Delps8
Well-Known Member
Sorry to see that you've had a couple of false starts. I grow in DWC and have done six grows in the last two years (five autos, including a few GG's, and one photoperiod grow). My res is a SuperPonics 12XL which is a "35 gallon" res (28 gallons of nutes) and I grow just one plant at a time since that's pretty much all I can fit in a 2' x 4'.
Water height - I keep water level below the bottom of the net pot. An inch or ½" is sufficient. Per Shed, the idea is that the bubbles from the air pump will wet the hydroton. That's conventional wisdom. I don't put a lot of faith in that because plant roots are sensitive to gravity so they're not "attracted to the water" by some mysterious force; I top feed until roots hit the water; and I don't recall bubbles that jump high enough to wet the body of a net pot. That would be a "fountain" and that's definitely not happening…
Bucket size - I think you'll get better results from a 7 gallon bucket than a 3.5 gallon. As best I can tell, a plant in a smaller bucket will simply be a smaller plant. Advantages of going to a larger bucket are - bigger harvest; fewer refills of the res; more stable pH.
Light - as you've said 583µmols is low for flower. I grow in "high light" - check my grow journals for the numbers - so I get my plants to the light saturation point as quickly as possible. I use an Apogee for a PAR meter and a Uni-T if I want to use lux. After tested Photone a couple of times and, having traded a few "programmer to programmer" emails (I've been writing software for a living, including a three year stint for Apple, for > 30 years), I recommend that growers use an Apogee or a Uni-T.
Cannabis can be vegged using a 24/0 light cycle. The plant itself doesn't care though even Bugbee says that "they could use a break". I run 24/0 until they're well established in veg and drop to 20/4 after that. When I did autos, I used 20/4, or thereabouts, through the duration of the grow. That worked fine.
Re. root rot - I use a water chiller set to 68° + Hydroguard. If you're not using bennies of some kind and/or keeping water temps in the high 60's, you're asking for trouble. Hydroguard is cheap, starting grows over isn't.
Re. 85° air temp - key values for growing cannabis are air temp and RH ===> VPD. At 85 and 30, your VPD is in the "dry as a bone" region. Google VPD chart for more info. Best single source on VPD that I've found is here (I used their PulseOne for 5 grows and then switched to the AC Infinity Controller 69, for myriad reasons). With VPD as high as it was, your plant is transpiring at a very high rate which sends water uptake through the roof and makes it much harder for your plants to get the right nutes. Things will go more smoothly if you can get VPD into the 1.0 range in veg.
I guess, besides those points, nothing really comes to mind.
BTW if you're in SoCal, I've got hardware for which I need to find a good home. After getting the Controller 69, I don't use my PulseOne anymore and I have no use for my Inkbird temperature, the RH controller, and a couple of humidifiers. If those might be of help, let me know.
RO filter - remove everything but the H and two 0's. A lot of growers use tap water if the water supply is stable and PPM out of the tap is < X (?). My approach to growing is to "remove the variables" so I bought an RO unit. The water coming out is 0 PPM, consistently, but that has zero impact on mold/mildew. Silica does improve plant health, one mechanism is that it makes them less susceptible to disease. Even Bugbee is a fan. Based on the posting from that Shed-fellow, I mix my own.
Water height - I keep water level below the bottom of the net pot. An inch or ½" is sufficient. Per Shed, the idea is that the bubbles from the air pump will wet the hydroton. That's conventional wisdom. I don't put a lot of faith in that because plant roots are sensitive to gravity so they're not "attracted to the water" by some mysterious force; I top feed until roots hit the water; and I don't recall bubbles that jump high enough to wet the body of a net pot. That would be a "fountain" and that's definitely not happening…
Bucket size - I think you'll get better results from a 7 gallon bucket than a 3.5 gallon. As best I can tell, a plant in a smaller bucket will simply be a smaller plant. Advantages of going to a larger bucket are - bigger harvest; fewer refills of the res; more stable pH.
Light - as you've said 583µmols is low for flower. I grow in "high light" - check my grow journals for the numbers - so I get my plants to the light saturation point as quickly as possible. I use an Apogee for a PAR meter and a Uni-T if I want to use lux. After tested Photone a couple of times and, having traded a few "programmer to programmer" emails (I've been writing software for a living, including a three year stint for Apple, for > 30 years), I recommend that growers use an Apogee or a Uni-T.
Cannabis can be vegged using a 24/0 light cycle. The plant itself doesn't care though even Bugbee says that "they could use a break". I run 24/0 until they're well established in veg and drop to 20/4 after that. When I did autos, I used 20/4, or thereabouts, through the duration of the grow. That worked fine.
Re. root rot - I use a water chiller set to 68° + Hydroguard. If you're not using bennies of some kind and/or keeping water temps in the high 60's, you're asking for trouble. Hydroguard is cheap, starting grows over isn't.
Re. 85° air temp - key values for growing cannabis are air temp and RH ===> VPD. At 85 and 30, your VPD is in the "dry as a bone" region. Google VPD chart for more info. Best single source on VPD that I've found is here (I used their PulseOne for 5 grows and then switched to the AC Infinity Controller 69, for myriad reasons). With VPD as high as it was, your plant is transpiring at a very high rate which sends water uptake through the roof and makes it much harder for your plants to get the right nutes. Things will go more smoothly if you can get VPD into the 1.0 range in veg.
I guess, besides those points, nothing really comes to mind.
BTW if you're in SoCal, I've got hardware for which I need to find a good home. After getting the Controller 69, I don't use my PulseOne anymore and I have no use for my Inkbird temperature, the RH controller, and a couple of humidifiers. If those might be of help, let me know.
RO filter - remove everything but the H and two 0's. A lot of growers use tap water if the water supply is stable and PPM out of the tap is < X (?). My approach to growing is to "remove the variables" so I bought an RO unit. The water coming out is 0 PPM, consistently, but that has zero impact on mold/mildew. Silica does improve plant health, one mechanism is that it makes them less susceptible to disease. Even Bugbee is a fan. Based on the posting from that Shed-fellow, I mix my own.
