Noob requesting some advice please...

I will attempt to make this as brief as possible.
First grow ever.
Hydro.
Raw water is PPM 375
Installed small RO system
Using Masterblend 3 part dry nutes
Started hemp seeds as guinea pigs
(In Aeroponic bucket (like used for cloning) using Rapid Rooters in 2" net pots)
Didn't realize that Cal-Mag was needed with RO.
Started 2 legit seeds, Kush and Cookies CDB form Seedman's, same method.
Developed Cal and Mag def's.
Ordered Cal-Mag
Major stunt of growth in both hemp plants and seedlings.
In the mean time, mixed raw and Ro 50/50 as base water and seemed to help.
Cal-Mag arrived, realized I was under feeding and slowly up'd PPM from 150ish to 400ish.
Plants improved.
Seedlings rooted well and are transferred to final home, 5 gal totes with 2 gal fabric pots filled with hydroton in a E & F system.
2 separate totes draining into 1 - 17 gallon res holding 10-12 gallons.

Environment is:
5'X5' grow tent
500 watt (from the wall) DIY LED grow light, 300 watts of 5000K lights salvaged from street lights and 200 watts of 3000k EB gen2 strip lights
Light is being ran at 50%. Light is 2'x4' centered over the two totes.
Heater in place to maintain temps of approx. 75 F.
Humidifier in place, having difficulty raising RH above 50%
Input fan with variable speed to maintain air exchange
Single res is outside the tent. PPM is 540, PH ranges from 5.4 to 6.5
Timing on E&F is currently 10 min ON/ 3:50 OFF, changed from 2 min ON/ 58 min OFF

Current situation:
Seedings are yellowing (from bottom up)
Hemp plants look great. (Separate Res)




To me this points to an issue related to the new large res.
The large res contains the Masterblend 3 part (Mixed; 2 parts MB, 1 part Epson salts, and mixed in last 2 parts CaNi), also 4 ml per gal of Cal-Mag (started at 2/gal and then 3/gal and just today raised to 4/gal.), also Southern AG beneficial bacteria (like hydroguard)

That's where we stand....
Is this just transplant shock, and I'm a nervous NOOB?
Is this N def, yellowing from the bottom?
Is this cal-mag that was to low with RO, like I was having before?
Is this one of a hundred different things that I currently don't know a damn thing about?

I have loads of details, but this post is already a book...
I tried to give the info that I thought was most relevant.
Input on my situation is requested and welcomed.

Thanks in advance,
WillieP

No love for WillieP??
maybe this will help...


Red stems...
I'm thinking Phosphorus def.

I'm not sure how it can be, but perhaps I screwed the pooch when I mixed up the nutes!??
Hopefully a res change tomorrow will help to square things away.
Still open for input, what ya think?

Cheers,
WillieP

I'm not seeing any P def.

I always start my little ones at 300ppm nutes and CalMag isn't automatically needed when using RO water as the nutes should have plenty in there to start with. I didn't use it for my first 25 or so DWC grows and never had problems. I'd add some Epsom salts once in a while but no Ca in that.

Lots of strains have red stems and even red in the main stem and it's not a definite sign of deficiency. Could be from your low ppm at the start but I wouldn't worry about it. More likely to cause harm trying to fix things that aren't broken.

This chart has lots of clues around the plants in the pics so a little detective work can help pinpoint real deficiencies.



I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS . I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as many are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.

I wish i could offer you some help on the issues, it would be mostly guess work...Looks to me its Calmag def

all i can do is bump the thread for you and tell you that bigger plant looks fkn great!!

Best of luck willie

WillieP said:

Raw water is PPM 375

Click to expand...

I'm not very experienced in hydro grows, but this can definitely complicate diagnosis of feeding issues....

I’m not experienced with hydro, but a few of my girls have some purple and red in their stems. I posted pictures for advice a few days ago, and everyone looked past the stems to notify me of a possible N deficiency. Makes me think the stems are probably okay unless the overall health a particular plant becomes affected. As someone mentioned, certain strains can have a lil color here and there during veg.

Chip Green said:

I'm not very experienced in hydro grows, but this can definitely complicate diagnosis of feeding issues....

Click to expand...

