Need Advice from Experienced GH users in DWC

Growing something i like to call... pussyfinger

included some pics of my stuff

i'm trying a few different methods.
soil (the large plant that was originally used as the mother for cloning the rest)
dwc rubbermade tub (originally used as a cloner, decided to grow a few in it)
dwc 5gal buckets (transferred 5 plants to buckets after rooting in cloner)

i'm using the GH Flora Series with Koolbloom and hygrozyme with floraclean to rinse.

i have the floralicious plus, floranectar, florablend but i am afraid to use them anymore because they seem to have adverse affects of my roots and leafs.

-floralicious plus seems to darken my water and roots a lot and i dont know if thats ok.

-florablend and floranectar both seem to leave boogers all over my roots.

my room temp stays between 76-81 and my water seems to stay there too. i am not sure if the water temp in my dwc systems is water causes the reactions to the additives, but i am really just trying to see if anyone here can help me

Res temps are a bit high, try keep them @ 75 or below, higher temps cause less oxygen in the water and can cause root rot. You dont need all those additives aswell, why not simplify it to just the GH Flora series? You will grow perfect amazing plants with just GH flora series. Plants only eat what they need, they dont need anymore than whats in the flora stuff.

thanks karmeron. i appreciate that. i guess i'm just giving them too much love. i cut it back big time over the weekend when i did my res change. i used half of the drain to waste dose for aggressive bloom only using the 3 part and the koolbloom. i've heard koolbloom really is awesome, so i dont want to miss out on its benifits. i am wondering if i should be following the directions exactly or does mary need way less or way more? i cant really control the res temps but they are staying around 77-78. any suggestions on how to keep them lower? i have noticed the roots have cleared up alot and i read a couple threads on this site about the root slime and so far things seem to be improving. i appreciate all the help so far

more is always welcome

i am considering a portable a/c unit for the next go around. and possibly modifying what i already have into an undercurret system. i've heard they are much easier to maintain. i hate caring for all my dwc buckets seperately

You plants PPM will tell you if you need to feed them more or less. Heres some advice I was given, it is plastered all over the web, but I'm not sure who originally wrote it:

If your water has dropped and your PPM has risen, your nutes are too concentrated.

If your water has dropped and the PPM have fallen, your nutes are not strong enough.

If your water has dropped and your PPM stays the same, plants are drinking and eating at the same rate.

Portable AC is a great idea, that will lower the room temps which in turn will lower the res temps.

There are plenty of threads here on how to reduce res temps (though 77-78 isnt "too" bad, but slightly lower would be better), some suggestions I have read are:
- blow fans on the res
- Make a homemade chiller for it or buy a water chiller
- use sports coolers as res
- insulate the res
- use frozen water bottles in your res and replace them every x amount of hours.
- reduce room temps and this will reduce res temps
- make sure res is coated in a reflective surface so it reflects light away (as we all know light heats up the res)


I've no experience with koolbloom, what is in it? what does it do?

An RDWC system would be easier to maintain, but if you get a problem it will spread to all containers as opposed to just staying in 1 res, so you can mess up more plants in a shorter space of time. But it is the DWC of choice for most people. I havent tried it myself but I'd love to give it a go one day. I would try and sort out this grow and maybe one more before attempting something new, but thats just my opinion

thanks again. we are definitely on the same page. i have noticed a major improvement in my root area. i think i could still use some benificials, but not going to try that until i have the 3 part down to a science. koolbloom is a bloom booster. it seems to be similar to the regular bloom from the 3part, but i compared not using it, and i can definitely see the difference. koolbloom is staying in my buckets for bloom.
hopefully i will get all of my factors figured out in time for the next run, so i can switch to RDWC. i totally understand your warning, but i think if i can just get my nutes nailed down, i'll be good to go. i have already got my lighting right as well as my air circulation temperature.
i figure the RDWC will be best because i already have everything i need. i am thinking i will just get a chiller, and then i can run the RDWC through it so the res temp is controlled. i've heard some people only change nutes in RDWC like every 14-21 days. i realize i will need to make adjustments as it goes and top it off with fresh water. but it really seems like the best thing for me. i am going to start with a 4 bucket system to run along side some other things i am going to try out next run.
i am basically trying to figure out the perfect grow setup for ME. the nutes are my main concern. i want to find the very best line up for me and then i will be good to go.
i'm a little pissed at myself for buying all the additives that i got. i wasted about $60 on additives that im not even using.
hopefully i will find a use for them (Floralicious Plus, Florablend, Floranectar) they all seem to have bad affects on my DWC system. i am considering using them a little bit on my soil plants in moderation of course so i can see if they have adverse affects on it.

