PK Perpetual Grow Journal 2020

[Stltoed]

no bro, you're good. I've picked up some notes from you as well as some other members.
i like the chart as it gives me something to reference too.

I didn't know there was diff style to dwc growing, it be nice to see how close that chart is to your style. Perhaps next time you run into a issue, have a quick look and see if it makes sense.

The biggest difference is whether or not you have an autofill valve. If you do, the chart doesn't really work. My water is always at the same place. I have no idea how much my plants drank or didn't. This continuous "new" water doesn't do any favors to reading pH issues. But I would never grow like this without an autofill. Best $15 I've ever spent!

The chart is cool, but sooner or later your probably gonna want the freedom of an autofill valve, and maybe an RO filter. Ive left my house for a week with my plants running without help, with no issue

 

[PK]

so that's where the RO water comes in? more stability?

my water has no autofill valve. The water is brought a bit above the lower of the black lid pot.
I've marked were the water level was and it's still at the same level.

i can see the benefit of the autofill valve if i am going on a vacation or something, but if that thing fails my insurance company would freak the f out. lol!

 

[Stltoed]

so that's where the RO water comes in? more stability?

my water has no autofill valve. The water is brought a bit above the lower of the black lid pot.
I've marked were the water level was and it's still at the same level.

i can see the benefit of the autofill valve if i am going on a vacation or something, but if that thing fails my insurance company would freak the f out. lol!

Well, reverse osmosis filtering allows you to start you PPMs at 10 instead of 270 or what ever it is. Once you're fully comfortable with feeding your plants you will probably see that you can only put so much "stuff" in your water before you actually start doing harm to your plants i don't normally go over 1000 PPMs in veg and not usually more than1200 in flower, but that solely depends on the plants themselves. I think we were talking about reading your plants earlier.

If you started a new res with tap water that has a TDS of of 270 PPMs (mine) you kinda lose a place for a couple nutrients because you will run out of room on the PPMs before you reach your target. The cool part in my area is that those 270 parts in my water aren't targeted by my plants, so it doesnt really matter. Thats not always the case. But you may remember my story of the over aggressive Silica. My tap water by itself would cause that reaction.

I dont believe you could use that chart if you did have autofill. Thats kinda why I was saying I'm probably the wrong person for this thread

I like to go away once and a while. If im gonna take off I need to prepare my rig for it. I do a new res and pH the water to the lower 5s the day before I leave. I know through experience that my water's pH will migrate up. In a week it won't go over the upper extent of my window. Its possible that I could go longer. If I got back and it was 7.2 I'd know it hasent been there long so I readjust the pH and its all back to normal

Anytime you have a push to connect water fittings you run the risk of the tube slipping out. I found if they do its because the tube end is chewed up. I has a 3/8 inch water line popped off and sprayed the opposite wall for quite a while. The floor was inches deep. My good meter was completely wet. The AC didn't work. I had $3000 worth of Black Dog lights that were all wet. It was ugly. But I grow in a shed outside.

 

[Dusted]

Good explanation. Using RO with auto fill would be the cats ass. I’m stuck adding 280 mg/L tap water manually daily. Right now I add about 4 L twice a day to the reservoir. I tried tracking conductivity for a while but the addition of tap water screws with the numbers. I did note that when the plants are sucking up the nutrients I need to change out the nutrients after 5 days instead of my normal 7 day cycle.

 

[PK]

Well, reverse osmosis filtering allows you to start you PPMs at 10 instead of 270 or what ever it is. Once you're fully comfortable with feeding your plants you will probably see that you can only put so much "stuff" in your water before you actually start doing harm to your plants i don't normally go over 1000 PPMs in veg and not usually more than1200 in flower, but that solely depends on the plants themselves. I think we were talking about reading your plants earlier.

