hydroponic solution tips

Temperature


Pot plants like the temperature around 75*-85*F. So basically that means 75* at night when the lights are off and 85* when they are on. Like I said before about the co2, you can grow good at 90* with co2 but without it you will slow growth at 90*+. I believe you don't want to go below 60* either, But that probably wont be a problem since these rooms make a lot of heat.


Ventilation


Your whole room will need good ventilation. The lights will need some exhaust ducting to help cool them. You will probably be ok with not having vents if you only have one light.


I have oscillating fans that blow on my plants. It keeps them breathing fresh air and makes the stems strong. You will need strong stems to hold up those huge buds you are going to grow. Basically the wind rips the plant cells just like building a muscle.



PH

When growing in soil the pH should be between 6.0 and 7.0
When growing hydroponicaly the pH should be 5.5 - 5.8

PPM
Parts per million is how we measure the amount of fertilizer (salts) thats in the water solution. You will need a ppm meter to read this. Basically start out cheap and when a few crops start rolling in then buy the big baller stuff.


I try to keep my seedlings and clones at about 100-250 ppms. After about 10 days I bump up the ppm to around 500-600 ppm for the next 2-3 weeks. After about a month I raise it to 800-1000 ppm. When I start to bud I am at around 1000 and start taking it up slowly to no more than 1500 ppm. I don't suggest going past 1300 till you have a couple crops down.


If you over fertilize your leaves will start to burn. If you see this you will need to flush immediately. Just use pure water and basically drown the plant. Four times the amount of grow medium should be fine. One other thing. If I use tap water it usually has a ppm of 250 in my area. I pretty much add 250 to whatever I'm shooting for. So for a 1000 ppm my meter will read 1250. I will get into waters later.


After the hairs on my buds get 1/4 red I stop feeding the plant nutrients and just give them pure water. This will allow the plant to use up the nutrients it already has and makes the smoke taste a lot smoother with out all the chemical taste


Most hydroponic solutions should be in the range of 150-600 parts per million in disolved solids. 300-400 ppm is optimum. It is possible to test your solution or soil with a electrical conductivity meter if your unsure of what your giving your plants.


Keep in mind most disolved solids readings are usually on the low side, and actual nutrient levels are usually higher. It is possible with passive hydroponics, to get nutrient build-up over several feedings, to the point the medium is over saturated in nutrients. Just feed straight water now and again, until you notice the plants are not as green (slightly), then resume normal feeding.


"Pumping" is when you use more waterings to make the plants grow faster. This is dangerous if you proceed in a reckless manner, due to potential over-watering problems. You must go slowly and watch the plants daily and even hourly at first to be sure your not over-watering the plants. Use weaker plant food mixtures than normal, maybe 25%, and be sure your leaching once a month and running straight water through the plants at least every other time you water. This applies mainly to plants grown in soil mediums.

Be sure your medium has good drainage. At this point, if your watering soil based plants once a week, you can water every 3-5 days instead if you plant them in a medium with better drainage. Pearlite or lava rock will greatly increase the drainage of the medium and make watering necessary more often. This will pump the plants; they will tend to grow faster because of the enhanced oxygen to the roots. Make sure the plant medium is almost dry before watering again, as the plant grows faster this way.

Stop all plant food 2 weeks before harvesting, so that the plants don not taste like plant food. (This applies to hydroponics as well.)


WARNING: Do not over-fertilize. It will kill your plants. Always read the instructions for the fertilizer being used. Use 1/2 strength if adding to the water for all feedings in soil or hydroponics if you are unsure of what your plants can take. Build up slowly to higher concentrations of food over time. Novice soil growers tend to over-fertilize their plants. Mineral salts build up over time to higher levels of disolved solids. Use straight water for one feeding in hydroponics if it is believed the buildup is getting too great. Leach plants in pots every month. If your plants look REALLY green, withhold food for a while to be sure they are not being over-fed.