A lot of those "bloom boosters" are just molasses or sugar based products, they should be fine in your soil grow though.

My advice to you would be to use just the 3 part, get that down to perfection and at that stage you will realise you probably dont need any other additives as you will be getting such amazing results (if all other factors are dialed in). Just my 2c. The bog standard 3 part or lucas formula 2 part are perfect for the plants needs and shouldnt be needing anything else.

after lowering my nutes and keeping on top of the pH for a couple weeks now, i am seeing much improvement. included a root pic that is now 4 days old. they look even better today
i am only using the 3 part with koolbloom all at half of the drain-to-waste recommended doses for 2 weeks now. i am still getting a little burn in the leaves, but i starting to think this breed just doesnt like nutes. i am only giving them about 250ppm and i am still seeing some leaf burn. the buds seem to be doing very well, although i think i would see better results from higher-grade genetics. it is really just a single seed that i found in a # of some really killer stuff. if you are supposed to count the week of transition, i am in my 7th week of bloom now. i think this is going to stretch into 9 or 10 weeks, but we will see.

the big girl in the soil is also getting a lite dose of the same with a very lite addition of some additives. that seem to be bringing out some orange and yellow colors. seeing a little bit of leaf burn, but growing very well from what i can tell. i have seen a lot of pics of peoples plants at harvest that dont have buds as big as mine in week 6. i realize there are also a lot of people who grow buds as big as my arm, so i am not bragging at all. also included pics from 4 days

the little girls in the dwc buckets are all budding up nicely, but i am seeing more burn in them than in the soil. however the buds look even more delicious and the resin on them is outstanding.

thanks again for the advice. always looking for more.

dcnjrz, I am using GH maxi grow and maxi bloom and kool bloom. The nutes are cheaper to buy this way and you get basically the same result. My shit looks just like your shit.

Its just root staining dude. Dont harsh your mellos my roots get brown too from GH Products, but none the less I get fat harvests.

I use:
Flora Bloom
Floragrow
Florablend
FloraMicro
FLorablend
Floralicious Plus
Liquid Kool Bloom ( Flower)
Kool Bloom Ripening Powder ( after week 5 of flower)

Funny you were alarmed because I was scared shitless about the brown stains on my roots. If it doesnt stink like rotten eggs you are good to go.

I've been using the GH flora nova Grow and bloom + Koolbloom and floralicious with good results.
I don't use much of the floralicious once per water change, and am very sparing with the koolbloom as it tends to burn the plants i find.

Glad to know i'm not alone...

Cheers, off to the beach..
Silverserf

I have been useing GH 3 part for 2 years now and I have had very good results,the cooler you keep your water the better,I keep mine between 60 and 70 deg,Im going to be useing liquid kool bloom for this grow and the kool bloom powder like it has in there feeding schedule I have been changing my res 2 times per grow,lots of air and cool water is the best,I run my nutes around 1000 ppm during flower unless they look like they can take more,I was growing blue mystic and found that 1000 to 1100 was tops for bloom nutes on them,now I have kandy kush growing and by the way things are going there most likely going to end up around 12 to 1400 ppm in bloom,its best to grow the same strain for a bit to learn and you will find that plant genectics means alot I tryed growing 2 differant strains in the same res and it didnt work out so well,I use coolers as my res. and add frozen water jugs to them to maintain my temps.also this is just my opinion but I dont think mixing organic additives to non organic nutes like GH 3 part is a good idea unless it says to use it in there feeding schedule the one I have uses liquid kool bloom all through the flower and powder kool bloom at the end.keep it simple learn to read your plants and whats going on in your res and you wont be wasting money on stuff thats only going to cause problems for you anyway. just my thoughts and good luck to you

Res temp 66f ,

per gallon
1ml gold zone
8ml GH micro
16ml GH bloom
5ml GH koolbloom , last 2 weeks dry koolbloom

1ml gravity every 5 gals or 1 tbs of black strap molasses per 1 gal.

im using gh flora series with an big bud and bud candy