Why is my yield so low?
- Thread starter vaseline68
- Start date
jaybee007
Well-Known Member
Just been checking out ur album
lookin good
but what's going on with the 1 on the left of the first pic
that has died of thirst my friend lol
but u've got the right ideas man
uve got a nice set up
But u need 2 follow a strict feeding schedule
when they get hot and thirsty like that
ur beggin mites and bugs 2 live on ur plants
how r u bringing in air and getting it out ?
lookin good
but what's going on with the 1 on the left of the first pic
that has died of thirst my friend lol
but u've got the right ideas man
uve got a nice set up
But u need 2 follow a strict feeding schedule
when they get hot and thirsty like that
ur beggin mites and bugs 2 live on ur plants
how r u bringing in air and getting it out ?
TheDude007
Member
Several people have said this already, but after looking at your grow pics I can definitively say that your under-watering, and therefore reducing your yield of your plants. You should have a bed of hydroton underneath your cubes, for the roots to have additional space to spread out and they can suck up more oxygen being spread out. I have a friend who does ebb/flow, and he waters every 2 hours for 30 minutes. I think you need lower ppm, and you need to flood your tray more often. About 20 minutes in between waterings is all your plants need to take in oxygen.
I run a hybrid constant flow/dwc bucket system, and if I turn my water off for 30 minutes, the plants start to droop. Within 1-2 hours they would probably cook and die. So they need constant nutes, but in your setup....I'd say they just need nutes (and water) more often than your giving it to them.
I'm almost positive that is heat stress on your plants. If you were watering enough you could probably get your light down to under a foot and not see that kind of burning. I'm able to keep my light at around 12-15" with no burn. Then again you said you were running 1500-1900 ppm....so that leaf damage could be all nute burn too, it was kinda hard to tell from the pics.
Try watering more often, and with less nutrients in the solution. And add hydroton to the bottom of your trays.
I run a hybrid constant flow/dwc bucket system, and if I turn my water off for 30 minutes, the plants start to droop. Within 1-2 hours they would probably cook and die. So they need constant nutes, but in your setup....I'd say they just need nutes (and water) more often than your giving it to them.
I'm almost positive that is heat stress on your plants. If you were watering enough you could probably get your light down to under a foot and not see that kind of burning. I'm able to keep my light at around 12-15" with no burn. Then again you said you were running 1500-1900 ppm....so that leaf damage could be all nute burn too, it was kinda hard to tell from the pics.
Try watering more often, and with less nutrients in the solution. And add hydroton to the bottom of your trays.
vaseline68
Member
Jay - LOL that guy on the left suffered the worst of the heat/light stress it was actually pretty heavy when it turned like that. It's been getting worse as you can see and I wasn't expecting to harvest so I don't have the time to cut it down atm. When I get a chance I'm chopping it and making it to hash. Most are the same strain, atomic northern lights as thats been the most resilent, there's a grand-daddy blueberry x cheese cross, lefty is a jilly bean that got scorched and there's a blue dream that didn't take the heat well also. Thanks cost me my savings was wondering if it was a bad investment. My air is going in through a carbon filter being pulled by 540 cfm fan above one end of the trays. Intake is coming through a window from the opposite side of the carbon filter and being pushed by a 190 cfm 4" fan coming in from the floor with the air being pushed to the ceiling with a box fan. I have a single oscillating fan in the corner on a mild setting enough to push the furthest plant top flutter slightly.
vaseline68
Member
Ya I was considering the hydroton when I started but friends and their results convinced me it wasn't necessary. Ya I'm positive the day 37 tray is heat stressed, my fan's timer was pulled out for a few days of their life and I didn't notice; temps reached 102 degrees at the canopy.
Yup I'm definitely gonna go buy some hydroton my next day off hopefully it helps with drainage/root issues. Thx for the tips.
jaybee007
Well-Known Member
bigv1976
Well-Known Member
Reading threads like this is so painful. The guy comes here with a legetimate question and what you get is noobs saying things like "I have never grown hydro before but maybe its...." and people asking questions that are answered in the OP. If you cant help the guy then dont fill his thread with 20 useless posts people. Common sense is sooooo thin on this site lately.
IN33DW33D
Active Member
Take your own advice, sweet prince.
vaseline68
Member
K I'll take more pics tonight but basically I have my carbon filter hanging from the ceiling right next to my hoods and the air is going thru both hoods into the attic. Intake is just a small fan with ducting coming from an outside window.
Yup I got all the timers I'll ever need however because of the drainage issues and after hearing 'water when they need it' over and over along with the previous root rot and overwatering issues have made me do a more concise (and time consuming) method to make sure I didn't drown the plants.
Any tips with using/reusing hydroton with rockwool? Pre-use soaks etc?
jaybee007
Well-Known Member
Make sure u do soak the pebbles
4 a few hours if not over night
or else u will have some ph issues
and IMHO u need 2 up ur fan game lol
how big is ur grow space ?
Ur extractor should b able 2 suck all the air out in 5 mins
Is the air going thru ur hood coming from outside ?
do they have there own fan 4 air in and out ?
4 a few hours if not over night
or else u will have some ph issues
and IMHO u need 2 up ur fan game lol
how big is ur grow space ?
Ur extractor should b able 2 suck all the air out in 5 mins
Is the air going thru ur hood coming from outside ?
do they have there own fan 4 air in and out ?
TheDude007
Member
I think hydroton is ph inert, but I could be wrong. You do want to pre-wash and rinse the hydroton though as it has a lot of loose clay material that will stain your roots and possibly cause other issues if you don't pre-wash the hydroton.
I'd recommend new hydroton each time, but if you want you can clean it between grows by using a bleach solution that you soak them in.
My other recommendation is simple, inexpensive, and would probably solve your "root drowning" or root rot issues for the most part: add 1 or 2 airstones to your reservoir. Oxygenating your water will not only improve the amount of available nutrients in the water, but will also add enough oxygen to the water that you could immerse your roots 24/7 without any issues. That's what us DWC people use. I suggested my friend who does ebb/flow use an airstone in his res, and he's seen improved results.
vaseline68
Member
K here's an album of my ventilation should be pretty much self-explanatory. The only thing that needs explaining is the device I took a pic of is a thermo-stat that can control A/C's and heaters with a more precision and it controls when my intake can fan and box fan turn on to push more air into the room. Anyone ever hear of the clay pellets I bought (Plant!t)? Does brand matter?
http://imgur.com/a/yl18w#11
jaybee007
Well-Known Member
No the brand of pebbles doesn't matter
im just working out what's goin on with ur ducting
ur pulling the air thru the scrubber then lights then in2 the y join
what else is that y connected
also why don't u use the air con u have there
put it on a timer so it comes on and off so it doesn't batter the electric
im just working out what's goin on with ur ducting
ur pulling the air thru the scrubber then lights then in2 the y join
what else is that y connected
also why don't u use the air con u have there
put it on a timer so it comes on and off so it doesn't batter the electric
bigv1976
Well-Known Member
That is a great post.
HydroDawg421
Well-Known Member
You bought the lights used, correct? Have you given some thought to replacing the bulbs and/or measuring the lumens. These bulbs could be old and need replacing. Also, I run an RDWC and use a water chiller to keep my water 60-62 degrees.