Good afternoon fellow growers,
I am in need of some serious help because I am at a loss about what to do about my problems. I am currently in day 18 of vegging and my plants are only 2" tall because all of the problems that I have been experiencing. The problems pretty much began after I started to introduce nutrients to my system. Before the roots of my plants were touching the water I was just running straight pH'd tap water without a problem. Introduce nutrients and the problems started to begin. Randomly one day the 10G reservoir that I have started to bubble like crazy, it didn't concern me too much since it didn't smell bad (yet) until I checked my pH. It went from 5.8 to 7.5 over night. I completed drained the reservoir with h2o2 and then to be sure with bleach. Ran straight tap-water again for 2 days without a problem, introduced nutrients again just to have the same problem come right back. I thought it was algae at first but as I understand, algae needs photosynthesis to live and I triple checked that there are zero light leaks. I pH'd the hydroton and rockwool cubes in water for 48 hours before putting them into my system.
What I have done so far.
- Changed nutrients from Stealth Hydroponics to General Hydroponics 3-part system. - Same result.
- Added Aqua-shield - Same result.
- Put frozen bottles in my reservoir to drop temps to 60F - Same result just slower
- Put reflective tape on the top lid and any opening including the net pots. - Same result.
I just don't understand what I can do to get rid of the problem. Temperatures are between 70F and 77F. The reservoir is between 60F and 68F. Humidity is around 40%.
The tap-water that I am using is right around 7.0 pH and has a PPM of 110.
I just ordered some Physan 20 as a last resort to just sterilize the crap out of the reservoir but I fear that it will do absolutely nothing.... so frustrated right now.
Can anyone help me out? If you guys need any additional information just let me know.
I am in need of some serious help because I am at a loss about what to do about my problems. I am currently in day 18 of vegging and my plants are only 2" tall because all of the problems that I have been experiencing. The problems pretty much began after I started to introduce nutrients to my system. Before the roots of my plants were touching the water I was just running straight pH'd tap water without a problem. Introduce nutrients and the problems started to begin. Randomly one day the 10G reservoir that I have started to bubble like crazy, it didn't concern me too much since it didn't smell bad (yet) until I checked my pH. It went from 5.8 to 7.5 over night. I completed drained the reservoir with h2o2 and then to be sure with bleach. Ran straight tap-water again for 2 days without a problem, introduced nutrients again just to have the same problem come right back. I thought it was algae at first but as I understand, algae needs photosynthesis to live and I triple checked that there are zero light leaks. I pH'd the hydroton and rockwool cubes in water for 48 hours before putting them into my system.
What I have done so far.
- Changed nutrients from Stealth Hydroponics to General Hydroponics 3-part system. - Same result.
- Added Aqua-shield - Same result.
- Put frozen bottles in my reservoir to drop temps to 60F - Same result just slower
- Put reflective tape on the top lid and any opening including the net pots. - Same result.
I just don't understand what I can do to get rid of the problem. Temperatures are between 70F and 77F. The reservoir is between 60F and 68F. Humidity is around 40%.
The tap-water that I am using is right around 7.0 pH and has a PPM of 110.
I just ordered some Physan 20 as a last resort to just sterilize the crap out of the reservoir but I fear that it will do absolutely nothing.... so frustrated right now.
Can anyone help me out? If you guys need any additional information just let me know.