New here, need help with DWC

[VBGrows]

Hey everyone!

Recently, I decided to try growing in DWC. I've had 4 grows past 2 years in soil.

I'm growing 2 plants in DWC:
(PLP) Pink Love Poison Auto by Inseedious Seeds (around 60 days old)
&

(GS) Strawberry Gorilla Auto (around 29 days old).

GENERAL INFO:

I have a 20L reservoir that can be filled with around 15L of water to keep a small gap between the net pot and the water for the roots.

I'm using tap water, which is ~120ppm and the pH is 8.1

I always use ph Perfect Advanced Nutrients line, because I had fantastic results in soil with these nutrients.

But after adding nutrients to the water, the pH goes down to 6.4-6.7 (depending on the strength) which works perfectly for my soil but it's way too high for hydro. Does that mean ph Perfect works only with RO water?

At the vegetative stage, I tried to lower pH to 5.5, and in flowering, I tried to adjust it to 6.0. But the pH is going up by around 0.8 points in 12 hours.

I tried keeping the water for 24 hours to evaporate (as I've heard) but the pH still swings like crazy.

With all the struggle, I have managed to grow the Pink Love Poison till day 60 and she looks very good, but now she started showing some signs of deficiency and I think its Calcium, so I have added Sensi CalMag 2ml/L in the reservoir, ph was 6.3 and I kept it.

But my main concern is Gorilla Strawberry, as she has been struggling for the past 2+ weeks.

DETAILS about Gorilla Strawberry:
She was growing very well and on Day 14, I decided to Top her as I mostly do in soil. Also, she was sitting in the same reservoir for the first 2 weeks (around 500 ppm) so I changed the reservoir (around 700 ppm) as well and that's where the problems started. I think she didn't take the training + the reservoir change very well, but last 2 weeks I couldn't make her happy. I tried adjusting pH on different levels, changed the reservoir again, cleaned the reservoir completely, and so on. She is just stunted, growing very slowly, and showing some problems on the leaves.

At the start, I blamed everything on pH, as I couldn't stabilize it normally, was swinging 0.8-1 daily, but last few days I saw she was feeling better and now it started showing some deficiencies again, I assume its calcium deficiency as well so I added around 1.5ml/L calmag in the reservoir.

Sorry for the long post, but it would be hard to do it in 2 sentences. I would also list all the questions I have in my brain, if you got the answer, shoot it all help is very much appreciated

QUESTIONS:
- What is a good *pH range for DWC? - I've heard it's 5.7-6.0 in veg and 6.0-6.3 in flower, is this correct?
- Does putting water for 24 hours help stabilize pH?
- Any other good tips on how to stabilize pH?
- Does ph Perfect AN nutrients work with RO-filtered water properly, but with tap water, it still needs ph adjustments? or how this works?
- Can pH swing be caused by the Advanced Nutrients nutrients as they might be trying to reach a certain pH because they are pH perfect?
- Does anybody have a good explanation of what Advanced Nutrients B-52 do? I've read that it might stress the plant in early veg. Also it is 2-1-4 NPK which increases K in the early veg.
- Do you Top your autos in DWC? Is it too heavy training for the DWC?


TL;DR: I need advice on how to stabilize the pH in the DWC hydroponics using tap water that has 120 ppm and 8.1 pH. I'm using the Advanced Nutrient line.


// days on pictures are not 100% correct.

Thanks if you've read this, you are the king!

 

[West Hippie]

Welcome VBGrows to 420 Magazine. Wow my advanced nutrients always hit 5.5 ph to start but I used RO water that had a 6.3 ph not like my tap water at 8.3 ph . Most definitely the ph off is taking toll . Are you using the nutrients full dosing ?

 

[VBGrows]

For the big plant yes, last time I gave:
2ml/L Rhino skin
4ml/L Micro, Grow, Bloom
2ml/L Big Bud
2ml/L Bud Factor X
2ml/L Bud Candy
2ml/L Sensizym
Ppm was around 1000

For the small plant, I only used half does of only base nutes:
2ml/L Micro, Grow, Bloom.

