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new to DWC.. plant problems.
- Thread starter Woodstock
- Start date
Woodstock
Member
yeah... im checkin my pH with this damn liquid stuff....... and its pretty damn green... im thinkin my pH is over 6... im thinkin 7... and thats not good... maybe this is why my plants arnt lookin good.. does anyone know if i can use aquarium pH Down or Up... if i can i can get some today... if not... guess im scrappin my plants.
Blackmelo
Active member
hello woodstock,
your humidity is a bit low and might be causing the leaf curl but the yellowing in the veins looks alot like it is caused by a wrong ph. It is always good to give them a bit of epsom salts in a case like this too.
The liquid testers are alright but you need to check in natural light(definetely not hps light) against a white background. If you feel you need to one, get a ph meter.
Your hps is fine at the distance it is. I keep it even further away for fresh cuttings and progressively lower it down to 1 foot in flowering.
One more thing, isn't the hurricane 400 cfm? That is quite alot if it is...
your humidity is a bit low and might be causing the leaf curl but the yellowing in the veins looks alot like it is caused by a wrong ph. It is always good to give them a bit of epsom salts in a case like this too.
The liquid testers are alright but you need to check in natural light(definetely not hps light) against a white background. If you feel you need to one, get a ph meter.
Your hps is fine at the distance it is. I keep it even further away for fresh cuttings and progressively lower it down to 1 foot in flowering.
One more thing, isn't the hurricane 400 cfm? That is quite alot if it is...
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Woodstock
Member
ok... a couple things.... right now... i gotta MH.. not hps.. but when the time comes i can switch.... my fan is a 4inch 210CFM heres a link! http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=HMF600
my liquid says its too base.. but can DWC have to much water for the roots? i mean... mine are SUBMERGED... no kiddin... maybe that could be a problem... thanks for the help!
my liquid says its too base.. but can DWC have to much water for the roots? i mean... mine are SUBMERGED... no kiddin... maybe that could be a problem... thanks for the help!
BruceLeeroy
Active member
from personal experience, if the water is above the level of the netpot full of hydroton, thats bad. try dropping the water below the netpot completely so the rocks get/stay dry, and if no roots are out the bottom yet just had feed every couple hours. they look alot like some nft plants i had that were drowning because the roots weren't getting enough air. the rocks near the surface of your pot should NOT be wet under any circumstances. the roots should be submerged in bubbling water, the medium should NOT be if you can avoid it
also keep in mind that those liquid testers are meant to be read in a certain light, and reading them under HID lighting will give false readings both directions (red shift for hps, blue shift for MH). try reading them under normal household lighting.
hope it helps
also keep in mind that those liquid testers are meant to be read in a certain light, and reading them under HID lighting will give false readings both directions (red shift for hps, blue shift for MH). try reading them under normal household lighting.
hope it helps
bbing
Active member
High PH levels curly curve the leafs like that. PH down will work but after years of minding h2o chemistry for my reef tanks and plant tanks, i have learned that; ph adjusting products will not buffer the water, only change ph. Thats why if you search the forums for ph issues you will find the commin experience of roller coaster-ing ph. Better to change res with RO and rule out ph stability. Green should be about nuetral if I remeber correct. Towards blule alkaline, towards yellow more acidic.
Good point was made reading your ph under the right light. MH may cause it to look more alkaline and HPS more acidic.
It could be a genetic mute, but probably not if you see variability in the growth pattern.
Lower DO levels will cause ph fluctuation also.
I am a noob to DWC too, and have adopted this moto;
When in doubt; change it out! (please dont jump me for this one guys)
Luckily, I have only had to do this initially when my rainwater wouldn't buffer down. (what the hell is in rainwater that would cause > GH or Kh anyway??).
RO water has it pinned at 5.6 now and my first true leave set appear to be the only affected leaves (im at 4th xnode now).
OBTW, I could make the case based on appearance that they are drowning a bit. Gas exchange at the base is critical and you need to preserve at least an inch of medium dry space.
OMT, I am not sure (please correct me if i'm off) but I am not sure if DI water is optimal. Some off the shelf water can contain salts even if it says RO DI UV etc..etc.....EC meters can determine this.
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Good point was made reading your ph under the right light. MH may cause it to look more alkaline and HPS more acidic.
It could be a genetic mute, but probably not if you see variability in the growth pattern.
Lower DO levels will cause ph fluctuation also.
I am a noob to DWC too, and have adopted this moto;
When in doubt; change it out! (please dont jump me for this one guys)
Luckily, I have only had to do this initially when my rainwater wouldn't buffer down. (what the hell is in rainwater that would cause > GH or Kh anyway??).
RO water has it pinned at 5.6 now and my first true leave set appear to be the only affected leaves (im at 4th xnode now).
OBTW, I could make the case based on appearance that they are drowning a bit. Gas exchange at the base is critical and you need to preserve at least an inch of medium dry space.
