First Time Grower!!!!Please Look!!!

Hi all, thanks in advance for any input given. I have an Ebb & Flow hydropinics system. The grow tray is about 2x2, with hydroton as the medium. I use Flora series nutrients(micro,Bloom,Gro).

These plant are 2 weeks 2 days old. They sit under three 23 Watt CFL light about 6 inches from tops. I also have a 400W Metal Halide light about 2 and a half feet from tops, no air cooling system so I have 2 fans blowing on it at all times. Lights stay on 24-Hour. Humidity is usually at 50 but sometimes drops as low as 40. Temperature is in between 75F-90F at any given time. I have a soda maker so I supply with carbonated water daily.

The first leaves that grew now have brown spots on them and some have turned yellow. New growth looks to be good(I think).

Questions?

Is the yellowing of the bottom leaves going to affect the rest of the plant?

Are the plants too close together?

And overall, how do they look?

Any input or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

little more infor,whats the PH,is the Water ro,tab,whats the ppms, how many times aday are you watering,and one thing I see in pix two is rockwool,are they in the cubes under the hydroton?With more infor we can help you better.Looks like over watering.Whats the strenght of the nutes? Peace

Hi Toke. The Ph is kept at about 5.8. I only have a chemical test kit so its not that accurate. I am curretly using full strength nutrients based on what the label says. 3 tsp of micro, 2 tsp of gro, 1 tsp bloom per gallon. They are watered 3 times a day for about 20 mins. I fill tray to about 2/3 rockwool height. I do not have a ppm meter but I monitor water level and fill everyday. I do have the plants in rockwool, they were started out in starter cubes then tranfered into 4x4 cubes. I place them in the medium about 2 days as the roots were starting to show. Sorry for the lack of info in first post and thanks for your response.

By the way my grow space is a closet about 2 1/2 feet by 8 feet. Not that great, I know!! Really long so I split it in half. There is no ventilation other than opening the door. I have 3 fans blowing, 2 on the MH light and 1 on the plants. I painted the closet with the most reflective paint Home Depot had mold and mildew resistant also.

Looks like maybe a little rot going on.Might wanna back the water off to 15 minutes or go 12 minutes 4 times aday.ppm meter is a must for hydro growers or you need an EC ord tds meter without 1 of those you cant even feed safely so not sure how your monitoring the feed as charts are a rough idea not an exact.Remember to add the nute ppm to the plain water ppm to get your full final nute count.Keep the air moving,Flat white is the most reflective paint to use and dump the cfls as the mh is overpowering them anyways and just wasting energy.Keep the mh about 8-10 inches from top of plants.Good luck

FilthyFletch said:

Looks like maybe a little rot going on.Might wanna back the water off to 15 minutes or go 12 minutes 4 times aday.ppm meter is a must for hydro growers or you need an EC ord tds meter without 1 of those you cant even feed safely so not sure how your monitoring the feed as charts are a rough idea not an exact.Remember to add the nute ppm to the plain water ppm to get your full final nute count.Keep the air moving,Flat white is the most reflective paint to use and dump the cfls as the mh is overpowering them anyways and just wasting energy.Keep the mh about 8-10 inches from top of plants.Good luck

Click to expand...

Im on a budget so I have to wait to buy certain things. I tryed to get the essentials(thought I could go without ppm meter). Ill try to get that ASAP. I had the cfl's for cloning as I heard they were good. I figured they couldnt hurt in veg stage. Im going to try to lower the MH light a bit but not much as it is pretty hot. But for 2 weeks old do they look like their doing ok? Thanks for your response.

I think the plants look pretty good. I agree that you might want to cut back the feeding time a bit. Also, it is generally a good idea to only use about half the dosage of nuted during the first couple of weeks, but I suppose it's a bit late to think about that. Finally, I think that 400 watts of metal halide is more than enough for these guys for now, but if the little guys can take it more is ok, i suppose.
Good luck!

Are these plants in rockwool and then dropped into the hydroton? How much rockwool? Full 6" cubes?

If so, you need to cut your watering WAY back. For plants that size in that tray I would go with 30 minutes once a day. Rockwool holds a lot of moisture and you want your roots to be able to get oxygen to avoid that root rot.

It was hard to tell in Pic 2, but it looks kind of like the plant material has been eaten. Are you getting mold, or do you have an infestation? Check the bottom's of the leaves for mites.

laserbrn said:

Are these plants in rockwool and then dropped into the hydroton? How much rockwool? Full 6" cubes?.

Click to expand...

Yes, they were started out in starter cubes then placed into 4x4 cubes. I placed them in the hydroton about 2 days ago as the roots were starting to show.

laserbrn said:

If so, you need to cut your watering WAY back. For plants that size in that tray I would go with 30 minutes once a day. Rockwool holds a lot of moisture and you want your roots to be able to get oxygen to avoid that root rot.

Click to expand...

Is that what is causing the brown spots? By the way I have an air rock in the reservoir on at all times. I heard that would help with some 02 issuses.

laserbrn said:

It was hard to tell in Pic 2, but it looks kind of like the plant material has been eaten. Are you getting mold, or do you have an infestation? Check the bottom's of the leaves for mites.

Click to expand...

I have no mold and dont think I have any bugs. I check reguarly for bugs and have yet to find one. One of plants leaves about a week ago looked like it had been eaten, about half the leaf was gone. Since then I've had no problems except for the brown spots. Strangely enough out of all the plants that's starting to look like the best one. Overall do you think the plants look good?

too much nutes. I dont see signs of overwatering, but cut the nutes for now. I would flush them with normal ph'd water a couple times then start off slow. Are your fans blowing towards the door or the back of the closet. I Like the ebb n flow, not many of us around here.

you're going to run out of space for new foliage soon. the hydroton will make it impossible to move your plants without damaging any other plant roots. i think the lower leaves contacting the medium is your problem. you have to know your ppm before you can accurately diagnose any diseases that aren't pest related. but they look good. your next investment will have to be a ppm meter.