My First Grow Ever - Ebb & Flow Hydro Grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

[AfricanGrower]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

>>> whatcha exactly mean by reverse damage tho??

I would have suspected that if just pure pressure was used to close the the lines that feed your 3.5 gallon tanks the motor would eventually fail after some use due to reverse pump rotation. This is just my opinion and in no way am I an expert in the feild of water pumps but I assume your water pump switches off when your control tank fills up, no?

Also, how long do you keep water filled in your 3.5 gallon buckets for? In other words how long does your medium get soaked in the nutrient solution?

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

ohh gotcha yea they switch off when there supposed to so there is no reverse pressure

ive been doing 20-30 minutes 4-6 times a day..making the change to 10-15 minutes and seeing how that works out..do you know of the appropriate times for all this?? had trouble finding an exact number..

 

[AfricanGrower]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

I have researched and was planning on basing my feeding times to 2-4 times everyday. Also keep in mind that I am using Gordon Grow Cubes, which like rock wool can retain moisture longer than the medium you seem to be using. Although I am not familiar with hydroton, I would assume it would require more frequent watering compared to grow cubes. You should use the search tool and search TITLES only for grow journals with 'hydroton' to get a better reference, but 4-6 times a day doesn't sound far off.

Soaking the medium for 20-30 minutes at a time IMO is way to long of a wet cycle before the roots start loosing too much needed oxygen. I would recommend the optimal time for roots to submerged is 15 min and no more than 20min. This allows the roots to have a healthy wet/dry cycle I have my digital timer set to 9min on and it takes 5min for my system to drain down pass the grow cubes with a total submerged time of 14min.

 

[Skybound]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Soaking the medium for 20-30 minutes at a time IMO is way to long of a wet cycle before the roots start loosing too much needed oxygen.

This is why I am becoming an ever increasing fan of RDWC as that system mainly focuses on inundation of oxygen with many large surface area air stones. The recirculation part just adds to nothing in the system ever being stagnant. Constant movement, constant aeration and constant exposure to water/nutrient. HygroHybrid, on YouTube grows some amazingly beautiful heavy yielders with only Flora Nova Bloom, H2O2 and Silica. Very simple setup and feeding, set it and forget it for at least a week.

 

[AfricanGrower]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Though from what I have seen, you get more explosive growth rates in a RDWC setup and I was even going to go with a DWC 'Bubble Bucket' for my first hydro setup, but realistically you cant really leave it for more than a couple of days to make sure all parts of the system are functioning properly. Air pump, water pump, plumbing, etc... Although great applications, it would not be my ideal setup at this point of my career

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Changed my feed times for 10-15 minutes seems to be working out nicely,thanks AG!! no real change from the times i had it set at before so idk whats better haha. filled my room up with a couple plants i had in soil and two clones i had needed transplanting because the roots were like a foot and a half!! best clone sucess ive had thus far, ill get some updated pics soon, today i need to expand my room and get it ready for 12/12 so im adding a 4th hood and light my plan was to start my flowering with 2 Mh and 2 HPS for 2-3 weeks so there is still some extra grwoth from blue spectrum and apparently my 1000watt saber HPS bulbs have too much red spectrum so the blue will helpp anyone know if this is a good idea or should i stick to all HPS if i can??

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

those small little ones are a romulan and mendo purps that i cloned about two weeks ago. this being my second clone proccess i had a great success rate almost 100%!! super stoked about that i finally figured that part out, and without using an ez loner. in the pink bucket is a sour d i had sitting outside the whole time, it did nice out there, now gonna try and flower her with the rest and compare the difference since shes been vegging outside this whole time. more pics coming.
something crappy to mention, for the second time now the motor on my pumps went out because the fins on the propeller brake off due to cheap plastic, so had to take care of that issue.

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

 

[Skybound]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Being as though the sun's rays shine through our atmosphere from different angle at different times of the day and different times of the year causing certain spectrums of light to be more prevalent than others at any specific time, I don't see how getting some 6500k (MH) can harm anything, especially since growers in the past have used only one or the other for their entire grow. Your logic on that matter seems logical to me that it would make for an easier and smoother transition, but I'm just a noob with little more than research and memory of that to rely on.

