First Bubbleponics DWC 5 gallon hydro. Need 3 questions answered

straitkilla911 said:

I hate to disagree, but your information is false. I have seen as well as personally witnessed many grows from start to finish where people have kept their net pots submerged throughout the entire grow. As long as your water is properly oxygenated the roots will be perfectly fine and healthy. I personally like to keep my net pots submerged until my roots get a good ways into the water, then i slowly lower throughout the grow.

Click to expand...

maybe it works for you but i dont do it that way, dont know how you can call my information false!didnt you see my pics nothing false a bout it its just a different way of doing things ..I like a air gap , maybe you should try it it might change your mind it might not.. In my opinion it works best this way,and no body i know does it any different but
that doesnt mean what your saying cant work too. Post some pics if any taken.

why do you lower your through out the grow?

I was simply referring to when you said "....I think you need to lower your water just a little you dont wont have your net pots touch the water at no time at all!! Your airstone will create enough bubble slpash to get your roots....".

It was false because water height is totally about preference. There will be no ill effect from a higher water level. The roots will continue to grow and thrive in a properly oxygenated reservoir regardless of water height.

I personally chose to lower my water level throughout my grow because i planted ungerminated seeds directly into a 100% perlite solution. and in order to keep my medium wet it required that my net pots be submerged in the water. But as my roots grew into the water and my girl grew larger i chose to lower my water level because i had little faith in my pump and felt as though she just couldn't handle all the water. I have one 10gallon rubbermade tote. i originally used 9 gallons for the first two-three weeks(notes not one me), then gradually reduced down to four. Since i only have one girl in there she isn't drinking too much and i haven't had any problems so far.

Here is quick pic from a simple search on Google as i sadly have no pictures of friends grows.(i don't blame them):
http://i30.tinypic.com/33wa5mw.jpg


A few pics of my own grow, sorry no better root pics(not big on "root porn". will try again a little later):
http://i28.tinypic.com/2guijcm.jpg

http://i32.tinypic.com/izc9iu.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/2urwnc6.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/2l9o45j.jpg

sorry suck at posting pics.

straitkilla911 said:

I was simply referring to when you said "....I think you need to lower your water just a little you dont wont have your net pots touch the water at no time at all!! Your airstone will create enough bubble slpash to get your roots....".

It was false because water height is totally about preference. There will be no ill effect from a higher water level. The roots will continue to grow and thrive in a properly oxygenated reservoir regardless of water height.

I personally chose to lower my water level throughout my grow because i planted ungerminated seeds directly into a 100% perlite solution. and in order to keep my medium wet it required that my net pots be submerged in the water. But as my roots grew into the water and my girl grew larger i chose to lower my water level because i had little faith in my pump and felt as though she just couldn't handle all the water. I have one 10gallon rubbermade tote. i originally used 9 gallons for the first two-three weeks(notes not one me), then gradually reduced down to four. Since i only have one girl in there she isn't drinking too much and i haven't had any problems so far.

Here is quick pic from a simple search on Google as i sadly have no pictures of friends grows.(i don't blame them):
http://i30.tinypic.com/33wa5mw.jpg


A few pics of my own grow, sorry no better root pics(not big on "root porn". will try again a little later):
http://i28.tinypic.com/2guijcm.jpg

http://i32.tinypic.com/izc9iu.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/2urwnc6.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/2l9o45j.jpg

Click to expand...

OK i see why you keep yours fully submerged , but standup s plants are in hydroton which doesnt need as much as yours, mines are in jiffy plugs peat, thats why i do it my way ..still dont see how my information is false...

what your sayin is mostly right but it mainly depends on growing media,rockwool ,hyrdoton,perlite,jiffy plugs etc all need to be treated slighty different.. in my opinion .
If any thing your informations false ..
Anyway im easy doing it my way, not pretending to know everything just trying to help out a guy ..Standup feel free to chose which piece of advice you want, as you probaly can tell alot of people say alot of diff things..

Your right "false" wasn't the right word to use.

I was only simply wishing to point out the various ways of doing things as i have seen it done both ways. In my own opinion water height is irrelevant.Lowering or highering water height isn't a necessity but rather a preference. And as you said, dependent on medium.

straitkilla911 said:

Your right "false" wasn't the right word to use.

I was only simply wishing to point out the various ways of doing things as i have seen it done both ways. In my own opinion water height is irrelevant.Lowering or highering water height isn't a necessity but rather a preference. And as you said, dependent on medium.

Click to expand...

cool ..i can relax now you said sorry..LOL.. nah i understand what ur sayin ,im not out to give out bad info im trying to learn more things at the same time..

whats your set up anyway? how long they been in flower for?
peace..

Im running a strait DWC using GH nutes(lucas formula).
Planted two bagseeds(ended up wit 1(FIMmed))(citrus kush?) in 100% perlite medium. But i later added some MG potting charcoal to the top.
Closet space is about 2'x2'x8'... Because of small space i have 12 (26w) CFLs.(3:1 ratio)
vegged 3weeks. Shes on week 10total now though. Taking a while to bud up, but shes got pretty decent genes though because she done took a fair amount of stress.

straitkilla911 said:

... Lowering or highering water height....

Click to expand...

I know I'm high, don't know why that is hilarious to me. I swear I should have been an editor. I catch typos and stuff in books all the time. The word is raising. I'm not trying to poke fun, I was raised in the south, so... Anyway, yeah the bongs hittin great.

