Need Help/Advice for DWC (w/pics)

jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
Facts about setup:

Two 7 gallon DWC bubbler setups under 270 Watt Superagro HPS bulb. Well ventilated at 76 - 77 degrees / 40% RH on 18/6 light cycle. 3 Mandala Satori, 1 Mandala Hashberry started from seeds. Plants first poked their heads up about 2 weeks ago and they've been growing quickly. R/O water with Botanicare supplements (Pro Grow, Liquid Karma, Hydroguard, Cal Mag). Started out with 1/4 recommended dosage for seedlings/clones for first week of growth and everthing was fine. (Ph was in 5.8 - 6.0 range and TDS PPMs were in the 300 range'). Did reservoir change and kicked it up to about 2/3 strength of recommended dosage for vegetative (about 4 days ago when plants got their 4th and 5th sets of leaves). Ph was kept in the 5.8 - 6.0 range and PPMs were brought up to the 850ish level (At recommended dosage it would have been well over 1000, but I've been trying to keep it conservative on nute strength). About 2 - 3 days ago, I started to notice signs of nute toxicity and overwatering with droopy looking plants and leaves showing "The Claw" look. I have since diluted the nutes down to the 650 PPM range and have added 2 more airstones (4 total now, 1 under each plant). The additional airstones perked the plants up temporarily, but a couple have since started looking droopy again. Also, newer and older leaves are getting wrinkly looking and they are curling inward with the claw look.

Plants are shown in order as follows: Hashberry /Satori 1 / Satori 2 / Satori 3

Any advice? I've tried to be so careful and conservative about not overdoing the nutes and I've been very diligent about Ph, Temp, Ventilation, PPMs, etc
 

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potroast

potroast

Uses the Rollitup profile
Well, thanks for the great description! It sounds like you are doing everything really well. The only thing to consider is fresh air, as those plants increase leaf size, they use more and more air. Keep everything like you have it, and flush regularly, and you'll have some nice plants.

HTH :mrgreen:
 
bubblerking

bubblerking

Well-Known Member
jcommerce said:
Facts about setup:

Two 7 gallon DWC bubbler setups under 270 Watt Superagro HPS bulb. Well ventilated at 76 - 77 degrees / 40% RH on 18/6 light cycle. 3 Mandala Satori, 1 Mandala Hashberry started from seeds. Plants first poked their heads up about 2 weeks ago and they've been growing quickly. R/O water with Botanicare supplements (Pro Grow, Liquid Karma, Hydroguard, Cal Mag). Started out with 1/4 recommended dosage for seedlings/clones for first week of growth and everthing was fine. (Ph was in 5.8 - 6.0 range and TDS PPMs were in the 300 range'). Did reservoir change and kicked it up to about 2/3 strength of recommended dosage for vegetative (about 4 days ago when plants got their 4th and 5th sets of leaves). Ph was kept in the 5.8 - 6.0 range and PPMs were brought up to the 850ish level (At recommended dosage it would have been well over 1000, but I've been trying to keep it conservative on nute strength). About 2 - 3 days ago, I started to notice signs of nute toxicity and overwatering with droopy looking plants and leaves showing "The Claw" look. I have since diluted the nutes down to the 650 PPM range and have added 2 more airstones (4 total now, 1 under each plant). The additional airstones perked the plants up temporarily, but a couple have since started looking droopy again. Also, newer and older leaves are getting wrinkly looking and they are curling inward with the claw look.

Plants are shown in order as follows: Hashberry /Satori 1 / Satori 2 / Satori 3

Any advice? I've tried to be so careful and conservative about not overdoing the nutes and I've been very diligent about Ph, Temp, Ventilation, PPMs, etc
Click to expand...
lower your ppm t0 300 and your plants will bump in dwc ppm is very unforgiving 650 should be the max when your plants are really big
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
bubblerking said:
lower your ppm t0 300 and your plants will bump in dwc ppm is very unforgiving 650 should be the max when your plants are really big
Click to expand...

Serious!? Certainly not questioning your advice, just curious. Everything I've read says that most hydro is optimal in the 800 - 1200 PPM range when plants are full size veg and bloom. At 300, that would put me at about 1/4 of the recommended dosage for the Botanicare supplements. (How can they be that off? I guess DWC is drastically different than ebb/flow, aero, etc)

Update: Since I've diluted the nutes and added the airstones and they've had a chance to run for a couple days, the Satoris are looking better, but the HB is still looking about the same (it's still growing, but continues to have the droopy look)

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll let you know how things are going.
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
potroast said:
Well, thanks for the great description! It sounds like you are doing everything really well. The only thing to consider is fresh air, as those plants increase leaf size, they use more and more air. Keep everything like you have it, and flush regularly, and you'll have some nice plants.

HTH :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Thanks Potroast, how often do you recommend I do a flush? I have Clearex for flushing. Should I be conservative about the ratio/level of Clearex I use as well?
 
