Ec rising IN RESERVOIR

Thank you.
I actually don't know if I have salt buildups. Maybe when the clay pebbles get flooded and dry out afterwords but how would I prevent it.

The reason for so few irrigations was the pretty bad root rot we had last time cycle. When irrigating every hour, what should I do to prevent root rot or other diseases coming from too nuch moisture? Should I decrease the 5mins irrigation cycle when watering every hour?

try_hard said:

I mean I don't have a DWC but top fed clay pebbles without any stagnant water. Just draining through. So I don't know if 1.0 is my target but independent of the EC I set, it won't stay there but rise pretty quickly. I hope it will stop after bleach tomorrow when rez changing.

Regarding light in rez; what can I do to block light from the tub drainage? I covered the part of the tub with pool foil. The lid on the Rez has small leaks, otherwise I would have to drill holes for sensors, pumps etc which would make it pretty hard to clean and empty the rez with cables running through drilled holes that seal tight.

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My bad mistook it for another system. Looking s little bit closer I can can see that it's on of the old "Wilma" systems? Like others mentioned you need to feed them pretty often. I would start with 5 min 5 times a day.

try_hard said:

Thank you.
I actually don't know if I have salt buildups. Maybe when the clay pebbles get flooded and dry out afterwords but how would I prevent it.

The reason for so few irrigations was the pretty bad root rot we had last time cycle. When irrigating every hour, what should I do to prevent root rot or other diseases coming from too nuch moisture? Should I decrease the 5mins irrigation cycle when watering every hour?

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Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide @ 1ml/10 gals.

Wastei said:

My bad mistook it for another system. Looking s little bit closer I can can see that it's on of the old "Wilma" systems? Like others mentioned you need to feed them pretty often. I would start with 5 min 5 times a day.

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Wilma systems usually need 15mins every 2-4 hours.

used to use the Wilma 4 pot with 11L pots and hydroton.

i was feeding 15mins every 3 hours. Then looked to up it during flowering.

try_hard said:

Thank you.
I actually don't know if I have salt buildups. Maybe when the clay pebbles get flooded and dry out afterwords but how would I prevent it.

The reason for so few irrigations was the pretty bad root rot we had last time cycle. When irrigating every hour, what should I do to prevent root rot or other diseases coming from too nuch moisture? Should I decrease the 5mins irrigation cycle when watering every hour?

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If you aren’t feeding often enough you can end up with increasing EC in your return water.

lower feed to 1.0EC and feed for 15mins every 2/3/4 hours depending on what you think might be best.

Start at every 4 hours and if your return EC is still increasing try going to 3 hours then 2 if needs be or reduce EC to try and compensate.

Wastei said:

My bad mistook it for another system. Looking s little bit closer I can can see that it's on of the old "Wilma" systems? Like others mentioned you need to feed them pretty often. I would start with 5 min 5 times a day.

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Oh ok. Just googled wilma and that's pretty much it. I didn't know the name as I improvised the whole system.

@jondamon @Wastei
That's exactly where I am at now. 5min irrigation every 4h during the day and none at night (currently vegging so that's exactly 5 feeds overall 5mins each; none at night).

PJ Diaz said:

Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide @ 1ml/10 gals.

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Ok thanks. Will try that if NaClO doesn't work.

jondamon said:

If you aren’t feeding often enough you can end up with increasing EC in your return water.

lower feed to 1.0EC and feed for 15mins every 2/3/4 hours depending on what you think might be best.

Start at every 4 hours and if your return EC is still increasing try going to 3 hours then 2 if needs be or reduce EC to try and compensate.

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Tomorrow we'll see how much my EC has changed.

Following pictures are from today right before I did everything you guys suggested. Thanks again

Get your feed hose lower so light cant hit it,the pebbles absorb the salt then dry out causing EC to rise.
I would put feed lines in from the side rather then the top.So there covered by 3" of pebbles maybe they won't dry then between cycles.

The cupped dried out leaves are from nute burn or salt build up.

As I said already once a day scoop up 2 gallons from the rez and dump it in,this wil wash them.
Collect that runoff and pour through again. Ill bet the EC rises every time you do that.

myke said:

The cupped dried out leaves are from nute burn or salt build up.

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Nope. It's from inadequate irrigation intervals.

PJ Diaz said:

Nope. It's from inadequate irrigation intervals.

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Yes, leading to salt build up.

myke said:

Yes, leading to salt build up.

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That may be the result, but it's not the cause.

myke said:

Yes, leading to salt build up.

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He basically isn't irrigating enough, but your answer is salt buildup It's not what I would call "salt buildup", simply because he hasn't irrigated enough cycles yet to accumulate salts. Sure, there is some residual salts on the pebbles, and when they dry out due to lack of irrigation, it may cause some "nute burn", but calling it "nute burn" misses the entire point, that the issue is a result of improper irrigation. If we went by your apparent suggestion of reducing salts, but we didn't irrigate any more frequently, it would not solve the issue at all. You can keep the EC where it is and irrigate more often, and problem will be solved. See how that works?

thanks @myke @PJ Diaz
EC and pH was more or less stable from yesterday till now. Let's see how the next couple days turn out.
I burried my hose beneath a few cm of pebbles. I could go deeper though but maybe the issue is already resolved with a combination of bleach and more irrigation.

myke said:

The cupped dried out leaves are from nute burn or salt build up.

As I said already once a day scoop up 2 gallons from the rez and dump it in,this wil wash them.
Collect that runoff and pour through again. Ill bet the EC rises every time you do that.

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I had open ended flex hosing that pretty much had the same effect as just dumping in a few litres but moved away from it because I thought that my irrigation problems started there with too much water and improper distribution. That's why I switched to diy rings.

@Wastei How often should I top up with bleach? You said every 2/3 days. Should I add full strength (5ppm NaClO) every 3 days?

Definitely not the best resolution or angle but could still be useful. That's a time lapse from Feb 04 evening up to now.
Sorry it's zipped, but it wouldn't let me upload the mp4 directly.

I would really appreciate you taking a look and telling me if the photos reflect what you are thinking/expecting.

try_hard said:

@Wastei How often should I top up with bleach? You said every 2/3 days. Should I add full strength (5ppm NaClO) every 3 days?

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If you're gonna go the steril chlorine route, you might want to consider calcium hypochlorite instead of bleach. You can google it, but it's basically 1g of calcium hypochlorite pool shock to 1 gal of water to make your concentrate. Then you add 1oz of that mixed concentrate per 5 gal of water in your res every 3 days.

A cheap bag will last a homegrower for years if not decades.