Some first grow questions

[MiracleDro]

So this will be my first one. I am about a week and a hal from flowering. I started them off in rockwool on an ebb and flo table and when I saw roots showing out of the bottom of the cubes transferred them to a ebb and flow pot system using the cubes with hydroton. Im using the GH 3 part and cutrrently 12ml/gal grow, 6 micro and 3 bloom. i have two seperate rooms one for clones to start in with the table and a 400w mh on a 18/6 light schedule and a 4x/day feeding. At first they started off real slow because I originally started with a 1000w but it was too close and caused problems. However I nursed the ladies back to health and they were doing great. So now they are in the buckets in a well ventilated room that is at a constant 75 degree day and 69 night. Ph is and always has been 5.5-6.0 and current ppm is 900. They sit on the floor under a 1000w mh which is now far enough away. Heres the issue. Two days ago i when I did the transfer and I kept the light and watering schedule and nutes identical but now they are droopy. I'm thinking that they are getting too much water considering the cubes are still moist when it's time for the next feeding. They dont look burned or anything like that they are just drooping now. In the table only half the rockwool would get submerged during feeding sessions and now 3/4 gets submerged plus it has hydroton around it which holds some water so do you think this is my problem. Should I let the rockwool get almost completely dry between waterings? Am I screwed or can this be fixed easilly by just changing the schedule? What are you guys with similar setups doing? I've heard of some only doing one feeding a day and some 5. I don't want to kill em now that things were finally running great. By droop I just mean the leaves are curled down towards the stem and are a dark green. Last thing also is that on the larger plants the stems are a purplish tint. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[headband]

it could either be over watering or under watering, Im no pro but signs of drought and signs of over watering look almost the same. How do the leaves feel, hydrated or is it lacking moisture in the leaves ?

 

[MiracleDro]

they feel like they have moisture also the bottom leaves are yellowing and some look like they have nute burn but nutrients are the same if not a little bit less than what I was running before

 

[MiracleDro]

So this will be my first grow. I started them off in rockwool on an ebb and flo table and when I saw roots showing out of the bottom of the cubes transferred them to a ebb and flow pot system using the cubes with hydroton. Im using the GH 3 part and currently 12ml/gal grow, 6 micro and 3 bloom. i have two seperate rooms one for clones to start in with the table and a 400w mh on a 18/6 light schedule and a 4x/day feeding. At first they started off real slow because I originally started with a 1000w but it was too close and caused problems. However I nursed the ladies back to health and they were doing great. So now they are in the buckets in a well ventilated room that is at a constant 75 degree day and 69 night. Ph is and always has been 5.5-6.0 and current ppm is 900. They sit on the floor under a 1000w mh which is now 3 ft away. Heres the issue. Two days ago i when I did the transfer and I kept the light and watering schedule and nutes identical but now they are droopy. I'm thinking that they are getting too much water considering the cubes are still soaked when it's time for the next feeding. Bottom leaves are yellowing and some now look like nute burn. In the table only half the rockwool would get submerged during feeding sessions and now 3/4 gets submerged plus it has hydroton around it which holds some water so do you think this is my problem. Should I let the rockwool get almost completely dry between waterings? Am I screwed or can this be fixed easily by just changing the schedule? What are you guys with similar setups doing? I've heard of some only doing one feeding a day and some 5. I don't want to kill em now that things were finally running great. By droop I just mean the leaves are curled down towards the stem and leaves are a dark green on the top. Last thing also is that on the larger plants the stems are a purplish tint. Thanks in advance for all your help. I know its helpful to have pics so I should have some up tomorrow

 

[Wise Man]

Im not completely educated when it comes to hydro but..it does sound like overwatering.Rockwool holds water very well,alot longer then soil.So i would cut back on watering(and nutes) then see how they react.If they perk up after that,give a flush then start your nutes at a lower level and work up.

 

[Stoney Bud]

It sounds like the plants are still pretty tiny. I'm saying this because it seems that the roots are just barely visible coming from the rockwool. At that stage of their life, they need very little is any nutrients.

Something like 1/10th to 1/8th strength nutes. Even NOT using your pump and just top feeding them once a day.

It should only take about a week for your roots to grow outside the cubes into your hydroton.

The entire cube should be buried. Nothing of the cube should be visible. No light should be hitting any part of the cube.

I'm guessing on this because I can't see what you have.

Good luck man!

(I merged your two posts into one. Let me know which of the two "starter" posts you want to keep in this thread.)

 

[headband]

try not giving them water, I just resolved problem like this with one of my plants, it was underwaterd.

 

[MiracleDro]

Sorry took a lil bit... So here are the pics... Its two different strains started from seeds. Were pretty sure it's ak and shark, but what do I know its just what a more experienced friend said. Unfortunetly I dont think he's experienced enough because I keep having to save things he set up. Thanks or your guys help so fast. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays. Oh also the rockwool was covered completely but isnt in the pics because I took the plants out to get the excess water out

 

[Stoney Bud]

It's hard to tell from your pics; is your system an ebb and flow or what?

Do you have a pic of your entire system? Maybe a site with a pic of the entire system?

I think I know which system it is, but I'm not positive.

 

[MiracleDro]

its the greentrees 12 pot system... 40 gal res...level controller etc

 

[Stoney Bud]

This one?

 

[MiracleDro]

Yup

 

[Stoney Bud]

That's a nice system, MD.

When your grow chambers fill, do they circulate in some way or does the water just sit there until it drains?

How long do the buckets stay filled? How long empty? Do they drain completely between cycles?

 

[MiracleDro]

its a 15 minute cycle. The bucket fills to about 3 inches below top then once 15 minutes is up they drain leaving about a 1/2 inch of water in the buckets. However that water isnt touching anything until the roots get real long. The water is pushes up through the hydroton and pushes old air out of the rockwool and gives nutrients then when it drains it pulls new air in like a vaccuum.. I was giving them the same mix of nutes before on the e&f table i guess its just they get more submerged now... By the size of the bigger plants what would be an ideal mix.. Ml/gal of the grow micro and bloom. Thanks for the compliment on the system. Its just getting everything dialed in right is a pain in the ***.I emptied the res, cleaned it, flushed them with phd water and filled the res with half the nutrient amount. I feel better after doing that work I just hope it helps.

 

[Stoney Bud]

Thanks for explaining that to me, MD. The buckets stay filled for 15 minutes and then drain. Is it 15 minutes later that they fill again?

The reason I'm asking is that I've always used a 1 hour on, two hours off cycle with my ebb and flow, but your system and mine have a major difference. When mine is filled, it continues to circulate through the grow chambers until the entire hour is up. Then it drains. I'm not sure if my timing would work for your system.

 

[MiracleDro]

Oh I see how yours works. Mine is different then that. It fills from the bottom up and every bucket is filling at the exact same time. So the water comes up and soaks the hydroton and rockwool and then drains. It takes about 15 minutes before they are all full so the timer has a minimum of 15 minutes each time you have it turned on. So I originally had it set to go on 4 times a day for 15 minutes but that was too much or its just that the nute mix was much too strong. My lights go on in a half hour so hopefully things look better today after using like half the strength of before.

 

[MiracleDro]

With the height of the plants how much nutes around do they need?