The Secret to Sea-of-Green?

[eLiguL]

I can be so dense. Thanks Irish, I dont know why that didnt even cross my mind. I'll break out the reflective tape. You think covering just the lids will be good? or should I. gasp, cover the entirety of each bin?

I am getting a meter soon. $$$, you know the deal.

I had the same problem with my tubs (didnt think light could get thru my dark grey rubbermaid tubs). I used panda plastic to wrap around the bottom of the tub and then just cut a sheet out to cover the top and cut X's out for the plants to poke thru.

 

[NiteTiger]

I got my meter for $15 from eBay, run strong and true for over a year before I had to calibrate it. Check out eaglescales on eBay.

 

[InjectTruth]

Good idea with the panda, eligul, so far Ive been in there with my foil tape. PAIN IN THE ASS! DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

Nite, thanks for the tip on ph pens. Im looking at this Hanna one that does all 3 (ph/tds/temp) for $140.

Yesterday, I actually found this little ppm meter meant to test drinking water. It goes up to 999 only though. Needless to say, my bins were all under 400ppm!!! I am dosing up accordingly, but damn, this is a lot of nutes! Not used to using so much! I think I will use seperate 5 gallons, instead of 2 plants in a 18 gallon next time, if not back to soil! Expensive ass chem nutes, gimme some dirt and Ill use the bubbler to make compost tea!

Things are getting less ****ed up as everyone's help pours in. I have to get some more H2O2 because I have some SERIOUS slime in a few bins still. Like I added carbo load style snot corpuscle. GRRRRRRR.

Harvest pics of less troubling gardens later today.

 

[eLiguL]

Good idea with the panda, eligul, so far Ive been in there with my foil tape. PAIN IN THE ASS! DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

Nite, thanks for the tip on ph pens. Im looking at this Hanna one that does all 3 (ph/tds/temp) for $140.

Yesterday, I actually found this little ppm meter meant to test drinking water. It goes up to 999 only though. Needless to say, my bins were all under 400ppm!!! I am dosing up accordingly, but damn, this is a lot of nutes! Not used to using so much! I think I will use seperate 5 gallons, instead of 2 plants in a 18 gallon next time, if not back to soil! Expensive ass chem nutes, gimme some dirt and Ill use the bubbler to make compost tea!

Things are getting less ****ed up as everyone's help pours in. I have to get some more H2O2 because I have some SERIOUS slime in a few bins still. Like I added carbo load style snot corpuscle. GRRRRRRR.

Harvest pics of less troubling gardens later today.

You might wanna avoid that Hanna meter, if you do a search you will see that many people have issues with getting an accurate tds reading from it. Also, you should look up the ppm meter you found to see the conversion on it (.5 or .7) or you might burn your girls.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Some may want to shoot me, but have had loads of consistent crops for years with just Nutriculture's pH dye test kit [small white bottles] and my original Sunlight Systems Hanna CF pen, never calibrated, just checked against CF8/7 tapwater. People with dodgy pens have made fatal errors with pH because of the equipment, I never have. KISS... and cheap !

 

[InjectTruth]

eligul, here is the info on my ppm meter

FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS:

Data Read function: Saves measurements for convenient reading and recording.

Auto-Off function: Turns Tester Off after one minute of non-use to save batteries.

Extended range: Measures from 0 to 999 ppm, with a resolution of 1 ppm. A flashing reading of "999" indicates a reading over 999 ppm.

Auto Temperature Compensation: (takes 30 seconds) Calculates and adjusts reading to simulate 70° Fahrenheit (room temperature)

Purity Range : 0-999 ppm

Temp Range : 32-100° Fahrenheit (0-37° Celsius)

Accuracy: +/- 3%

Battery : 2 x 1.5V (LR44 or AG13 batteries) Replace batteries every 1 to 1 ½ years depending on usage.

Warranty: Two year limited warranty


Not exactly sure how to read that? Can someone illuminate the situation? Does this mean that it can be off in either direction as much as 3% of the reading? Say it was 800ppm, it could actually be 776ppm or 824ppm. Is that correct?

 

[InjectTruth]

Here are some pics of a predominantly soil garden. The big cut plant was from 5 gallon dwc.

