Seedling Problem In Hydro

3rdworldgrind

New Member
Hello. Me and my wife are trying to grow indoors. We are very much newbies. Since we started we lost 3 batches between seedling and 2nd/3rd week of vegetation phase.
With each batch we made some adjustments based on online input to no avail. Currently we use ALIEN® RDWC 12 Pot 20L PRO Silver Series and planted Dutch Passion's
Auto Lemon Kix. We use Advanced Nutrients. Here is what we've done so far;

PLANTING: In the first two attempts we planted the seeds in starter cubes in a propagator. However, we suspected transplantation shock and might've damaged the seedling roots. So with current attempt we planted them directly in the pots with pebbles (prewashed and pH neutralized). They started off looking alright except for a few blanks. We replaced the duds with extra ones from the propagator (we plant extras in case of this happening).

These ratios are all "per 100 lt." We use a total of 180 liters in the RDWC system. We decided to let the pH float during the week since we've read the roots absorb different nutrients/minerals at different gaps ranging from 5.5 to 6.5. The humidity level varies between 40-60%. We use four Harvest Pro Grow LED 440Ws and four Super Plant 600w MHs (one of our bulbs is broken so we're using an HPS instead of leaving that part in the dark).


Week 1:
Connoisseur Grow A&B, Rhino Skin - 0.25 ml
Voodoo Juice, Piranha, Tarantula - 2 ml
Bud Candy, Cal-Mag - 1 ml
B52, Nirvana, Sensizym - 0.5 ml
Orca - 15 ml
Water Temperature: 72 F
pH: 6.3
CO2: 1000 ppm (A few days after the seeds grew true leaves)

Before Week 2, we added 0.25 ml Grow A&B.

Week 2:
Connoisseur Grow A&B, B52, Nirvana - 0.5 ml
Voodoo Juice, Piranha, Tarantula, Rhino Skin - 1 ml
Bud Candy, Cal-Mag, Sensizym - 1 ml
Orca - 15 ml
Water Temperature: 70 F
pH: 6.2
CO2: 1250 ppm

Two days after the feeding of Week 2, we realized (or had to accept) that the plants weren't growing as much as they should vertically. Some plants were green (except for the first two leaves that fall off and wither because it feeds the plant), some had yellow veins, and some looked droopy. Hence, we decided to flush and kept it at pH 6.0 for observation.

It has been two days since the flushing and we added the following:
Connoisseur Grow A&B - 0.5 ml
Voodoo Juice, Cal-Mag - 1 ml

It seems some of the plants have started to grow in height but in very very miniscule amounts (or it's just our wishful thinking). We suspected overwatering which can apparently happen in hydroponics system. We use drippers jammed in the pebbled pots so, to make sure, we removed the drippers from the plants which have grown roots long enough to reach the nutrients in the water in the reservoir.

We're also suspecting nitrogen deficiency based on what we've read and watch to diagnose our plants. We have no solid reason nailed down and we are burning through a lot of money. We'd like to kill this batch if necessary as long as we know why this is happening. Any help is appreciated but if any of you would like to help more 1 on 1 we'd welcome that too, we are pretty clueless. We just read stuff.

We are attaching photos of our setup and the status of some of our plants bad ones and worse ones.

Thanks for all the help in advance.
 

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MickFoster

Well-Known Member
Ditch all those additives........just use your basic nutes........that's all plant's need.........the more crap you use the more problems can occur.
Reduce your pH to around 5.5.
At this stage of growth........you should be hand feeding from the top until the bulk of the roots are in the res.
Nice set up by the way.
 

3rdworldgrind

New Member
Ditch all those additives........just use your basic nutes........that's all plant's need.........the more crap you use the more problems can occur.
Reduce your pH to around 5.5.
At this stage of growth........you should be hand feeding from the top until the bulk of the roots are in the res.
Nice set up by the way.
Thank you so much for your reply and the compliment. We've suspected this might be the problem. I've added only nutrients to a fresh reservoir and dropped the pH as you suggested. Hope it works!

Do you have any suggestions for how much we should feed the seedlings only with nutrients (and for Cal-Mag because we use reverse osmosis)?

Much appreciated!
 

OrgrO

Well-Known Member
If you're just starting out I would stick with your base nutrients and one source for your beneficial bacteria. Keep it simple to start with.
Looks like you may be under feeding at 0.5ml with the Connoisseur . Is that 0.5 ml/liter? Advanced Nutrients web site calls for Connoisseur Grow part A & B each at 1 ml/liter in week one, 2 ml/liter in week two and 4 ml/liter in week three.
I like a PH of 5.8-5.9 ish on a fresh reservoir. That way I have a little leeway for a PH drift up or down.
 
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