First Hydro grow.. Need help before my plants die!

hi everyone. I really need some advice. I have set up an ebb and flow 10 gallon hydro system in a 4x4 grow tent with a 1000w MH light for Veg. The room is air conditioned. Has a C02 pad and the light is cooled by a six inch inline fan. No temp problems.

I germinated and sprouted the seeds in small rockwool cubes and may have put them hydroton a bit early. They all had one root coming out of the bottom and I was over excited to do this. They are about 4 inches long and the leaves are still very small. It seems to be all stem growth since I put them in. the light is a foot and a half away. The leaves are constantly pointed up and they dont seem to be growing. this has been almost a week and a half. The growing medium is plenty moist. PH 5.75. PPM around 485.

What am I doing wrong? Or am I just impatient? Thanks for the help.

How often are you flooding them?

I would wait until they have roots exploding out of the rockwool before placing them in any system.

I hand water my own plants in 3x3 ROCKWOOL cubes until they are around 3weeks old. By this time roots are fully formed and bursting out the blocks ready for putting into a hydro system.

What is your RES running at once youve been flooding these plants?

Has your ppm increased or decreased?
Has your pH risen or fallen?


J

I have been flooding them twice a day for about 5 minutes. you are totally right on the root thing. I should have waited. I actually have a few other seedlings in my incubator box that are growing better than the ones in my system... Sigh.

Not sure you mean what my RES is running at? Can you clarify?

My PPM has stayed pretty solid depending on me topping off the RES for evaporation. It has been between 450-500.

The PH has risen slightly to 6.3 and I brought it back down.

Should I just scrap what I have and start over..? or do you think they will recover. I still have more feminized Northern Lights, White Widow, Bubblelicious, Auroa Sativa and AK-48 seeds on deck.

I keep my pH at 5.7

By "res running at" i mean when your water has cycled round your plants at feeding time, what does it return to your res at? Is it increasing in PPM or decreasing in ppm? Is the pH fluctuating much? etc etc.


Are the roots coming out of your blocks now?

Are the Blocks being allowed to dry out a little ?

You could be over watering them which could be stunting your growth.




J

Here are some general rules:
1. Water level drops PPM goes up: Drop your nutrient strength in relationship to the PPM rise.
2. Water level drops PPM stays the same: You may be able to fine tune you nutrient strength, if growth is vigorous leave it alone.
3. Water level drops PPM drops: Raise you nutrient strength in relationship too PPM drop.