I havent increased dosage to 100% for the small plant as she was stressed already

 

[Bill284]

Hey everyone!

Recently, I decided to try growing in DWC. I've had 4 grows past 2 years in soil.

I'm growing 2 plants in DWC:
(PLP) Pink Love Poison Auto by Inseedious Seeds (around 60 days old)
&

(GS) Strawberry Gorilla Auto (around 29 days old).

GENERAL INFO:

I have a 20L reservoir that can be filled with around 15L of water to keep a small gap between the net pot and the water for the roots.

I'm using tap water, which is ~120ppm and the pH is 8.1

I always use ph Perfect Advanced Nutrients line, because I had fantastic results in soil with these nutrients.

But after adding nutrients to the water, the pH goes down to 6.4-6.7 (depending on the strength) which works perfectly for my soil but it's way too high for hydro. Does that mean ph Perfect works only with RO water?

At the vegetative stage, I tried to lower pH to 5.5, and in flowering, I tried to adjust it to 6.0. But the pH is going up by around 0.8 points in 12 hours.

I tried keeping the water for 24 hours to evaporate (as I've heard) but the pH still swings like crazy.

With all the struggle, I have managed to grow the Pink Love Poison till day 60 and she looks very good, but now she started showing some signs of deficiency and I think its Calcium, so I have added Sensi CalMag 2ml/L in the reservoir, ph was 6.3 and I kept it.

But my main concern is Gorilla Strawberry, as she has been struggling for the past 2+ weeks.

DETAILS about Gorilla Strawberry:
She was growing very well and on Day 14, I decided to Top her as I mostly do in soil. Also, she was sitting in the same reservoir for the first 2 weeks (around 500 ppm) so I changed the reservoir (around 700 ppm) as well and that's where the problems started. I think she didn't take the training + the reservoir change very well, but last 2 weeks I couldn't make her happy. I tried adjusting pH on different levels, changed the reservoir again, cleaned the reservoir completely, and so on. She is just stunted, growing very slowly, and showing some problems on the leaves.

At the start, I blamed everything on pH, as I couldn't stabilize it normally, was swinging 0.8-1 daily, but last few days I saw she was feeling better and now it started showing some deficiencies again, I assume its calcium deficiency as well so I added around 1.5ml/L calmag in the reservoir.

Sorry for the long post, but it would be hard to do it in 2 sentences. I would also list all the questions I have in my brain, if you got the answer, shoot it all help is very much appreciated

QUESTIONS:
- What is a good *pH range for DWC? - I've heard it's 5.7-6.0 in veg and 6.0-6.3 in flower, is this correct?
- Does putting water for 24 hours help stabilize pH?
- Any other good tips on how to stabilize pH?
- Does ph Perfect AN nutrients work with RO-filtered water properly, but with tap water, it still needs ph adjustments? or how this works?
- Can pH swing be caused by the Advanced Nutrients nutrients as they might be trying to reach a certain pH because they are pH perfect?
- Does anybody have a good explanation of what Advanced Nutrients B-52 do? I've read that it might stress the plant in early veg. Also it is 2-1-4 NPK which increases K in the early veg.
- Do you Top your autos in DWC? Is it too heavy training for the DWC?


TL;DR: I need advice on how to stabilize the pH in the DWC hydroponics using tap water that has 120 ppm and 8.1 pH. I'm using the Advanced Nutrient line.


// days on pictures are not 100% correct.

Thanks if you've read this, you are the king!

Welcome to 420 Magazine my friend.
5.8 is where you need to set your ph.
Low ppm water can be difficult to maintain ph.
And as nutrients drop out ph will drift.
Great garden though.
Well done.



