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

MithrilSCYTHE

MithrilSCYTHE

New member
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...
 

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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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 👌
 

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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 .
 
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Either way with plants this young it’s not a big deal. Get them in your setup, get the conditions right and that’s it. I’ve never tried to grow a plant that size in rock wool by dipping it but I can only assume that they need a more constant supply of oxygen and water to the roots. My tap water is horrible, comes out at 9.0PH at times and have seen over 700ppm, I let it sit open for about a week (time between reservoir changes), add my a+b,cal-mag,hydrothrive and enzymes. Then I adjust down the ph to 5.5 wait 30min normally comes back up a few points so I adjust back to 5.5, at this point I add it to the reservoir and adjust down only after it rises over 6.2.
What is your water temps? What tools are you using to take measurements? Are there any light leaks in the reservoir? All very important things to ask yourself if everything “seems” fine but the plants are not doing well.
 
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 :D I'm not giving up, will strength is my strong suit, but I'm a little upset.
 
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
 
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!
 
Yes, I use mag cal pro from Growth Technology (clonex creators), ionic series. I know that usually they say to go with half of potency written on the label, but I go with normal strength, since I was told that calcium and magnesium toxicity are almost impossible within normal ranges, is it right?
 
Well... I agree about normal ranges. But each strain wants something a bit different for what they consider to be normal.
Regular strength is fine, because RO will remove these elements from the water. If not added back, lack of minerals in RO water can cause issues too. But seems like you have covered that base so far.
 
Yes D: that's why I'm so angry, I did my research, almost qualifiable as study and I still don't get any results... There should be something very important but also basic I'm not getting right...
Do nutrients expire? I own them from 1 and a half years... Or could be that my GHE Flora Micro is for Hard water when I have soft water... But this things seems so irrelevant... Could be the case? I shake the bottles, everything seems normal, no agglomeration, nothing depositing on the bottom...
 
If the nutrients smell bad...then they are no longer fresh.
I’m still thinking it’s a PH issue. I don’t use rapid rooters, but when I use rockwool I ph down to 5.5.
You have to soak the rockwool because the medium already has a high ph naturally.
I’m wondering if you need to soak th rapid rooters prior to use like you do for rockwool?
 
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