I thought he said he installed a small ro system?
I’m pretty baked tho, so who knows lol

Whoops!!! Totally missed that line....
Nothing further to add.

OldMedUser said:

I'm not seeing any P def.

I always start my little ones at 300ppm nutes and CalMag isn't automatically needed when using RO water as the nutes should have plenty in there to start with. I didn't use it for my first 25 or so DWC grows and never had problems. I'd add some Epsom salts once in a while but no Ca in that.

Lots of strains have red stems and even red in the main stem and it's not a definite sign of deficiency. Could be from your low ppm at the start but I wouldn't worry about it. More likely to cause harm trying to fix things that aren't broken.

This chart has lots of clues around the plants in the pics so a little detective work can help pinpoint real deficiencies.

View attachment 4459439

I found a great spot to download FREE POT BOOKS. I downloaded a grow bible first and got lots more. Books look great and complete like the real ones I have here. No web site but just a page of links. Just right click on what you want and then "Save Link As" to download so they don't open first as many are 50+ megs. They got lots. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

OldMed,
Thanks for chiming in.
Yeah, I been studying the dad gum charts and pictures and articles...
That's what lead me to final post asking for help.
When you're as inexperienced as I am, you start seeing monsters in every shadow.
There is diffidently something amiss with the newer younger plants, I just don't know enough to understand what it is. I guess that's what I'm after, is the experience.
The stems and veins are changing in color, and I don't think this is a 'purple type' strain.
I'll think on it overnight, but a res change won't hurt anything, and I need to get a system down for mixing up the nutes. With adding the cal-mag and the bennies, I don't know what actual ppm of nutes I have in there. I'm thinking I need to add the cal-mag and bennies, then take a reading of the PPM to know the base number, and then add nutes from there with a solution of higher concentration of nutes until I reach the level I'm after.
Sorry I'm rambling. I'll figure it out.
I really do appriciate your input!
Cheers,
WillieP

diggs99 said:

I wish i could offer you some help on the issues, it would be mostly guess work...Looks to me its Calmag def

all i can do is bump the thread for you and tell you that bigger plant looks fkn great!!

Best of luck willie

Click to expand...

diggs,
Thanks for the bump and the support!
Yeah I started those hemp plants and sorta canaries in the mine. I figured if they dropped dead I was doing something wrong. LOL
And you're right, they (3 hemp plants in the bucket) do look good. I topped one, FIM'd one and left one, just for some first hand experience. To bad I'm gonna just chuck them before to much longer!
Cheers,
WillieP

Chip Green said:

Whoops!!! Totally missed that line....
Nothing further to add.

Click to expand...

Chip Green,
Thanks for the try!!
WillieP

CountryFriedPotHead said:

I’m not experienced with hydro, but a few of my girls have some purple and red in their stems. I posted pictures for advice a few days ago, and everyone looked past the stems to notify me of a possible N deficiency. Makes me think the stems are probably okay unless the overall health a particular plant becomes affected. As someone mentioned, certain strains can have a lil color here and there during veg.

Click to expand...

Yeah, N def is on the list of WTF is the matter!! LOL
Thanks for your input.
Cheers,
WillieP

So a bit of an update for anyone that cares...
After doing some more research, it would seem that I over served my seedling with bennies.
I am using Southern Ag, and very NOOBishly, just gave the res a squirt. Meaning that I dosed with 5 ml in a 10 gallon res.
Turns out the correct dosage is more like 1 ml per 15-20 gallons.
So I did a res change.
I drained the res and vacuumed out the res and both totes. I did not flush. I then added back nutes without adding more bennies. The thought there was that there would be enough bacteria left in the 4 gallons of hydroton to suffice for this water change.
When making up the new nutes, I chose to use a 50/50 ratio of Raw to RO water. This gave me a base PPM of 215 with nothing else added.
I then added Cal-Mag at a rate of 2 ml/gal, this brought the PPM up to 300.
I then added my dry nutes, 2 parts Masterblend, 1 part Epson salt, and added last 2 parts CaNi. At a rate of 1 gram, 1/2 gram and 1 gram per gallon.
This brought my PPM up to 545.
I then adjusted my PH from 7.3 to 5.6 with PH Down, which again changed my PPM to 552
In summary:
Res now has fresh nutes at a PH of 5.6 and a PPM of 552.

