Water Levels

Hey guys! Just popping in for a bit of advice. This is my first hydro grow, but not my first time growing. So I’m on my 4th week of Veg with my Zkittlez strain. Everything has been going good. I’m doing topping with LST, i just topped it again last night to get my 4 branches. I think I’m going to leave it alone from here on out just to see how it goes.

so here is my question. Is there a rule of thumb of where my water line should be? It seems like everything above the waterline is a darker yellowish color, where everything below is a nice white color. So last night i added another 1/2 gallon of water (to bring my bucket total to 4.5 gallons) but my leaves still seem to be droopy. Which in my experience tells me they have too much water.

I’m going to post a few pictures. Don’t judge my LST too hard, this is my first time, and i accidentally practiced the FIM technique. Anyway, any help is much appreciated! Thank you!

I try to keep mine within an inch of the net cup.

Johiem said:

I try to keep mine within an inch of the net cup.

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Ok, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing. But I’ve also read to drop the water level as the roots start hitting the water. So i did that in its 1st and 2nd week of veg, but the plant started drying out. So i brought it back up

I check my water levels at minimum,every other day. I made a dip stick out of a dowel rod for more accurate level readings. The only problem I'm having is ph stability.

Johiem said:

I check my water levels at minimum,every other day. I made a dip stick out of a dowel rod for more accurate level readings. The only problem I'm having is ph stability.

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Using GH products over here. I haven’t had any issues with my pH rising or falling out. It’s been pretty stable. Are you just using tap water?

No, my tap has a ppm ~520 on its own, I don't even drink the tap. I use r.o. and distilled when I run out of rainwater. I think my instability, which didn't happen as much with this one, has a lot to do with rez size. The most unstable was my smallest with only 1.5 gallons of solution.

It's deep water culture for a reason, within 1 inch of the net pot is ideal IMO. No reason to drop the level.

What are your nutrient temperatures running? That brown that you are getting above the waterline has me concerned. Are you using bennies or running sterile?

I get that brown with new expanded clay pebbles. No matter how much I clean those fuckers its like clockwork. Every transplant gets that color above the surface. It fades or gets lost in the abundance of new white roots later in the grow.

I usually start out with an inch below netcup. I clone and start seeds in an aerocloner so I weave the roots through the netpot openings so they are in the water day 1.