Hydro Newb looking for help with DIY build

[graying.geek]

That's what I run mine at and never had issues, so if not that I would say watering schedule, I find that less is best until roots are well established

Thanx for the input, Bud. Per your advice, I've scaled back the drip schedule to 1 min on out of 30. We'll see...

Any other/followup suggestions/questions are welcome.

 

[klx]

View attachment 4088721 The tank is setup and I started my first run ~2 weeks ago. I'm dripping seedling-strength nutes (Megacrop + tap) from the reservoir into the pots, 2 min on, 8 min off. My res is running at 20'C and pH 5.8 with ambient temp ~23'C. My PPM is a bit high at 310 (the water out of our tap is ~60). *But*, none of the 3 girls are looking good. All started yellowing bottom leaves up, and after 2 weeks week, I'm still not seeing any roots coming out of the pot.

What am I doing wrong? Looks like a nute defficiency, but according to the Megacrop folks, the PPM should be down around 250, so they should be too strong right now. Did the clones need more root development before being put in the pots? Nutes too weak? Or, is there some other noob factor that I'm screwing up?

Any help appreciated.

That all seems fine to me except the feeding schedule. That is a lot of feeding. Is the seedling just sitting in the clay balls or is it in a small rockwool cube in there?

Edit> I just read the rest of the posts and see you have figured that out already. You are definitely not overdoing it on the H2O2. Personally I would allow my clones to have bigger roots before transplanting as well.

Like this:

 

[graying.geek]

That all seems fine to me except the feeding schedule. That is a lot of feeding. Is the seedling just sitting in the clay balls or is it in a small rockwool cube in there?

Edit> I just read the rest of the posts and see you have figured that out already. You are definitely not overdoing it on the H2O2. Personally I would allow my clones to have bigger roots before transplanting as well.

Like this:
View attachment 4089349

Thanx, Klx.

That all seems fine to me except the feeding schedule. That is a lot of feeding. Is the seedling just sitting in the clay balls or is it in a small rockwool cube in there?

Edit> I just read the rest of the posts and see you have figured that out already. You are definitely not overdoing it on the H2O2. Personally I would allow my clones to have bigger roots before transplanting as well.

No rockwool. I was concerned that the rockwool would retain too much water so I took the clones out of the rockwool -- yes, I was *very* gentle -- before putting them in the pots. Should I leave them in?

Like this:

Ah-ha! The roots *are* (probably) my problem. I've *never* been able to get my clones to sprout roots like yours, and the roots on the plants I put in the net pots are only 25% the size of your roots, and no lateral branching. I've tried several different cloning methods but none have been particularly successful.

Looks like your cloner is a diy. Did you follow a howto, or self-engineer? Which pump and sprinkler heads did you use? Are you sprinkling continuously, or on an on/off schedule? Nutes? H2O2? Anything else? How often do you change solution in the cloner?

TIA, Klx. You've been a big help.

 

[klx]

No rockwool. I was concerned that the rockwool would retain too much water so I took the clones out of the rockwool -- yes, I was *very* gentle -- before putting them in the pots. Should I leave them in?

No, you are right, I thought maybe there was rockwool in there but nah you dont need it.

Ah-ha! The roots *are* (probably) my problem. I've *never* been able to get my clones to sprout roots like yours, and the roots on the plants I put in the net pots are only 25% the size of your roots, and no lateral branching. I've tried several different cloning methods but none have been particularly successful.

Looks like your cloner is a diy. Did you follow a howto, or self-engineer? Which pump and sprinkler heads did you use? Are you sprinkling continuously, or on an on/off schedule? Nutes? H2O2? Anything else? How often do you change solution in the cloner?

I just copied the commercial aero cloners with what I had available. The res is an old esky (cooler) with holes drilled in the top so the 2 inch netpots drop in snug. There is a good tutorial here to give you some ideas. Mine is basically a simpler version - https://www.rollitup.org/t/harvest-a-pound-every-three-weeks.116859/page-499

Then on the inside I just used pvc to make a frame and a small aquarium pump. I have tried all the sprayers they sell at the hardware store and found the mini sprinklers to be the best and I only need 4 so the pressure stays high. These are the onese I use - https://www.bunnings.com.au/pope-micro-mini-spinner-5-pack_p3120466

After much experimentation, 15 mins on / 30 mins off gives me roots nubs in 4 - 5 days and those roots in the picture above in about 10 days in summer. Winter it takes a few more days due to the cooler weather.

I use straight tap water and then dose with about 5ml of H2O2 every few days to keep it sterile until there are a good spray of roots, then hit them with a light veg nute mix to get them moving as I do zero veg SoGs so they go straight from cloner to flower.

I only change the solution and wash everything once the clones are gone to flower, ready for the next batch. I generally toss out a third of the rooted clones I have as I always take extra and just choose the ones with the biggest roots.

Happy building!

 

[Budley Doright]

No, you are right, I thought maybe there was rockwool in there but nah you dont need it.




