DWC pH, EC & Temp Data

[Douglas.Curtis]

These days I prefer rabbit based soil, until I perfect rabbit based hydro. As amazing as plain nutes hydro cannabis can be, the additional complexity the plant produces with rabbit shit is another full level of experience.

 

[negative37dBA]

DWC with base nutes is definitely stupid simple as I outlined it. Any additives will mess with the pH swing and you'll get a sub-par result. Basic hydro I prefer MaxiBloom, epsom and calcium acetate for amazingly complex terpene and cannabinoid profiles. It's AMaaaazing what straight nutes without additives can produce.

If you're using AN pH Perfect nutes then I would expect problems with full nutrient uptake without overfeeding, and less complex flavors/smells/cannabinoids.

Exactly. I used to run AN with all the bells and whistles. Dropped it for Jacks with NOTHING extra cept for beni bacteria cause I run a live rez. The least cost I have ever seen in a grow and spectacular results. Some super good flavor in this last run.

 

[Ca++]

I didn't really consider the pH perfect aspect. It's some sort of chemical thing, so while setting the EC, we are also setting the buffering. More so than with other feeds.

I'm not sure if the cooler takes tank water, or has it's own coolant. I have no idea if it matters, but a straight up ally block from China, might present some issue. Water sat in there for hours before switch on, might get altered. I know one buffer method is a balance of acid and alkali, of such concentration that the effect of most tap waters, become insignificant in their battle. I know an alloy TV aerial is weather protected, yet looses it's shine very quickly, in rain that's very low EC (some might even say it's distilled). So I have to question it's use with our feeds. Cylinder heads can rot in a few years without something in the coolant to slow this. I don't know what pH perfect is, but might try and draw some fluid from the exchanger, that has stood for a bit.

I'm not sure if the pH perfect is a gimmick. I have seen enough threads about people leaving it, or setting the pH themselves. It not drawing a crowd, like a time saving, yet still effective feed, should.


DWC growers spend a lot of time keeping things cool, to reduce issues. Keeping cool slows their growth, but also ours. The roots don't want to be that cold. The best DWC rooting efforts seen, are where people get the right temperature, and use an additive (such as pool shock/calcium-chloride) to kill the issues. Keep in mind, killing them is better than slowing them. You are looking towards long tank change intervals, so I feel a sterile tank is probably a better option. It's got to go one of two ways. Cool tank that slows everything, or warmer tank for faster growth, and kill the baddies another way. Perhaps more completely. We shouldn't forget dwc might be multiple plants sharing a tank, and so viral load. Viral load not being something to avoid, but rather something we know we have, and should repress.

Just looking in my pond, I know cool temps don't do enough. If they stopped treating my tap water, telling me it's under 18c so it's fine, I think that might also raise some eyebrows. My plants love a fresh tank every day, even though it could hold a few days worth. We don't need a bio film we can see, to know there are clouds of orribleness eating our feed, nicking our oxygen, and crapping in our tank.


I can't find a DO reading taken on RO, but it seems flat to me. The ORP of tap is a third higher than RO, in the general field of information.

In closing, The continual topping up with RO approach, it's (edit: isn't) good for neutrient health. You can chase low temperatures to slow growth, or use a sterilisation approach. After which, you can run warmer, and get better growth. With less risk of sharing the viral load of all plants connected.

I wonder if the tank of an evaporative cooler, gets cool. Though I'm off on a tangent now.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

one thing for sure with hydro without a reservoir, is the buckets need tendering just about every day- i check the water level every morning and amend accordingly - if i am not home for a day, i can get away with it, but def not for 2 days... i have a runtz muffin which drinks at least a gallon of H20 every day... being my 1st time growing in hydro, the growth is def faster then dirt, but takes more attention then dirt.. they key will be the end product... and i'm some weeks away from testing...

 

[negative37dBA]

one thing for sure with hydro without a reservoir, is the buckets need tendering just about every day- i check the water level every morning and amend accordingly - if i am not home for a day, i can get away with it, but def not for 2 days... i have a runtz muffin which drinks at least a gallon of H20 every day... being my 1st time growing in hydro, the growth is def faster then dirt, but takes more attention then dirt.. they key will be the end product... and i'm some weeks away from testing...

A top off rez would work great for you to extend the times between checking on the garden. I can leave mine for 3 days with not touching it with the use of a top off rez.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

I prefer a steady 69F, and at the end of the grow (zero changeouts) my tank is still clear and clean. Years of the same results because I use r/o and clean elements.

 

[lord_haze]

DO: I didn't invest in those sensors since I asume it's at the maximum possible level at the given temperature thanks to the continuous air bubbles. It's only ~9ppm which is not much, a couple of plants can't eat faster then a pump.

from https://atlas-scientific.com/blog/how-does-temperature-affect-dissolved-oxygen/


Another ingredient I did use in the past and want to use again is Cannazym. I understand it helps breaking down organic residue and makes it available for the plant to feed on, that should keep things clean enough. An ORP reading might validate that things are smooth, maybe I'll add one in the future.



Also I'm not too stressed about some water loss. Those are just my tomatoes from last year but I wasn't home for 2 weeks and they did fine during those two hot weeks even though they ended up with half the res empty:

Todays plot looks muhc more boring, I guess the higher amount of nutes and buffer do their job now?