If you started a new res with tap water that has a TDS of of 270 PPMs (mine) you kinda lose a place for a couple nutrients because you will run out of room on the PPMs before you reach your target. The cool part in my area is that those 270 parts in my water aren't targeted by my plants, so it doesnt really matter. Thats not always the case. But you may remember my story of the over aggressive Silica. My tap water by itself would cause that reaction.

I dont believe you could use that chart if you did have autofill. Thats kinda why I was saying I'm probably the wrong person for this thread

I like to go away once and a while. If im gonna take off I need to prepare my rig for it. I do a new res and pH the water to the lower 5s the day before I leave. I know through experience that my water's pH will migrate up. In a week it won't go over the upper extent of my window. Its possible that I could go longer. If I got back and it was 7.2 I'd know it hasent been there long so I readjust the pH and its all back to normal

Anytime you have a push to connect water fittings you run the risk of the tube slipping out. I found if they do its because the tube end is chewed up. I has a 3/8 inch water line popped off and sprayed the opposite wall for quite a while. The floor was inches deep. My good meter was completely wet. The AC didn't work. I had $3000 worth of Black Dog lights that were all wet. It was ugly. But I grow in a shed outside.

lol, i am not sure which emoji to give to that content. like, thanks, wow or sad!! so i pick and at my emoji
storey, thats a awesome storey and information. My tap water ph is at 7.04 with 70ppm
I can grab my fish tank master kit and tell you exactly what type of mineral is in the tap water. However, i change my aquaruim water just right out of my tap water and my fish are okay. I don't even give the fish tank water conditioner.

 

[PK]

Good explanation. Using RO with auto fill would be the cats ass. I’m stuck adding 280 mg/L tap water manually daily. Right now I add about 4 L twice a day to the reservoir. I tried tracking conductivity for a while but the addition of tap water screws with the numbers. I did note that when the plants are sucking up the nutrients I need to change out the nutrients after 5 days instead of my normal 7 day cycle.

i feel ya with that water change, its a pain job lol

 

[Stltoed]

Good explanation. Using RO with auto fill would be the cats ass. I’m stuck adding 280 mg/L tap water manually daily. Right now I add about 4 L twice a day to the reservoir. I tried tracking conductivity for a while but the addition of tap water screws with the numbers. I did note that when the plants are sucking up the nutrients I need to change out the nutrients after 5 days instead of my normal 7 day cycle.

I've always said my autofill valve is my favorite part on my hydro rig. But it seems to be either autofill OR the chart. To be frank, im glad I never got attached to the chart. I might have never embraced multipot recirculating DWC because I might feel I need it.

2 gallons a day in 2 seperate trips would be a deal breaker. I dont know how you do it Dusted

 

[PK]

I've always said my autofill valve is my favorite part on my hydro rig. But it seems to be either autofill OR the chart. To be frank, im glad I never got attached to the chart. I might have never embraced multipot recirculating DWC because I might feel I need it.

2 gallons a day in 2 seperate trips would be a deal breaker. I dont know how you do it Dusted

the filling part is not a problem, it's the emptying part when the dwc environments aren't right.

 

[Stltoed]

lol, i am not sure which emoji to give to that content. like, thanks, wow or sad!! so i pick and at my emoji
storey, thats a awesome storey and information. My tap water ph is at 7.04 with 70ppm
I can grab my fish tank master kit and tell you exactly what type of mineral is in the tap water. However, i change my aquaruim water just right out of my tap water and my fish are okay. I don't even give the fish tank water conditioner.

70 is a cake walk. I wouldt bother with RO.

I had a hairbrained idea to make organic nutes for hydro. And I would need a way to measure the element content in various liquids... it was looking really good until I realized it only worked with measuring clear liquid, son-of-a-bitch! The device is called a photometer (I imagine your master kit is something like this) it was looking really good, but it would be very difficult to make sure a prospective nutrient was dead clear. Its not an inexpensive piece of equipment, and the reagents weren't cheap either

 

[Stltoed]

the filling part is not a problem, it's the emptying part when the dwc environments aren't right.

