One or More Plants Die During Every Grow ... What Am I Doing Wrong?

StudioMan said:
Thanks for everything! Your help (and that of your buddies) is greatly appreciated!

One last question ... Does the chiller create measureable heat (like typical refrigeration processes do)? I currently work hard to maintain grow tent temps in the low 80's and any measureable addition to that may be solving one problem while creating another. Or can the chiller be operated outside the tent with lines run in/out of the tent?

Thx again!
Click to expand...
Probably creates a little warmth.
But you can put it outside and pipe it in and out easily. :thumb:
No problem. ;)




Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
StudioMan said:
Do I need one?
Click to expand...
Yes and a fire extinguisher. :Namaste:
A few years back I had a brand new light explode and catch my house on fire.
Smoke detectors are essential for safety.
And a big fire extinguisher just in case.
Read these thread and see if you need one
Bill284

Thread 'Fire Safety: How do you prevent a disaster?'

Hello everyone.
Here is my question.

How do you prevent a grow room fire?

Do not let this happen to you.

For those of you who don't know I had a horrendous fire in my grow room.
For those that do know, Thank you for all your love and support.
Everyone here has been a godsend of love and positivity.

My recommendation for everyone is as follows.

1- put drywall on the ceiling and walls of your grow room.
Any fire retarded material is recommended.

2- install atleast 2 smoke detectors in your grow room.
Install one directly above your light.
And one at the opening that can easily hear...
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Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
bluter said:
the hydro system sounds too small to sustain all the plants. nothing with a common res works out very well. they never have enough room and pass root issues and other problems between them. indoor plants always do better when they have their own space.

edit : best way to use most of those systems is grow only 1 - 2 plants and scrog the grow. i used an old 4 pot spit and dribble system almost 30yrs ago now and it was ok for a single plant but that's all it could muster.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response, bluter. I appreciate you sharing your expertise. I grow weed because I need it for sleep purposes. I'm a cancer survivor and although God healed me of the disease, I have some lingering aftereffects (like insomnia for instance). With a 4-month on-average grow cycle, I need to have enough plants to generate approximately 10 ounces with each grow. Having separate hydro systems for each plant would be prohibitively expensive, I think. Using your input, I think I'll reduce the plant count in the grow box from 5 to 3 and position those 3 at maximum distances from each other. If I use a high yield strain, I think I can still achieve the requisite 10 oz. BTW ... I do use scrog nets.
 
Bill284 said:
Yes and a fire extinguisher. :Namaste:
A few years back I had a brand new light explode and catch my house on fire.
Smoke detectors are essential for safety.
And a big fire extinguisher just in case.
Read these thread and see if you need one
Bill284

Thread 'Fire Safety: How do you prevent a disaster?'

Hello everyone.
Here is my question.

How do you prevent a grow room fire?

Do not let this happen to you.

For those of you who don't know I had a horrendous fire in my grow room.
For those that do know, Thank you for all your love and support.
Everyone here has been a godsend of love and positivity.

My recommendation for everyone is as follows.

1- put drywall on the ceiling and walls of your grow room.
Any fire retarded material is recommended.

2- install atleast 2 smoke detectors in your grow room.
Install one directly above your light.
And one at the opening that can easily hear...
  • Thanks
  • Like
  • Love

Stay safe
Bill284 😎
Click to expand...
Thanks, Bill ... I will take your sage advice (from first-hand experience)
 
Azimuth said:
I have not, but it could simply be that some plants are weaker than others.

I grow from clones and always take many more cuttings than I'll need (like 5-10x more) because I've found that if I take say 10 cuttings from the same mother plant at the same time, there are always one or two of them that develop a much better root system than the others by the time I pot up what I need for the next round.

The best of the best get potted up and the rest get an up close and personal tour of the worm farm. So Studio's issue could simply be that the weakest of the plants fail first in an overcrowded environment. Natural selection at work, perhaps. :hmmmm:
Click to expand...
Thanks for your response, Azimuth ... Using the advice from you, Bill284 and bluter, this next grow coming up soon will start with only 3 plants instead of 5 and I hope it makes a difference. I'm also investigating obtaining a chiller per advice from Bill284.
 
