Hey everyone, after a long hiatus, I decided to start growing again. I've built up a DIY RDWC system, and am new to this method (used Aero NFT in the past).
I started a batch of autoflower seeds while I wait for my mothers to provide cuttings. Berry Ryder and Hijack, both sprouted within a few days. On 12/6, they looked like:
As of today, 12/23, they now look like:
Almost all of the plants (regardless of strain), are showing weird symptoms -- and from the research I've done, can be related to a ton of different things. Before I get into detail on conditions and things I've tried, here are some more pictures:
This one was about 2 weeks behind the main batch, but appears to be looking healthier (for now):
As you can see from the pictures above, the majority of them have curled\twisted leaves with different shades of green, and brown spots. I have done the following in an attempt for healthier plants:
This is a photoperiod plant, and makes me think I am doing something to cause this, and not because "autos are weird".
I was running mother nutrients part a and b, however, after a week my reservoir smelled terrible, and the water looked like mud. I have since switched them to the GH lineup above. I am wondering if the liquid karma being in the rez with the mother nutrient lineup caused too much organic(ness)?
I'm at the point where I'm doing too much too fast. And hoping any seasoned growers here can help point me in the right direction. I wanted to top these this week, but I think this batch will go without in order to keep the stress down. RDWC seems very simple on the surface, but I'm seeing differing opinions on things like water level to net pots, nutrient dosing, over\under oxygenating with air stones, etc. I am looking for a happy middle ground on what works, and can optimize from there.
Thank you for your time!
I started a batch of autoflower seeds while I wait for my mothers to provide cuttings. Berry Ryder and Hijack, both sprouted within a few days. On 12/6, they looked like:
As of today, 12/23, they now look like:
Almost all of the plants (regardless of strain), are showing weird symptoms -- and from the research I've done, can be related to a ton of different things. Before I get into detail on conditions and things I've tried, here are some more pictures:
This one was about 2 weeks behind the main batch, but appears to be looking healthier (for now):
As you can see from the pictures above, the majority of them have curled\twisted leaves with different shades of green, and brown spots. I have done the following in an attempt for healthier plants:
- Changed the light schedule to 18 hours a day, moved it higher, and dimmed it down ~30%.
- Was running 24 as I assumed it would be fine since they are autos, with the added bonus of a few extra degrees (in a basement, and it's winter). After some research I realized this is probably not a good idea.
- The original height was about 2 feet away from the plants, I have moved the light up another 2 feet, ~4 feet away from the canopy.
- Not sure if light is an issue, however, after moving the lights up and putting them on a schedule, there was no noticeable stretching. Maybe the plants are still getting enough\too much light?
- Flushed the system and dialed down the nutrients (the system holds ~35 gallons with water level just touching the bottom of the net pot).
- Last week the PPM was around 750, with a PH of 5.8. The PH was stable, however the PPM did not drop.
- This week the PPM is around 450, with a PH of 6.1. PH is stable, PPM has dropped to ~430 in a span of 3 days.
- Slowed the recirculating pump down to 70% (1060GPH @ 100%). I don't know if there is a such thing as recirculating it too fast, but I figured dropping it a bit couldn't hurt.
- The general hydroponics feeding chart (using micro/grow/bloom) suggest 1100-1300 PPM so I'm kinda confused here. 4 days in at ~450 PPM, the curls appear to be less drastic. However, I am worried of stunting growth, and not sure if they are growing as fast as they should be.
- Dropped the water level a bit to allow for an air gap between the net pot and the water (8th picture above).
- Thought process behind this was maybe the plant is not taking up enough oxygen, regardless of the 4" air disc pumping out a lot of bubbles.
- This was done 2 days ago, probably not enough time to see a noticeable difference.
- Trimmed off crunchy parts of the fan leaves, some being cut off entirely.
- The leaves that curled the most, also dried out and became crunchy @ the curls after a few days.
- Positioned the fan to be even further away from the plants. They weren't being pelted or anything, and the fan is oscillating. I did this in-case it could be related to wind burn, but I think the potential of this was pretty low.
- Adjusted humidity.
- The room is around 30% by default, I ran a humidifier for a few days to keep it around 60%. Sometimes they look perked up, and sometimes they started to droop, as if the leaves were collecting too much water weight.
- GH Flora series (micro, grow, and bloom).
- CalMag
- Liquid Karma (was adding to res for the first 2 weeks, now using as a foiler spray)
- UC Roots (mineral descaler)
- **using RO water (edit)
- HLG Scorpion Diablo (650 watts, dimmable to ~150 watts)
- 1060GPH pump (adjustable flow)
- 1110 GPH air pump
- 4" air stone disc in each tote
- 6" exhaust fan
- 32 gallon res tote (the lid on this is covered to block light which was not shown in the pictures)
- 7.2 gallon plant totes (did not get a chance to paint\wrap the lids, however I am not seeing any algae)
- Room temp: 65-70f lights off/on
- Water temp: 65-67f lights off/on
- Humidity: ~30%
- PH Range: 5.6-6.2 on average, re-calibrated weekly to keep accurate readings.
This is a photoperiod plant, and makes me think I am doing something to cause this, and not because "autos are weird".
I was running mother nutrients part a and b, however, after a week my reservoir smelled terrible, and the water looked like mud. I have since switched them to the GH lineup above. I am wondering if the liquid karma being in the rez with the mother nutrient lineup caused too much organic(ness)?
I'm at the point where I'm doing too much too fast. And hoping any seasoned growers here can help point me in the right direction. I wanted to top these this week, but I think this batch will go without in order to keep the stress down. RDWC seems very simple on the surface, but I'm seeing differing opinions on things like water level to net pots, nutrient dosing, over\under oxygenating with air stones, etc. I am looking for a happy middle ground on what works, and can optimize from there.
Thank you for your time!
Last edited:
