Hey everyone. I just started my first DWC grow from clones about two weeks ago and everything was going fantastic. I changed the water in my rez yesterday and adjusted the Ph to about 6.0 and everything was looking great. I had the water level to about 1 inch below the netpots and then with the refill only filled it up about half way because the roots were reaching the bottom and I heard you should keep about half the roots above water level. I upped the nutrient level quite a bit (from basically none to 5 tsp of flora micro and 5 tsp flora gro) and dropped the water level, and Ph a lot. Other than that no changes were made. This morning the plants were looking better than ever but towards the night the were drooping big time. I was wondering what could be causing this sudden change?
Drooping from underwattering?
- Thread starter hnbmilk
- Start date
SickSadLittleWorld
Well-Known Member
Probably too many nutrients, too fast. You want to make subtle changes to avoid shocking the plant. Any idea what your EC is?
I have no idea what EC even means haha (so im guessing that means that i dont have the tools to calculate it). I also noticed my roots closer to the plant were getting a little darker when they were pure white before.
Buddreams
Active Member
Pics would help, and EC helps determine your TDS or Nutrient PPM. This would help you figure how much nutrient is floating around in your res.
researchkitty
Well-Known Member
WHY did you up the nutrients quiet a bit? How tall are the plants? Are you using airstones or H2O2 to keep the roots oxygenated? The pH dropped quite a bit, how much? 2.0? 5.0? If you overfeed your plants with too many nutrients and the wrong pH level, you end up locking the nutrients out of the plant and then the little they can take in it's too high of a ppm for them to really get it.
Buy yourself a $25 nutrient meter. Get one that does it in ppM and keep your ppM at about 450-550-ish right now. pH @ 5.6.
You could also just be underwatering or overwatering your plants too.
Pictures and details!
Ill upload some pictures soon. To address your questions:
1) I upped the nutrients because I didnt think i was using the right amount before. I bought clones and gave the plants like 1 tsp of flora gro for 10 gallons (which is way less than the recommended amount. Also I didnt have flora micro which I guess your supposed to use together with flora gro). After I changed teh water in the rez, I decided to go half the recommended amount on the flora micro and flora gro bottles, which was a huge step up from what I had before.
2) The plants are about 10"-12" tall but they are stretching a little bit.
3) Im using two 12" airstones on a 10 gallon aquarium pump.
4) The PH dropped from about 8.0 to 5.8 (I am using drinking water and havnt been regulating the PH until I changed the water up)