1st time in hydro (clay pebbles drip feed wilma)

EnEmEe

Member
Hi peeps, can anyone on this site advise me on using ferro nutes? im using a drip feed wilma system, with clay pebbles. i started my seeds in soil, waited a couple weeks for them to establish, then transfered them to the hydro system, all four plant took a bit of shock, but within a couple of days they had recovered, and started to grow again. im using ferro growth nutes, my e.c level is between 1.6-1.7. the p.h is 5.7-5.8.) a week on and 1 plant looks to me like its got a slight nitrogen def' or maybe magnesium def? has anyone got any experience using ferro nutes? or has anyone else had a simular experience, who could advise?? the plant that looks a bit sickly is a bb. cheesus, if thats any help? (thanks in advance!! :) ;)
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
Same advice as jesus just gave,its too early to feed & most likely any def is caused by overfeeding or premature feeding.

I dont feed for about 2 weeks once my plants hit the flood table.

As for your specific nutes i have never even heard of them.
 

EnEmEe

Member
Thanks for getting back so quick!! ;) (what would you think ups with the 1 plant m8? if i had it in soil, i would think N. def, or maybe Mag?) i will cut the e.c right bk down tomorrow, (my tap waters 0.4 e.c on its own, and its p.h is 8.2? so would you advise i cut the nutes, but still drop the p.h down to 5.7-5.8? (it says on the ferro chart to start your cuttings with a p.h of 5.4, then raise it to 5.5 for 1st week? then after that raise p.h to 5.7 for a week, then raise again to 5.8 for the flowering period?) this is all a bit new to me mate to be honest, im use to growing in soil, but i just fancied a change? lol. thanks for any helps!! ;)
 

EnEmEe

Member
sorry panhead iv just seen your reply!! lol. thanks mate!! ferro nutes are a dutch firm, they sample your tap water, and make the nutes to suit your needs? im just not sure if their a complete food source, i do i need any other little bits? (like bio roots or something??) il ring the growshop tomorrow to get more advice, and thanks again for you help. :)
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
First off i dont use ec so im not up on all of it,its the same as ppm which is what i use but i need to look up conversions to be exact.

Not being an expert on ec to ppm conversion im not positive but your ec seems high with your tap water,is it well water by chance ?

My tap water is from 70 ppm up to 120 ppm with a ph in the mid 7 range,im thinking your tap water might be shitty,anything over 250 ppm is considered to be HARD WATER from the high levels of metals in it,do you know the ppm of it ?

The whole explaination you gave where the manufacturer makes zero sense to me,i understand why they reccomend starting off with a low ph but it still makes no sense,different nutrients have diffefent absorbtion rates at seperate ph values so thats their reasoning but to me it adds little value to the grower.

The standard rule of thumb for ph is for it to float between 5.5 on the low side to 6.5 on the high side & thats how i run mine,i do not chase ph trying to keep it at precise numbers,as long as the ph is within acceptable range its best not to adjust it,and when it does get too high or too low only pull it back in far enough to be within accpetable values,plants will push the ph where they prefer it to be so chasing a specific number usualy leads to a constant battle.

Im pretty sure most hydro growers here use ppm instead of ec for their grows,if you use ppm you might end up with more growers willing to help.
 

EnEmEe

Member
thanks for you reply panhead, im gonna do a test now. iv got a bluelab combo meter, so it does e.c, ppm, and c.f. (my tap water is deffo hard water tho m8, but iv noticed that after adding these ferro nutes, the p.h comes down around the 7.0-7.1 mark. i never had a liquid p.h tester before, so never use to bother worrying about the ph of my water before, when growing in soil. :) (o.k iv just tested my tapwater, its reading 7.8 ph. and the ppm is 330.) does that help mate?? :)
 

Grower1988

New Member
Did you find out the problem? The same thing is happening to me. Im thinking im not raising the a and b high enough?
Im getting patchy yellow like what your saying :(
 
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