, and the new growth has just stopped, look around the plant carefully and see if new side growth is taking place. If so, you have no problem. If no new growth is evident on the entire plant for more than a week, and you haven't changed any other factors in the plants life, like light height or type, then try increasing your nitrogen about 10%. Then, again watch your new growth and see if the plant starts growing again within two or three days. It should. This is a determining factor of my adding to the Nitrogen level of the nutrient solution and usually causes the new growth to start a new sprint for the light.

Watch the old growth for pests. The new growth for nutrients.

Of course, nothing is an absolute. When you see something that is outside this instruction, that's when you post your problem and yell for help!

 

[WeedHopper]

Yeah,,I always hated that. If I burned my girls alittle to much,,had to deal with the old ugly leafs the rest of the grow untill they fell off.
Like ya said Stoney,,I watch the new growth for the turn and burn. Maybe ya could paint the ugly leafs green.