OMT, I am not sure (please correct me if i'm off) but I am not sure if DI water is optimal. Some off the shelf water can contain salts even if it says RO DI UV etc..etc.....EC meters can determine this.
_____________________
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G
Guest
definatly a PH problem, get a PH meter unless you want to start over cause they aint gonna last long lookin like that.
Potroast
Potroast
RuralRoute420
Active member
i got an idea
i got an idea
he says the ph is 6 - sounds good to me.]
the question here is - have you been running that ppm since day 1? because there's your problem, 320ppm is fine now, but not for a seedling....burn the shit out of it and stunt the growth, thus causing the "claw" effect on lower leaves, bad.....just a thought. i would ride it out. unless it starts to effect the rest of upper plant.
i got an idea
he says the ph is 6 - sounds good to me.]
the question here is - have you been running that ppm since day 1? because there's your problem, 320ppm is fine now, but not for a seedling....burn the shit out of it and stunt the growth, thus causing the "claw" effect on lower leaves, bad.....just a thought. i would ride it out. unless it starts to effect the rest of upper plant.
bbing
Active member
If you really want to know...
run a GH and KH on your water before adding nutes.
You will see hardness.
Use plain R.O. (sans salt)
"He adjusted it" LOL; I am telling the truth,
You will 4ever be chasing it if it is not buffered correctly.
I danced to the same music until I switched to better water.
Good to hear your on the right track, now lets see some of those pretty girls
run a GH and KH on your water before adding nutes.
You will see hardness.
Use plain R.O. (sans salt)
"He adjusted it" LOL; I am telling the truth,
You will 4ever be chasing it if it is not buffered correctly.
I danced to the same music until I switched to better water.
Good to hear your on the right track, now lets see some of those pretty girls
bbing
Active member
I read the lables on all the DI water for sale at several grocery stores. I was unable to determine if sodium was used in the R.O. process. The Distilled water from my understranding is not optimal due to the evap/codensation process. I am not sure why but somewhere came across that info here when doing RO water querey's.
What you want is just plain reverse osmosis water. BigToke covers some of it in his water chemistry sticky.
I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, and finally found at one of those water dispensing units in front of a small non-chain grocery. It has a low sodium option and uses : carbon, then UV, then RO. I guess the RO eliminates chlorides w/o and the standard water option would dispense the same product w/o the RO filter.
Anyway....This product works perfect. It has low initial TDS, and a PH slightly less than 7. The best part is it doesn't seem to need buffering and maintains an almost constant PH at 5.6 w/o buffer. This will slowly drift toward the initial ph (6.4) as the plants begin to consume nutes at faster rates, but I am fine cause I do change theresevoir at 11-15 day intervals. You will become more adept at being able to recognize this visually in the plants (when they need more nutes). Now I can almost tell you where TDS is at PH based on how the plants look (barring catastrophics).
One last thing I didn't ask you about is areation. Low DO levels will cause PH shifts and vice versa. Are you using a bubbling system or recirc?
What you want is just plain reverse osmosis water. BigToke covers some of it in his water chemistry sticky.
I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, and finally found at one of those water dispensing units in front of a small non-chain grocery. It has a low sodium option and uses : carbon, then UV, then RO. I guess the RO eliminates chlorides w/o and the standard water option would dispense the same product w/o the RO filter.
Anyway....This product works perfect. It has low initial TDS, and a PH slightly less than 7. The best part is it doesn't seem to need buffering and maintains an almost constant PH at 5.6 w/o buffer. This will slowly drift toward the initial ph (6.4) as the plants begin to consume nutes at faster rates, but I am fine cause I do change theresevoir at 11-15 day intervals. You will become more adept at being able to recognize this visually in the plants (when they need more nutes). Now I can almost tell you where TDS is at PH based on how the plants look (barring catastrophics).
One last thing I didn't ask you about is areation. Low DO levels will cause PH shifts and vice versa. Are you using a bubbling system or recirc?
bbing
Active member
Depends what you are able to discern from the machine information placcard (sp?). I found a high amount of variability from machine to machine, at least from the info I could find on the machine itself.
The no-sodium and RO were the key for me. Had to look all over town but the one I ended up settling on was literally a couple blocks from my casa. I know that some folfs on these boards buy RO water from Wal-Mart (not DI). I just choose not to shop there.
Next run I plan to instsall one of those 100gpd units at Casa DePot. It is a major pain toting 35 gallons from the machine. Just like the good ol reef tank days.
The no-sodium and RO were the key for me. Had to look all over town but the one I ended up settling on was literally a couple blocks from my casa. I know that some folfs on these boards buy RO water from Wal-Mart (not DI). I just choose not to shop there.
Next run I plan to instsall one of those 100gpd units at Casa DePot. It is a major pain toting 35 gallons from the machine. Just like the good ol reef tank days.