A mighty thanks to Bill284, Azimuth and bluter for taking your valuable time to assist me with this issue. You guys are "Da Bomb"!!!

I'll keep you posted on the results of this next grow (which starts in about two weeks).

God bless you all!
 
Bill284 said:
You ever see that response from a plant?
Going soft like that at the trunk?
Click to expand...


it was common in older dwc type systems, they rot right at the media level. typical in top feed only types as the stem never gets to dry out. its why most newer systems switch from a top feed in seedling to waterfall after they are established at the res.

if this is a top feed only system i would mod it so it could be switched when needed.



StudioMan said:
Thanks for your response, bluter. I appreciate you sharing your expertise. I grow weed because I need it for sleep purposes. I'm a cancer survivor and although God healed me of the disease, I have some lingering aftereffects (like insomnia for instance). With a 4-month on-average grow cycle, I need to have enough plants to generate approximately 10 ounces with each grow.
Click to expand...

that system can't sustain more than a couple plants. you could achieve the weight goal if you scrogged.
i had a good look at that system and it is sized the same as most single plant systems.

that thing would be real easy to knock together. you should read up on the diy stuff guys have built here. they are typically using a res that size for a single plant.



StudioMan said:
Having separate hydro systems for each plant would be prohibitively expensive, I think. Using your input, I think I'll reduce the plant count in the grow box from 5 to 3 and position those 3 at maximum distances from each other. If I use a high yield strain, I think I can still achieve the requisite 10 oz. BTW ... I do use scrog nets.
Click to expand...


veg longer and scrog a single plant. weight goals do not go by plant count. the amount of grow space you have will determine what you can produce. not the plant count.


edit: you may want to look at hempy or coco as a much easier way to attain your goals.
 
Bill284 said:
Let's get some assistance.
@SmokingWings & @Azimuth & @bluter hey guys :ciao:
Can you find a cause for this issue?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up.

I had checked the thread when it first appeared but it is hydro and not what I have enough experience with. Hydro methods fascinate me but they are something I have not attempted beyond rooting cuttings in water.

Bill284 said:
That’s your problem.
Temperature is too high.
You have one plant die when it’s 70f?
2 plants die when it’s 77f?
Click to expand...
When I read the temperatures I did stop and think that the numbers were not right. I feel that this is the first issue that should be taken care of. Plants in warm and wet soil do have more problems than the plants in cooler soil so why not the same when the roots are sitting in water.
 
SmokingWings said:
Thanks for the heads up.

I had checked the thread when it first appeared but it is hydro and not what I have enough experience with. Hydro methods fascinate me but they are something I have not attempted beyond rooting cuttings in water.


When I read the temperatures I did stop and think that the numbers were not right. I feel that this is the first issue that should be taken care of. Plants in warm and wet soil do have more problems than the plants in cooler soil so why not the same when the roots are sitting in water.
Click to expand...
Thanks Smoke. :thanks:



Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
agree that the res temps could be better and chiller advice. running h2o2 or an enzyme scrubber would help.
 
bluter said:
it was common in older dwc type systems, they rot right at the media level. typical in top feed only types as the stem never gets to dry out. its why most newer systems switch from a top feed in seedling to waterfall after they are established at the res.

if this is a top feed only system i would mod it so it could be switched when needed.





that system can't sustain more than a couple plants. you could achieve the weight goal if you scrogged.
i had a good look at that system and it is sized the same as most single plant systems.

that thing would be real easy to knock together. you should read up on the diy stuff guys have built here. they are typically using a res that size for a single plant.






veg longer and scrog a single plant. weight goals do not go by plant count. the amount of grow space you have will determine what you can produce. not the plant count.


edit: you may want to look at hempy or coco as a much easier way to attain your goals.
Click to expand...
Thanks again, bluter, for sharing your expertise with me. I was unaware of the older DWC history rot issues. I'll look into the top-feed vs. waterfall and educate myself. You and the others have convinced me that I need to reduce the plant count in the next grow.
 
SmokingWings said:
Thanks for the heads up.

I had checked the thread when it first appeared but it is hydro and not what I have enough experience with. Hydro methods fascinate me but they are something I have not attempted beyond rooting cuttings in water.


