EBB N Flow bucket system grow - Questions

So I have looked through threads and other information but I felt that possibly posting my own system might help me pinpoint some of my newbie like issues. I did look through hundreds of topics and pulled some great information from said topics.

Here are two plants of mine that are about a week and half old. Just started them 3-5 days ago on 300 ppm gh nutrients. I'm wondering what you guys see from these photos in relation to nutrient issues. It kind of looks like I need to increase ppm as I checked ph and it was around 6.2. The res is outside of the tent so heat isn't a problem in the water. I am flooding 4 times a day on a 20/4 light schedule. These are auto plants also. The flood cycle is fill for 15 minutes which brings the water about 4 inches from the top and then drain 20 minutes later for 15 minutes which drains the full amount out.

They are in that sunrock hardened slate like material. Any suggestions or comments? Any help is much appreciated.

You are growing in hydro, your ph should be 5.8, that is the ideal ph for hydro, 300 ppm's for seedlings is ok, wait at least an other week or two to raise maybe to 500 but do it gradually, don't overdo it and burn them, best of luck.

Are you using tap water or Ro water? Set your PH at 5.6 and let it drift to 5.9. At 6.2 your locking out a few nutes.

Using RO Water. Thanks for the chart btw very helpful. I did change out the res and used the Lucas Formula set my PPM to 300 and ph is at a steady 5.7 right this moment. I have noticed though in the last day or two that the plants appear to be curling downward. I also have noticed that I still have yet to get ANY roots coming out of the net pots.. These are 10in net pots. So I guess my question is should I be seeing roots after the plants have been transplanted for 11 days? I would think so... and I am thinking that possibly I am watering to frequently or that when I am watering I am going to high on the net pots.

Currently I am watering 15 min fill 20 min sit 15mins to fully drain. this happens 4 times a day total. I am going to about 2-3 inches below the top of the bucket... Would this be considered to high? I have read contradicting information so I appreciate any clarity on that subject.

Thank You for all your help

joshvette001 said:

Using RO Water. Thanks for the chart btw very helpful. I did change out the res and used the Lucas Formula set my PPM to 300 and ph is at a steady 5.7 right this moment. I have noticed though in the last day or two that the plants appear to be curling downward. I also have noticed that I still have yet to get ANY roots coming out of the net pots.. These are 10in net pots. So I guess my question is should I be seeing roots after the plants have been transplanted for 11 days? I would think so... and I am thinking that possibly I am watering to frequently or that when I am watering I am going to high on the net pots.

Currently I am watering 15 min fill 20 min sit 15mins to fully drain. this happens 4 times a day total. I am going to about 2-3 inches below the top of the bucket... Would this be considered to high? I have read contradicting information so I appreciate any clarity on that subject.

Thank You for all your help

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Sounds like I'm currently running the same system and nutes. I had a lot of trouble in the beginning, actually the same exact problem you have. I have the flow and grow system with 10" pots too. I'm pretty sure I was flooding the system too much. I don't know exactly what my method to fix the problem was because I changed many things... The roots will come out of the bottom of the net pot, and as soon as they do that's when the growth will start to explode.

Don't let the water sit, that's one problem. Once it floods to the top of the last bucket, drain. My time is set for 15min intervals, so I flood for 15 minutes then drain. Do that every 5 or 6 hours. If you can time the plants til you see the first sign of leaf drooping (underwater), then set the flood timer for a 1/2 hour before that leaf drooping occurs . This will be the flood intervals your plants need. I Also noticed that top feeding with the res water once or twice a day seemed to help until the roots reached the bottom. The key is to not flood the tiny plants too much, that's where I screwed up.I ththought that since the roots were small that they would need more water more often. That just led to the leaf curl and over watering problem.

Ps. I only have used this particular system for one complete run so I don't have a ton of experience with it, but I did learn alot and had the same problem you have in the first weeks of using it. Also, I've only had one run using the Lucas formula, do not go to 1330ppm. That was another mistake I made. Just think of Lucas as a 1:2 ratio and slowly up the ppm to what your plants need. I should have topped out at 1100ppm or so, my Larry og plants did not take well to the high ppm but my agent Orange seemed to be OK, so just be careful

Also, search riu for "for all cap ebb users" and there is a ton of good info in that thread