There are many roads to Dank, I hope yours is an enjoyable one brother.
Peace OG
And I am a hobby grower as well brother.
2 Likes
My bad. That should be 4x4 on the tent and closet. They were saying at least 40 watts per sq/ft.
1 Like
Based on your limited needs 1 plant under a 250 watt should be perfect.
1 Like
Thatās what I would have went with if I didnāt have the 400 left over from before. My intention is to grow two different strains at the same to to give me some variety.
I would have said overwatering until I saw the roots (yes I know its hydro)
it looks like my tomatoes did last week put them in 11L pots 2 weeks early on a drip feed turned up too high
they have bounced back now the roots have grown
If the roots were only just coming out of the cube and it was saturated it could have been a bit much for it.
Looks like the roots are loving it thoughā¦
1 Like
Well now that Iām running straight water itās definitely recovering. New growth thats all green.
Iām testing my water and pH like @LED_Seedz suggested. I filled a bucket full of tap water and measured 7.7 pH. I let it sit for 24 hours and it still measured 7.7. I added nutes and measured 6.3 an hour later. 24 hours later it still measured 6.3. I then add ph Down to the bucket (accidentally too much) and it read 3.8. Since this is just a test and nothing Iāll feed to my plants I left it alone. 24 hours later it still read 3.8.
So water, nutes and pH Down all seem stable. So I just added Hydroton to the bucket to see what that doesā¦
2 Likes
I already know that answer.
3 Likes
Ooooh, the suspense is killing usā¦
99
2 Likes
I rinsed the crap out of the hydroton before I used it. The stuff is supposed to be neutral so why is it such a pain?
I do have an unopened bag of 15 year old coco coir. Would that be a better option or add itās own issues?
Pre covered
Edited to show bold text.
2 Likes
I remembered you saying that. I was indirectly replying to that when I said I rinsed the crap out of it. How hard is it to clean this stuff?
1 Like
Yeah I was in response to 99.
Wait? It comes clean?
lol, itās a royal pain in the ass, at least the new stuff is. Hydroton was still pretty rough but that hasnāt been made in several years, and about the time I stopped using clay completely.
Iād soak it for a few days and stir it when you can. Pull it out and rinse it again. I used to use a small plastic veggy colander and do small amounts at a time.
Maybe give this a try sometime. Totally inert
3 Likes
If you are a sativa fan Aceās Panama is a fast flowering sativa that does well under lights and is manageable in a small space.
3 Likes
Thanks for the heads up. I put that on the wish list I recently started. I dont know that Iāve ever had a true Sativa but I intend to grow a couple in my next grow.
Have you tried that? Iām curious because reading the reviews shows complaints of rising pH too.
1 Like
I tried it when it was released at the Maximum yield expo several years back and found it fine to use and saw no issue, but I have read that as well. Frankly, I donāt understand how glass could have a PH. I used Clay for years and years so it can work, but one needs to spend a ton of time cleaning it the first time its used. Typically fine after the first time though.
1 Like
They use calcium carbonate to cause the glass to foam which, Iām guessing, might cause some drift due to anything leftover after the reaction.
Personally because hydro can be automated far more easily than a soil setup. Even if you just have a webcam looking at the right meters for PH and EC you can monitor it from miles away.
I visit my plants roughly every two weeks, see that they are doing as well as I knew they were from looking at the readings remotely, top up buckets for the automated dosing if needed, then leave. I cannot think of a system with lower maintenance.
Right now from my chair I can see that over the last week my tank temperature has stayed between 21 and 22c, TDS has ramped from 580 to 605 which is what I set it to do, PH has stayed between 5.65 and 5.7 air temp has stayed between 22c and 28c and RH% has stayed between 48% and 57%. I have noticed that over the last 7 days my plants have switched from high humidity at night to high humidity during the day so that means they have started to fill the space and soon it will be time to fit the dehumidifier. I will probably go do that next week.
Done right a hydro system is far far less maintenance than a soil system. Done wrong it is far far more maintenance.
We just need to help remove the ball ache from the system for @bozrdang and they will have the low maintenance system they need.
Personally, I do not use any medium because of issues like it affecting PH, being a home for pathogens etc.
If you want a truly inert medium, go for none. I would advise no medium for NFT, DWC etc.
For your little one there, it seems they did not have enough root out of the cube before being put into a system with full nutes.
What I would do (which may not be what you prefer) is to put it into a small bubbler system so the roots can become stronger and the plant larger so it has more of a buffer to handle transplanting and nutes then transplant it into whatever system you want to run.
I would start at about 100TDS over your water just so it has some food and ramp it up as you see the plant respond.
With the plant in a bubbler it is easy to check root development.
3 Likes
Thanks brother I have firm grasp of how hydro works, My question was directed at the OP based on what he said his needs are.
Being at work for long hours could be a big problem if a pump or some other piece of automation craps out 20 minutes after he leaves for a 12 hour work day.
1 Like
Ha! 
Donāt get me started on the number of times I have set something up, watched it for a couple of hours to make sure it is working fine then driven a hundred miles away only to find that once I am away from it, it decides to mess up in some way meaning I have to go back right now. Sometimes just to turn a PC off, then turn it back on again.
Even with all that added in, the fuel costs and everything, I would 500% go with automated hydro over any other method, and I say that having done all the other methods over three decadesā¦
The time it takes to manually adjust everything for your plants, every day, is immense. Then you need to do it again 5 hours later. It is like having a newborn baby 365 days a year.
I let a computer do the boring repetitive tasks that computers were designed to free us from. Just like when I need to go 100 miles on the motorway I do not walk, I use a machine and let it do the hard work for me.
2 Likes