Do you have anything coming in the sides of your bucket or are all lines coming through the lid? If everything is coming through the lid just buy another bucket fill it like you would for a new batch of nutes and trade this bucket for your old one. Just put the plant in the new bucket and take the old one away. This way you can make your nutes as perfect as you want, then give them to your plant.

 

[PK]

Do you have anything coming in the sides of your bucket or are all lines coming through the lid? If everything is coming through the lid just buy another bucket fill it like you would for a new batch of nutes and trade this bucket for your old one. Just put the plant in the new bucket and take the old one away. This way you can make your nutes as perfect as you want, then give them to your plant.

ya, the lines go through the black lid. i have a 3rd 5gallon which i use to make the new batch and then i switch the buckets.

70 is a cake walk. I wouldt bother with RO.

I had a hairbrained idea to make organic nutes for hydro. And I would need a way to measure the element content in various liquids... it was looking really good until I realized it only worked with measuring clear liquid, son-of-a-bitch! The device is called a photometer (I imagine your master kit is something like this) it was looking really good, but it would be very difficult to make sure a prospective nutrient was dead clear. Its not an inexpensive piece of equipment, and the reagents weren't cheap either

its a master kit for aquarium which can test varies things. calcium, phosphate, nitrogen, and more. yes it does go by colour and sometimes the colours aren't perfect. i've got a post on this when i was using the my fish tank water.

 

[PK]

@The Phantom i came across this information on flying skull page . at the bottom of the page it had this

1/8 tsp part 1 and part 2 for every 1 1/4 gallons of nutrient.
· 1/4 tsp part 1 and part 2 for every 2 1/2 gallons of nutrient.
· 1/2 tsp part 1 and part 2 for every 5 gallons of nutrient.
· 3/4 tsp part 1 and part 2 for every 7.5 gallons of nutrient.
· 1 tsp part 1 and part 2 for every 10 gallons of nutrient.

if we calculate this by tsp its only needs 1.2ml of each part. Would to much z9 cause problems?

 

[PK]

I find it crazy how i tell people to read each plant for itself and then i don't do it myself.
I had a feeling last night that something was wrong even after upping the ec. This morning i decided to redo the res water and look at the equipments.

Left Res
The left res which the plant is looking really bad had a pump issue and it wasn't rotating the res water. not a lot of slimmery build up. I cleaned the pumps again and a quick dip into water mix with peroxide. I made sure the pumps are working before leaving her. I also redid the res water

ppm 250
ph 5.8
1.2ml Z9 (let me know if i should put another 1.5ml) i truly hate this calculation part

Right res

surprisingly i totally misread this plant. The water level was way below the mark and the ec was rising with ph.
Since yesterday i provided the wrong information and misreading the plant i decided to chagne this res water as well.
The res was clean, the pumps were working and the air stone was clean.

ph 5.8
ppm 300
1.2ml Z9

One question in mind is about the water level. If the water level goes down then obviously the nutrient levels will rise.
Is this why having a autovalve a important step? does the water level have to be on point all the time?

 

[PK]

here are some pictures and additions to track the results

Left res right res

Yup, the left one sure doesn't look good. The right one was over feed.
If the water level is a bit closer to the upper pibbles, is that going to be a problem with the light shining on it?

 

[Joshualuck]

From what I see all your numbers look good. Your ppm is a little higher than I keep mine but from what I read that shouldn't be a problem. My ppm for my smaller babys I run at 175 and they seem to thrive I dont raise it to above 250 until flower and then I dont want it to go past 275 cause the lady might lock you out. I'm not real sure other than my thought about the constant water changing with the ph ppm and nutes. I think your babys are in a form of shock and have closed down for business.

 

[InTheShed]

If the water level goes down then obviously the nutrient levels will rise.

I don't do hydro, but when the plants are healthy they are taking nutrients up with the water, so both would go down.

