calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
The roots need more water, EC is rising because the plants are drinking more than they're eating. Simple.
Ec rising IN RESERVOIR
- Thread starter try_hard
- Start date
I feed them 5min 5 times a day. 0 at night. I had an EC increase again yesterday from 1500-1600 to 1800-1900 because I thought a decrease in EC means I can add more nutrients. I will go back to 1400 which seemed to work.
Should I up the watering cycle to 15min?
On a side note; I switched to 12/12 today.
Conditions: 25-27°C, 40-50%, CO2 enriched.
@Wastei Any last minute pointers when switching to flowering?
70's natureboy
Well-Known Member
Those little plants can't handle the EC, simple as that. They tried to tell you since the first post. When all else fails, it's best to fall back to Lucas Formula to bring them back to health then experiment from there.
Wastei
Well-Known Member
You're running way to high EC/ppm like everyone suggesting. I would not run higher than 400ppm at that stage. Don't follow charts from manufacturers.
Yes up the water cycle. Do res changes every week and feed them 400ppm+ppm value from tap water. I never gone over 800ppm in flower in hydro.
Ok thanks noted. But I don't use tap water. Solely distilled with nutrients. Is that bad?
Btw 400 ppm means 800 μS/cm right?
Also I don't use tap but distilled water. Is that a problem?
And as I just switched to 12/12 I would need to shorten the duration between irrigation intervals from 4h to 2h30m to stay at 5x/day. Should I still irrigate 15mins when already increasing frequency during the day?
Last edited:
jondamon
Well-Known Member
I’m concerned that you aren’t feeding at all during the dark cycle I found that 1 or 2 feeds during dark cycles when you’re plants have the chance to possibly dry out during that dark period helps.
Correct me if I’m wrong here.
you’re in hydroton? Clay pebbles.
hand watering every few hours?
this to me seems very labour intensive and if your plants are drying during the dark cycle (due to very little saturated medium) could be exacerbating your issue.
Yes you are right. They are irrigated by a controller but they don't get water during the night. Thanks for your advice. I will now irrigate them 1h after dark and in the middle of the night after 6 more hours.
Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
Why do you use distilled h20? What's wrong with your tap water?
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
Hydroton is a great medium, I ran it for 10 years with wonderful results.
You already increased your watering intervals which was the first step. Now you need to lower your PPM like several people have said. Distilled water is fine, but most plants only need 700-800 ppm to be nice and healthy. As a general rule more nutrients DO NOT directly equal bigger buds.
When you are watering are you completely drenching the medium, or is it just trickling a little water from a feeder line? In hydroton it would be best for the medium to be completely drenched with each watering. This helps prevent any nutrient buildup, and ensures all the roots are getting water.
Last but not least they need some time to recover. I honestly wouldn't have switched plants into 12/12 while having major issue with them. It will result in lost potential.
You already increased your watering intervals which was the first step. Now you need to lower your PPM like several people have said. Distilled water is fine, but most plants only need 700-800 ppm to be nice and healthy. As a general rule more nutrients DO NOT directly equal bigger buds.
When you are watering are you completely drenching the medium, or is it just trickling a little water from a feeder line? In hydroton it would be best for the medium to be completely drenched with each watering. This helps prevent any nutrient buildup, and ensures all the roots are getting water.
Last but not least they need some time to recover. I honestly wouldn't have switched plants into 12/12 while having major issue with them. It will result in lost potential.
I was (and still am) considering it. But as my ultimate but hopefully not too far in the future lying goal is to go full aeroponics, I don't want to optimize the hydroponics system to a point further than healthy plants developing on their own.
Actually nothing, it's probably not the best but I mainly wanted complete control over the water and wanted to make sure they only get nutrients.
ok good to hear.
700-800 ppm is higher than my current nutrient solution. I have about 1000-1100 us/cm EC which translates to about 500-650 ppm (depending on the conversion factor that is used, I don't know which approximates better). But I think I can up again to around 1300-1400 (about 650-900ppm).
I did drench it, but got pretty bad results. I then used my flex hose to make a ring and drill holes in it that I burried about 1-2" deep in hydroton which seems to generate much better results. I think the coverage and distribution should be about even. I measure the weight of the reservoir and the pump is running about 1min longer than it takes to reach the point where water into the plant tray is equal to the water getting back into the reservoir. So it should therefore be fully and evenly wet. Right?
I know... God I know. It sure did hurt to switch to 12/12 during that time but my schedule is unfortunately absolutely forcing me to do it. I think I was waiting even too long to switch (due to external circumstances).
To reiterate: You do think distilled water is fine? Because that's one of the more controversial things I'd say. Many people say it's not to recommend, many tell me with my previous bad root rot case it's advisable to go full distilled. And then there's another guy telling me I should mix distilled with about 10-20% tap.
70's natureboy
Well-Known Member
Distilled water is fine if you add calmag. I don't flood my plants at night and never noticed a problem. If you are interested in EC and ppm's you should invest in some calibration solution ($1) to see how your meters are reading. I couldn't keep up with this thread because things got too complicated with adding more additives and whatever and ppm numbers all over the place.
Wastei
Well-Known Member
Good point, Canna Aqua and terra are designed to be used with tap water. He would have been better off with Canna Coco with already adequate amount of Ca and Mg.
I don't like Canna Aqua since it contains unnecessary organic additives like humic, fulvic acid and kelp extract. I've used Canna Coco in coir, DWC and soil with great results in the past.
Ok thank you both.
Should I switch to Canna Coco then?
Because if so, I will switch to coco right now.
Should I switch to Canna Coco then?
Are you saying that I can use Canna Coco on distilled water without calmag? Do/Did you do it that way with distilled?
Because if so, I will switch to coco right now.
Right now I'm adding nothing but calmag/main nutrients and bleach
Wastei
Well-Known Member
Yes you can. Canna Coco got enough Ca and Mg for any water source Tap, RO and medium. You'll have a hard time finding any "Calmag" product containing the same amount of Ca and Mg.
You could even dilute the Canna Coco with the Canna Aqua 50/50 and run that throughout the cycle. I would not rely on Biobizz calmag since it's not in a readily available form for the plant to uptake in hydro.
Ok thanks. Because you said that BioBizz is organic I changed to Canna Calmag but reading that, first thing tomorrow I will buy Canna Coco A+B and get on with life.
And another specific question: My plants appear to show signs of nitrogen/iron deficiency but you also suggested to decrease the EC. How should I go on about this?
Bucsfan80
Well-Known Member
I've done nothing but hydro and I'm no where near a comfortable enough level to try organic. I understand why some insist on it but I'd learn the ropes first b4 attempting it. Just adds another level of complexity and imo you still have training wheels on. Crawl b4 you walk