HYDRO I'm tired of having problems with hydroponics, what am I doing wrong??

[MithrilSCYTHE]

It's my 3rd or 4th grow try in hydroponics that goes bad.
I'm learning everything I can, but still get deficiencies every damn time.

I killed and almost adult plant for magnesium deficiency, couldn't even past flowering for potassium deficiency, and now with my last try I have what it seems to be a phosphorus deficiency.

I sprout the seeds in toilet paper, or directly in the plig, being that sponge or rockwool.
I check pH (5,8-6,4) and always give the nutrients at 5,9 since it rises, ppM are within 400-500 for younglings, ratios are like in the forums, temperature is perfect, humidity too, and still got problems.

Can someone tell me what is going on here? I never have good results, am I forgetting something?

Thanks...

[Toker1]

Ph down to 5.5 then let it creep back up to 6.5 before adjusting it again. Should take 2-3 days before adjustments are required.

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I'm still in the cube phase, I simply dip my cubes in nutrient solution, ph 5,8-5,9 500ppm, I waint until the cube are light but not dry and dip again.
I adjust the solution itself, how should I adjust the cube? By now, I dip every 3-4 days, that is the time it takes for the cube to become light.

[Toker1]

Sounds like they are not getting a range of PH, which is what they need. Hydro absorbs 5.5-6.5. Different elements need different PH values. So always shooting for 5.9 will cause issues.

[PRIMO]

I'd quit banging my head against the hydro bucket and try some smart pots and quality soil. But that's just me, I'm a dirt farmer.

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I started growing hydroponically for hobby, I have not interest in soil since I already have a garden to grow good season. I wanted to learn more

[Grinder]

As stated above. All your issues sound like pH problems. What reservoirs are you using?

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I'm using standalone DWC bucket, or I'd wish since I'm still in the rooting phase, I'm using rockwool cubes that I dip in nutrient solution.
pH is 5,9 and i follow the ghe flora trio schedule for recirculating, so my ppm are around 500 now.

[Vitaminthc]

COULD BE YOUR WATER, I had the exact same problem for years and couldn’t get my head around what could possibly be causing such little growth in such perfect environments, like I’ve got a setup with potential am I just not destined to grow my own -.-

The pH of my tap water was 8.3 and the ppm’s of our government specified ‘soft’ water were actually close to 480ppm. Problems and deffencies were evident throughout indoor/outdoor plants, house plants and flowers were discoulered and defficient after a while too, to the point of visible salt build up from the run-off with no nutrient usage whatsoever minus the slow-release in the soil..


——— I was overfeeding ———-

Using far too much posphoric acid to ph down

Nutrients on top

Thought I was doing everything correctly turns out the ppm’s were at 800+ causing lockout and deffencies.

——If you refuse to try soil, here are your options. ——-

Get a full reverse osmosis filter system for your house to get pure water from the tap, this will hurt the pocket $$$$$

Or

Get a piss cheap digital pH meter, $10 - $20, (not an expensive one)

Find a supplier of ‘pure’ water less than 10 total ppm check’ adjust ph first then compensate with whatever nutrient you have. I use the water pictured.

Fluctuate pH and try anything from 5.5 to 6.2 all individual plants are different and it’s about finding the right values for that specific growth, as we know macronutrients absorb at different pH values and there’s literally lockout gaps in between refer to pH chart for hydro.
https://www.growweedeasy.com/wp-cont...-marijuana.jpg

So at pH 5.8 and rising you could be at the end of optimal manganese absorption and not hitting the optimal for magnesium or calcium, which is why I suppose fellas overkill everything with the CalMag lol

If possible, as early as possible :

USE MYCORRHIZAE - they genuinely help with nutrient uptake, ph stability, heat stress, dry stress.

USE Beneficial bacteria - they will explode the root mass, and also help suck up all those micro/macronutrients.

Make sure your water is properly bubbling, no tiny fish pump shit if you’ve got anything over 4 litres constantly in the reservoir.

Use a quality balancing product - Botanicare Hydrogard, sm-90, never used either can’t get it here, I use CX horticulture bio balancer as it was given to me for free as a sample and it’s doing what the others describe so I’ll stick with it haha

There’s more than one pH down product as well, this is hard to find but try and find nitric acid based pH down for veg as it breaks down into nitrogen and phosphoric acid based so it breaks down into phosphorus.

With this info your next grow grow will succeed, trust 👌

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I have reverse osmosis water, 10ppm at maximum.
I use cal mag.
I have a pH pen, 60 euros, it's not crappy.
I measure my ppms and pH every feed.
My pumps are not tiny, they are well balanced. I use also hydrogen peroxide when in cube to help with oxygenation, not going above 2ml/l.
Of what you said I do differently:
-feed at 5,8 not 5,5
-i don't use any myco, bacteria or hormones, I use vitamins thought

How do I shift my pH when rooting in the plugs? I suppose it tents to rise, so should I start low?

Also, your information are useful and I thank you, but aren't this the "expert" things? I should get at least decent results with what I already have and your suggestions should improve even more my crops, but I don't manage to go anywhere.

Of all answers yours was the most useful, so I explain all my last crop:
-pop 3 seeds, 12 soaked in water then into the plugs, one made of rockwool the other natural sponge (1 did not germinate)
-after 1 day the natural sponge is out
-the next day also the rockwool
-I just feed with firts feed solution and hydrogen peroxide for the first 5 days
-I start to mix a solution at 350ppm
Everything goes relatively good, the plugs are mostly covered in roots after 2 weeks from sprout
-I put them both in a larger rockwool cube, and continue feeding with growing ppms.
-at 3 weeks the first plant has problems, it doesn't grow much and it has some yellow spots
-I am at 3 and a half weeks today, the healthiest plant starts to have the first signs of the same deficiencies of the other

My feedings are classic, I'm not trying anything strange... It's have GHE flora trio, cal mag from ionic series (growth technology), vitamins from Atami b'cuzz...
My temps and hum are normal... I should get something decent! No, they just die.
I'm starting to suspect I'm getting sabotaged by my fiancee when I'm not looking I'm not giving up, will strength is my strong suit, but I'm a little upset.

