Holla Man 219
Active Member
Here's a question thats has been on my mind. If I have my nutes mixed in the tote that my plants and sitting in, should I be top feeding them nutes as well? 
Feeding the gurls.
- Thread starter Holla Man 219
- Start date
disposition84
Well-Known Member
What method of growing are you using?
Top feeding is usually only needed in drip systems.
Assuming you're using a DWC setup, as long as the bottom of the
netpot is submerged and you have good amount of bubbles you
should be fine in the beginning. Then once the roots find their way
out of the netpot and into the water your girls should explode.
Top feeding is usually only needed in drip systems.
Assuming you're using a DWC setup, as long as the bottom of the
netpot is submerged and you have good amount of bubbles you
should be fine in the beginning. Then once the roots find their way
out of the netpot and into the water your girls should explode.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Sorry about that. I am using a homemade system with 12 plant sites, underneath 2 40w cool flurescents, inside the tote are 2 12" air stones, Fox Farm nutes with some CALMAG. I also have a 400 MH that I was going to start to use once the babies got a little bigger.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Thanks for the input. How long until the roots extend out the bottom of the net pots? Here is some pics I just took.
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BeaverHuntr
Well-Known Member
Yeah dont worry about top feeding just make sure your net pot is pretty close to the water level the bubbles splashing will do the rest .. Be patient about 1- 1 1/2 weeks you will see nice little roots..
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Thanks BeaverHuntr. I feel alot better now, thanks. I kinda feel like I was having a panic attack and you just passed me a joint. LOL
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Ok, see here is the long and short of it. I first started off using some Miracle Grow then quickly learned of my mistake and disguarded that started over with some fresh water then started to use the Fox Farm Grow Big and CalMag. I also didn't use the nutes full strength. I did this on Saturday night. The plants with more leave on them have been growing for about 1 1/2 weeks the the smaller seedlings about a week.
Should I replace the water or just stop adding nutes?
BeaverHuntr
Well-Known Member
I was the same way dude, its all about patience keep a good eye on your plants you will know what they need or want in due time.. Also keep a good eye on PH, PPM and reservoir temperature.. Those 3 things are key in bubbleponics.Thanks BeaverHuntr. I feel alot better now, thanks. I kinda feel like I was having a panic attack and you just passed me a joint. LOL
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Duly noted.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
I F'ed up the ph earlier today so before going to be I changed out the water and added just a touch of Fox Farm Grow big and some CalMag. I noticed that on the two biggest plants the roots have grown through the net pot. I'll post some pics tomorrow. 
jimbizzzale67123
Well-Known Member
^ this, give them some fresh water.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
This morning I switched to the 400 MH. Thats a lot of heat for 2 of my seedlings so I put my super efficient humidity dome over them. LOL I saw someone else's grow and they had something similar over their baby girls so I did the same. I'm a noob, I'm sorry. Here are the pics.
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BeaverHuntr
Well-Known Member
What I do when I veg... I germinate in the paper towel take the seedling and plant it into rapid rooter plugs put in tray/dome put under my T5 lights for 2 weeks and if they show roots i transfer into the reservoirs using 1/4 strength nutes the first week.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
I think overall my 2 biggest plants been growing for about 3 weeks from seed. It seems like they are growing so slow. WTF! But I'm trying to have patience. Next for me is some autoflowering strains, not sure the flavor yet. As far as non autoflowering high quality strains I'm really liking Orange Bud, Le Fruit Defendu, and Kish.
disposition84
Well-Known Member
Nute burn will slow things down VERY quickly.
Usually with seedlings I don't really begin to give them nutes until
about 2 weeks in. And when I do it's maybe 1/8th strength.
Your plants will grow fine with a lower amount of nutes than
recommended, but the slightest bit over and you're going to have
trouble. You can also save quite a bit of money on lowering
the strength of nutes as well.
When you're comfortable enough to understand how much of
the nutes your plants are eating, then you can push your limits.
