Why is it that I have such a hard time with hydro

but have no problem with soil...I think I am doing this wron or something...We're going to try it one last time and if I can't get it right this time then back to dirt we go...lol. my hydro plants just never look as good. I see some on here that are amazing and mine look all sad and tiny...lol.

What nutrients and additives are you giving your plants? Are you using tap water?

Well this try around I have killed an amnesia haze seedling because I used our well water and our filter was way past needing to be changed...so since it is dying of what looks like nute burn, but had no nutes I assume that the ppm of our water was just way too high...too much iron would be my guess...but I am pretty sure that she is past the point of hope...almost no leaves left...lol. But I ot some bottled water and cleaned out the rez and the c-13 haze seems to be doing well...growing and what not...I hate that I killed the amnesia haze tho...was totally looking forward to smoking some of it...but if I can keep the c-13 alive I am sure I can convince my husband to let me get another amnesia seed...but again that is if the c-13 works out....I now have a pretty good nute plan using technaflora nutes...since haze plants are super sensitive to nutes I have only given them an 8th of the recommended amount and everything seems to be doing ok. I am having a hard time keeping the ph low enough though, but the c-13 is having no problem...and like I said the amnesia haze has a few halves of leaves that are still green...I'm not going to throw it out til it turns to dust though...just gonna keep on hoping.

What are your PPM's?

DWC Check List:

PPM Meter
PH Meter
Ability to keep reservoir below 70F and above 62F

I give my seedlings tap water @ 250 PPM until they have their first leaves then SLOWLY add more nutrients each week until after a month from seed I am typically up at full strength my plants love this!

well, I dont' have a ppm meter but I can assure you it was too high...now that won't be an issue. I keep an eye on the ph though and the temps aren't a problem. I didn't give these seedlings any nutes at all and the amnesia was dying of what looked like nute burn, which like i said is because of our water, but now we are using bottled water so hopefully that won't continue to be a probelm...

I would have to say that you are doing something wrong,my hydro plants dwarf my plants that are in soil,I grow in both soil and hydro because if something should go wrong with my hydro I still have plants in soil to get me by.Im still a bit of a rookie in hydro,but as of my second harvest and third in a week or so all has been well,I learned alot in a little bit of time and still find things out that I didnt know all the time,the most important things in hydro are water -good meters a good book for reference and common sence,I dont use any additives like some do I just use GH 3 part nutes and rarely let my ppm go over 1000 ppm and my plants do fine,some try to push the nutes to the max and end up with nute burn,I dont worry about that anymore 1000ppm does my plants just fine,if you have well water you may want to invest in a R O filter or buy water(that can be a pain)bubble buckets are the easyest IMO.as time goes by you will end up refining your set up to suit your needs and make things easyer.I started with an 18 gal. tote,then to 5 gal buckets and now to a 6 bucket rdwc that im growing in now.1 of the best tips I can give you is to keep your plants elevated,I use milk crates.this will make nute changes much easyer than if they were on the floor trust me on this,and its just way better not haveing to be bent over all the time to take care of them and of course look at them.well this post has been long winded so I will end it cuz I could go on and on,good luck on your grow and anything you need to know is here

ill yrll you this get some test strips if u xsnt afford the meter i hardley check on mine but when i top off the rez or change ittry and get yourself revers osmosis water i hear it works well ive been usin tap water wit a ph of 8 lol

Weedler said:

What are your PPM's?

DWC Check List:

PPM Meter
PH Meter
Ability to keep reservoir below 70F and above 62F

I give my seedlings tap water @ 250 PPM until they have their first leaves then SLOWLY add more nutrients each week until after a month from seed I am typically up at full strength my plants love this!