[cardshooter]

Then maybe you should start with a new fiancée on the next grow! LOL

[Flyfisher]

maybe your waiting to long to pot?A plant that big should have 6" roots or more sticking out a netpot .I put them in a system as soon as i see roots.

the roots need to seek water not sit in it.dangle your netpot above some bubbles .

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I wait for the cube to dry before dipping it again, in the past I went straight to the DWC bucket as soon as I've seen roots, this won't change the problems.
It must be something very basic I'm getting wrong, I don't get it

[BlueBudz]

MithrilSCYTHE hello, I’d like to help. Why are these plants not in the final setup? What type of setup are you using?

[MithrilSCYTHE]

Ahahahah, I'm sorry, comment like your make me mad with anger and not because you, I thank you for your participation.
It's just that, my water is extremely good, I use also reverse osmosis, I set the pH perfectly, temps and hum are perfect, I look at the ppms to the tens, and still screw it up.
Instead you can normally grow with worse conditions, and this makes me wonder if everything I touch dies D:

In the last I used normal DWC buckets, no light bleeding, I wanted to go with hydroton drip, and I needed some roots on the exterior to begin with, that's why I was waiting a little longer to put them in the final system.
I'm using the technique called air pruning, so the roots grow inside the cube and as soon they are able to extend in the final system, the should explode.
Of course nothing of this is happening since the plant is having problems right in the first weeks...
My tools are a good pH meter used in laboratories (60ish bucks) and a cheap ass ppm pen (this shouldn't matter i think, since measuring EC doesn't require anything fancy) also some strips.
I exclude light leaks in the reservoir, there may be little in the tent itself, being homemade, and using the reverse day-night cycle, I turn on the lights from 3pm to 9 am, so sometimes I enter the room to get something during the day (that would be night for them) and light it indirectly (even though the tent is well made, there shouldn't be a lot of light, it's still covered internally of mylar).
Are there any factors that may influence the health?
I'm sad D; thanks for the help anyway!

[BlueBudz]

You can do this! What nutrients and additives are you using? Something in your calculations is wrong and we’re going to figure out what it is! Whatever tools you are using are only as good as their accuracy, get some strips to compare and calibrate monthly. I use all blue lab meters and constantly comepare them to ensure they are correct. With my water things can change drastically. If you are taking samples of your res to test make sure the container is free of anything that may skew the reading. I don’t mean to sound obvious, but somewhere, something is wrong and at the point where you think everything is perfect you may need to test some of your known factors to get to the bottom of it

[MithrilSCYTHE]

Yes sir!
My pH tester is good quality, not as much as bluelab, but it's reliable, I calibrate it every 1-2 weeks, the result are comparable with the strips and the other cheap ass pen I have for redundancy.
I'm currently using the GHE Flora trio (hardwater specifically for the micro, even though I don't use hard water. I have read that the only difference is that one I have doesn't have any calcium and magnesium, thing that I supplement with...)
Ionic Mag Cal Pro, growth technology.
It's literally a copy of the calimagic.
Then I use the Atami B'cuzz root Stimulator, a vitamin supplement.
I periodically add Liquid Oxygen, growth technology, nothing fancy, just hydrogen peroxide 20%, I add 1-2ml/l every time I can.
My pH up and down are also from growth technology.
I also have liquid silicon, but I never use it since almost every one I encounter online tell me I have probably a pH problem, and silicon makes pH a mess to manage.
Epsom salts too and mineral magic, never use them, I don't want to put things more than necessary.

As for the ambient, I have a tent, 45cm x90 cm, 160cm height.
I have reflecting walls in mylar, and my lights are a Platinum Led P300, a 90W blurple led in veg, that doubles the doubles the W when in flower, then I use some homemade quantum "tablet" (since since is too small to be considered a board) 4000k 17,5W to ampliate the spectrum, both kept relatively high (my plants grow squat already, no signs of stretching.

Hope that this explains my situation well

[Toker1]

Are you adding cal-mag to your RO water?

[Toker1]

Yes, you are boarding manganese deficiency above 5.8. Mn absorbs at a lower PH than most other elements.

[MithrilSCYTHE]

I just dipped them again, this time in 5,5.
After dipping them i tested again the water where i put them, it was 5,7! So that means that by averaging, the ph inside the cube was at least 5,9-6.0 but probably much higher! Damn it! I will dip them again in an hour to be sure the pH stay low at least at the immediate beginning

[Toker1]

Seems like we are onto something here. Let’s keep an eye on here to see how she reacts.

[Mr.furley]

Hi MithrilSCYTHE
not a Hydro guy here, was just wondering do you always drip in a nutrient mix solution or do you mix it up with plain Ph'ed water?
looks like Nute burn to me.

[MithrilSCYTHE]

Wow, you'd be the first one to tell me this. I burned once a plant, I'm never making the same mistake again, my ppms are way low for a nute burn, 400-500ppm.
Also not having signs on the tips of the leaves, but mostly on older leaves, in between veins

[Mr.furley]

The only other thing I would suggest is magnesium it needs 6.2ph and up to absorb in Hydro.
Good luck.

[Flyfisher]

When u dip the cube it becomes over watered is my guess.Not much air and stagnate.I have never done what your doing so Im just guessing but i think Im right.Get it in a netpot add som bubbles and 1/4 strength nutes.
my last grow went into pots 3 days after the seeds popped.