ZARBU
New Member
Isnt it winter in the northern hemisphere at the moment? Why are your temps so high?
Im in the southern hemisphere so its my peak summer now.
Im in the southern hemisphere so its my peak summer now.
2 days into flowering and this! Hydro
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- #162
Yes it is! 20 degrees tops in the day. But those lights and not having air out causes high temps in the basement.
ALso right next to the furnace.
ZARBU
New Member
Maybe try bring a bit of that nice cool air in?
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- #164
Above are our plants in flower, and our seedlings. having trouble figuring out the best way to keep these guys all adequately watered. Maybe keep water in the tray underneath? hmph. Anyway a couple of the sprouts look a bit dark and slimy. Regardless, its our best germination rate to date, only our 3rd but still lol. Thoughts on all this guys?
(Working on cold air in)
I was not holding that plant sideways, FYI. LOL
Also the water in our basement was 2.6 EC so i drained some and am filling with ro water. Will update.
ZARBU
New Member
Looking good, just go very very light on the nutrients, they basically just need water at this stage and next to no nutrients.
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- #166
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- #167
ZARBU
New Member
1.5 ec still sounds too high should be 1.0 or less
Germinated seedlings dont need any food for the first 3-5 days. Just water.
You also know never to mix a and b together in concentrated form right? Each must be diluted in 10 litres of water seperate and mixed well before mixing the 2 together.
Otherwise some nutrient elements will drop out of solution and not be available to the plant thus causing nutrient deficiency.
Germinated seedlings dont need any food for the first 3-5 days. Just water.
You also know never to mix a and b together in concentrated form right? Each must be diluted in 10 litres of water seperate and mixed well before mixing the 2 together.
Otherwise some nutrient elements will drop out of solution and not be available to the plant thus causing nutrient deficiency.
ZARBU
New Member
HAHA! THAT MADE ME LAUGH.
What on earth inspired you to mix the 2 in concentrate form lol
Mixing a strong acid with a strong base will always get the heart pumping
sonicDlf
New Member
ZARBU
New Member
Heres what I do.
PH Range strictly 5.5 - 6.5
E.C ranges as below
VEG
If SEEDS just pure water for 4 days after germination than start.
week 1) 0.6 - 1.2
week 2) 1.0 - 1.6
week 3) 1.0 - 1.6 If longer veg required repeat week 3
FLOWER
week 4) 1.2 - 1.8
week 5) 1.2 - 1.8
week 6) 1.3 - 2.0
week) 7) 1.3 - 2.0
week 8) 1.3 - 2.2
week 9) 1.3 - 2.0
week 10) 1.3 - 1.8
week 11) 1.0 - 1.6
HARVEST
Maintain nutrient reservoir between 18-24 degrees Celsius
PH Range strictly 5.5 - 6.5
E.C ranges as below
VEG
If SEEDS just pure water for 4 days after germination than start.
week 1) 0.6 - 1.2
week 2) 1.0 - 1.6
week 3) 1.0 - 1.6 If longer veg required repeat week 3
FLOWER
week 4) 1.2 - 1.8
week 5) 1.2 - 1.8
week 6) 1.3 - 2.0
week) 7) 1.3 - 2.0
week 8) 1.3 - 2.2
week 9) 1.3 - 2.0
week 10) 1.3 - 1.8
week 11) 1.0 - 1.6
HARVEST
Maintain nutrient reservoir between 18-24 degrees Celsius
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- #172
Hey there! Its been way too long since I have gotten on here. I stopped getting notifications 
12 new seedlings in their veg home. Yay!
Update on the 3 survivors. Got an air pump with small stones to run 247 in the blue gro sites to airate roots. Also we have 2 really happy plants and the drropy guy is still droopy. We are experimenting with him. Rockwool seems to have just made him really unstable. But working on that. i just saw this chart you put up Zarbu, and i appreciate it. Seems we are pretty darn on that schedule now and will attempt to stay on it. Rez sitting at 60 F so about 15 c, can raise to 65 f.
12 new seedlings in their veg home. Yay!
