Ok so here goes......
I'll start with all the specifications of the grow room and we'll go from there:
Hydroponic System: Deep Water Culture
Light: Black Dog L.E.D Phytomax2 - 1000 (True Wattage: 1050W)
Lighting Schedule: 18h on /6h off
Lights On Temperature: 29C (84.2F)
Lights Off Temperature: 28C (82.4)
Relative Humidity: 70% (Lights On & Off)
Nutrient Reservoir Temperature: 20C (68F)
EC: 0.8
Ph: 6.0
CO2 Supplementation: Yes, 1200ppm - 1300ppm
Nutrients:
Base: House & Garden Aqua Flakes A & B
Additives: Roots Excelurator, Amino Treatment, Multizyme and Algen Extract. (All House & Garden products.)
I think that's everything.
Alright so here's the story, this is my first attempt at a grow. Before undertaking the "simple" task of growing I researched.......researched............ and researched! From lighting, to temps, to CO2, to nutrients, to VDP, to humidity, to lighting schedules, to strain and genetics, to everything in-between. I read for hours upon hours to hopefully reinforce my chances of growing successfully 10 fold. How hard could it be?
So naturally after the research came the spending..... hundreds become thousands within a blink of an eye, covering all my basses, eliminating every chance of failure with every dollar spent, so I thought. Tents, lights, heaters, coolers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, temperature controllers, humidity controllers, fans, ducting, CO2 controller, CO2 tanks, extension leads, electrical timers, tubs, lids, water chiller, air pumps, piping blah blah blah, everything was to be covered to ensure my fate was not in the hands of mother nature, everything was to be at my control to ensure success and everything purchased was to be quality, my philosophy is simple, 9 times of of 10, the more money spent on a product the higher the quality.
Excitement filled me, finally I was to commence the grow, the tent was set and so the clones were rooted, according to some, 7-10 days to root a clone, pffft it took 11 days for the first, 13 for the second and the last two clones didn't take off until 20 days. But that was okay, for you see the clones were taken from a flowering plant, "Monster Cropping" they call it, expect longer rooting times they say, and so it was accepted as the strong thick white roots shot out of the rockwool cubes.
Now for the fun bit, into the net pots they were carefully placed, covered with hydroton clay balls and placed into the lid of the tub that housed the nutrient rich, oxygen rich water, chilled to a crisp 20C.
The man at the hydro store was not exactly thrilled when I went in to purchase nutrients after I described the method of DWC to him, "ohhh that's tough!" he proclaimed as he struggled to understand why roots would be suspended indefinitely in water, contrary to the internet which makes it out to be the most pure and simple hydroponic technique there is, monster growth at a monster rate....
So he goes onto then run me through nutrient options and brands and it is decided that House & Garden would be the pick, I was supplied with their base nutrient Hydro A & B and Roots Excelurator. "That's everything you'll need to grow a healthy crop!" he confidently boasted as my eyes stayed fixed on the wide range of additives, "What about all that stuff?" I asked. "Oh you see you may need some of it but the base nutrient has everything in it.". "Oh okay." I replied, not entirely convinced but hey, he's the expert.
So scene was set, EC at a mild 1.0,Ph at a solid 6.0, the light held high as to not over-stress the newly rooted clones, the humidity at a constant 75% and the temperature at a warming 26C. As the roots exploded and new vegetative growth formed rapidly out of the deformed "monsters" life looked good for these little baby's. As the days passed and the small plants acclimatized the light was dropped gradually and the temps slowly raised, the humidity dropped slightly, conforming to the correct VDP and the CO2 boosted to 1200ppm. A week in and my grow was on track to fulfill its destiny.
But then.......
"What is this?" I asked myself.
Yellow leaves? Burnt tips? strange....
the diagnosis began, hours of research commenced again and the culprits came forth with the diagnosis.
Light burn perhaps? nahhh, hmmm nutrient burn? yeah possible, easily fixed yeah, change the reservoir, the ultimate fix to any hydroponic, nutrient related problem.
And so it was done, the EC lowered, 0.6, great, let us sit back and watch as the plants react almost immediately, 24, 48, 72 hours pass, the symptoms worsen to my complete dismay and confusion? I watch in horror as with every passing day the healthiest and most prominent leaves burn from the tip inwards, yellow to brown to eventually white, like white white, this problem was getting worse and worse, and if the solution wasn't found soon then death would surely be the outcome.
Perhaps burn was not the culprit, maybe deficiency? It kinda resembled a potassium deficiency... aha, it came to me, I had it figured out, time for some additives for you see my tap water is very soft, 0.1 EC naturally and I had added no micro nutrients, no CalMag, only the base nutrients, maybe these symptoms I'm experiencing are a culmination of symptoms stemming from multiple micro nutrient deficiencies, makes sense I thought.
