Tea's and PPMs

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Metalmatt408

Member
I have a buddy running a flood table using the Home and Garden nutrient line with the AN Mother Earth Super Tea (MEST) and is having an issue with his PPMs and PH fluctuating. He's got strawberry cough in a flood n drain table in hydroton. At first we thought his medium was retaining some acidity, and then I thought the organics breeding micro organisms was doing it, but we can't seem to get ahold of the problem. Any ideas or thoughts would greatly help. I had him clean the table and the hydroton pretty well prior to transplanting so to alleviate any problems but still can't figure it out. THANK YOU VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE Using R/O water as well of coarse.

edit: ALSO I was under the impression that organics had nothing to attach to and grow on in a hydro system, especially considering he's using hydroton and doesn't have a sock in his res?? I've also heard that some tea's and or micros breeding at incredible rates when introduced to to certain ferts or nutrients?? Any ideas or comments, the education is greatly appreciated!!
 
M

Metalmatt408

Member
churchhaze said:
Go get some inorganic salt based nutrients or grow in soil..
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If you don't know anything then don't bother posting a reply. Get outta here with your soil talk, nobody got time for that stuff.

-Temperature is steady according to the Hanna digi read as well so I'm pretty sure he's not losing water to evaporation which would also explain the fluctuation he's seeing but I dunno.. I'm just gonna break down his whole setup and room to find the chink in the armor.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Metalmatt408 said:
If you don't know anything then don't bother posting a reply.

-Temperature is steady according to the Hanna digi read as well so I'm pretty sure he's not losing water to evaporation which would also explain the fluctuation he's seeing but I dunno.. I'm just gonna break down his whole setup and room to find the chink in the armor.
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That poster was essentially correct though he didn't say it in a good manner. I've been growing in a ebb and flow tray for almost 4 years now. I've tried several nutrients over that time, with very similar results from all of them. One thing that is a common thread among hydroponic growers is hydroponics, and true organics don't mix well. Organics have a tendancy to clog things, and leave sediment in resivoirs. Also if you use H2O2 in the system to keep things clean it will kill off the microbes that may or may not be growing. These 2 methods are kinda contradictory even though some hydro nutes say organic on them, they are usually organic based, not truely organic nutrients.

Now on to his issue, how exactly is it fluctuating, is the PPM or PH consistently going up or down, or is it all over the place? How many plants does he have in the tray, and how long have they been growing? Also how big is your friends resivoir? All of these are important considerations to determining what is going on this the system. Also if you could describe how you are adding your nutrients to the water and phing it because if this is done in the wrong order it can screw with ph and ppm levels. How much are you feeding the plants(what ppm are you shooting for) as well.

If the plants are drinking lots of water, and not many nutrients this will cause the ppm to jump up and ph to fluctate, and vice versa if they are drinking lots of nutes not much water you will see ppm drop drastically and ph fluctuate a bunch. Hope some of this helps, I may be able offer more with more info.
 
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churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Just give him a bottle with inorganic salts in it but put an "organic" label on it with some sort of tiger or indian and it'll all be cool. :)
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I am currently using General Hydroponics flora series mixed to the lucas formula, plus calmag, florlicious plus, and H2O2. My favorite nutrients I've ran were called Envy, they are fantastic hydro nutes that aren't marketed towards pot growers so they are less then half the price of others while still being a really well made and well balanced nutrient. http://www.envybrand.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=79 heres the site. The ONLY reason I'm not currently using the Envy is that I don't order things to my house, and my local shops won't order it for me.
 
M

Metalmatt408

Member
churchhaze said:
Just give him a bottle with inorganic salts in it but put an "organic" label on it with some sort of tiger or indian and it'll all be cool. :)
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hahaha! Whoever makes the word organic look the prettiest right!

so I had originally told him the same, if he wants his organics he's gotta throw in a sock or something for them to have a spot to latch on and thrive. he was set on the botanicare line but of coarse the hydro guy got in his ear and gave him the home garden and the MEST. I have a sneaking suspicion he just isn't watch his water levels, and is bei to proud to admit..

I personally run the full GH flora line as well as their general organics line for my outdoor and I have no problems with my Rez like this, thank you gentlemen!
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I've only read great things about the house and garden stuff, is it the aqua flakes he is using? I think if the nutes are causing the issue its the fact he is trying to add the tea to the whole thing. I bet he'd have less issues if he got all the tea out of there, and flushed his plants with clean water and then only used the Aqua flakes in to feed.

Edit: Just saw the res size and plant numbers and that shouldn't be the issue. If you had said 16 plants and 20 gallon rez that could have been the whole problem.
 
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churchhaze

Well-Known Member
That's all well and good, but I've heard great things about soil if he likes organics so much. (yeah, i know i'm being sort of a dick, but I can't stress it enough. Why not just use soil?)

Why doesn't everyone have a fishtank where the fish poop into a fully controlled eco system with roots dangling in it? It's because it sucks for anything more than a science experiment.

Thundercat said:
I've only read great things about the house and garden stuff, is it the aqua flakes he is using? I think if the nutes are causing the issue its the fact he is trying to add the tea to the whole thing. I bet he'd have less issues if he got all the tea out of there, and flushed his plants with clean water and then only used the Aqua flakes in to feed.

Edit: Just saw the res size and plant numbers and that shouldn't be the issue. If you had said 16 plants and 20 gallon rez that could have been the whole problem.
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M

Metalmatt408

Member
churchhaze said:
That's all well and good, but I've heard great things about soil if he likes organics so much. (yeah, i know i'm being sort of a dick, but I can't stress it enough. Why not just use soil?)

Why doesn't everyone have a fishtank where the fish poop into a fully controlled eco system with roots dangling in it? It's because it sucks for anything more than a science

No, not being a dick at at all dude it totally makes sense.I've been telling him the organics are way less valuable than his synthetics in a hydro run, but he always lets the guys at e shop get in his ear and convince him of "their favorite" products. And what's the point if you're not using full organics and I mean organic medium, res, ph up/down, etc. Cause of its not all completely organic it's just completely expensive IMHO. bongsmilie
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Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I actually really like aquaponics, and would some day really like to build a system when I have my own home and property. I would be building it in a greenhouse though.

I completely agree about organic soil being a fantastic option though. It will likely provide a better flavor, and if you mix your soil right, you don't really need nutrients at all, just water and you can use the teas for beneficials.
 
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churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, it'd be super cool if you could pull off aquaponics and get great looking buds, but if you came into a hydro forum asking for nub help on your failing aquaponics system, I wouldn't expect much in the way of useful help.

Thundercat said:
I actually really like aquaponics, and would some day really like to build a system when I have my own home and property. I would be building it in a greenhouse though.

I completely agree about organic soil being a fantastic option though. It will likely provide a better flavor, and if you mix your soil right, you don't really need nutrients at all, just water and you can use the teas for beneficials.
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