Update on the 3 survivors. Got an air pump with small stones to run 247 in the blue gro sites to airate roots. Also we have 2 really happy plants and the drropy guy is still droopy. We are experimenting with him. Rockwool seems to have just made him really unstable. But working on that. i just saw this chart you put up Zarbu, and i appreciate it. Seems we are pretty darn on that schedule now and will attempt to stay on it. Rez sitting at 60 F so about 15 c, can raise to 65 f.
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- #173
HAHA! THAT MADE ME LAUGH.
What on earth inspired you to mix the 2 in concentrate form lol
Mixing a strong acid with a strong base will always get the heart pumping
Friend of mine and I had dumped some Down in a lid so that we could use a small syringe to get exactly the ML we needed, then we needed the up.. XD hadn't dumped the up out yet.. Luckily we were both wearing glasses and were away from the plants. Phew. I was not using my brain to the fullest extent by any means.
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- #174
We recently had a flood upstairs caused by the overfilling of a reservoir which resulted in a couple days of downtime upstairs while we became carpet cleaning experts for the week. Luckily we had flowering plants in the basement and seedlings in the sprouter and nothing in the tent so we could manipulate it in order to vacuum up the water from all four corners of the room. We did however result in having a slightly easier to use system upstairs in that we have 2 tent doors and now our table is in the middle so we have access to both sides, and we are maneuvering stuff still to figure out whats best. But that is why I had some down time. Now everything is dry and I will be posting more pics soon! Guys at the growstore who helped us pick our stuff out in the beginning are calling what we are doing a hybrid system now. uh oh. lol!
ZARBU
New Member
Looking good snichols1, put some hydroton over the top of the rockwool seedling plugs, this will prevent algae growing , also helps keep the light off the roots, adds a bit more support and keeps the roots cooler.
Other wise looking really good.
The plants shouldn't really need staking (just use hydroton instead, i.e bury them deep and is better than staking) and the green fungicide dip on the stakes could affect the tank water.
Personally id remove them... but your choice. also check your light levels are strong enough, those seedlings are stretching for light, hence why they need support, light levels are too low.
Hydroton tends to raise PH so watch it carefully
What was the reason for not fulling the pots all the way to the top or just below the top..... it would have allowed more room for the roots... maybe you ran out of hydroton?
They look a little low to me.
They should be fulled at least up to where the holes end.
You can add more hydroton up to the top of the leaves, they dont mind being buried deep(stem will grow roots), just be very gentle as not to damage delicate stems, or lift plugs out and fill and replant higher if roots havent left the plugs yet.
Its ok if you decide to leave it how it is but good to know for future reference.
P.s Hydroton will wick up water to a point so you don’t have to worry if you cant flood the whole pot depth, you will want to keep the top 4cm dry anyway to prevent algae and salts drying on the surface.
Just looking at the depth of your flood tray and was thinking this might be why you didnt full the pots right up with hydroton.
you only want to flood 3/4 of the pot depth anyway leaving the last 1/4 dry (to self wick) the very top stones should always be dry.
I would full your pots up with hydroton and plant seedlings deep with the hydroton up to 1cm below the leaves, this will support the seedlings without stakes.
Looking good
Klovneposen
Well-Known Member
looks like your guys are getting well back on track nice to see 
- Thread starter
- #177
ZARBU
New Member
Ok yes sorry forgot you used rapid rooters, the same still applies though.
If you full to near the top with hydroton, plant the the seedlings deep (bury the stem) and flood to your tray depth im still pretty sure they will get enough water.
Some people top water by hand for the first week or two until the roots get down a bit, its a option ,in your case i dont think you will need to as your seedling stems are fairly tall and will get your roots down deeper.
But you have the option to hand water with the tank water if you feel you need to.
Your call this is just what i would personally do.
You don't want to be flooding the rapid rooters but just the rock wool below them, rock wool will wick water up 4-5 cm above the flood level if not more.
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- #179
Alright so I will being covering the rooters and next time we will be sure to plant higher and top water! I was in belief that top watering was ill advised. At 18k lux our light is as low as it can really be. So the question is how do we get these guys to start "Noding"? They are about 2 weeks old now and I feel like they should be more mature than they are. Friday marks one week in the veg tent and at that point we will be replacing the water.
Do you think we will still have enough room for roots?
ZARBU
New Member
@snichols1
I think you will have enough room for roots but wont be able to veg as long as you other wise could have.
Your 1/5 down on potting media, so veg time capacity will be a little less. but not much.
I suggest very very carefully adding more hydroton up to 2cm below leaves.
This will help support those weak stems and add a bit more hydroton.
Cannabis is one of the few plants that doesn't mind being planted deep, i.e its stem in the media below the surface. The stem below the surface will grow roots in time.
The seedlings are still settling and growth is slow at this stage, it will pick up as the leaves grow to capture more light.
Think of leaves as solar panels, more leaf , more energy, more growth, its always slow at the start.
To speed up seedling leaf growth you can mist the leaves with hydro nutrients at a E.C of 1.0 and a PH of around 6 once a day.
Or spray with a half strength seaweed (Kelp) foliar spray.
Kelp helps with leaf expansion and cell division, it also thickens cell walls, making the cells more tolerant to temp fluctuations.
Kelp (sea weed extract) has a broad range of macro and micro nutrients and is a great product to use to correct nutrient deficiencies via foliar.
Run your lights 24/7
Warming your tank water to 20 degrees Celsius will speed things up, you room wants to be around 24 degrees Celsius.
Im thinking that maybe as its your winter there, and those lights don't generate much heat ... that maybe your grow room is a little bit too cold, but its hard to guess from behind a screen on the other side of the world lol
I have a heat pump/air con to control my temps exactly so im lucky.
I actually veg under 600 watt HPS, and growth is fast due to the radiant warmth, Metal halides would be slightly better than HPS, but I don't veg for long.
I have no idea why top watering with the tank reservoir water would be ill advised when using Hydroton in the first few weeks of growth, just don’t over do it, or don’t do it at all if you don’t need to. you want those roots to hunt for water.
If you find a link point me to it... I might learn something.
Ive never needed to top water, Hydroton wicks fine, and you want the top layer of Hydroton to be dry anyway.
18 k lux fluro should be fine, but consider stealing one of those HPS lights instead once the plants get a little bigger....(you could even add a MH bulb ... (just my personal preference, I think HID (high intensity discharge lights) i.e HPS and Metal halide ...veg much faster in my opinion, some may disagree) You have the gear to do a comparison and in the future could trial this.. Im sure the 420 community would be interested in the progress and results.
if you remove the seedling shell from the germinated seed as soon as possible they dont stretch so high, get light sooner and end up with stronger stems, add a drop of water 2 minutes before for lubrication and to soften the shell, then try gently lift the shell off with tweezers, it will lift off easy if ready, if not try the following day. (a tip for next time)
sorry if I ramble on a lot, but if you find one of my posts helpful please like it.
p.s you probably noticed I changed name from Kiwiiwiki to ZARBU
also when plants are young, I don’t think you need to change the reservoir every week, You can do this, but its some what wasteful. I make mine go the whole veg cycle, up to 4 weeks, just add water and adjust PH and E.C to suit, if plants look healthy no need to change it in flood and drain, (ebb and flow) weekly changes are more needed in DWC.
My Tanks 50-65 litres, many people start a new tank and never top it up and when and only when the water level drops to the pump level they change. a good Air stone and pump is recommended.
I top up mine and adjust it and make it do the veg cycle, Ive never had any problems.
In Flower I change every 2-3 weeks, Check and adjust PH and E.C, Daily... add adjusted water if needed.
when your plants get a little bigger you can add a little Tech urea (nitrogen) to the reservoir tank with the hydro nutrients as a addition to really kick start growth but its too early yet.
On the flowering plants, are those air lines on the bottom of the pots? in the area where water sits?
air stones are only used to oxygenate water, if they are not constantly in water, than you want them on the flood timer so they only come on in the flood cycle. no point pumping air into air... if you know what I mean.
If the air pump is running then the airstone should be below water, otherwise you will dry a small area of the hydroton out between flood cycles.
when i purchased my first air stone for my main tank.... I made the mistake of buying a long one that was too big for my air pump to drive, it couldn't push bubbles the whole length , I later learnt a very small ceramic type air stone is better, and under sizing your air stone relative to your pump.... and having 2 small air stones is better than one big one you cant drive.
Live and learn