R

reeffermadness

Well-Known Member
Ive never used clearex before...does it work well for you? Then again regular water flushing hasn't done me in wrong yet. Ya definitely sounds like you had the ppms a little too high. what week veg are they in?
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
reeffermadness said:
Ive never used clearex before...does it work well for you? Then again regular water flushing hasn't done me in wrong yet. Ya definitely sounds like you had the ppms a little too high. what week veg are they in?
Click to expand...
They only emerged out of the pots 2 weeks ago. I probably jumped the gun on nutes because they were growing so fast. They're at 650ish right now and look a little bit better. 300 PPMs max for vegetative huh?
 
Budsworth

Budsworth

Well-Known Member
Classic overnuting the leaves have ramhorns (curling) 850 PPm way to high. I think your on the right track now.
 
Muffy D

Muffy D

Well-Known Member
Looking good so far. Dont let the temp of your room fool you, those broad leaves will soak up a lot of heat. Back the light off a little and lower those nutes and they will perk right up.
 
bubblerking

bubblerking

Well-Known Member
jcommerce said:
They only emerged out of the pots 2 weeks ago. I probably jumped the gun on nutes because they were growing so fast. They're at 650ish right now and look a little bit better. 300 PPMs max for vegetative huh?
Click to expand...
300 max right know plants are small for some reason when i go over 650 my plants burn idunno just my 2 cents
 
potroast

potroast

Uses the Rollitup profile
Flushing the media regularly is important for a couple of reasons. It keeps the nute levels from reaching toxic levels, which can be done with plain water, but is done better with Clearex. Also, Clearex unlocks nutrients that have precipitated into compounds that are unavailable to the plant, and those are again in a form the plant can use.

Botanicare says to flush weekly, and if you use a dense medium like rockwool slabs, it's a good idea. For growrocks, every 2-3 weeks is probably fine.

HTH :mrgreen:
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys, I've been diluting the nutes down even more since I posted and they're looking a lot better. I'm going flush them with Clearex today and let the system run for a bit. Then I'm going to fill with pure R/O and slowly step the nutes up to the 300 ppm level over the next 24 - 48 hours. Sound good?

Here they are 36 hours since I took the pics at the top of this thread (hard to believe these little bastards are only 2 weeks old):
 

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bubblerking

bubblerking

Well-Known Member
jcommerce said:
Thanks guys, I've been diluting the nutes down even more since I posted and they're looking a lot better. I'm going flush them with Clearex today and let the system run for a bit. Then I'm going to fill with pure R/O and slowly step the nutes up to the 300 ppm level over the next 24 - 48 hours. Sound good?

Here they are 36 hours since I took the pics at the top of this thread (hard to believe these little bastards are only 2 weeks old):
Click to expand...
sounds good keep up the good work
 
Gygax1974

Gygax1974

Just some idiot
I see no signs of toxicity or nute burn at all. They look fine...do you have any pics of the toxic plants?
 
TheLegend1023

TheLegend1023

Active Member
I just planted my seedlings today. this is my first time with hydro and I was hoping you can give me some advice.

Since this is my first time im only growing 2 plants.

I used a 15 gallon tupperware box, with 6 inch net pots rockwool cubes and hydroton. Im using 1/4 strength nutrient mix and i have the PH at about 5.8. I am also keeping an eye on the room and water temp and making sure it doesnt get to warm. (Im using 2 flourescents)

I germinated the seeds and planted them in the rockwool.

and this is where im lost..

I dont know what to expect or what to do after they begin to grow.

Any advice ?

-LEGEND:leaf:
 
Nolabell

Nolabell

Member
jcommerce said:
Facts about setup:


Any advice? I've tried to be so careful and conservative about not overdoing the nutes and I've been very diligent about Ph, Temp, Ventilation, PPMs, etc
Click to expand...
i would lower the ppm to 500ppm. DWC requires way less ppm as there is no nutrient medium and the roots are completely submerged in the salty nutrient water. Above the bottom of the net cup, salts build up during dry cycle with top feed, and get high ppm build up when there is no top feed. Flushing net cup from top with 0 ppm water is good. Just drissle 0 ppm water through...no worries... Nutes can be reached by dangling roots. The problem with a high ppm in dwc is that parts of root system get dryer (more concentrated salts), out of water, and this high salt draws out water from the roots, like salt draws water out of a slug. I find 650 ppm is an upper limit for most strains in DWC...using technaflora products.:leaf:
 
M

mad morph

Member
can i mention that Advanced Nutrients SensiGrow and SensiBloom, i use both, are PH perfect and save a lot of time, effort and money, and have been good for my cheesewreck grow, looking at about 6oz a plant dry under a 600w hps, so i would recomend these nutes as they are proven good.
 
P

purklize

Active Member
Flushing the media regularly is important for a couple of reasons. It keeps the nute levels from reaching toxic levels, which can be done with plain water, but is done better with Clearex. Also, Clearex unlocks nutrients that have precipitated into compounds that are unavailable to the plant, and those are again in a form the plant can use.
Click to expand...
Botanicare's Clearex is a complete and total ripoff if I'm thinking of the right thing... it says on the label it's nothing but distilled water and a bit of sugar. Dilute sugarwater for $20 a liter...
 
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