But IMHO the burn just isn't worth it.
Usually with seedlings I don't really begin to give them nutes until
about 2 weeks in. And when I do it's maybe 1/8th strength.
Your plants will grow fine with a lower amount of nutes than
recommended, but the slightest bit over and you're going to have
trouble. You can also save quite a bit of money on lowering
the strength of nutes as well.
When you're comfortable enough to understand how much of
the nutes your plants are eating, then you can push your limits.
But IMHO the burn just isn't worth it.
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Ok. Does the PPM determine if I'm using too much nutes or is that something I can determine just from looking at the plants and seeing discoloration, wilting, etc? Should I flush my plants? If so with what? After I flush them will that encourage a sprout in growth?
disposition84
Well-Known Member
Once your PH is stable your PPM's will help you determine what your plants
are drinking. If your PH is unstable it can make tuning your system to its
optimal state MUCH harder.
- When your PPM goes up, that signifies that your girls are drinking more water
than nutes and you should lower your PPM with some fresh PH balanced water.
- When your PPM goes down, that signifies that your girls are drinking more nutes
than water. This lets you know you have more room to feed them a slightly
stronger does. Though I wouldn't top off with nutrients until you really have your
shit dialed in. Just ride it out (completely safe) and next change out bump it up.
You need to watch your plants as well for signs of problems as well as their health
is a direct reflection of that. But if you closely monitor your PPM/PH those numbers
should explain what you need to do as far as PH/PPM goes. Deficiencies are a whole
other ball game.
If I were you I'd simply empty out res, and throw in some PH balanced water for
kids to get situated in for another week or so and eliminate any risk of burn. Once
they look REALLY healthy and are showing signs of a comeback then give them
a dose of 1/8 or 1/16 nute regiment for the first week and then start bumping them
up based on the ppms.
If you can clone off of these plants you should definitely do it, and use clones for
your next few rounds of growing till you really get the hang of things. Seeds are
really picky of their conditions, clones are already rooted once you transplant
and will be much more lenient on their conditions.
Also, are you using Sure to Grow cubes? You should try to use JUST those cubes
since they're PH neutral and don't have any kind of dust they can really help
eliminate some of those smaller more annoying problems by using just the cubes.
I have yet to try them, but plan on it next round.
Just my .02
are drinking. If your PH is unstable it can make tuning your system to its
optimal state MUCH harder.
- When your PPM goes up, that signifies that your girls are drinking more water
than nutes and you should lower your PPM with some fresh PH balanced water.
- When your PPM goes down, that signifies that your girls are drinking more nutes
than water. This lets you know you have more room to feed them a slightly
stronger does. Though I wouldn't top off with nutrients until you really have your
shit dialed in. Just ride it out (completely safe) and next change out bump it up.
You need to watch your plants as well for signs of problems as well as their health
is a direct reflection of that. But if you closely monitor your PPM/PH those numbers
should explain what you need to do as far as PH/PPM goes. Deficiencies are a whole
other ball game.
If I were you I'd simply empty out res, and throw in some PH balanced water for
kids to get situated in for another week or so and eliminate any risk of burn. Once
they look REALLY healthy and are showing signs of a comeback then give them
a dose of 1/8 or 1/16 nute regiment for the first week and then start bumping them
up based on the ppms.
If you can clone off of these plants you should definitely do it, and use clones for
your next few rounds of growing till you really get the hang of things. Seeds are
really picky of their conditions, clones are already rooted once you transplant
and will be much more lenient on their conditions.
Also, are you using Sure to Grow cubes? You should try to use JUST those cubes
since they're PH neutral and don't have any kind of dust they can really help
eliminate some of those smaller more annoying problems by using just the cubes.
I have yet to try them, but plan on it next round.
Just my .02
Holla Man 219
Active Member
Ok great advice I will do that. I have 1 question, When you said to use just the the cubes you mean with no hydroton around it and just sit them in the net pot?