About your failed pump, mind sharing what brand it was for me and the next man? FYI, I have 2 ActiveAquas, a 160 and a 550

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Being as though the sun's rays shine through our atmosphere from different angle at different times of the day and different times of the year causing certain spectrums of light to be more prevalent than others at any specific time, I don't see how getting some 6500k (MH) can harm anything, especially since growers in the past have used only one or the other for their entire grow. Your logic on that matter seems logical to me that it would make for an easier and smoother transition, but I'm just a noob with little more than research and memory of that to rely on.

About your failed pump, mind sharing what brand it was for me and the next man? FYI, I have 2 ActiveAquas, a 160 and a 550

Yea thats exactly what i was told, that the suns rays are all different spectrums so throwing in the MH would help so i think i will do just that. Any info you can give me on the transition and flowering phase as i am about 10 days out and still dont have a solid plan yet haha

as for the pumps, theyre the Maxijet 1200 i think rated at 175 gph, would have to check the box in the morning to be 100% on that. pumps water just fine its just those damn plastic propellar blades, making my life hell. i was lucky this time around that i caught the problem literally right when it happened(i opened the pump to find all of my fins broken off) now if this were to happen say over night while on a drain cycle i could have found myself in the same problem as before where my sites got stuck on a fill! whew that was a close one haha

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

.cant tell if its getting better i believe so. any ideas??

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

heres what i spent the day doing, took about 50 clones from my two big plants that suffered from the flood, rom and hawaiin kush. would have much rather bloomed those sexy beasts but shit.

 

[Skybound]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

I have read that taking clones from plants currently in stress is a no no. i don't yet know enough to really comment on diagnosing your grow, but my exposure thus far suggests an N deficiency on the one with all that yellow. If that yellow is on all the plants, than I'd more so think a deficiency rather than a lock out. 175 GPH? How many gallons in your system total? Just going from memory that you have about a dozen sites, I'd think that maybe your pump is too small for your system, but that's an uneducated guess. If it is too small, maybe your fins are breaking off the impeller b/c there is too much water weight for a small pump, but once again, just a guess. You'd probably be better served to wait for one of the vets like African Grower to weigh in before concluding on anything I say.

 

[thekidd]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

I have read that taking clones from plants currently in stress is a no no. i don't yet know enough to really comment on diagnosing your grow, but my exposure thus far suggests an N deficiency on the one with all that yellow. If that yellow is on all the plants, than I'd more so think a deficiency rather than a lock out. 175 GPH? How many gallons in your system total? Just going from memory that you have about a dozen sites, I'd think that maybe your pump is too small for your system, but that's an uneducated guess. If it is too small, maybe your fins are breaking off the impeller b/c there is too much water weight for a small pump, but once again, just a guess. You'd probably be better served to wait for one of the vets like African Grower to weigh in before concluding on anything I say.

Hmm that does make sense ooops hopefully i gave them enough recovery time, sorta ran out of options with it hopefully i can at least get the majoriity to root..
yea from all the research i thought it was nitrogen too, and a lockout more so because its only on 2 plants not all of them thank goodness, the rest are very green and healthy looking. thought my flush woulkd have unlocked them but maybe not?? will check in the morning and see..should the yellowing turn into green or will the yellow leaves fall off??

as for the pump it may be 275gph cant remember what the box says, 275 sounds more correct now that i think about it, mind you these are the original pumps that came with the ebb flo n gro, maybe they didnt supply a good pump for the system, idk. now i do have pea gravel as half my medium(unfortunetly let someone talk me into using this and once i figured out it wouldnt work my plants were too big and i could only get half the gravel olut and replaced with hydroton) so it is very possible that tiny bits of it are getting sucked in thru the pump, but the pumps do have filters on them so itd have to be a superrrr tiny piece and i havnt seen any small enough to fit through the filter so its difficult to pinpoint what it is.but once one fin breakes the rest follow because they get stuck in there and wipe out the rest. these propellers need to be metal, only in a perfect world eh.

 

[Skybound]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

Isn't gravel harder than hydroton? I use clay balls which I think is the same thing, but I do know they fragment fairly easily, but it'd still take a strong current to lift them up off the root chamber floor over the spill pipe, down to the res, then be dragged into the pump's filter. More than I think my pump is capable of creating. Don't really know all the forces at work in your system, but you have a good idea and can determine if you think that is what's happening.

Is there any way you can isolate the 2 plants that are having the deficiency/lockout issue? No point in denying everyone else the good nutrient solution when only 2 are having troubles, especially when a misdiagnosis could be harmful to everyone else in the series. Maybe you can make a 2nd control bucket to meet out the flush, while the primary continues the feeding schedule. IMO, this would be a cheap solution and would greatly reduce exposure to the other plants.