Only if the plants are drinking but not eating would EC rise and water level drop. A lot of good DWC growers swear by that chart.

 

[Stltoed]

ya, the lines go through the black lid. i have a 3rd 5gallon which i use to make the new batch and then i switch the buckets.


its a master kit for aquarium which can test varies things. calcium, phosphate, nitrogen, and more. yes it does go by colour and sometimes the colours aren't perfect. i've got a post on this when i was using the my fish tank water.

Its probably a photometer. The one I was looking at from Hanna would perform 50 of so different tests for elements in PPM, which is nice, including disolved Oxygen which would be killer, but its not like you would use it all the time. Hanna also makes stand alone handheld models that just look at 1 element for substantially less money. Like I was saying though, the reagents are all different. So you could possibly have 50 different chemicals for testing 50 different elements. That shit adds up at $1 a test (some are less). So honestly, that was the deal breaker for me. Not the initial cost, which wasn't cheap especially from Hanna. The clarity of the test samples was obviously a real problem, but I use clear water now, so it could still be an asset. I just didn't want to be tied to Hanna for the life of this thing, like some Anyway product. I'll have to see your machine. If its the same thing im sure it would be less expensive, unless its made by Hanna of course... haha

 

[PK]

From what I see all your numbers look good. Your ppm is a little higher than I keep mine but from what I read that shouldn't be a problem. My ppm for my smaller babys I run at 175 and they seem to thrive I dont raise it to above 250 until flower and then I dont want it to go past 275 cause the lady might lock you out. I'm not real sure other than my thought about the constant water changing with the ph ppm and nutes. I think your babys are in a form of shock and have closed down for business.

i had a feeling the left plant was done for business but i don't think the right plant is close for business.

I don't do hydro, but when the plants are healthy they are taking nutrients up with the water, so both would go down.

Only if the plants are drinking but not eating would EC rise and water level drop. A lot of good DWC growers swear by that chart.

I have the chart put on my door to analyze the res condition better. I don't have a problem with the chart either.

Its probably a photometer. The one I was looking at from Hanna would perform 50 of so different tests for elements in PPM, which is nice, including disolved Oxygen which would be killer, but its not like you would use it all the time. Hanna also makes stand alone handheld models that just look at 1 element for substantially less money. Like I was saying though, the reagents are all different. So you could possibly have 50 different chemicals for testing 50 different elements. That shit adds up at $1 a test (some are less). So honestly, that was the deal breaker for me. Not the initial cost, which wasn't cheap especially from Hanna. The clarity of the test samples was obviously a real problem, but I use clear water now, so it could still be an asset. I just didn't want to be tied to Hanna for the life of this thing, like some Anyway product. I'll have to see your machine. If its the same thing im sure it would be less expensive, unless its made by Hanna of course... haha

no, not hanna machines. ACtually no machines at all.
page 46 post#841 here is the link

PK Perpetual Grow Journal 2020

Understanding your fish tank water environment Nutrafin Master Test Kit Nutrafin master test kit consist of the essential liquids to understand the environment of your aquarium. From Ph, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Calcium and Phosphate,I will be going through each of these along with KH and GH...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Stltoed]

i had a feeling the left plant was done for business but i don't think the right plant is close for business.

I have the chart put on my door to analyze the res condition better. I don't have a problem with the chart either.


no, not hanna machines. ACtually no machines at all.
page 46 post#841 here is the link

PK Perpetual Grow Journal 2020

Understanding your fish tank water environment Nutrafin Master Test Kit Nutrafin master test kit consist of the essential liquids to understand the environment of your aquarium. From Ph, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Calcium and Phosphate,I will be going through each of these along with KH and GH...

www.420magazine.com

Thats good stuff PK. Thanks

 

[InTheShed]

That's one hell of a kit PK! Looks like the water testing kit for my hot tub, which I almost never use. So many bottles.

Looks like a great idea if you have the time/interest to do it.