First Grow DWC Problems

Hi there!
This is my first grow. I have 2 feminized THC Bombs which I am hydroponically growing using DWC. I germinated them in rockwool kept them only in water for more than two weeks and 2 days ago i transferred them into coco-coir pebbles in a big (80L about 60-65l filled with water) container. They are under 3x45W 6400K CFL light bulbs and I have another two 2700K 45W CFLs which i am not using. Later on I will supplement the lights. I have the BioBizz Grow, BioBizz Bloom and Top-max. When I transferred the plants i added 60ml of BioBizz grow (half recommended dosage) in the container. As some of the roots were quite long (they were in a small scale hydro set up with water only - see pictures) they were dipping in the solution so it's around 1.5 inches away from the pots. Problem that I have is that some of the leaves are turning yellow. Stems are also purple. There are the pictures:
The small hydro where the roots grew:



The current setup:


Problems with plant 1:



Problems with plant 2:


Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance

P.S Forgot to mention pH is 5.8

So they grew for 2 weeks in just water? I'm sure that that it why the 1st set of leaves are slightly yellow.you should be running a low ppm solution as soon as there sprouted and put in there medium.
dwc can be great but its not forgiving.

Yes they grew in water but they weren't yellow. They only started turning yellow the past two days and it is mostly plant one. I have two more sprouted I will put them in solution then

An update:
Since there was a bit of slime on the roots and smell coming from the water I assumed root rot. I also noticed roots have gone thinner at places. I went to the hydroshop and the guy gave me Cannazym. Maybe my air pump is not big enough - it only pushes 3.5l/min? Nevertheless I got a water pump to move the water around and have the plants in a new solution with the Cannazym in there. Plant 1 is still looking even worse I will post a picture tomorrow after it has been a day with the new solution... Again all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Another update, I would appreciate a quick response so my plant doesn't die...
Plant 1 has gotten worse, one of the leaves is very yellow and now has a brownish spot at the end.The leaf on the other side is also yelowish:

The leaf on the other side of that plant:

Now the second plant which look a lot better than that one but I still think it's leaves might be a bit too pale:

And finally I have two seedlings (10 days old now) which I am not sure if are hanging alright. This one looks like it;s tips are going yellow:

My guess is that I could have a nitrogen defficiency. The thing is that i have all the plants in the same container so solution for plant 1 and 2 is the same. Should I add another 30ml of BioBizz Grow which would make it a total of 75% of the suggested dosage in week 1(BioBizz Schedule). Now I have 60ml in 60-65L of water which is half of what they suggest - 2ml/l. I really need a quick response so that I can react.
Thanks!

what is the ppm/ec of the water? knowing the ml value of what you put in doesnt help much as 30ml of my nutes will give me a different reading than 30ml your nutes.

What is the pH?

Slime on the roots is usually the beginning of pythuim or root rot. Dutch Master zone is a root sterilizer (Used it even when I had a water chiller) but you cant run anything organic with it, its like a nuke for your water; all bacteria dies.

IMO cannazyme is a bandaid. Zone is a response. Cannazyme just eats up the already dead organic matter, you want to stop the matter from dying off at all.

I can't tell you the ppm today I am getting the TDS meter tomorrow... a bit late I know but I saw some people do without it and started without. pH of water was last 5.8 but to be fair I think it goes up a bit too fast. In a day it goes from 5.8 to 6.5. Is that normal? Unfortunately my nutrients are organic... Do you think root rot would stop when I add the water moving pump?

No, thats a huge jump in pH. What are you using for your pH down? Citric acid like earth juice brand crystals? If so drop that, its too unstable, atleast in my rdwc experience. Look for something like mad farmer ph down that uses 3 different compounds to lower your pH.

MF is

• Phosphoric Acid
• Citric Acid
• Ammonium Sulfate

In your case zone will be out of the question and the zymes are your best bet then.


Unless the water moving pump is agitating your water and increasing the 02 content, I dont know if it will help much. I would get a larger air pump instead of a pump that moves water.

Insulate your rez with reflectix and it will help keep your water cooler. Temps are the make or break in dwc.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix-16-in-x-25-ft-Staple-Tab-Insulation-ST16025/100012574

What I am using is Growth Technology Hydroponic pH Down which is 81% Phosphoric Acid. Looking at my container temperature I think it might be too low, could that cause these effects. Plant 2 is losing colour as well I am seriously considering adding a bit more nutrients. Seedlings don't seem to grow that fast either...

Hm, well the pH is normal to rise some but that seems like quite a bit.

It will really help when you have your TDS meter so you can see whats happening with the nute levels. I use all synthetic nutes besides botanicare liquid karma so im not very familiar with organics.

pH rises ec falls- plants uptaking food at a faster rate than water
pH falls ec rises- plants uptaking water faster than food
pH rises ec same- equilibrium

I liked to see a little bit of ec fall in my rez just bc I dont like pushing my plants to their limits and/or burn them

Thanks a lot Ibex I will check out the ppm tomorrow. One more question - when your pH is high you just drop pH down in the reservoir and mix right? Or you prepare a mix of water outside the box and then add? Because now my pH meter read 6.5 and it was 5.8 a few hours ago which is very strange. It reads the tap water like always = 7.4

Ideally* you never want to put a concentrated acid or chemical straight into the rez with the roots. You are still at that plant age where you can lift the dwc lid up and remove the roots from the water and then mix it in without the roots being in the mix.

When they get older I would dilute the pH/nute mix in water before adding it into the rez.


* I think we have all done it one time or another.

you got some good info.as mentioned you really need a PPM meter with dwc.i also use dutch masters gold rootzone conditioner.did you rinse your hydroton REALLY good? i rinsed mine for hours as the dust is crazy.it turns your hand orange.that dust will mess with your PH.normally PH does not jump that fast..
your running from seed right? so when a seedling sprouts the 2 little single roundish leaves(cotyldons) are its only food source.once you start growing the single leafs its already looking for food as the cotyldons have been used and will switch to the roots for food.since you had them in plain water it started to go to the 1st set of little fans for food hence your slight yellowing.thats just my opinion.
i would just keep them in a very mild solution with a ppm of say 250-300ppm and keep a eye on the new growth.

These are definitely all signs of over nuteing. I am in the same shitty boat right now. Over nuted the hell out of my plants and everything that happened to yours happened to mine. The yellowing of the leaves from the tip and the dark brown spots are a clear sign of nutrient burn. If your running RO water you need to run like a clonex nutrient which is the lowest amounts of nute you can probably buy. Flush, Flush, flush. and the run nothing but water, maybe a little h202 to help keep micro-organisms out of the water which is what i think is causing your ph swing.