Hydro help - My Plants keep dying/I keep killing them

GastroBoy

New Member
Hi All,

So this is my second attempt at a grow. My first one had a collection of problems (the final being my pH meter going on the fritz and me giving it an acid bath briefly... I now have litmus back-up).

What I have;
  • 0.8x0.8x1.5m tent
  • Full spectrum 600W LED panel
  • Large like 80L black lided tub (usually with about 50-60L of water inside)
  • large air pump with 2 large air stones
  • Water pump
  • Air heater on a temp controlled switch
  • Extractor fan and carbon filter (not that I have gotten to a point where i needed it).
  • Temp and humidity meter
  • Chems: Nutes 3 part, CalMag, Root silver bullet protector.
  • pH: 5.5 - 6.2 is my usual range I aim for, litmus paper and pH meter (a nice, more expensive, pH meter)
My first grow:
So first grow "went well" from a certain perspective, I managed to get a good grow going, made lots of mistakes at the start but the plant kept at it, the main issue was humidity (i believe, i didnt have a humidity monitor in there at the time). It was cold outside, the tent would have condensation on the inside and once even on the leaves. I could feel the humidity. The plant ended up suffering from rot on the leaves, I tried to cut it away but it would not stop. I was confident it was the humidity causing it but I wanted to see the plant through its cycle so I could understand. Got to the first few days hairs were forming... then my pH meter died and it was displaying like pH 8, which is what my tap water comes out at, so I didnt think too much of it, and ended up putting in a lot of pH down, even though I knew how much of an affect it usually had. quickly realised something was up, but it was too late, i had nothing else to measure pH and I had to go to work. So acid bath it was! that was the end of plant 1.

Second grow:
Fully cleaned the whole setup, literally scrubbed everything. left it a month. Started second grow directly into the hydro setup (after issues germinating paper towel style). Seed popped nicely first leaves in about 3-5 days, I had added a temp/humidity monitor and the air heater this time around, but also the temperature outside was not as severe. staggered in the nutes gently from the start. had about 10% recommended in water during germination, upped that to 50% when I saw first/second set leaves yesterday.

Temperature range is 25-28 Degrees C with a little bit of variance each side, humidity is low, which seems to be due to the air heater; 20% at time of writing and seems to not go above 35%. pH is in the 5.5 -6.2 range. Roots are still pure white and look healthy.

Issues:
My first issue is that a tiny black mold started to form on the outside of the water pumps pipe work (inside the reservoir, but half way up the pipe between the basket and the water). I cleaned this away carefully with a tissue and used a bit more of my silver bullet root stuff. Continuing to monitor but has not returned. My water may be a little warm? not sure how to prevent that really as the water will always stabalise towards the air temp. 22 degrees is its average.

Second and main issue is the attached image.
This doesnt look like the rot on plant 1, this is about a week into the grow. I have removed the rounded start leaves and the first set of 2 that look damaged after i took this photo.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

Attachments

Tracker

Well-Known Member
If the rooting plug is constantly wet, like if the hydro system is constantly getting moisture on it, it can cause damping off in the base of the stem. When this happens the stem gets mushy at the bottom and the plant will not stand up on its own. Then, it dies.

Is that happening on your setup?
 

Tracker

Well-Known Member
I've had LP aero systems in the past that had damping off issues without rooting plugs. The plants were held in place with circular neoprene/foam inserts, and a little bit of water would find it's way between the inner wall of the insert and the stem. That constant moisture at the base of the stem would cause damping off. I was starting everything from clones off my mother plant, and after about two weeks, they would all damp off and fall over.
 

GastroBoy

New Member
Hey all, thanks for the super useful replies.

First thing I shall do is turn off the water feed to the root plug. I had not heard of it becoming a problem as a couple of you have described. But the roots are in the reservoir now. As a follow up question, at what point do you usually turn yours off? Or do you simply position it lower? I can lower it relatively easy.

The LED is a 600W https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CPGQVJD?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I would think it isn't underpowered LED wise as plant number 1 was growing like an absolute beast and I had a couple times where I burnt the leaves having it too close. But obviously won't rule anything out. Anything worth checking by me for the LED setup?

Temperatures, tent ranges from 25 to 32 degrees C. That's according to the max and Min measured on my display which is sat on the reservoir. The water is sat at about 20 degrees C.

The clay pebbles were soaked for half a day, then put into the system. The system was left running, including the water pump for a week before I put the seed in. So the pebbles have been seeing flowing water for about a week.

Appreciate the help thus far, now looking at damping effects. Will update tomorrow morning. Thanks all!
 

Tossagun

Active Member
The LED is actually 254 watts - Viparspectra, along with all the other manufacturers, put these fucking numbers up there to confuse you. Drives me crazy.
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member
I notice a few things that could be causing problems...
The net pots look like they may be letting light through the top area into the water.
Things look fairly wet...let them dry out a little more between waterings.
Cover the root ball...the plant won't grow properly if the roots are getting light...there are may ways to do this.
Best of luck and happy growin' P
 
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