Stay safe
Bill284

 

[VBGrows]

Welcome to 420 Magazine my friend.
5.8 is where you need to set your ph.
Low ppm water can be difficult to maintain ph.
And as nutrients drop out ph will drift.
Great garden though.
Well done.



Stay safe
Bill284

Thanks!

What is the ppm, where stabilizing ph is easier?

Right now big one is sitting in 950 ppm water and last 3 days the ph is drifting from 6 (where I set it) to 6.8 in 12-16 hours, DAILY.

EDIT: Also as I understand now, Calcium defficiency appeared because I was setting ph to 6, not lower. Will adjust to 5.6 tomorrow

 

[West Hippie]

For the big plant yes, last time I gave:
2ml/L Rhino skin
4ml/L Micro, Grow, Bloom
2ml/L Big Bud
2ml/L Bud Factor X
2ml/L Bud Candy
2ml/L Sensizym
Ppm was around 1000

For the small plant, I only used half does of only base nutes:
2ml/L Micro, Grow, Bloom.

I havent increased dosage to 100% for the small plant as she was stressed already

I ran the 50% dosing for the whole grow did great .
When I ran it the ph fluctuating was normal as all nutrients wether ph perfect or mega crop . I'm sure the ph played in what you see .
If you start at 5.5 and it's rising i wouldn't change it back till I hit 6 that way it sweeps through the nutrients levels of uptake . I mint to say awesome roots earlier also your gonna have some nice buds .
While your here check out the sponsors and contest below on my post and enjoy .

 

[VBGrows]

I ran the 50% dosing for the whole grow did great .
When I ran it the ph fluctuating was normal as all nutrients wether ph perfect or mega crop . I'm sure the ph played in what you see .
If you start at 5.5 and it's rising i wouldn't change it back till I hit 6 that way it sweeps through the nutrients levels of uptake . I mint to say awesome roots earlier also your gonna have some nice buds .
While your here check out the sponsors and contest below on my post and enjoy .

The problem is that rising from 5.5 to 6 happens very quick and I dont have the plant near me to observe the ph fluctuation every few hours. And the rise happens in like 3-4 hours.

I also mostly use 50% strength in soil, but in DWC, I increased to 75% in transition and then to 100% in flowering and it worked well for the plant.

 

[Tokin Roll]

Welcome to 420 Magazine @VBGrows

Are you using any kind of silica? The reason I ask is because it helps stabilize PH.
Also, what stage is she in and how far along?

Here's some helpful info: Welcome New Members - Please Read Before Posting

Here is some information if you would like to start a grow journal How to Make a Grow Journal

If you want to see want other growers are doing, here's that link.

This is where you place your grow journal.

Journals in Progress: Current and Ongoing

And, after you have over 50 posts you can vote and enter our contests to win free grow stuff from our sponsors.

420 Contests: Win Cool 420 Prizes

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

Also, we now have a Fungi section if you would like to grow mushrooms.

 

[VBGrows]

Welcome to 420 Magazine @VBGrows

Are you using any kind of silica? The reason I ask is because it helps stabilize PH.
Also, what stage is she in and how far along?

Here's some helpful info: Welcome New Members - Please Read Before Posting

Here is some information if you would like to start a grow journal How to Make a Grow Journal

If you want to see want other growers are doing, here's that link.

This is where you place your grow journal.

Journals in Progress: Current and Ongoing

And, after you have over 50 posts you can vote and enter our contests to win free grow stuff from our sponsors.

420 Contests: Win Cool 420 Prizes

Stay safe, and grow well my friend,

Tok..

Also, we now have a Fungi section if you would like to grow mushrooms.

Hey,

I'm using Rhino Skin which is Silica.

Today she is 63 days old. Last 1 week I adjusted pH to 6.0 and it increased to 6.7 I think she couldn't uptake Calcium and K and the buds are kinda small.

Today I adjusted the pH to 5.5.

I also see some tacoing from light stress but it's only on a few leaves so I'm okay with that.