Help plants are struggling

email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
ok i changed the water. i used RO drinking water. how long should i flush. while flushin how do i water? like normal?
as for the pot and medium....

i used these dirt sacks you get at wal-mart for tomatoes. you put water on it and it grows to like 2 in x 1in, its got dirt in it but i made sure to run it under water until i saw no color or particles coming from it and planted. when i saw the plant top the soil i transfered to my rockwool 1/4in cubes in a 1/2 gallon pot, and thats what you see.

i took the foil down and replaced it with a reflective shield for a car windshield is that ok???
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there shouldn't be any dirt or particles in a hydro system. for next time - start them in rockwool and no dirt! but be sure to soak your rockwool in water (i forget the pH but we can look it up when the time comes).

I don't know about the reflective shield - we won't worry about that for now.

flushing in hydro is easy - you just replace the res water with regular (proper pH) water. that's it. there isn't anything to "rinse" or "flush" - you're just removing the nutrient water and replacing it with no nutrient water forcing the plants to use up any available nutrients - does that make sense?

This info is for next time - germinate seed, plant in proper pH water-soaked rockwool (or rapid rooter - you don't have to worry about pH), place in net pot and cover with hydroton (clay pellets) - tried and true.

and this is a bubble system, right? do you have a good air-stone and pump? lots and lots of bubbles?
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
no its not a bubble sys its more of a flood system. everything is looking so much better. will have pics soon promise. rich now th leaves are turning down. theyre not wilting theyre nice and firm but they are trying to make a loop and on all plants and on both sides? any suggestions. and as for air pump i have a 10 gal pump with a 6in airstone. lots of bubbles!
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
no its not a bubble sys its more of a flood system. everything is looking so much better. will have pics soon promise. rich now th leaves are turning down. theyre not wilting theyre nice and firm but they are trying to make a loop and on all plants and on both sides? any suggestions. and as for air pump i have a 10 gal pump with a 6in airstone. lots of bubbles!
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glad they're starting to turn around - nice job!

The wilting sounds like it could be a high humidity problem as I believe malachi mentioned. Or it could be an over/under watering issue. I've never done a flood and drain and do not know how often or for how long you should water.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
i think its an overwatering issue. someone said its impossible to overwater with rockwool.. HA i did it im almost positive. i just went and picked up my pots and theyre draining like no other i lightly pushed on the top of the rockwool to drian more excess and it took about a min each until they were dripping not draining.
email you said something about the res being clear well how about this. im broke so i used my good ol american inginuity (sp) grabed my hot-glue gun and some black trash bags and lined the outside 3 times . held it up to the light and made sure none came through. and bingo should be what i needed.
 
hashheed

hashheed

New Member
dasmokinbudz said:
i have some mid grade seeds i started about 20 days ago. ive had many seasons outdoors but never really had a true indoor hydro grow. this is the first, i designed my own system out of a 12 gallon tub and a 4 gallon tub. there about the same size around but not the same height so i have the smaller ine inside the bigger and theres enough space at the bottom for my resivour. im using the general hydroponics nutes and im using 6 gallons of spring water with the proper nutes for gal raio. my plants look nowhere near what some others on here do. i was using a 500w halogen about 36 in away b/c of heat and i chanded them tonight to 27w cfl soft white. im cutting back on the watering b/c i was watering on a constant basis but my rockwool is growing algae.i plan on cutting bck to two times a day. should i water from the top of the rockwool or can i water at the bottom. im using the like 1/4in cubes in a 1/2 gal net pot for now. i lowered the lights to about 4 inches away to hopefully help them fill out. i only have 3 nodes not including the seedling leaves. seems like im far behind. any suggestions. ill have pics soon.
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dont let light near the roots use a bit black to white over the top of ur tank it sounds like the algie is geting light try a airstone u can water from the bottom or if drip feed the top if its a drip feed setup but it wuold be easyer at the bottom because of the way ur tank is my plants get watered as soon as the lights go on and goes of the same time as the lightsand my roots are pure white allways try to cover up the rootsuse black to white sheeting
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
well i've overwatered my plants in the beginning and they are in rockwool so not sure about the overwatering theory, i guess it all comes down to capacity to drain,

the only thing about having black on the outside of the res is that if your lights are close to it the tank will get warm quicker and the water in the process, but your using cfl's so it shouldn,t be a problem,
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
how do i tell if im overwatering or over nuteing?
my leaves are getting yellow and brown spots and getting the claw. they are really green where theyre not burned. they still seem to be growing tho, stems seem to be turning purple.


changes ive made to the system.
since i tok the halogen light out it doesnt seem warm enough in the room so i added a heater and a fan. the buckets have now changed to gray opaque ones on top and bottom. im using plain water and ive been trying not to water, its really hard tho so i do once a day. system is now a flood instead of a constant flow. i replaced the halogen light with 4 27w cfls of the blueish spectrum.
im going to try and post some pics right now.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
ok here is an update on whats happening.
pic 1 is burn not much but you can see.
pic 2 is of the leaf curl.
pic 3 is of where the stem is turning color and the curl.
pic 4 is my new res.

any suggestions.

im using no nutes right now b/c i am flushing but im not really watering b/c i think im overwatered.
help!!!!
 