 

[InjectTruth]

Chaos, Imnotcrazy - thanks for the sog stats, been looking for that type of info for a while

 

[eLiguL]

eligul, here is the info on my ppm meter

FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS:

Data Read function: Saves measurements for convenient reading and recording.

Auto-Off function: Turns Tester Off after one minute of non-use to save batteries.

Extended range: Measures from 0 to 999 ppm, with a resolution of 1 ppm. A flashing reading of "999" indicates a reading over 999 ppm.

Auto Temperature Compensation: (takes 30 seconds) Calculates and adjusts reading to simulate 70° Fahrenheit (room temperature)

Purity Range : 0-999 ppm

Temp Range : 32-100° Fahrenheit (0-37° Celsius)

Accuracy: +/- 3%

Battery : 2 x 1.5V (LR44 or AG13 batteries) Replace batteries every 1 to 1 ½ years depending on usage.

Warranty: Two year limited warranty


Not exactly sure how to read that? Can someone illuminate the situation? Does this mean that it can be off in either direction as much as 3% of the reading? Say it was 800ppm, it could actually be 776ppm or 824ppm. Is that correct?

Your gonna have to find out which manufacturer conversion your pen follows then just use the chart above. I prefer EC pens myself because of this exact reason, I dont like confusion when it comes to my garden.

 

[Guest]

sunstone herbals for the cheapest tds
ebay for the cheapest pH pen

i got mine for about $40 altogether with shipping from the two places so they were each about 15 each plus 5 shipping.

the pH pen works like a charm, just can't drop the entire thing into water or it is supposed to die. i just recalibrated it for the first time after about 6 months of use and it was only .2 off. can't really complain about that.

glad ya wrapped that aluminum tape around the reservoirs.

 

[InjectTruth]

Ok, next dilemma. This thick, mucilaginous, clear, jelly like slime that is inhabiting select root systems. WHAT THE ****!!!! Once again, no different treatment, but it only appears on some. ITS EVEN IN MY CLONER! Not a single clone took root in my aero cloner. I swear to god why is it that even the most basic steps can cause such problems? I had no problem coming up with healthy clones last year, when they were destined to die at another location. Now that factor has been ironed out, and I cant generate a friggin clone for shit!

 

[Troop]

ever figure out what the root gum was?

 

[InjectTruth]

No, just nasty root rot slime I guess. A ton of peroxide as well as bennies took care of it. I'll get some pics when the lights come on. Things are actually looking good now.

 

[InjectTruth]

Here is how we are looking now.

 

[Troop]

looking good, glad to see the root problem worked out. What is bennies? I'm starting an aeroponic grow soon and In the next month i'm going to be picking up some extras for my Resevoir, ie, extra pump (incase first one goes out), PH up and down, TDS Meter...some hydroguard maybe.

 

[NiteTiger]

Bennies are beneficial bacteria

 

[mister c]

Injecttruth,

I can't tell if your roots are white or not in that last pic?? You might want to be putting more air in those tubs....those little walmart pumps are real small for those 30??gallon tubs. I usually use both outlets for a 5 gallon bucket. More air the better.


And yeah, hydroguard or even sm-90 keep roots white as hell. But don't use both, either one or the other.

I used 1ml sm-90 a gallon for the roots above. Its cheap enough, and lasts forever. And it smells like fruit loops!!! (at least to me)

I had root rot problems all day every day before my homie put me up on sm-90. good shit.

rip mac dre

Peace

 

[mister c]

And yeah, that is a white bucket everyone.....but algae can't f@#$ with sm-90.

 

[InjectTruth]

They are pretty white, must be hps glow in the picture. If I decide to stick with this method, Im going to get those GH dual diaphragm pumps. Right now I have the dual outlet $10 walmart jobs running two 15 tubs each. Each tub gets one outlet, which gets split into two small stones under the net cups.

Damn, no tape or paint on that white bucket! Im definitely getting some sm-90. Is it the cheapest of the 'root guard' products? (hydroguard, hygrozyme, flora shield, cannazyme, sensizym, sm-90)

When I mention bennies, I mean both bacteria and mycorhizzals

 

[Bean Bagpipe]

that slime might be brown alge....here's a good thread about it...http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55259