Roots yellowing in ebb and flow

[keylime]

Ok, I would like to hear from someone in regards to my roots yellowing in the veg room. After clones have rooted, I have been putting them in a 4" square containers with 4 holes in the bottom, using hydroton as a medium. They seem to be quite normal, but after they are about 4" tall, I often see the roots not looking to healthy, that is, the roots are thinner and darker. I water every 1 1/2 hrs for 15 minutes.

My feeling is this is happening when more roots are forming, and with the container not being a net pot there is a restriction of oxygen and the roots are yellowing. I feel if I change my 4" pots to 4" netpots, my problems may be over. I'd like an opinion on my theory PLEASE.

keylime

 

[MynameStitch]

You have to use something else for a medium, like the plants have to be in rockwool cubes, or peat pucks, or rapid rooters and then you can use hydroton over them...... never heard of it being used as a stand a lone, due to hydroton is pretty much a holding medium that helps support the plant when it gets bigger.

every 1 1/2 hours every 15 min? Dude that is seriously high maintance, why did you chose to grow this way?
I am sure it has to do with the way your setup is and watering for 15 min.... your roots are not being able to keep water on them very much with them not being in a medium that can hold moisture.

You have pictures of it? I am sure the roots have air with them not being in a medium.....

I think it's because they are not being kept moist enough, if you leave a plant out for 1 1/2 hours without water, they will look that way.
Even though they are in hydroton, they are getting plenty of air, hydroton is round as you know and will let air down in there.

Do you have pics of what it looks like?
You need to grow in soil, I don't see ho you can safely get that plant into a medium like the ones I listed above..... because if you do you pose major risk of damaging the root system, the plants have to be put in there from start of them growing roots, not after.

 

[matt_oates_11]

How often would you recommend a watering on an ebb and flow system if 15 minutes every 1 and 1/2 hours isn't enough?

Does this stay the same from veg through to flowering or do you change you ebb and flow timer much?

Thanks

 

[keylime]

My clones have no problems adapting to hydroton when they go into the 4" net pots on the ebb and flow table. They do fine until, as I said, they are about 6" tall, but as they grow taller, they start developing poorer roots and are somewhat rootbound. Water temp is fine, PPM 600-800. I use GH 3 part for nutes.
When they are about 12" tall, they end up in a bucket system. My concern is that putting them into flowering with poor roots does not help in the flowering stage at all. I use round 5 gal buckets with almost a full sized netpot, so I replant them from the 4" sq pots to the buckets in the flowering room. The buckets are basically a waterfarm system with dripper.

Since we're on the subject, I was also wondering if I used a 4"square netpot, and just put it into the large round netpots at flowering time, instead of transplanting, just leaving the 4" pot, placing it in the large netpots and surrounding the 4" netpots with more hydroton. Or would there be too much for the roots to go thru 2 netpots?

 

[hydroflower]

Just wondering how you are seeing the roots. If it's the roots out of the bottom of the pot they will be yellow. The large air roots that join the main rootball to the trunk will also be yellow.
If it's the main rootzone within the hydroton (digging down) perhaps its the hydroton staining, how clean is you water?
How high are you flooding your pot's?
imho it's very unlikely to be over-watering as It's almost imposible to overwater with plain hydroton.
Do you think the yellowing is affecting growth?
I think putting the 4" net-pot in the larger will be fine. What is the mesh size of your net pots?

 

[keylime]

Just wondering how you are seeing the roots. If it's the roots out of the bottom of the pot they will be yellow. The large air roots that join the main rootball to the trunk will also be yellow.
If it's the main rootzone within the hydroton (digging down) perhaps its the hydroton staining, how clean is you water?
How high are you flooding your pot's?
imho it's very unlikely to be over-watering as It's almost imposible to overwater with plain hydroton.
Do you think the yellowing is affecting growth?
I think putting the 4" net-pot in the larger will be fine. What is the mesh size of your net pots?

Oh, I can understand some roots coming out the bottom open to light, and then turning brown. But why are the roots all often all the way thru, turning dark? I'm talking about the roots wound around the inside of the container. I change nutes out twice a month, and I have the nutes going up about two thirds up on the 4" containers. The hydroton is rinsed, and re-used.

....and thanks for the insight of using the 4" netpots and just leaving them in there -- and just inserting into the large round netpots that go into the buckets. I think that will keep them from going too much into shock after they arrive in the flower room.

keylime

 

[MynameStitch]

Yup, potparty, I agree with you,
That is why I said about his 15 min every 1 1/2 hours is too much.

Most people do the schedule you are using right now.

 

[globel]

do you use an enzyme product. along with hydroguard? both of those should help also try using zone by dutchmaster it keeps roots shining like perl its wierd.