When I read the temperatures I did stop and think that the numbers were not right. I feel that this is the first issue that should be taken care of. Plants in warm and wet soil do have more problems than the plants in cooler soil so why not the same when the roots are sitting in water.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your input, SmokingWings! Y'all have convinced me that the liquid temp has to be addressed with a chiller. I've been online this morning looking at all the options for 1/4 hp hydroponic chillers.
 
OK, first of all, a mighty thanks to all of you that took your time to join in this conversation (especially Bill284 for organizing the group response). I've made a list of all the things that you guys have pointed out to me and will attempt to prioritize and implement it.

I'm starting this morning with the chiller. In looking at options that meet my price limitations, it appears that a decent selection would be the following:

Hydroponic Chiller

Your thoughts on this choice?
 
StudioMan said:
OK, first of all, a mighty thanks to all of you that took your time to join in this conversation (especially Bill284 for organizing the group response). I've made a list of all the things that you guys have pointed out to me and will attempt to prioritize and implement it.

I'm starting this morning with the chiller. In looking at options that meet my price limitations, it appears that a decent selection would be the following:

Hydroponic Chiller

Your thoughts on this choice?
Click to expand...
It looks fine.
How are the reviews?
I don't have experience with that or any model unfortunately.
So other than sizing I can't recommend a particular model.
If the reviews are decent and price is good then ok. :thumb:




Stay safe
Bill284 😎
 
Bill284 said:
How are the reviews?
Click to expand...
Interestingly enough, there are no reviews for a number of the chillers on Amazon (this one included). This particular model has about a dozen different sources with prices ranging from $160 to $200. Looks like one of those situations where a single factory produces the item and serves as an OEM for multiple brands (of the same product).

I'll give it a go and let you know how it works out over time.
 
have a look at the sponsors offerings first before deciding. there are board discounts and other advantages.
 
make sure you read through some dwc grow journals as well. there's loads of folk growing in the same style. there's very few problems that haven't been encountered before and solved for.

it's good practice to watch other folk growing in similar styles. they will be the best help. make sure you get a journal up if you don't have one. add a link in your sig to the journal so it's easy for others to find. make sure you post lots of pics of your grow as that helps both you and others.

420

Thread 'How to Make a Grow Journal'

Follow These Steps to Create Your Grow Journal​


With enough setup information in the beginning, your grow journal will be seen and supported by growers from all over the world. The more pride and effort you put into your journal, the more response, interaction and support you will receive from everyone.

1. Click on the header text link (desktop) or the hamburger menu/three white bars (mobile)
2. Click "Grow Journals" and then click "Journals in Progress"
3. Click on the black button "Post Thread" to start your journal...
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also have look through this sub-forum

Deep Water Culture - DWC

Another method of supplying a ratio of Oxygen and nutrients to plants in a reservoir while submerging the root mass in water 24 hours a day
www.420magazine.com

there's piles of better growers with a lot of better advice to help you in dwc. go connect and jump in the fun with them.

:)
 
bluter said:
make sure you read through some dwc grow journals as well. there's loads of folk growing in the same style. there's very few problems that haven't been encountered before and solved for.

it's good practice to watch other folk growing in similar styles. they will be the best help. make sure you get a journal up if you don't have one. add a link in your sig to the journal so it's easy for others to find. make sure you post lots of pics of your grow as that helps both you and others.

420

Thread 'How to Make a Grow Journal'

Follow These Steps to Create Your Grow Journal​


With enough setup information in the beginning, your grow journal will be seen and supported by growers from all over the world. The more pride and effort you put into your journal, the more response, interaction and support you will receive from everyone.

1. Click on the header text link (desktop) or the hamburger menu/three white bars (mobile)
2. Click "Grow Journals" and then click "Journals in Progress"
3. Click on the black button "Post Thread" to start your journal...
  • Like
  • Love
  • Thanks

also have look through this sub-forum

Deep Water Culture - DWC

Another method of supplying a ratio of Oxygen and nutrients to plants in a reservoir while submerging the root mass in water 24 hours a day
www.420magazine.com

there's piles of better growers with a lot of better advice to help you in dwc. go connect and jump in the fun with them.

:)
Click to expand...
Looks like I'll be doing some serious reading these next few days! :thumb:
 
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