Plants are droopy

EgoPrime

Member
Hello!

This is my first post on RIU but I've been reading for a few weeks, really enjoy the site. Nice to meet all of you, my name's Kris and I'm 21.


So, my mother and I started our own bubbleponics system (bubbleheads ftw), and decided to start out with a SWC rather than a DWC.

I'm about 17 days in from germination, seeds were obtained from pretendies that I particularly liked.

I am using a $80 air pump to power 4 12" air stones in the system, which is always on. Currently vegging under four 4' 32W T8 daylight bulbs. Started at 24 hours then dropped to 18/6 after week 1. Thinking about switching back to 24.

In the pictures I've attached you can see my plants. All of them are a bit droopy. Some days drooping and some days perking up. My initial thought from my research is that this is due to over-fertilization. I mixed in 1/4 strength GH Flora series nutes in my reservoir which I later realized was a bad idea. My smallest plant which germinated later than all the others seemed to absorb the biggest shock with a clearly burned look over it's leaves. With this much damage to its beginner leaves I'm not sure how well it will recover but I haven't pulled her yet.

My roots are growing strong, however some a few root tips from one plant have turned dark brown as if burned. Again, this is either from over-fertilization or they just dried out. They were all very short roots and its possible the bubble-mist did not hit them adequately.

Another possibility is the light leaking into my tub. It seems like its not completely light-tight although I did duct-tape it. I will be switching to a more durable and light-tight reservoir in the coming weeks.

So let me know what you think? Do you think that the drooping and burn could be from something other than over-fertilization? I am adding 29% h202 purchased for 10 dollars at a hydroponic store, about every 3 days, to battle root rot. I hope the browning of the roots is not from Pythium.
 

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EgoPrime

Member
Well, nobody replied to my thread but I figured I'd update anybody who read it

Today the plants are 30 days old from seed. Their growth seems to be stunted from their early problems but new root growth is looking great and I expect the tops to follow shortly. I am using two fluorescent strip lights for my vegging, but I plan to switch to a 1000W HPS light for flowering.

I am still using GH Flora series and adding 29% H202 every 3 days to keep the roots white.

I test my PH using a liquid dropper kit, which is not exact but its the best I can afford right now. I keep it at 5.7-6. I have also been using tap water. I live in Colorado and it comes out at about 145ppm. Its at 225ppm right now, after I added a LIGHT nutrient formula.

I still have some necrotic spots appearing on the older leaves but I think it has slowed since I changed the reservoir to flush. Not really sure what it is exactly but new growth looks alright.

Below I have written what I had done wrong before and the steps I took to correct it, in case anybody else has the same issues.

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Problem 1: Reservoir was not light tight
Solution:
I switched the reservoir out, I am now using a 122QT (30gal) reservoir. The SWC tub I was using was not light tight at all and this caused a problem with early root rot and stunted root growth from light exposure.

Although I had duct taped the sides, the light blue plastic let light pass through it. Searching around and performing tests with high powered flashlights I was able to find a plastic tub that keeps the reservoir completely dark. In the SWC tub the roots out of one vein dangling from the center of each plant. In the light-tight reservoir new root growth is exploding out of the bottom of the net pots.

Problem 2: I also realized that my droopy leaves could be from over-watering, ie: not enough oxygen in the root zone. I had purchased a $75 Tetra "Quiet 300", the most expensive and powerful aquarium air pump that PetSmart carries. It had two outlets and I had one gangvalve with 3 outlets, so it was inefficiently put together with 1 air-outlet to one airstone, and then the other split in 3.

The roots of the plant over the weakest airstone browned and dried out because the bubbles weren't strong enough.

Solution:
While searching Craigslist I saw someone selling a 60-watt Hydrofarm 70L/min air-pump listed for $50. I offered $35 and the guy went for it, so I switched out my pump and returned the $75 dollar one from PetSmart, saving $40. The guy included a metallic 8-way gangvalve and 1/4" clear airtubing that had a hole in it.

BIG IMPROVEMENT. The Hydrofarm pump makes my reservoir look like a jacuzzi. Completely full of bubbles and the bottom of all baskets are wet from bubble-mist.

I replaced the airline tubing with 1/4" black fuel-line after noticing the hole. Another reason I used fuel-line was because the Hydrofarm air pump gets pretty hot. An hour after having it run I noticed the metal gangvalve and pump itself were almost too hot to touch. I don't want hot air warming up my reservoir and causing bacteria issues, so I stuck a fan behind the pump to keep it cool. Works perfectly. Gangvalve and pump are cool.

Problem 3:
Temps are consistent but humidity seems like it might be an issue. I have read that 50% is good for vegetative growth but my grow room typically drops to around 20%. This might be a contributing factor to my slow growth. I have read that low humidity causes the plant's stomata to open and perspire more water. My plant leaves do feel dry to the touch.

Solution: I plant to pick up a humidifier from a thrift store within a day or two. I'm sure I can find one there for <$5. Until then I have been spraying my plants intermittently with water, coating the top of the reservoir so the evaporation will raise it. It works but its not consistent.

 

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SIV3L

Well-Known Member
Im not a big fan of GH Nutes, but I do use the PH Up/Down. Roots look good also. Roots do like a small slow current w/bubbles, but in pic 10 it looks almost torrential. Can you slow the bubble current down a bit? I could be wrong, but it looks a little volatile from the pic. Lots of bubbles is good, but the roots don't really need extreme bubbles once they hit the water. BP uses the bubbles to appropriate a source of oxygen within the water and to keep the airspace between water level and netpots moist. So lots is good, but not when it creates a larger current than needed. When my plants first start out whether seed or clone they droop a bit, but once they root well they start to show more vigor. If you see no improvement 48hrs after a fresh water exchange then something is up. I go 24/7 lighting for veg so at some points of the day the leaves will droop and other hours they will reach up.
 

EgoPrime

Member
Plants are still looking up -

Humidity was really low today so I went out and bought a humidifier, have it running next to plants and humidity is up to about 35% after maybe an hour.

The plant that was the droopiest is still drooping but I suspect maybe it has the worse damage. The rest have perked up and new growth looks good. The leaves are a nice color of green instead of really dark like before.

I forgot to mention I started with 7 plants, I pulled the one that was severely burned from my first set of pics.


SIV3L could you elaborate more on why you don't like the GH flora series?
 

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