Vigorous growth but ugly plants

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Hi,

this ist my 4th or 5th grow with this aeroponics system.

i use ro water, 150-200ppm calmag, ghe trio and used some Heisenberg tea.

the plants grow very fast I check my tent in the morning and evening and I can see the growth
BUT the plants look very strange. Curvy leafs and the leafs look dry.

I calibrate my guardian every 2-3 weeks and double check the ph with another ph meter.

this is week 3

I can say it’s not the ph, it’s not humidity because I try to use the vpd chart.
I reduced the water level once the roots reach the bottom.

any advice ?
Thanks
When I ran rails I ran them aseptic, no organic material. They look a tiny bit overfed and possibly need some Mg, but it's too soon to be sure. Also running rails you need to keep your water cool. My plants did best with res temps of 65-68 F

I top fed until my roots hit the floor of my rails then pulled the top feed lines so I never had to worry about levels in the rail. I also changed out my reservoir weekly. Also be careful with room temps. If you're under LED you want temp at the leaf roughly 85 which makes keeping the water cooler a little bit of a balancing act. I tired quickly of that and moved to 50% Coco/ 50% Xlg Perlite.
 

kenmastazz

Well-Known Member
When I ran rails I ran them aseptic, no organic material. They look a tiny bit overfed and possibly need some Mg, but it's too soon to be sure. Also running rails you need to keep your water cool. My plants did best with res temps of 65-68 F

I top fed until my roots hit the floor of my rails then pulled the top feed lines so I never had to worry about levels in the rail. I also changed out my reservoir weekly. Also be careful with room temps. If you're under LED you want temp at the leaf roughly 85 which makes keeping the water cooler a little bit of a balancing act. I tired quickly of that and moved to 50% Coco/ 50% Xlg Perlite.
this is a great idea because the biggest struggle with this system are moving the drain level tubes up and down when the plastic ring gets wet its almost impossible. Every time I move those damn things I got bruises and cuts on my wrist from twisting and turning in this tiny hole.

If I understand correctly you use the top feed lines in the net basket instead of the holes from the rails until the roots reach the bottom after that you use the top feed lines the "regular" way right ?? do run the pump on a timer when top feeding ?

So I can use the rails without the tubes or on a very low level from the start
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
this is a great idea because the biggest struggle with this system are moving the drain level tubes up and down when the plastic ring gets wet its almost impossible. Every time I move those damn things I got bruises and cuts on my wrist from twisting and turning in this tiny hole.

If I understand correctly you use the top feed lines in the net basket instead of the holes from the rails until the roots reach the bottom after that you use the top feed lines the "regular" way right ?? do run the pump on a timer when top feeding ?

So I can use the rails without the tubes or on a very low level from the start
You got it, I ran the top feed lines in the net pots until their roots hit the bottom then I swapped over. I didn't run the pump on a timer I just ran the nutrient in from the top.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
In those pics of the roots I'm seeing rot happening. I did about 50 DWC grows in tubs since '01 and know what rot looks like. Always ran sterile tho using AN nutes so rarely had rot. I used peroxide at low levels until I built a DIY chiller out of an old water cooler then dropped the peroxide as I could keep nute temps between 65 - 68.

No rot here.

Roots2.jpg

Roots.jpg

:peace:
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
In those pics of the roots I'm seeing rot happening. I did about 50 DWC grows in tubs since '01 and know what rot looks like. Always ran sterile tho using AN nutes so rarely had rot. I used peroxide at low levels until I built a DIY chiller out of an old water cooler then dropped the peroxide as I could keep nute temps between 65 - 68.

No rot here.

View attachment 5253867

View attachment 5253866

:peace:
Remember to use your legs lifting weight like that you don't wanna throw your back out! Nice root mass.
 

kenmastazz

Well-Known Member
In those pics of the roots I'm seeing rot happening. I did about 50 DWC grows in tubs since '01 and know what rot looks like. Always ran sterile tho using AN nutes so rarely had rot. I used peroxide at low levels until I built a DIY chiller out of an old water cooler then dropped the peroxide as I could keep nute temps between 65 - 68.

No rot here.

View attachment 5253867

View attachment 5253866

:peace:
Chopped the ladies 10 days ago. So no root rot
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Remember to use your legs lifting weight like that you don't wanna throw your back out! Nice root mass.
That lid with the 16 plants doesn't weigh all that much compared to the tub of water. The short tubs hold 35L when filled to an inch under the net pots and the taller ones hold 50. The lids are the same size so I'd veg in the smaller tubs then prep a tall one with fresh bloom nutes and just move the lid over.

I figured all those roots took up a lot of space in there but when that grow was done I tested the amount of displacement and it was only 2L so 4% of the 50L.

My back is a concern tho so thanks for thinking of me. :)

:peace:
 
Top