But wait, the guy at the hydro store stated that everything the plant needed was in the base nutrients.... hmmm I wasn't convinced so off I went with photo in hand.
"Hey buddy I've got a problem with my plant."
"Do you have a photo?"
"yup, here ya go, take a look, I think they're suffering from a lack of something, maybe multiple things."
And with not a second of hesitation he replied after viewing the image for no more than three seconds, "They're hungry, feed them more."
"Ahh ok......Do you think maybe I should get some additives seeing as the water I use is very soft and according to House & Gardens website they could be highly beneficial?"
"Oh no, the base nutrient has everything you need, just feed them more."
I wasn't convinced....
I went for a second opinion, a different store and a much more helpful guy but still no definitive answer, and so I grabbed a bunch of additives to ensure every nutrient was available to my little monsters and just cause I felt like it I decided to grab a House & Garden Grow Journal off the counter, it's just a nice little product information pamphlet.
As I'm driving home with a bag full of additives and my brother in the passenger seat flicking through the book, he points out that the base nutrient Hydro A&B is on suitable for "Run to Waste" systems and not "Recirculating"... Eureka, the wrong base nutrients, the bastard at the initial store knew fuck all about DWC and sold me a nutrient not suitable to the style of hydroponics I was using, a quick turn around to the store and the correct base was purchased, taken home and a fresh batch of the correct base nutrients and additives was brewed up and replaced into the reservoir.
Okay so here's the thing, the "burning" of the plants has stopped entirely, I understand that the affected leaves will not recover so I've trimmed most of the damaged growth off, the plants feel strong, they're still small but they have a "bounce" to them if that makes sense, the stalks have thickened up, the root growth is healthy but they seemed to have stopped growing entirely.
All the specs are up at the start for your reference.
The EC is at 0.8 and the Ph at 6.0, it's been 4 days since the reservoir change and the stopping of the "burning" and trimming, should I have seen new growth by now? or am I being impatient and they perhaps are still recovering after the stress?
I know the light's quite strong, it's a big ol' 1050w L.E.D but they're getting the right temps and humidity and the CO2 is being supplied, why have they stopped growing??
If you could maybe offer a solution that'd be great!
Sorry for the long post
I'll start with all the specifications of the grow room and we'll go from there:
Hydroponic System: Deep Water Culture
Light: Black Dog L.E.D Phytomax2 - 1000 (True Wattage: 1050W)
Lighting Schedule: 18h on /6h off
Lights On Temperature: 29C (84.2F)
Lights Off Temperature: 28C (82.4)
Relative Humidity: 70% (Lights On & Off)
Nutrient Reservoir Temperature: 20C (68F)
EC: 0.8
Ph: 6.0
CO2 Supplementation: Yes, 1200ppm - 1300ppm
Nutrients:
Base: House & Garden Aqua Flakes A & B
Additives: Roots Excelurator, Amino Treatment, Multizyme and Algen Extract. (All House & Garden products.)
I think that's everything.
Alright so here's the story, this is my first attempt at a grow. Before undertaking the "simple" task of growing I researched.......researched............ and researched! From lighting, to temps, to CO2, to nutrients, to VDP, to humidity, to lighting schedules, to strain and genetics, to everything in-between. I read for hours upon hours to hopefully reinforce my chances of growing successfully 10 fold. How hard could it be?
So naturally after the research came the spending..... hundreds become thousands within a blink of an eye, covering all my basses, eliminating every chance of failure with every dollar spent, so I thought. Tents, lights, heaters, coolers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, temperature controllers, humidity controllers, fans, ducting, CO2 controller, CO2 tanks, extension leads, electrical timers, tubs, lids, water chiller, air pumps, piping blah blah blah, everything was to be covered to ensure my fate was not in the hands of mother nature, everything was to be at my control to ensure success and everything purchased was to be quality, my philosophy is simple, 9 times of of 10, the more money spent on a product the higher the quality.
Excitement filled me, finally I was to commence the grow, the tent was set and so the clones were rooted, according to some, 7-10 days to root a clone, pffft it took 11 days for the first, 13 for the second and the last two clones didn't take off until 20 days. But that was okay, for you see the clones were taken from a flowering plant, "Monster Cropping" they call it, expect longer rooting times they say, and so it was accepted as the strong thick white roots shot out of the rockwool cubes.
Now for the fun bit, into the net pots they were carefully placed, covered with hydroton clay balls and placed into the lid of the tub that housed the nutrient rich, oxygen rich water, chilled to a crisp 20C.
