Northern Lights First Grow Hydroponic

New pictures and spots.. -_- Damn why wont they leave me alone...

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how often does it change and how long has it been wandering. with hydro u should treat ph problems before nute problems since ph problems create nute problems. each element in a nutrient solution has a certain ph range that it has to be in for your plants to absorb it. all of the elements over lap at 5.5-6.5. if it falls below or rises above that range the plants will still absorb the nutes but one by one the elements will become locked out as the ph drifts further away from the 5.5-6.5 range creating def. semptoms. wen u first said u were having def. problems i thought the plant had absorbed all of whatever was missing out of the solution. so the nutes are there the plant just cant get to em..... ph problems r a pain in the ass. i lucked up and solved mine but it was accidental. i use a hot tube ph down. i also filter my water before mixing the nutes. ive searched and searched and searched and everyone that does it says the smoke was just fine. i got mine from lowes the sticker is fucked up so i cant see the name brand but its sodium bisulfate. now my ph stays stable for like two weeks

Yea, PH has been a real problem lately. Just did a test, came up about 7 ish.. Bad.. Got them all dropped down between 5 - 5.5 assuming they will raise again. got them all bagged up so they are more light proof to avoid algae. Will post a few more pics in a few.

Thanks for your input

And BTW. Is there ANYTHING that will help stabilize the PH?

I recommend Dyna-gro Protekt. It's a great product. Stabilizes pH and is a great silica supplement. Pretty cheap too.

What are you testing your pH with anyway? Since the cal-mag didn't resolve your problem it's definitely pH. I never cared for Fox Farm for just this reason, but oh well, others have had good results.

shnkrmn said:

I recommend Dyna-gro Protekt. It's a great product. Stabilizes pH and is a great silica supplement. Pretty cheap too.

What are you testing your pH with anyway? Since the cal-mag didn't resolve your problem it's definitely pH. I never cared for Fox Farm for just this reason, but oh well, others have had good results.

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Yea, we use the old school solution testing. Want to get a trimeater though soon, or at least a PH pen.

W N L said:

Yea, PH has been a real problem lately. Just did a test, came up about 7 ish.. Bad.. Got them all dropped down between 5 - 5.5 assuming they will raise again. got them all bagged up so they are more light proof to avoid algae. Will post a few more pics in a few.

Thanks for your input

And BTW. Is there ANYTHING that will help stabilize the PH?

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What's your water source again? Straight ro water? I use an 85/15 ro to tap water ratio, and my pH is always on point. The little bit of hardness added by the tapwater adds alkalinity, which gives it great resistance to pH change.

I buy 11gallons from wally world.

Of what kind of water?

dude more than likley one of two things is going on There are more causes but these 2 are most likely to occcur) either your ph solution is breaking down too fast (not stable enough). or there are too many bacteria in the solution. check and see if the water is murkey or if there are spots in the water or if u have slime at the water line... in other words your water should always look like it does when u first mix it.. if it doesnt its bacteria if not its probably the ph down your using... is it the gh ph down (citric acid)......

meetjoeblow said:

dude more than likley one of two things is going on There are more causes but these 2 are most likely to occcur) either your ph solution is breaking down too fast (not stable enough). or there are too many bacteria in the solution. check and see if the water is murkey or if there are spots in the water or if u have slime at the water line... in other words your water should always look like it does when u first mix it.. if it doesnt its bacteria if not its probably the ph down your using... is it the gh ph down (citric acid)......

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I agree bacteria is a possibility. If he's using straight up distilled, or straight ro water and mix match nutrients things can fluctuate quite a bit. If you cut that with 20% tap water, it gives a much greater resistance to pH change (alkalinity, not to be confused with alkaline pH value).

Wolverine97 said:

I agree bacteria is a possibility. If he's using straight up distilled, or straight ro water and mix match nutrients things can fluctuate quite a bit. If you cut that with 20% tap water, it gives a much greater resistance to pH change (alkalinity, not to be confused with alkaline pH value).

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Alright cool, we will start mixing the nutes with tap water. Wouldn't mind figuring out a way to fill up with regular tap water, but it would take FOREVER! See if we could hook up a hose some how.

dude dont use all tap. some is ok but 9 times out of 10 u dont know your municiple water plants water quality guidelines.. that is to say your tap water could be just safe enough to drink but not safe enough to leave in a bucket for a week or two and then drink. or it could be so strict that there are too many chemicals in it for the plant to prosper...for example . pure water has a ph of 7. the tap water in my neighborhood is 5.5 (i think).

5.5 would be great man,,,

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Still fighting the PH level being too high.. So damn tired of the PH being at 7 a day after it was set to 5.5....

Girls are actually starting to look good! Will get some pictures up tomorrow or later tonight. Only #2 is a little behind. Tomorrow we set up a cloning/begging area.

Everyone is still looking good. Res change tomorrow, got concentrates that will make them look SEXY! Mad buds forming around, very excited.

Looking much better man, that's how your roots should have looked at the start of 12/12. Next time will go much better. I would recommend that once this grow is over, you change to a different nutrient line, I think that's what's causing a lot of your pH headaches. You shouldn't have to change the res every week, though it is a good habit to get into.

Yea, its costly to change every week, but even at that, like today, got all the water out and there was a ton of nutrients at the bottom that weren't being used and just laying in there. I feel as though it is better to stay on top of it than wait it out and have issues later. The PH issues, I honestly have to put blame on us really. We didn't realize that it CAN, but not always change over night. Just something that we keep a better eye on now. Never really realized that just a small PH difference could make or break your nutes. Everthing is starting to look up from here, Im sure we will have an issue here and there, but its all part of learning. Seeing the tiny buds is exciting though. And next time around, we will be growing NL again, just to perfect (I guess you could say) one thing at a time. Plus, the family is getting use to the upstairs smelling like Northern Lights, not really your typically 'pot' smell, so its not obvious, but we can tell off that bat that we need to spray when we come home lol. We really can't risk growing anything skunkier until we get a CO2 filter or some sort of filter.

Your help and input is always appreciated. Spent 3 hours changing everything out today, love seeing progress.

dude im glad u have roots now thats one problem off the list. as far as the dark clumps on the roots go i wouldnt worry unless they started to get slimmy or stink. they should be ok. and dude u shouldnt touch the roots. that shit could shock your plants quicker than anything else i can think of. and 2 questions what kind of ph down are u using and are your nutrients organic