I just copied the commercial aero cloners with what I had available. The res is an old esky (cooler) with holes drilled in the top so the 2 inch netpots drop in snug. There is a good tutorial here to give you some ideas. Mine is basically a simpler version - https://www.rollitup.org/t/harvest-a-pound-every-three-weeks.116859/page-499

Then on the inside I just used pvc to make a frame and a small aquarium pump. I have tried all the sprayers they sell at the hardware store and found the mini sprinklers to be the best and I only need 4 so the pressure stays high. These are the onese I use - https://www.bunnings.com.au/pope-micro-mini-spinner-5-pack_p3120466

After much experimentation, 15 mins on / 30 mins off gives me roots nubs in 4 - 5 days and those roots in the picture above in about 10 days in summer. Winter it takes a few more days due to the cooler weather.

I use straight tap water and then dose with about 5ml of H2O2 every few days to keep it sterile until there are a good spray of roots, then hit them with a light veg nute mix to get them moving as I do zero veg SoGs so they go straight from cloner to flower.

I only change the solution and wash everything once the clones are gone to flower, ready for the next batch. I generally toss out a third of the rooted clones I have as I always take extra and just choose the ones with the biggest roots.

Happy building!

Are you using 35% H2O2? I may try again just to see WTF my girls got burnt to shit using 10-15 ml. .

 

[PetFlora]

Are you using 35% H2O2? I may try again just to see WTF my girls got burnt to shit using 10-15 ml. .

Food Grade (35%) needs to be diluted before adding to rez, unless you are dripping it

 

[graying.geek]

No, you are right, I thought maybe there was rockwool in there but nah you dont need it.

I just copied the commercial aero cloners with what I had available. The res is an old esky (cooler) with holes drilled in the top so the 2 inch netpots drop in snug. There is a good tutorial here to give you some ideas. Mine is basically a simpler version - https://www.rollitup.org/t/harvest-a-pound-every-three-weeks.116859/page-499... <snip>

If we weren't separated by 12 timezones I'd definitely offer to buy you a beer. Enjoy a virtual Fosters on me, please.

Thank you!

 

[klx]

Are you using 35% H2O2? I may try again just to see WTF my girls got burnt to shit using 10-15 ml. .

I use 50%. 20ml straight into a 100L res every couple of days. Its corrosive so will burn if you get it on yourself but wont burn anything once diluted in the res.

Edit> I should say, the place where I get my H2O2 manufacture it themselves and tell me that although it is sold as 50%, it actually could be anywhere from 40 - 60%. So, when i get a new 20L drum I always start with a half dose just to be safe. But so far no probs.

 

[klx]

Food Grade (35%) needs to be diluted before adding to rez, unless you are dripping it

Nope, I just use an old 1L nutrient bottle to measure it out and dump it straight into the res. Been doing it for years.

 

[Budley Doright]

I use 50%. 20ml straight into a 100L res every couple of days. Its corrosive so will burn if you get it on yourself but wont burn anything once diluted in the res.

Edit> I should say, the place where I get my H2O2 manufacture it themselves and tell me that although it is sold as 50%, it actually could be anywhere from 40 - 60%. So, when i get a new 20L drum I always start with a half dose just to be safe. But so far no probs.

Ya I'll try again with 10ml and see, it was 100 litre res that I use as well .... very strange .

 

[Budley Doright]

Food Grade (35%) needs to be diluted before adding to rez, unless you are dripping it

With my pump only coming on every
Hour I'm pretty sure it would mix ok .... we're talking ml's into litres but like I said, strange

 

[rkymtnman]

Any other/followup suggestions/questions are welcome.

i'll go against the grain and say run your top feed 24/7 and skip the h2o2 for a bit.

i use a waterfarm which is top feed 24/7. and i've used chlorine and beneficials but never peroxide

 

[Budley Doright]

i'll go against the grain and say run your top feed 24/7 and skip the h2o2 for a bit.

i use a waterfarm which is top feed 24/7. and i've used chlorine and beneficials but never peroxide

Maybe the flood and drain I do is different but if I do more than 3-4 floods a day my roots suffer and it took my dumb ass a bit to figure it out. Now I sparingly flood until roots are bigger then if I want I can basically run a continuos pump cycle, basically a RDWC.

 

[graying.geek]

... and it took my dumb ass a bit to figure it out.

I know the feeling well.

 

[PetFlora]

Maybe the flood and drain I do is different but if I do more than 3-4 floods a day my roots suffer and it took my dumb ass a bit to figure it out. Now I sparingly flood until roots are bigger then if I want I can basically run a continuos pump cycle, basically a RDWC.

#metoo

I was borrowing from my HPA days flooding every 2 hours during early veg, partly because I was not letting my seedlings root systems develop enough when I transitioned them from starter bubbler to F & D totes often leading to starving plants/roots

I think I have that conquered, so next grow I will cut back to 3-4xs/day