HappyHomeGrower said:

I know I'm high, don't know why that is hilarious to me. I swear I should have been an editor. I catch typos and stuff in books all the time. The word is raising. I'm not trying to poke fun, I was raised in the south, so... Anyway, yeah the bongs hittin great.

Click to expand...

lol, I like this guy.

HappyHomeGrower said:

I know I'm high, don't know why that is hilarious to me. I swear I should have been an editor. I catch typos and stuff in books all the time. The word is raising. I'm not trying to poke fun, I was raised in the south, so... Anyway, yeah the bongs hittin great.

Click to expand...

I can't remember correctly, but i am pretty sure i was high myself typing that. lol it sounded right at the time. im usually the guy my friends laugh at for correcting peoples sentences. O well, probably the effects of growing up in a house with a teacher for a mom all those years.

hahaha you guys are cracking me up! im on vaca in colorado right now but ill be home this sunday and i will update my journal. im excited to see how much has grown in these 5 days.

I just got back from vacation a few days ago. Spent everyday hoping some weird freak accident didnt occur..lol. But yes more pics and update asap.

Yea straitkilla a fan in a sealed room will only cause temps to rise. It is blowing room temperature air through it, past its motor so it heats up. Moving air doesnt = lower temperature

Lol must you make it sound so elementary. but yes, your more than correct and i beat myself up plenty for that mistake. trial and error is a bitch.

Curret Temp: 79-85
humidity: 50-60%
pH: 6
water temp: ~70 degrees
Light: 18/6
ppm: 408



Alright guys, Im finally back from my trip, and well, i was pretty dissapointed when i opened my closet.

My plant is wilting, it is shriveled, burned(not only on the tips, bit on the middle of the leaf as well), and it even had several little holes on some new growth, it has grown 2 more nodes while i was out of town.
I have four possible theories:

1)I didnt have a fan blowing but i had my humidifier going, but im sure around day 3 the damn thing was just blowing waterless air, meaning it ran out of water. I think temps got pretty high for a while. ~high 90's low 100's.

2)I also think that maybe the 550ppm level was a little too strong, maybe that contributed to the sickness of my plant. Roots look darker, but no darker than an orange tint.
So i changed my res with some colder tap water, adjusted pH, and adjusted nutes from 7 teaspoons to 6, at a current 408ppm

3) My airstone keeps floating to the side of the bucket, meaning air bubbles float up one side of the bucket, and several bubbles on the surface skim across to the other side, touching the roots. Are they submerged in too much water? roots on the bottom of bucket are white. do i need to reposition the airstone to the middle ad make sure it doesnt move? Do i need another stone perhaps?

4) Air flow is weak, im sure! im saving for an inline fan, but im short 160.00 right now. Thats how much a 4 inch is at the local hydroshop.

not only does my plant look extremely unhappy, my damn thermo/hygrometer fell into the res and now its broken, keeps saying humidity is at 20% even though i know its at 50-60%


YIKES!!

Note:

I successfully harvested 3 small soil grows in my closet with cfls and no ventilation without such damage to my plants leaves. So i wounder why my hydro wont grow with similar results, especially with my pc fan exhaust.

Also,
Vegitation is very thick on the bottom of the plant, as you can see in pic 3.

your bubbles are good if the net pot is wet from getting splashed/sprayed.
then change water often and use pure RO water
for first couple weeks then add nutes at 1/4 strength till they get bigger
use nutes made as water soluble
check PH after adding nutes
calibrate PH testers and TDS tester at least once a week if used daily
set up a system to change your water res that makes it simple like have a 5gal res and make a 5gal batch to fill it, use a 5gal bucket to hold the old water. with some hose and a few valves gravity will do the work and its done
add more lights?

TheOldRat said:

your bubbles are good if the net pot is wet from getting splashed/sprayed.
then change water often and use pure RO water
for first couple weeks then add nutes at 1/4 strength till they get bigger
use nutes made as water soluble
check PH after adding nutes
calibrate PH testers and TDS tester at least once a week if used daily
set up a system to change your water res that makes it simple like have a 5gal res and make a 5gal batch to fill it, use a 5gal bucket to hold the old water. with some hose and a few valves gravity will do the work and its done
add more lights?

Click to expand...

I wrote it wrong, i add nutes, then adjust pH, you are correct though.
What does RO mean?
I check pH and ppm everyday, just couldnt while i wasnt in town,
I know those systems, but in my case its easier just carrying the bucket to my bathroom.
I think my light is plenty enough for just one plant and my setup.

Thanks, +rep

Standupp said:

What does RO mean?

Click to expand...

Reverse Osmosis. It's a type of filtration that brings water to 0 ppm.

Alright, well she is really looking better, over night. I have constant water in the humidifier, constant 79 degress F.
The top three nodes are standing up striving for light, they look really healthy compared to 24 hours ago. The bottom 4 nodes are still wilthing but they really look less crispy and shriveld than yesterday too, which is great, but is peculiar.

ph is at 6 and ppm is at 417.

res is about 70 F

Raised the light 4inches. i want to stretch her up a little bit.

I was reading about RO and equipment that is neaded and from what i found they can be pretty expensive. Im looking to find a DIY one, if you guys have any ideas, i was thinking about preparing the water for the ext res change a week before, that way it gives time for chlorine and shit to evaporate. Would that work? Or do i need to go spend $100.00+ on this?