The man at the hydro store was not exactly thrilled when I went in to purchase nutrients after I described the method of DWC to him, "ohhh that's tough!" he proclaimed as he struggled to understand why roots would be suspended indefinitely in water, contrary to the internet which makes it out to be the most pure and simple hydroponic technique there is, monster growth at a monster rate....
So he goes onto then run me through nutrient options and brands and it is decided that House & Garden would be the pick, I was supplied with their base nutrient Hydro A & B and Roots Excelurator. "That's everything you'll need to grow a healthy crop!" he confidently boasted as my eyes stayed fixed on the wide range of additives, "What about all that stuff?" I asked. "Oh you see you may need some of it but the base nutrient has everything in it.". "Oh okay." I replied, not entirely convinced but hey, he's the expert.
So scene was set, EC at a mild 1.0,Ph at a solid 6.0, the light held high as to not over-stress the newly rooted clones, the humidity at a constant 75% and the temperature at a warming 26C. As the roots exploded and new vegetative growth formed rapidly out of the deformed "monsters" life looked good for these little baby's. As the days passed and the small plants acclimatized the light was dropped gradually and the temps slowly raised, the humidity dropped slightly, conforming to the correct VDP and the CO2 boosted to 1200ppm. A week in and my grow was on track to fulfill its destiny.
But then.......
"What is this?" I asked myself.
Yellow leaves? Burnt tips? strange....
the diagnosis began, hours of research commenced again and the culprits came forth with the diagnosis.
Light burn perhaps? nahhh, hmmm nutrient burn? yeah possible, easily fixed yeah, change the reservoir, the ultimate fix to any hydroponic, nutrient related problem.
And so it was done, the EC lowered, 0.6, great, let us sit back and watch as the plants react almost immediately, 24, 48, 72 hours pass, the symptoms worsen to my complete dismay and confusion? I watch in horror as with every passing day the healthiest and most prominent leaves burn from the tip inwards, yellow to brown to eventually white, like white white, this problem was getting worse and worse, and if the solution wasn't found soon then death would surely be the outcome.
Perhaps burn was not the culprit, maybe deficiency? It kinda resembled a potassium deficiency... aha, it came to me, I had it figured out, time for some additives for you see my tap water is very soft, 0.1 EC naturally and I had added no micro nutrients, no CalMag, only the base nutrients, maybe these symptoms I'm experiencing are a culmination of symptoms stemming from multiple micro nutrient deficiencies, makes sense I thought.
But wait, the guy at the hydro store stated that everything the plant needed was in the base nutrients.... hmmm I wasn't convinced so off I went with photo in hand.
"Hey buddy I've got a problem with my plant."
"Do you have a photo?"
"yup, here ya go, take a look, I think they're suffering from a lack of something, maybe multiple things."
And with not a second of hesitation he replied after viewing the image for no more than three seconds, "They're hungry, feed them more."
"Ahh ok......Do you think maybe I should get some additives seeing as the water I use is very soft and according to House & Gardens website they could be highly beneficial?"
"Oh no, the base nutrient has everything you need, just feed them more."
I wasn't convinced....
I went for a second opinion, a different store and a much more helpful guy but still no definitive answer, and so I grabbed a bunch of additives to ensure every nutrient was available to my little monsters and just cause I felt like it I decided to grab a House & Garden Grow Journal off the counter, it's just a nice little product information pamphlet.
As I'm driving home with a bag full of additives and my brother in the passenger seat flicking through the book, he points out that the base nutrient Hydro A&B is on suitable for "Run to Waste" systems and not "Recirculating"... Eureka, the wrong base nutrients, the bastard at the initial store knew fuck all about DWC and sold me a nutrient not suitable to the style of hydroponics I was using, a quick turn around to the store and the correct base was purchased, taken home and a fresh batch of the correct base nutrients and additives was brewed up and replaced into the reservoir.
Okay so here's the thing, the "burning" of the plants has stopped entirely, I understand that the affected leaves will not recover so I've trimmed most of the damaged growth off, the plants feel strong, they're still small but they have a "bounce" to them if that makes sense, the stalks have thickened up, the root growth is healthy but they seemed to have stopped growing entirely.
All the specs are up at the start for your reference.
The EC is at 0.8 and the Ph at 6.0, it's been 4 days since the reservoir change and the stopping of the "burning" and trimming, should I have seen new growth by now? or am I being impatient and they perhaps are still recovering after the stress?
I know the light's quite strong, it's a big ol' 1050w L.E.D but they're getting the right temps and humidity and the CO2 is being supplied, why have they stopped growing??
If you could maybe offer a solution that'd be great!
Sorry for the long post
