G.V
Well-Known Member
I forget its called Hydroton more is the US. In the UK the common name is Clay Pebbles, hydroton is used just much less often. Has caused some comical confusion in the past actually.
A pal actually thought I was talking about the bad guy from transformers once.
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
Tap water is perfectly fine unless there is some crazy pollutant or high levels of something making it unfit for plant growth. Do the plants around your house or yard outside grow well on tap?
The problem you are having is nothing to do with root rot or a bacterial problem in IMHO. Just simple transplant shock/stress issues.
I would follow what I recommended above and give them a week and see where they are at. Don't be pulling stones up around them messing with the roots. Gently pulling up the net pots and checking the bottom for and growth is ok.
Those plants will thank you for a trim as I suggested with the topping. You have the "bean pole effect" going on right now.
Also, those are not "clones" but rather very old "teens" with cracking pubescent voices with all that wood showing up lol
PetFlora
Well-Known Member
6.1 pH is reasonable? Above 5.8 and lock out will begin, let alone accuracy/inaccuracy of his pH pen. My $150 Oakton was giving false readings as the probe was quickly dying. I figured it out when it dawned on me how much down I was adding without seeing any change. Burned the crap out of those plants, but I dumped the nutes, flushed and made fresh using a new pen
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
That completely false.
Many including myself run ph in the 6.2 + range in dwc with spectacular results.
5.8-6.2 is the target ph of most hydroponic nutrient lines
ChonBoi
Member
Plants outside are fine.
I will give it a try. I was planning on doing it when the plants get in better shape thinking I should not mess with them while they are in that condition. If it will help it and not hurt it I'm all for it.
ChonBoi
Member
Thank you for joining in!
I have a brand new Hanna Instruments Combo. The plants haven't showed fertilizer burn, yet that is.
ChonBoi
Member
LOL
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
There is a balancing act between what's going on up top and what's happening in the root zone. You are transpiring more than the roots are able to take up, hence the sick looking plants.
Don't be afraid to nip some stuff off at the size of those plants.
These are already recovering but you can get an idea how drastically I cut these mothers back. Once you have some wood showing on stems the plants are very hardy
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
The thing is I doubt you ever had "dirt" on your clones. Sterile potting mix or purpose blended organics. Most likely didn't have dirt with bad bacteria peloaded.
I have gone from soil to hydro many times in earlier days. Not ideal but will work
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
Well that's not good. I would ditch the plant and start again, that's me though. I was in the exact place your at re the roots and although I was able to save the plants it set me back about 4-6 weeks. It is a great learning experience trying to solve issues but it's also sometimes futile. My issue was excessive heat in the root zone and being low pressure spray there was lots of oxygen. If your water is consistently at 67 and lots of air being pumped in then not sure what it could be other than an introduced bacteria/pathogen, I do have better growth and stability by keeping PH on the lower side at 5.7ish but letting it drift to 6.1-2 before lowering doesn't seem to affect anything either. I did use hydroguard after trying bleach and H2O2 but also added a chiller, a must have IMO for a flooded system. I do think hydroguard helped and would still use it if I could get it 
. As for using rock wool it can be tricky at the start and in your DWC setup it may be that it is to wet. In my flood and drain I only flood once or twice every 24 hours till roots are well established then I can run basically a recirc type setup. Honestly I hate the stuff and have switched to peat pods or root riot cubes to start clones. I have not had great luck throwing the bare rooted clone in hydroton, it did work but growth was behind the media rooted plant by a bit. Good luck with what ever you do and yup you'll get lots of differing opinions, use the consistent suggestions and the ones that work for your setup. Also there are things that as you go will become apparent are helpful and some not so much. If not using RO water then it may take trying a few different types of nutrients to find one that offers ph stability with your water make up as well. Again good luck, I'm high and rambling lol.