PLEASE CRITIQUE MY FEEDING REGIME RDWC

fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
Should soon be finished my first RDWC grow and to be truthful it won't be great. Stretchy in veg and the buds are leafy (not airy). Nutrient burned and the PH was all over the place. IMO I was feeding to high. Been running Shogun nutes but decided to have a change.

This will be what I will use next time and the reasons why I have chosen each product.

Would be great if experienced RDWC growers could critique my mix.

All constructive criticism would be appreciated but please give a reason regarding your critiquing. Don't just post "it's all snake oil" If it is snake oil please tell me why or give me a better /cheaper alternative. I also know I could grow good bud with base feed and cal/mag but growing is my hobby and I want to grow the best bud I possibly can.

System: 8 pot RDWC with epicenter, 300 litre (80 US gallons) and additional 200 litre feed tank with ballcock. 10 LPM to each of the 8 - 150mm micro bubble air stones, (for this next grow I may add a water fall into each tub, just a pump in the epicenter with pipe to each tub, shooting water into the top).

OK here we go!

BACKGROUND TAP WATER VERY SOFT maximum of 0.2 EC (100 PPM Hanna), 7.2 PH

NUTRIENT TEMP SEEMS STABLE FOR NOW WITHOUT CHILLER BETWEEN 16C / 60F LIGHTS OFF - AND 18 - 21C(MAX) / 64 - 70F(MAX) LIGHTS ON

Will foliar feed during veg with GH Necta, Seaweed extract and Yucca extract

BASE FEED

GENERAL HYDROPONICS 3 PART FLORA SERIES.
I love the idea of being able to tailor my feed to suit different periods of the grow. It also allows me to drop PK supplements. GH 3 part Flora Series has been around forever and hardly anyone has a bad word to say about it.

ADDITIVES/SUPPLEMENTS

PLEASE NOTE MOST GH SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN UK

BUDDHAS TREE SOLAR GREEN SILICA
UK product which seems to be the best of the bunch. Used and recommended by experienced growers and most importantly it doesn't mess with PH.

BOTANICARE CAL-MAG PLUS
This cal/mag is reasonably priced against some of the other top brands and is apparently used by many commercial growers in US, it has also been on the go for some time. It also does not seem to contain base nutrients that will interfere with my GH base nutrient formula, it does however contains trace minerals, vitamins, amino acids and plant extracts

GH DIAMOND NECTA
I have always been interested in the use of Humics and as I grow in RDWC think Fulvic as opposed to Humic would be my best bet.

CANNA BOOST
I wanted a booster that did not contain any extra basic nutrients just thrown in for good luck as that would interfere with my GH Flora series base. CB seemed to fit the bill, well tried and tested.

MICROBE LIFE PHOTOSYNTHESIS PLUS
Last but not least Microbe Life Photosynthesis Plus. I have used this product before and love it! Could see the difference within 2 days. Should keep root rat at bay as it has a good helping of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (1,000 times more than Hydroguard) and loads of other beneficials. Will add this at manufacturers recommended full strength initially (2 days after system fill) and then weekly at 1/2 manufacturers recommended.

ALL ADDITIVES/ SUPPLEMENTS WILL BE ADDED AT MANUFACTURERS MINIMUM RECOMMENDED.

GH FLORA WILL BE ADDED ACCORDINGLY SEE CHART BELOW.

FINAL FEED CHART.jpg
 
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fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
Forgot to mention I may add some LAB (Lactic acid bacteria) when I can find out more about its use in RDWC.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
i would say just be careful with so many additives all at once.

if it were me:

GH 3 part
silica
cal mg (if needed only)
photo plus

2 things to check: iv'e never heard of a silica that doesn't raise pH. make sure the cal mg doesn't contain N.

once you get these basic things dialed in, then add one additive at a time and see if you think it does anything. if you add them all in, you wont' know what works and what doesnt'
 
athomegrowing

athomegrowing

Well-Known Member
fartoblue said:
Forgot to mention I may add some LAB (Lactic acid bacteria) when I can find out more about its use in RDWC.
Click to expand...
Lactic acid is regarded as a harmful product of anaerobic respiration occurring under waterlogged conditions in plant tissues. Lactic acid has been regarded as the major factor causing cellular damage in waterlogged tissue through the process of cytoplasmic acidosis (Hochachaka and Mommensen, 1983). However no information is available regarding effect of lactic acid on different facets of plant cell metabolism.

Others claim the opposite.

A by-product of this process is the water will become more acidic, so keep that in mind.

Also isn't it an anti-fungal? antimicrobial?

Like other bacteria, lactic acid bacteria can be infected by viruses called bacteriophage.... risky.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
You're so over doing it.
Buy an RO system so you can get your PPMs down to 0, and use this chart. You will grow wonderful happy plants. Everyone I've ever shown this to use, has told me they've been successful.
CaliMagic MUST BE MIXED FIRST. If not, it will lock out other nutrients and fuck up everything. Mix each part in, Individually, and thoroughly, THEN add the next part. Also, for your 80gallons, feel free to mix up all the nutes you're gonna need for the whole 80, into a 5gal container with 4 or so gals in it so you can shake it well to mix it.
Recirculating-Nutrient-Schedule-custom.jpg
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
i would say just be careful with so many additives all at once.

if it were me:

GH 3 part
silica
cal mg (if needed only)
photo plus

2 things to check: iv'e never heard of a silica that doesn't raise pH. make sure the cal mg doesn't contain N.

once you get these basic things dialed in, then add one additive at a time and see if you think it does anything. if you add them all in, you wont' know what works and what doesnt'
Click to expand...
Calimagic is thee best Calmag supplement ever. It has ONE PERCENT Nitrogen. I was looking at megacrop CalMag Pro and it has 13%!
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
fartoblue said:
Forgot to mention I may add some LAB (Lactic acid bacteria) when I can find out more about its use in RDWC.
Click to expand...
Microbes,fungals,bacterias and any other living things used in RDWc is just asking for shit. These systems use salt based nutrients. Trying to implement organic practices into these setups just causes problems. Run these things STERILE and use a damned chiller.
 
fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
Microbes,fungals,bacterias and any other living things used in RDWc is just asking for shit. These systems use salt based nutrients. Trying to implement organic practices into these setups just causes problems. Run these things STERILE and use a damned chiller.
Click to expand...
As it is now I have trouble keeping my res temperatures up have 2 aquarium heaters going 24/7. Will see how it goes in the summer.

Tried sterile and it didn't work for me. If I do have problems with a live system I may have a rethink. I have read that Microbes etc are quite happy in salt based nutrients as long as the ec is below 1.5 or thereabouts.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
fartoblue said:
As it is now I have trouble keeping my res temperatures up have 2 aquarium heaters going 24/7. Will see how it goes in the summer.

Tried sterile and it didn't work for me. If I do have problems with a live system I may have a rethink. I have read that Microbes etc are quite happy in salt based nutrients as long as the ec is below 1.5 or thereabouts.
Click to expand...
You did something wrong then. With flora trio and calimagic in 66*F water only, you will not have problems.
 
fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
Just out of interest have many of you RDWC growers ran both sterile and live systems. Then stuck with one or the other after trying both?

I started sterile and got root rot so it put me off sterile but I burned the roots initially then let the rot in. I also think the rot may have started in the rockwool blocks (I don't use these now) because my reservoir temps were never went high.

I just expected the sterile unit to clear up the rot but it never did. I was using a product called Silver Bullet Roots, maybe that was just crap. When I drained the system and added Hydroguard it seemed to help and almost cure the rot but never totally. I ended up scraping the grow and starting again.

I haven't actually bought more microbes yet so could go either sterile or live. I know its a hot topic sterile vs live and as much as I like the idea of live system the PH drops and low intake of water are starting to confuse me. The highest I fed in flower was 1.6 ec (800 ppm) with 0.2 background and you would think the plants had hit a brick wall nutrient level static, PH dropping dramatically, EC static. This transpired into problems with the plants that could have been anything.
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
i've done both:
HTH for sterile and Southern Ag for bennies.

each works great in my opinion. each is cheap although nothing is as cheap as HTH.

i weighed out each dose of HTH so a scale accurate to 0.01 grams is a must.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
fartoblue said:
Just out of interest have many of you RDWC growers ran both sterile and live systems. Then stuck with one or the other after trying both?

I started sterile and got root rot so it put me off sterile but I burned the roots initially then let the rot in. I also think the rot may have started in the rockwool blocks (I don't use these now) because my reservoir temps were never went high.

I just expected the sterile unit to clear up the rot but it never did. I was using a product called Silver Bullet Roots, maybe that was just crap. When I drained the system and added Hydroguard it seemed to help and almost cure the rot but never totally. I ended up scraping the grow and starting again.

I haven't actually bought more microbes yet so could go either sterile or live. I know its a hot topic sterile vs live and as much as I like the idea of live system the PH drops and low intake of water are starting to confuse me. The highest I fed in flower was 1.6 ec (800 ppm) with 0.2 background and you would think the plants had hit a brick wall nutrient level static, PH dropping dramatically, EC static. This transpired into problems with the plants that could have been anything.
Click to expand...
Try sterile again. You're over thinking this whole thing, buddy.
Use NOTHING ELSE but Hydroton (expanded clay pellets).
Make your cal mag since you can't get CaliMagic, use it with the FloraTrio just as the chart I posted tells you to. Keep your water temps steadily 64-68(66 is what you can shoot for) and you'll have success.
Clean your entire system with hydrogen peroxide and water, then a soapy water, and rinse. Get every crack.
Also, water temps are fine to hang around 62. I'd try to hold off using any heaters like you mentioned if possible.
 
fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
rkymtnman said:
i've done both:
HTH for sterile and Southern Ag for bennies.

each works great in my opinion. each is cheap although nothing is as cheap as HTH.

i weighed out each dose of HTH so a scale accurate to 0.01 grams is a must.
Click to expand...

What is HTH Rky?
 
fartoblue

fartoblue

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
Try sterile again. You're over thinking this whole thing, buddy.
Use NOTHING ELSE but Hydroton (expanded clay pellets).
Make your cal mag since you can't get CaliMagic, use it with the FloraTrio just as the chart I posted tells you to. Keep your water temps steadily 64-68(66 is what you can shoot for) and you'll have success.
Clean your entire system with hydrogen peroxide and water, then a soapy water, and rinse. Get every crack.
Also, water temps are fine to hang around 62. I'd try to hold off using any heaters like you mentioned if possible.
Click to expand...
I may just give sterile another go. I can buy Calcium Hypochlorite powder here in UK is that same as pool shock?
 
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