Ok so I’ve not grown for 5 yet now and always used soil.. Decided to go with a Dutch bucket and 50ltr deposit.. so I’ve mixed everything as per instructions and I adjust ph if needed it’s generally a little low as I try for about 5.8 anyway it’s ok when I go to sleep and when I wake up it’s 7.5 or there about.. I keep adjusting down but it keeps going back up then today out the blue it dropped right out to 3.5 can someone explain to me what I’m doing wrong what the best solution to start off as I’ve lost plants burning the roots overnight and not really recovering I’ve never lost a cutting let alone a plant... thanks ✌️
We need: from you...... Plant age Nutes What the ppm is What the water is tap ro etc Temp of water. Pics of setup But from your current post. I’d almost bet..... too high of ppm for seedling, too hot of temps in the res, light leaks. But that’s just a guess...... Oh and not enough air In the system.
Ok so been sorting through threads and seeing what I’m doing wrong.. first glance res tank too warm light directly above the tank with no lid water I do ro so it’s 0 at the start light is an optic led 650s over this set up the rest I’ll inform tomorrow as I need to go into it more as I’ve got enough to correct as dont want to sound dumb nor waste people energy on this thread but it’s drove me insane so appreciate the comments thank you ✌️
Well your just going to be chasing problem after problem if not tacked to an extent as one. still do not know ppms. Same with water temp,, need to be @ or below 70f. but get all the info and we can help
Don't worry about wasting anyone's time. Anyone responding is happy to help. Without details this might be hard to figure out. One thing to keep in mind is that the bigger the nutrient reservoir(s) the more stable they are likely to be.
Hi I really appreciate your help even though I made the first newbie error and not post enough details when asking to fix something like ringing your garage and asking how much to fix the dent you’ve got without them seeing it So currently got 15 buckets running and a 50 litre reservoir is that enough.. Before I go sourcing or making a lid for it.. buckets are 15 litres filled with hydro rocks but had the seeds grown in small rock wall blocks which stupidly enough I hadn’t soaked first to drop their ph but the seeds were ok in them. Does rock wall over time raise up the ph with degradation? The tank size I’m guessing that’s because of evaporation during the cycle and obviously the bigger it is the less affect it has on it? I say my tank is 50 but with the system full pipes buckets and that I top it up so total it’s about 60/65 ltrs cycling. Obviously I’m just going to concentrate the basic errors I’ve made then deal with the nutrients as obviously jumping in at the deep end like always wasn’t as easy as I thought without asking first.. really appreciate the reply thanks again ✌️
Hi it was late when I asked you and I was unable to get any info although I do appreciate all what you’ve said.. So I first need to correct the basic errors in my system before I re check water and ph.. had no lid under light and water heater was set @ 30 C and water was quite warm if I’m honest so I’m going to correct this also.. someone mentioned size of the tank can help to stabilise the hp so maybe for 15 x 15 litre buckets it’s not just big enough? Although to be fair I don’t think I get much evaporation my humidity is currently around 55/58% temp about 22 c The PPM EC I think I need a better meter like my ph pen.. as after this I need to get it all down right and dialled in.. thanks again so appreciate it..
The hydroton is probably your problem. I soak mine for about a day in acidic water until the pH gets to about 6.5 Recovery should be easy, but you'll probably have to water the hydroton several times a day from its plant vessels, then re-adjust pH of plant vessels until things stabilize. Minor pH fluctuations are to be expected as air and roots introduce stuff into the reservoirs.
Do they really have that much affect on the ph? I’m cleaning out everything today and re installing it making a few adjustments try and get this finally dialled in its driving me nuts, feel like going and buy loads of soil..
When I put hydroton into a bucket to fill it about halfway, then add water, the pH of the resulting solution is quite high, so I add pH Dn until the pH gets down to about 6.5 over time, and let it soak. I'm pretty sure plant roots wouldn't like the original hydroton and it high pH. Hydroton that has been used already, so that its pH is ok, can be reused without doing much to it.