Watering schedule top feed clay pebbles?

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GreenthumbUPMI

Active Member
nor cal 999 said:
Awesome, I always love some ingenuity. I did run on test plant strictly in 100% perlite and seen little to know difference under exact same conditions as clay pebbles. I did notice lots of algae growing on top of perilite towards the end. Too my knowledge I assumed it was do to overwatering because the perilite seemed to stay more saturated due to the density vs clay pebbles let more oxygen in. I swear by ucroots if running sterile rez. It does wonders. I had a clone with extreme root rot once and did a root drench in 50% ucroots to water and it was cured in a week or 2. Happy growing. Any questions I'm here to help the best I can.

Awesome, I always love some ingenuity. I did run on test plant strictly in 100% perlite and seen little to know difference under exact same conditions as clay pebbles. I did notice lots of algae growing on top of perilite towards the end. Too my knowledge I assumed it was do to overwatering because the perilite seemed to stay more saturated due to the density vs clay pebbles let more oxygen in. I swear by ucroots if running sterile rez. It does wonders. I had a clone with extreme root rot once and did a root drench in 50% ucroots to water and it was cured in a week or 2. Happy growing. Any questions I'm here to help the best I can.
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Yeah, I've already got a little algae from the initial perlite "flush". I was expecting some (supposedly harmless), but later, lol. I was pleasantly surprised by how retentive the perlite was of water - and from your chart it's equally good at holding O2 (thanks for that). I've drastically cut back on the amount of water flow, since the roots will have damp perlite to work with anyway. I'll get some ucroots, but I'm hoping the light watering and perlite's O2 retention will keep root rot away.

I'll keep you posted, and thanks again for the input!
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
GreenthumbUPMI said:
Yeah, I've already got a little algae from the initial perlite "flush". I was expecting some (supposedly harmless), but later, lol. I was pleasantly surprised by how retentive the perlite was of water - and from your chart it's equally good at holding O2 (thanks for that). I've drastically cut back on the amount of water flow, since the roots will have damp perlite to work with anyway. I'll get some ucroots, but I'm hoping the light watering and perlite's O2 retention will keep root rot away.

I'll keep you posted, and thanks again for the input!
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Yeah definitely let me know how that works, love the idea of hempy buckets. Also, if your running beneficials dont use ucroots. Kills all good and bad bacterias. Good luck
 
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harrythehat

Well-Known Member
Hi shame you have such power wasted in the pump change it around so you can use less wattage by top feeding. mine uses 30 watts
no i do not use others i designed my own system based on NTT Nutrient Trickling Technique the only true hydroponic method
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
harrythehat said:
Hi shame you have such power wasted in the pump change it around so you can use less wattage by top feeding. mine uses 30 watts
no i do not use others i designed my own system based on NTT Nutrient Trickling Technique the only true hydroponic method
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How many droppers do you run in total?
 
G

GreenthumbUPMI

Active Member
nor cal 999 said:
Yeah definitely let me know how that works, love the idea of hempy buckets. Also, if your running beneficials dont use ucroots. Kills all good and bad bacterias. Good luck
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Trickling seems to work, so far. I replaced one weak clone and now all three are showing new growth, so they're getting SOMETHING from the trickle. Enough? I don't know, but I just bumped the nutes from 500 to 800 ppm (over the 200 ppm my well water provides). I'll keep inching it up as the plants grow. Since "I don't know what I don't know" this is still a crapshoot - but FUN...
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
GreenthumbUPMI said:
Trickling seems to work, so far. I replaced one weak clone and now all three are showing new growth, so they're getting SOMETHING from the trickle. Enough? I don't know, but I just bumped the nutes from 500 to 800 ppm (over the 200 ppm my well water provides). I'll keep inching it up as the plants grow. Since "I don't know what I don't know" this is still a crapshoot - but FUN...
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If I had a pump that could trickle, I'd probably give that a try for sure. I usually stay around 400 to 600ppm for the first 2 weeks of veg. Then increase 200ppm a week but never exceeding 1200ppm during flower. Not sure if that's normal but works for me.
 
G

GreenthumbUPMI

Active Member
nor cal 999 said:
My ppm is around 40 from the tap. I forgot to mention alot of my ppms is from calmag, roughly 300.
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I've got calcium and iron - don't know that they're in forms available to the plants @ 200 ppm out of the tap. BEAUTIFUL drinking water, though. I thought I'd hold what I have for nutes and in two weeks follow your +200 ppm/week model. Only "oddity" I'm seeing is the ph needs reset (from 8-8.4 down to 5.5) TWICE a day. The perlite should be neutral (assumption) and the plants aren't active enough to do that, so I'm chalking it up to the 12" airstone (though there's some controversy about that from what I've been able to find). Not that I mind much. I LIKE putting eyes in the tent(s) - probably TOO much, lol...
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
GreenthumbUPMI said:
I've got calcium and iron - don't know that they're in forms available to the plants @ 200 ppm out of the tap. BEAUTIFUL drinking water, though. I thought I'd hold what I have for nutes and in two weeks follow your +200 ppm/week model. Only "oddity" I'm seeing is the ph needs reset (from 8-8.4 down to 5.5) TWICE a day. The perlite should be neutral (assumption) and the plants aren't active enough to do that, so I'm chalking it up to the 12" airstone (though there's some controversy about that from what I've been able to find). Not that I mind much. I LIKE putting eyes in the tent(s) - probably TOO much, lol...
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What's the ph of your water before nuts and adjustment?
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
That's why or would be my guess. I had same problems. My ph from tap was around 8. I didn't start getting a stable ph balance until plants were about 3 weeks old with healthy roots. I found an article along time ago about as your resivore level drops along with ppms you start getting your original ph back. Let me see if I can find it.
 
G

GreenthumbUPMI

Active Member
nor cal 999 said:
I dont think I have it anymore but this might help
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Another useful tidbit...thanks! I cleaned & changed the res today & ph'd the 6 gallons to 5.4. Within 2 hours it tested at 6.4. This was with no feeding/watering yet, just sitting with the airstone running. Gotta be it...
 
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nor cal 999

Well-Known Member
GreenthumbUPMI said:
Another useful tidbit...thanks! I cleaned & changed the res today & ph'd the 6 gallons to 5.4. Within 2 hours it tested at 6.4. This was with no feeding/watering yet, just sitting with the airstone running. Gotta be it...
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Hmmm, yeah its either the air stones or just because your starting off with high ph like me. Definitely one of the 2 since roots haven't been in contact. Also like you said maybe the perlite but I've known perilite to be neutral as well. Let me know if you find out. I'd be interested to know to put in the arsenal lol.
 
G

GreenthumbUPMI

Active Member
nor cal 999 said:
Hmmm, yeah its either the air stones or just because your starting off with high ph like me. Definitely one of the 2 since roots haven't been in contact. Also like you said maybe the perlite but I've known perilite to be neutral as well. Let me know if you find out. I'd be interested to know to put in the arsenal lol.
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Next res change I'll spend a few bucks and use distilled water instead of tap. I think it'll be useful to compare...

Oh, and this time I used the PHDown bottled phosphoric acid, instead of the white distilled vinegar I'd been using. So far it doesn't seem any different. Latest ph test (9:30 p.m.) was 7.71, after starting (3:00 p.m.) at 5.4. One 10-minute trickle feeding at 6 p.m. Gotta be the airstone...
 
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