First grow running into some problems - Could use some help

[danglyroot]

What Strain is it? Nirvana NL Fem
How Many Plants? 3
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage? Veg
If in Vegetative Stage... How Long? 55 days
Indoor or Outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Hydro
If Hydro, Reservoir size? 15 gal.
If Hydro, Reservoir Temperature? 67-69
If Hydro, what type of Medium? Clay pebbles
If Hydro, what type of Setup? DWC
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many? Two 300w LED's (Platinum's)
Is it Air Cooled? No
Temperature of Room/Cabinet? 75-79
RH of Room/Cabinet? 45%-55%
PH of Medium or Reservoir? 5.7 - 6.2
Any Pests? no
How Often are you Watering? weekly
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used? GH Flora 3 part, CaliMagic, Hydroguard.
Size or Square Footage of Room? 3x3x8

Hey guys, first timer here. I've been having some issues with my plants recently and just wanted to drop in and see if I could get some advice from some of you experienced growers. Currently my plants are getting rust spots on lower fans and yellowing on upper growth. I've had all kinds of issues since starting this grow, which is to be expected with the first grow, but I have had to purchase a chiller, bigger air pump, etc. just to name a couple of the big ones.

I've read about a million posts online looking for what could possibly be causing my issues. I was leaning towards cal/mag deficiency initially, but now I'm leaning towards too much cal/mag causing other lock outs. I'm not even sure I need to use the CaliMagic after reading multiple posts seeing how my water is around 170 ppm out of the tap. I changed the water yesterday to the suggested general purpose for the Flora 3 part (1 tsp/gal of each), but upped the amount of CaliMagic I used. Normally I would add the suggested amount (1 tsp/gal) but this time I went with 1.5 tsp/gal to see if that would correct my problems.

We recently were away for a few days due to holiday related family gatherings, and during that time, the pH fluctuated a fair bit and I also wasn't able to top up the res. like I normally do. This is basically when the problems started to be fairly noticeable. I changed the res. in a hurry the day we returned due to more family coming over and in doing so I low balled the pH to 5.4 which is where it stayed for a day or so. Basically, these plants are as screwed up as a football bat due to my negligence, and I need some advice on how to fix them. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated, it's somewhat discouraging to have invested what I have into this for it to not work. Thanks in advance.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

I am not experienced in DWC but I thought you were supposed to keep the temp of the water below 65 in order to keep the roots happy and pathogen free. Gonna go summon my man rifleman to help. He knows DWC very well.

 

[OldMedUser]

High Danglyroot

First off you should read the How-Tos about posting your pics.

If anything it looks like you are getting some nute burn and I'd stop using the CalMag. There is likely enough of both in your water along with other things that may be causing your problems.

You don't mention if you have a ppm pen but if not you should get one. Really cheap and an essential tool for hydro growing. For plants that size 800 - 1000ppm should be good.

They don't look too bad and will likely come around with a little more attention.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Awesome OMU is here and he knows his DWC as well, you are in good hands.

 

[danglyroot]

Thank you, thats reassuring. I have a Bluelab combo meter, but looking at possibly getting the Bluelab Guardian for quicker access to levels. I will flush with lower levels of nutes and just drop the CaliMagic for a week and see what that does.

 

[mokel]

heya,
i'm not sure because the tint could be caused by your nutes as well, but i definitely dislike the slimy looking part at the second image - right pot - upper left edge, rest could be nute stained and doesn't look bad as far as i can tell, but those are dunno ....brown ....

as for your rusty spots, dunno about your calmag supplemental, but mine got additional Fe and Zn which could in abundance cause a P lockout as well as P is locked out below PH 5.8 .... a lack of P is a possible source for rusty spots ...

 

[OldMedUser]

I am not experienced in DWC but I thought you were supposed to keep the temp of the water below 65 in order to keep the roots happy and pathogen free. Gonna go summon my man rifleman to help. He knows DWC very well.

