Leaves sagging slightly in DWC

TLDR: Leaves sagging slightly, also what opinions if i'm doing anything wrong.

Hello, first time growing. Just wanted to get an opinion on how im doing and see if I'm doing anything wrong
My 2 plants are sagging since I have transferred them to our DWC. They did show a little bit of sagging before I transferred them but they have sagged a little more.
Some of the problems I think it could be:

• Light Distance - The plant is 1200 watts (Equivcoal 600 watts HPS), Its currently ~33 inches away from the light
• Too much water in the bucket. I filled the water for both roughly about a quarter of the way up the net pot.
• Nutrients - I added Advanced Nutrients Grow and Micro, both at ~19 mL, and Zyme ~4.5 mL (is this too little or too much for a 5 gallon?)
• Ive been using Vinegar and Lemon to bring the pH down and baking soda to bring it back up. Sometimes when I noticed the pH goes up, i adjust it every night before bed
• Temperature, While the nights, mornings and evenings are fine, around 12 to 6 the temperature can get a little hot in there.

The air stones are producing a good amount of bubbles so I think were ok with them.
Ive noticed they are growing leaves however one of my strains, Purple Queen, the leaves are coming out closer together and at different angles, not as uniform as my other plant (White Widow)
Here are some pics:


Ill take any suggestions and information. Can provide more information if needed.

If this thread is in the wrong sub forum, let me know!

Are your roots reaching the water?

westcoast420 said:

Are your roots reaching the water?

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hmm I cant tell for the purple queen and I believe so for the white widow

I don't see anything unusual. As westcoast mentioned, it's important to hand-water the seedling until it gets enough root growth to get down into the solution.

You are asking for big problems using lemon juice and vinegar as ph down. Just because it lowers the ph doesn't mean it's good. Citric acid is shit in hydro get yourself some phosphoric or sulfuric acid form of ph down.

Lower the water to 1" below the net pot and take a cup of res solution once a day and pour it from the top until your roots hit the water

Aqua Man said:

You are asking for big problems using lemon juice and vinegar as ph down. Just because it lowers the ph doesn't mean it's good. Citric acid is shit in hydro get yourself some phosphoric or sulfuric acid form of ph down.

Lower the water to 1" below the net pot and take a cup of res solution once a day and pour it from the top until your roots hit the water

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Interesting. I was concerned of this but I haven't found any sources related to using it.
Does the citric acid sort of dilute with the 5 gallons?
Im not against using a chemical solution it was just that the grow store around here didn't have any.
Appreciate the input.

mkweed said:

Interesting. I was concerned of this but I haven't found any sources related to using it.
Does the citric acid sort of dilute with the 5 gallons?
Im not against using a chemical solution it was just that the grow store around here didn't have any.
Appreciate the input.

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It breaks rediculously fast and is not well suited to hydro. Not to mention lemon juice is not just citric acid. I'm to lazy to get into but I can tell you that it's not even an option to use and is all around garbage if you plan to be successful in DWC

Those seedlings actually don’t look bad at all. I bury my roto rooters considerably deeper in the mesh pot & cover better with hydroton, so the plugs don’t dry out too quickly from light & air. At that stage, you always want those plugs to stay moist & you can tell at least one plug has completely dried out a few times from the mineral build up.

I leave almost an inch of room in the top of the mesh pot or the seedlings would be nearly buried. I also have to make sure there is no mesh showing in the pot to avoid like exposure below. As the plant grows over the next 2 weeks, I add more hydroton until the mesh pot is completely full.

Aqua Man said:

It breaks rediculously fast and is not well suited to hydro. Not to mention lemon juice is not just citric acid. I'm to lazy to get into but I can tell you that it's not even an option to use and is all around garbage if you plan to be successful in DWC

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Do you by any chance have a reason to why? or a something to read. I cant find anything mentioning why something high in citric acid for DWC is a bad idea.

Sdh777 said:

Those seedlings actually don’t look bad at all. I bury my roto rooters considerably deeper in the mesh pot & cover better with hydroton, so the plugs don’t dry out too quickly from light & air. At that stage, you always want those plugs to stay moist & you can tell at least one plug has completely dried out a few times from the mineral build up.

I leave almost an inch of room in the top of the mesh pot or the seedlings would be nearly buried. I also have to make sure there is no mesh showing in the pot to avoid like exposure below. As the plant grows over the next 2 weeks, I add more hydroton until the mesh pot is completely full.

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I thought I put it too high as well. Would I be able to redo it you think or should I avoid messing with it at this point?
The rapid rooters/root riot is still moist so there is that.

mkweed said:

Do you by any chance have a reason to why? or a something to read. I cant find anything mentioning why something high in citric acid for DWC is a bad idea.

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It breaks down to fast... Acids break down at different rates. Phosphoric and sulfuric being the most stable, nitric a bit less and citric is poor.

Basically it's organic and bacteria will consume it... This is how alcohol is made

You can test this yourself bit I can look for some data if ya really want

If the roots are already growing out the bottom, I wouldn’t mess with it and risk damaging your roots. Just spray the mist your rapid rooters a few times a day to keep moist for another week or so and you should be fine.

It’s sometimes good to top feed when they’re that size. Your plugs look a little dry.