 

[goingrey]

Changing nutes each week, or every 2 weeks, is a mfg's wet dream. It sells a LOT of excess nutrients.

You can use the waste to water other plants. I hope, because it's what I'm doing.

 

[Ca++]

DO: I didn't invest in those sensors since I asume it's at the maximum possible level at the given temperature thanks to the continuous air bubbles. It's only ~9ppm which is not much, a couple of plants can't eat faster then a pump.

View attachment 19002182
from https://atlas-scientific.com/blog/how-does-temperature-affect-dissolved-oxygen/


Another ingredient I did use in the past and want to use again is Cannazym. I understand it helps breaking down organic residue and makes it available for the plant to feed on, that should keep things clean enough. An ORP reading might validate that things are smooth, maybe I'll add one in the future.



Also I'm not too stressed about some water loss. Those are just my tomatoes from last year but I wasn't home for 2 weeks and they did fine during those two hot weeks even though they ended up with half the res empty:
View attachment 19002180 View attachment 19002185



Todays plot looks muhc more boring, I guess the higher amount of nutes and buffer do their job now?
View attachment 19002190

That graph seems to of straightened up a lot. It's pretty solid confirmation that you added more buffer, to make it work. Others may learn from this. Also we see this feed is only suited to higher EC's and so probably can't be the only thing on your shelf.

DO meters are a bit of a faf. Not really worth the cost of ownership. I think ORP is much more reasonable, but as you say, you are doing all you can. Further measuring would only be of use with h2o2 dispensing (if that's even a thing) or the nanobubblers and oxygen concentrators coming our way.

It's good to see you have this nipped in the bud

 

[negative37dBA]

DO: I didn't invest in those sensors since I asume it's at the maximum possible level at the given temperature thanks to the continuous air bubbles. It's only ~9ppm which is not much, a couple of plants can't eat faster then a pump.

View attachment 19002182
from https://atlas-scientific.com/blog/how-does-temperature-affect-dissolved-oxygen/


Another ingredient I did use in the past and want to use again is Cannazym. I understand it helps breaking down organic residue and makes it available for the plant to feed on, that should keep things clean enough. An ORP reading might validate that things are smooth, maybe I'll add one in the future.



Also I'm not too stressed about some water loss. Those are just my tomatoes from last year but I wasn't home for 2 weeks and they did fine during those two hot weeks even though they ended up with half the res empty:
View attachment 19002180 View attachment 19002185



Todays plot looks muhc more boring, I guess the higher amount of nutes and buffer do their job now?
View attachment 19002190

Thats full on root rot on those tomatoes...those roots r not fine sorry to say. All that brown slime is killing/choking your roots. You want to see brite white roots.

 

[lord_haze]

Good evening

The tomatoes from last year were surprisingly ok (refereing to the green part and fruits). The brown you see was not slimy, so i think it was just dried roots, but not covered in bacteria/slime.

Today was boring again, which i guess is ok
I just topped up the water at 19:22, but the pH didn't care neither about that nor about the cooler pumps added stiring)

just some slight rise in pH for now, curious to see if there will be a drop again at some point

I did't manage to finish my big container setup yet, it will be a mess getting the roots apart once i transfer them...

and just for fun the last 7 days in one plot:

 

[Ca++]

Good evening
i think it was just dried roots, but not covered in bacteria/slime.

There is a scum line around the tank, so it's water borne. I have used additives that turn the water black, and even pebbles can cause brick-red staining. I was trying to weigh this picture up myself, as it's a bit of a horror story. There is some reason other than the roots just want to be brown. I think a lot of dwc growers just live with it tbh. It's a common sight. Plants grow in the ground, which isn't sterile either. It's not the end of the world, but you don't want a breeding ground, that might be taken over by something that is short-term terminal.

 

[lord_haze]

I know it doesn't look that good, but the plants were fine. I started having deposit of a red film from the nutrients from the beginning, didn't think much about it back then, will inspect more closely this run.

Which benneficial bacteria could you recommend, preferably available in europe?


And here is the mess of the last two days in data, couldn't figure out what happened with the pH Sensor Maybe those spikes from before where also due to the arduino hickups and nothing in the water...
I changed the probe with no effect, the only thing that helped was changing the slots of the atlas EZO devices and reboot, let's hope that won't be necesarry every week
pH is at 6 and EC after topping up water at 1.6

that's what the little one looks like right now, it's an ACE Auto Malawi NL fem:

and there is progress on the new tank, but not finished yet:

bottom tank is for refilling only, mainly because i'm lazy and will be out for weeks at a time

 

[Ca++]

Serratia marcescens can be difficult to get rid of. Bleach between crops is your best chance. It's a bit yucky, and tends to have links to sewerage.

 

[lord_haze]

while researching what bennies to get, the pH stabilised to an almost straight line:

 

[negative37dBA]

while researching what bennies to get, the pH stabilised to an almost straight line:
View attachment 19004201

This what Hydroguard is made of. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Been using Revitalize for 2 years now. Cheap as chips and no issues. It is way more concentrated than the water down hydroguard.