NOTE:
I did discover something that I was totally unaware of.
My cheap PPM meter from Amazon reads differently at different temperatures!
To the tune of a 145 PPM at 54.5* F, to a 223 PPM at 79*F.
Took the same little glass and sample, popped in the microwave for 10 sec, and retested.
And yes, I did repeat this with several different sample at various PPM and changing the temp, changed the PPM reading every time.
Maybe this is common knowledge. Or maybe this is just my cheap ass meter.
Any input on this is welcome...

So I don't know if the bennie overdose, or the cheap ass PPM meter had anything to do with anything, but I'm hoping for improvement.

Cheers,
WillieP

WillieP said:

Maybe this is common knowledge. Or maybe this is just my cheap ass meter.
Any input on this is welcome...

Click to expand...

Cheap ass meter with no temperature compensation is what it is tho even a good one may not be able to adjust properly for that wide a temp difference. You should be testing your ppm at the temp you would water with. Most are set to work at 25C and that happens to be a near perfect temp to water plants at in pots tho you want more like 65-68 in hydro like DWC.

I'm grabbing a cheap aquarium heater to keep my jug of water at 25C/77F. It's always at 70F which is a little cool. I'll make an insulation sleave for it out of some of that silver bubble wrap. Got a big roll of it at a garage sale last summer for $2.

OldMedUser said:

Cheap ass meter with no temperature compensation is what it is tho even a good one may not be able to adjust properly for that wide a temp difference. You should be testing your ppm at the temp you would water with. Most are set to work at 25C and that happens to be a near perfect temp to water plants at in pots tho you want more like 65-68 in hydro like DWC.

I'm grabbing a cheap aquarium heater to keep my jug of water at 25C/77F. It's always at 70F which is a little cool. I'll make an insulation sleave for it out of some of that silver bubble wrap. Got a big roll of it at a garage sale last summer for $2.

Click to expand...

OldMed,
I have a nice PH pen that does Automatic Temp Correction, (from my beer, wine and cheese making) that's what made me question the other readings.
I went cheap and bought the $15.00 TDS pen when I could have spent $55.00 and had a nice matching brand one that will hopefully last me forever.
I'll order one today, lesson learned.

I have a small aquarium heater in the res now. The res is setting directly on the basement floor, so I was worried about temp being to low. The pump only runs for 10 min every 4 hours, so that won't help with heat much. I know I don't want it to warm, with the risk of root rot, but I didn't want it to cold either.

As always, thanks for your input,
Cheers,
WillieP

WillieP said:

I know I don't want it to warm, with the risk of root rot, but I didn't want it to cold either.

Click to expand...

I was keeping mine between 65-68F with my DWC and the plants grew great with nice white roots for most of the grow. They eventually get stained and go a tan colour but that's normal. As long as they don't go all slimy and brown.

Well the update is...
Nothin has curled up and died!
Still not liking the look of the small plants, but I am trying hard not to be an impatient NOOB.


How do they look to a more experienced eye?

I am trying to work out the latest noobie trouble. I am having wild PH swings. Like from 5.2 to 6.1 in 10.5 hours.
From what I gather using the 50/50 Raw/RO water added a ton of PH buffer to the mix, and every time I lower my PH it wants to YO-YO back up.
This is suppose to subside after 24-72 hrs. or when the buffers are burned up. (in a very simple nut shell)
So in the future… Either use straight RO and see if the Yo-Yoing is less, or mix up the nutes with 50-50 well in advance and let it do it's thing before using it to change out the res. Very open for suggestions!

So remember those hemp plants that I don't really give two shits about??


They're doing well...LOL

Cheers all,
WillieP

Just an update on the PH swings. At 8:30 PM last night the PH was 4.7 (I intentionally went way low), at 6:00 AM this morning PH was at 5.7. I was very curious to see what it would be when I returned from work... I was pleasantly surprised that the PH was still 5.7. Chalk one up for the good guys!
I will need to get a proper routine of water changes figured out!
The small plants do look better, and they are increasing in size also. Kinda hard to see with the naked eye, but when you compare daily photos, there is improvement.
OldMed, thanks for your support along the way!
Cheers,
WillieP