Anything under 70F is good Shiggity. Even a bit higher is usually ok tho 65 is pretty much the sweet spot.

L8r

 

[Papageno]

It is okay to run warm if you are running a live res. The real reason to run cold primarily is it helps if running a sterile res. All of that said so long as it is within a reasonable range of course...but if you are doing a living res then you may want it to be a bit warmer. Since you are running hydro guard it is really better to let them flourish.

They aren't as messed up as you think they are and are totally recoverable.

In DWC...When in doubt Drain it out. Just do a res change and get your plants back on a healthy schedule. Maybe do a double dose of bacteria to really get that next batch going.

Some times if things are real bad I will go sterile for a few days before the res change and then go back. You could try dumping in some H2O2 and some ice bottels for 2 days, dump the res and go back to a good res and you should be fine.

Most of the roots browning there looks to me like Cal/Mag staining to me. But I run nutes and teas that stain the roots so I am used to seeing that. If you were not dumping in Cal Mag and were using a very basic nute program I would be more worried about what looks like just typical staining to me.

Rot starts in one area and then spreads. Yours looks more uniform.

 

[danglyroot]

I started a couple plants prior to these which ended up with rot due to res temps, so I pitched them. I sterilized everything while these current plants were germinating. I also ordered the chiller which arrived a week after I put the current plants into the bubbler. Is it possible that I didn't get everything completely sterilized and that some of the rot somehow managed to linger long enough to affect these plants? I wasn't 100% sure if the rot could survive in the res at lower temps so I went ahead and went with Hydroguard as well just to make sure. I really appreciate everyone's help. The community here is phenomenal. Kudos to you guys for sure. Thanks again.

 

[Papageno]

Yeah just don't be dumping money down the drain by adding things like Hydroguard to a chiller res situation.


You have to make a decision if you are going live or sterile and then commit. H2O2 with a chiller...or go big with full blown Microbial teas. Sterile is way easier so is great for situations where you have multiple individual buckets or many systems. It is really good for newer growers to get their feet wet. It is really good for people with not much time on there hands.

I run a living res and I can leave it alone and walk away for days. I can go many weeks without any pH adjustments and I can use really basic nutes because my teas have all the additives. I can easily go 4 weeks to a res before I "need" to change it just topping off new nute solution daily or every other day depending on the plant height. But I also have to have a pile of bags of things in my garage and every few weekends I brew up some tea. I enjoy it though.


Good luck!

 

[danglyroot]

I will probably go sterile since I've invested in the chiller. As far as that sterile vs living res goes, does that change the pH level that I should be shooting for, or do I want to stay within the 5.8 - 6.2 range? Thanks in advance.

 

[Papageno]

no pH doesn't really factor into that other than when brewing your tea it is preferred to brew close to 7 to help the microbes thrive.

Since you are new I am going to recommend you go read through this guys journal as he is documenting a lot of things. You will likely learn a few things about stabilizing a res. He has done a great job proving out a lot of good points about DWC that is just common knowledge that a lot of cannabis growers think is impossible.

ClosetCase420's - RDWC - 600W MH/HPS - Wonder Woman - Grow Journal - 2015

 

[danglyroot]

Awesome, thanks. I've read so many different things with so many contradicting opinions that its hard to find concrete info.

 

[Papageno]

I would add you can run both just not at the same time.

Go ahead and run sterile...then 2 weeks before a res change stop the H2O2, 1 week before a res change stop the chiller and dump in the good stuff and let it do its business for a week. Then dump the res and go back. Your roots will love you and the plants will be happy and you can turn you chiller back on to make more noise.

 

[Rifleman]

FWIW, my buckets run about 71-73°F. I run Hydroguard every water change. When I adjusted pH it was always to 5.8. Change out the res. Keep up to date on the water levels, if it gets low it can mess with your pH and nutrient levels. Your plants are fully recoverable, but need attention every day.