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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
ok......plants looking soooo much better. im too tired tonight to get pics spent my night at the vet, there goes my grow fund for now :(
thankfully i think ive got everything right now.
new leaves are forming. look a lil yellow in the middle but i figure that its b/c theyre small and the fact that im not feeding nutes cuz im flushing. speaking of which how long should i flush? should i keep my regular watering schedule. when should i revert back to giving nutes. and sholuld i start at a 1/4 strength or should i go for half strength?
what othher mediums can i use for my hydro setup. its almost time to transplant into a bigger pot so i need to find something a lil more affordable than hydroton. the cheapest i find here is around 50 a bag, and its way more than i need now.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
I've been doing a little bit of reading and the seemorebuds book says you should be using at least six 42w CFLs for six plants ... at least!

Hydroton is expensive but you only have to buy it once. you can wash it off (with peroxide or a hydro cleaner like FloraKleen) and use over and over. You also don't have to buy the gigantic bag. find a smaller, less expensive amount (online has a lot of offerings). Again, i've only used hydroton so i'm not sure what else to recommend but i know not everyone uses hydroton so there are plenty of other mediums out there.

Without pics it is hard to judge but i would not add nutes for a couple of weeks and when you do - go 1/4 strength or less.

I can't help with your watering schedule - sorry - i've never done flood and drain and don't want to steer you wrong. I will say if you want a system that you don't have to worry about over/under watering - go with a aero or bubbler system. but if you do - you'll need an accurate pH and PPM meter cause you DO have to worry about pH and PPM.
 
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dasmokinbudz

Active Member
----->email468



ok will do on the nutes. ive been foliar spraying them every few hours or so. theyre looking sooooo good. nodal spacing is great. theyre getting closer together. ive moved the lights to 5 inches away. doing great. the middle of the new growth is a lil yellow is that normal. i was going to have pics but cant seem to find the cable, but i have them taken for when i do. algae is gone because i took the root balls out and flaked off what rockwool i could and squeezed it really well. out of 5 plants pulled out about 2 gallons of water! did that 2 days ago and havent watered because they are still nice and damp. is it okay to clip off the bottom leaves that ae yellow or not. i know to pinch the burnt edges off b/c they are already dead, but what about the yellow bottom leaves. as for light i dont see how i could arrange more in the small space they are in right now so i think im ok for now. i plan on getting like 6 more at least, you think that should be enough. 6 x 42 = 252
10 x 27 = 270! plus ill be able to space them out more and evenly. should i change out the water that i used to flush the system or just leave it. i still havent watered but i may need to at anytime.

thanks for all your help. i cant wait to show you pics of what all your advice has done for me.
 
email468

email468

Well-Known Member
dasmokinbudz said:
----->email468



ok will do on the nutes. ive been foliar spraying them every few hours or so. theyre looking sooooo good. nodal spacing is great. theyre getting closer together. ive moved the lights to 5 inches away. doing great. the middle of the new growth is a lil yellow is that normal. i was going to have pics but cant seem to find the cable, but i have them taken for when i do. algae is gone because i took the root balls out and flaked off what rockwool i could and squeezed it really well. out of 5 plants pulled out about 2 gallons of water! did that 2 days ago and havent watered because they are still nice and damp. is it okay to clip off the bottom leaves that ae yellow or not. i know to pinch the burnt edges off b/c they are already dead, but what about the yellow bottom leaves. as for light i dont see how i could arrange more in the small space they are in right now so i think im ok for now. i plan on getting like 6 more at least, you think that should be enough. 6 x 42 = 252
10 x 27 = 270! plus ill be able to space them out more and evenly. should i change out the water that i used to flush the system or just leave it. i still havent watered but i may need to at anytime.

thanks for all your help. i cant wait to show you pics of what all your advice has done for me.
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Oh man - that is cool news - good for you!! :leaf::joint:

The yellow spot is a concern but let's just give it a few days and see what happens with any new growth. I would, for now, leave the leaves alone. you don't really have to pinch - a good pair of sharp pruning scissors makes a very clean cut without tugging on them.

sounds like you're on the road to recovery - if the plants perk up and look "alert" after watering then you'll know they did need watered - if they droop - then chances are they did not. (unless i am mixed up - someone can correct me).

i'm glad to hear it sounds like they are turning around for you.
 
malachi

malachi

Well-Known Member
wow been busy the couple of days , and I was anxious to come back and see how your babies were doing, as I can see you handled it nicely, congrats man on that recovery, I know how trippin it can be...its all about taking a deep breath...lol can,t wait to see pics of your little ones . nice job dude.
 
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