Help...I suck!!! 1st Aerogarden Grow

Gygax1974

Just some idiot
now, for the roots; we need to cool that water down. roots do not like to be warm, not in hydro. if you're using a res, try dropping a frozed bottle of water in; it will last for a day, and will keep the water nice and cold.

kp
Just a quick question. I have thought of doing this before but I was afraid it might be too drastic a change on the roots. Have you tried this?
 

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
Just a quick question. I have thought of doing this before but I was afraid it might be too drastic a change on the roots. Have you tried this?
yes; as long as the roots are not touching the ice, it's ok. if you do not have a separate res, you can weigh your bottle down, to keep it from floating. this should keep the bottle away from roots.
 

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
If there is a deficiency it's more likely to be manganese. Calcium deficiency causes different symptoms.

With calcium deficiency you can expect the tips of your leaf fingers to hook over. The edges of the leaves will also curl upwards. You may also get distorted leaves, although often this is most likely a case of genetics.

Manganese def's are hard to pinpoint because of the variance of symptoms. Yet, to my mind at least, it is the only one it can be, if indeed there is a deficiency at all.
skunky dear, maganese and nitrogen are the two most seen defs in soil. most will never see a calcium def, as their water has plenty of cal in it.

he's using distilled, there is absolutely no cal in the water (other than any that might be in the ff). soft water and cal defs go hand in hand; if you use distilled or ro water, you need to have cal/mag on hand (or a good nute formula with heavy micros).

also, the first signs of ca def is slight yellowing in the center of leaves, which develop into rust spots. looks like those spots are 2-4 days away from being rusty....

kp
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
It could well also be a manganese overnute, as this causes the plant to find iron uptake difficult. An iron deficiency also displays similar symptoms to a manganese def'.

Which include yellowing chloroplasts. Which in turn of course die, causing the brown spots on your leaves.

I honestly think, despite kp's assertion that it is a calcium def, that with your nute regimen, it is most likely over weighted in manganese, causing an iron def'.
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
KP

I think you were right. They definitely got worse over night, so I think the nute burn is ruled out. There are new pics in my gallery if that will help which definciency I have. I am going to go with calcium def because I already bought the stuff. I added the nutes back in this morning. Is there some kind of calcium tablets or something I can get at a store to hold me over until the Cal/Mag arrives? I dont think my plants will last that long. Thanks everyone for the advice.
 

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
Are you sure about that? In my opinion its Nitrogen and Magnesium - never yet seen a Manganese Def.
*homer style "doh"*

yes bg, i was lost in thought whilst typing; magnesium, not maganese.

KP

I think you were right. They definitely got worse over night, so I think the nute burn is ruled out. There are new pics in my gallery if that will help which definciency I have. I am going to go with calcium def because I already bought the stuff. I added the nutes back in this morning. Is there some kind of calcium tablets or something I can get at a store to hold me over until the Cal/Mag arrives? I dont think my plants will last that long. Thanks everyone for the advice.
not realy; there are some things you could find, but they are slow acting. that is def a calcium def, no doubt about it. it will get worse, as you have to ride the wave, but they'll make it. the leaves will never recover, but once you get them some cal/mag, the damage will cease within 24 hours, and will begin putting out healthy growth within 48. cal/mag works fast, and is very good stuff.

so, get that cal/mag, until then, just ride the wave. keep the water cool, the ph level, and she'll make it through. look at my log to see my last ca def. it happened early on... kp gets her feet wet

kp
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
KP
They grew quite a bit today.:mrgreen: The def is looking worse on the leaves that already had it, but the new growth is not too bad. The reservoir is only 1 gallon and there is not a way to add an ice bottle without it touching the roots. I filled a plastic bag with a thin layer of water to float on top. What do you think of this? I have not put it in yet, not sure if it will do ore harm than good. I dont think there is a way around the ice touching the roots. What would happen if I added some milk or calcium tablets in the reservoir? Thanks again.
 

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
KP
They grew quite a bit today.:mrgreen: The def is looking worse on the leaves that already had it, but the new growth is not too bad. The reservoir is only 1 gallon and there is not a way to add an ice bottle without it touching the roots. I filled a plastic bag with a thin layer of water to float on top. What do you think of this? I have not put it in yet, not sure if it will do ore harm than good. I dont think there is a way around the ice touching the roots. What would happen if I added some milk or calcium tablets in the reservoir? Thanks again.
you need a bigger bucket. 5g should be the minimum in dwc.

also, you could get a couple of grommets and drill holes, run half inch line and make a recirculating system; keep the ice bottles in the res (totes work well for a 1-2 bucket system.

there are tons of diy's on recirulating dwc; if you have trouble finding it, let me know.

kp
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
Isn't this the aerogarden?

How deep is your res'?

Where do you pour in the feed? Do you pour it past the plant, maybe some of the feed hits against the leaves as you pour it in?
 

kindprincess

Well-Known Member
aero; man, i need to stop smoking or somthing... my attention to detail is quite lacking here lately...

still, with aero, you can recirculate the water, having a sepparate res, and you can keep the ice in the res.

kp
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
Hey Skunk
The reservoir is 6 - 8" deep. The roots are all over the place. I can probably keep 2 maybe 3 plants at the most. Hopefully I can keep them all until the sex shows. I pour the feed into the water. It does not touch any of the plants. They are looking bigger today, adding the nutes back helped a lot.
 

GreenThumbs

Well-Known Member
aero; man, i need to stop smoking or somthing... my attention to detail is quite lacking here lately...

still, with aero, you can recirculate the water, having a sepparate res, and you can keep the ice in the res.

kp
The tag aerogarden is misleading. There are no sprayer's,foggers or misters.
It is a heavy drip system (nft?) The pump pumps the res water up to each of the seven pods . Then the roots dangle in the res (which Gr8lay said is not very deep at all) What with the bars inside to stop it splitting open and the pump and water distribution system there is not alot of room in there at all.
It is'nt really worth messing about with it (separate res and stuff) Might as well just make your own.
Dont know anything about the problem but thought i'd let you know a bit more about the system.
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
6-8", is this the size of the container or the res'?

1 gallon containers aren't very big. If your res' is at 8 inches, you're actually growing DWC, or stealth hydro as our sponsors like to call it.

How far is the res' from the bottom of your pots?
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
Not far. When it is filled to the top, the pods sit right on top of the water. You can see a picture in my gallery I think.
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
If the pods are sitting right at the top of the water then you are growing dwc, not aero. Don't be too religous with keeping that water level right the way up. During veg, when roots are fully developed I like to leave about an inch between the bottom of the pots and the water level.

You'll want to flower early too. really, a 1 gallon container isn't enough for even just one plant in dwc. This could also be the cause of the necrophilia on your leaves. The roots are strangling each other, cutting off vital supplies to parts of the plants.

I had 3 plants sharing an 20litre container, dwc. Exactly 4 weeks into flower one of the plants browned off and died. The middle plant had taken over its rootspace and killed it. Veg for too long, and it may end up killing one or more of your plants.
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
Yeah I was worried about that. I have one plant that is 3 weeks. It wants to flower now. I will probably kill it off before it kills a good one. One is bag seed and the others are good stuff. I hope I can wait for the sex before I kill some off though.
 

Gr8lay

Active Member
Here are some pics... This one is 3 weeks from seed and is getting bushy!




Here is my lovely garden

 
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