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I am currently using my first DWC buccle bucket me and my bro have 2 18gal buckets and 1 18g rez was going to get a 32 gal rez but was cheeper to go with 3 18gs.ne way i bought a little ph kit with the up down and testing solution which has the coresponding colors to the levle of ph...my question is do i need a ppm meter if i maintain the correct ph levle?and what does it stand for? my plants are looking lovely but i have them in a little cloning bucket not im about to put them in the 18gal but i want to make sure my watter is good befor i poison them lol

Everything between first post and now aside ... if your are better at soil, stick to your guns and use it .... everyone has thier speacialties ^^ Good luck with the the hydro just the same though ... I'm in the same boat wit ya ... I tried hydro yrs. ago , it was an epic failure lol

well yes nd no i havent used one my whole grw and done fine i know how to feed my plants the ppm stands for parts per million you are trying to find at what the water already containes and what u can add they are excelent for feeding your plants as much as they can hold only if you are experienced but to awnse ur? no u dont need it

Jeffdt1966 said:

Everything between first post and now aside ... if your are better at soil, stick to your guns and use it .... everyone has thier speacialties ^^ Good luck with the the hydro just the same though ... I'm in the same boat wit ya ... I tried hydro yrs. ago , it was an epic failure lol

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haha im having diff probs now ive been growing soil for awhile nd now im doin both havin more luck wit my hydro lol

I use the drops in a bottle test once in a while,its good to have both around this way if your meter should happen to break you still have a back up until you get it replaced.a ppm meter however is a must for hydro

snocat said:

I use the drops in a bottle test once in a while,its good to have both around this way if your meter should happen to break you still have a back up until you get it replaced.a ppm meter however is a must for hydro

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i disagree with u there on the ppm meter i dont have one and i am 20 days from harvest never used one i have one but no probe on it jus watch ur plants they tell whats goin on if u know how to grow

keefbox420 said:

I am currently using my first DWC buccle bucket me and my bro have 2 18gal buckets and 1 18g rez was going to get a 32 gal rez but was cheeper to go with 3 18gs.ne way i bought a little ph kit with the up down and testing solution which has the coresponding colors to the levle of ph...my question is do i need a ppm meter if i maintain the correct ph levle?and what does it stand for? my plants are looking lovely but i have them in a little cloning bucket not im about to put them in the 18gal but i want to make sure my watter is good befor i poison them lol

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PPM stands for parts per million and it measures the amount of solids--or things other than water in the water. The ph and ppm are not linked per se so you would need to check both...although the ppm of most water won't hurt plants but we just have so much sediment that I assume is made mostly of iron...therefore I can nute burn plants with no nutes...at least none that I have added. I don't have enough money to buy a ppm meter presently so I am just going to use bottled water that way I know it isn't heinous to start off with...now I am just in the throes of another epic ph battle...our ph is around 5.5 prior to adding nutes...after the nutes it is around 7.0...so everytime I check it I add a little vinegar to bring it down slowly...the sec ond plant in there is doing well, but the ph is not right...if it starts to look rough then imma stick it in some soil and keep on keeping on...the amnesia haze is dead...DEAD!!! sucks. I was super looking forward to that one especially. But as long as the c-13 haze will pan out it'll be alright.

bummer man sorry to hear about ur problems man happy growing nonetheless

keefbox420 said:

I am currently using my first DWC buccle bucket me and my bro have 2 18gal buckets and 1 18g rez was going to get a 32 gal rez but was cheeper to go with 3 18gs.ne way i bought a little ph kit with the up down and testing solution which has the coresponding colors to the levle of ph...my question is do i need a ppm meter if i maintain the correct ph levle?and what does it stand for? my plants are looking lovely but i have them in a little cloning bucket not im about to put them in the 18gal but i want to make sure my watter is good befor i poison them lol

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PPM stands for Parts Per Million .. I suggest that you get a PPM mete and PH mete or a combo that does both. 5.8 is the PH you want to be at in hydro/DWC

Well the surviving plant was showing a litle ph stress, so I've been lowering it...hopefully it will all work ou because hydro is so much less messy and usually makes for a better plant, but it is so tricky.... Soil is just easier, but I wanna get this right! Thanks to everyone for their help and advice.

May god grant us egear minds, guided imiginations and green thumbs.https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...c-150watt.html

Sorry to do this, but your signature is spelled wrong...may god grant us EAGER minds...I always notice spelling things...sorry...

hahaha thanks lol never noticed it