 

[AfricanGrower]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

>>>Changed my feed times for 10-15 minutes seems to be working out nicely,thanks AG!! no real change from the times i had it set at before so idk whats better haha.

You won't see any noticeable change right away. You can look at the root system in a plant as the embodied heart of the organism, so naturally it is the precursor for what ever happens to the main body of the plant (leaves, stem, etc..). A seedling won't start growth until its taproot has sufficiently grown the appropriate amount of 'root hairs' to set forth probing for water in the medium. UNTIL this, lateral roots have not yet formed, which are the type of roots that absorb the most quantity of water/nutrients (unique to 'dicot plants). To reinstate what I said before, the appropriate wet and dry cycles (though this is also my first hydro setup, the same applies for when I grew in soil) are key when it comes to the development of your root system as Oxygen supports root growth and encourages the root hairs to go 'looking' for more moisture when your medium is dry! You will notice healthier growth within a couple of days to a week, and you will notice faster growth beyond that point.

>>> my plan was to start my flowering with 2 Mh and 2 HPS for 2-3 weeks so there is still some extra grwoth from blue spectrum and apparently my 1000watt saber HPS bulbs have too much red spectrum so the blue will helpp anyone know if this is a good idea or should i stick to all HPS if i can??

I completely agree with Sky in the way he answered you question. If you are not worried about running up your electric bill then you should be set. Remember with HID bulbs, you never want your plants to close to prevent heat spots and bleaching! It may seem pointless to say, but still some invaluable information to walk away with

>>>something crappy to mention, for the second time now the motor on my pumps went out because the fins on the propeller brake off due to cheap plastic, so had to take care of that issue.

THIS could be from what I was talking about earlier, no? Well its best to rule out all possiblities for failure! To clarify, you have a 55gal resevoir that feeds a smaller 3 gallon 'regulator unit' which in turn houses your water pump and constum made shut-off valve? (Let me know if I'm inaccurate in anything I described ) So when your pump pumps out a certain amount of water to the 'Ebb sites' the regulator, you built, shuts off flow through the 3 gallon bucket leaving your pump with no where to pump water until the timer controlling the pump switches off.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you don't have a cut off switch hooked up to your regulator to switch off the the pump automatically? This could be the cause the cause for your failure. The 'built up' pressure (pressure builds between time it takes the wall timer to switch off water pump) I was talking about previously could POSSIBLY caused reverse pump failure and in turn could have lead to damage of your propeller blades. A simple fix could have you run overflow lines directly from your Ebb&Flow buckets back into the res, but this will greatly change the design of your system as a whole!

Once again, no need to take my advice to heart. It's best to learn from your own progressions with things (by things I mean the events that define YOUR own personal growing style) like this!

 

[AfricanGrower]

Re: My first grow ever. Ebb and flow hydro grow Romulan Chem 4 Qrazy Train HI Kush

>>>Hmm that does make sense ooops hopefully i gave them enough recovery time, sorta ran out of options with it hopefully i can at least get the majoriity to root..
yea from all the research i thought it was nitrogen too, and a lockout more so because its only on 2 plants not all of them thank goodness, the rest are very green and healthy looking. thought my flush woulkd have unlocked them but maybe not?? will check in the morning and see..should the yellowing turn into green or will the yellow leaves fall off??

Yea it does look like a Nitrogen elated problem. Though not too familiar in the waiting time after a flush for a hydro setup, typically in soil you don't want to start feeding nutrients until new growth is seen, then go up with feeding in 1/4 strengths. I could be wrong in HYDRO since there really isn't much nutrient in the medium that your plant can live off compared to the typical soil grow. Too reiterate on what Sky said, cloning should be done on healthy plants to avoid much induced stress through deficiencies that could mostly have been 'passed on' from the mother.

>>>so it is very possible that tiny bits of it are getting sucked in thru the pump, but the pumps do have filters on them so itd have to be a superrrr tiny piece and i havnt seen any small enough to fit through the filter so its difficult to pinpoint what it is

I just read this. I looked up your system, although I cannot review it well enough to give a detailed response here, I will when I get back from work. The 'Oceanic 1' as it's called could be the source of your failures. I know your system is based entirely off of it (which should point more to the problem) but you should be warned with 'set-up-and-go' hydro setups. Not saying you should not purchase them, just that all the specs may not line up to how the system should be running at optimal settings. Something to look into . Cheers, AG.