Marijuana Plant Stresses
Stress in marijuana plantsis caused by imbalances of the plant chemistry. Generally plant stress disrupts the normal chemical reactions happening within the plant and causes ethylene ( the aging hormone) to start developing in the cells.


A plant likes to have an average day with no surprises on any day of its life. Any unusual event in the marijuana plantslife will change its internal chemistry and result to slow growth. Some of the stress causes are


1) WATER STRESS: There is a lack of water or too much water for the plant to absorb. Water stress in marijuana plantscauses abscisic acid to build up and closes down the stomata.


2) NUTRIENT STRESS: Usually cased by too much, not enough, or an imbalance of the nutrients. This can attract diseases or nematodes (type of worm) and disrupt root function.


3) Mineral Stress: It is caused by mineral imbalance in plant tissues, usually due to nutrient problems or by adding to re-circulating mixes. This causes plant growth to slow. By the time the results are visible, the problem is already very advanced. It usually takes a week or so to recover from mineral stress.


4) PH STRESS: The PH of the nutrient solution is changing all the time as the plant uses the minerals in the surrounding nutrients and as the water is transpired by the leaves and evaporates from the nutrient solution. Wildly fluctuating PH will reduce the marijuana plantsnutrient uptake and cause deficiencies


5) AGE STRESS: AS a plant gets older, its nutrients need to change. A tissue analysis will show the plant using totally different quantities of each nutrient as it ages. In highly supercharged garden systems, the nutrient fed to marijuana plantsis different for each week of growth. Mature or ageing marijuana plantsneed far less nutrients.


6) IRREGULAR LIGHT CYCLES: These will change the hormonal balance in marijuana plantsthat use the length of light and dark to tell when to flower.


7) PLANT DAMAGE: Any damage causes the plant to change its chemistry to repair the damaged are of the plant


ROOT DAMAGE: Either physical or chemical causes the plant to divert its chemistry to keep the roots advancing and creating new root hairs to absorb food. Roots can’t actually rebuild themselves when damaged; they just seal off the damaged section and move around it.


9) Environmental extremes / Diseases: The can cause a plant to age and flow prematurely, a female plant to produce viable seeds without being fertilized, or just cause poor growth.

Clones


Clones are easy to make. And they are the exact genetics as their mother. I keep 8 mother plants and grow them about 3-4 feet. Large enough so I can take 50 or so clones from each mother. Moms wont ever bud cause we keep them in the grow (18 hours of light) room. Sorry I had to throw that in real quick.


To make a clone you will need some sort of cloning solution or powder. These have hormones that help the clone root.


I take a clean razor and cut the shoots off the plant at a 45* angle in between the nodes. I try to make them around 4-5 inches tall. Usually about 4 nodes will do it. I have had good success with larger clones too. The node is where the plant branches out from the main shoots. We need to cut the clone and put it in our root solution pretty quick. We don't want to get an air bubble in the stem of our new clone. That slows things down if the clone even takes. So I just dipped the clone in the root solution and now I'm going to place them in my 1 inch rock wool cube. I push it in the cube till I feel the stem kinda rip through the wool some. This assures me that its held in tight and isn't just sitting in the open air. Don't go all the way through the wool cause that would be pointless.


I mist my clones with pure water daily. Some people use a clear top for their clone tray to help keep moisture in but I don't practice this. If you do use a cover make sure you open the top a few times a day or you can mold the new clones pretty quick. That is why I don't practice this style. I just mist them a couple times a day for about 10 day to 2 weeks. You will start seeing roots. I keep the clones under florescent tubes at 24 hours of light. For the first 3-4 days I keep them about 4-5 inches from the bulb. After that I place them about 1 inch from the light till I see roots. Once we have roots then I transplant into dirt cups or slap them in baskets for my airoponics system. We can now put the clones under our hid light and grow them like no tomorrow.


Edit... Lately I have benn using "Woods" cloning dip and soaking my rockwool with "Clonex". I have seen roots in three days using this combination.

lot of info lol. Take it you've been growing for a long time. Thanx for the info