SMOKEnCHOKE
Active Member
I mean I have lots of room in my closet but in the bubbleponics system it's way too crowded...>The bigger plant just smothered the smaller ones....I think your waterfarm setup looks awesome
The BubbleHead Gang
- Thread starter Roseman
- Start date
tSunami13
Active Member
Good choice. I happen to like the 80L as it is a good flower chamber. Great for veg or clones if space is greater. But perfect to grow some nice colas or sodas or pop as some call it. Lol
asakite
Member
Hello BubbleHeads!
This is my first post and I only hope I'm doing it right. I've been reading the SH Bubbleponics thread for a month - over 1100 pages - I feel like I know most of the regulars there and have filled my head with as much knowledge as I can. I built my bubbleponics system from stuff I had laying about and some stuff from our local hydroponics store. I started with an 18 gal Rubbermaid Roughneck res, a 185 gph pump, a dual output air pump driving two 8" stones, six 3.75" net baskets filled with hydroton, each had a 1.5" rockwool cube in it. For lights I'm using four 40w 4' T-12 fluorescents 5000K in shoplight fixtures suspended by chains directly over the tank. My grow room is a basement bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower stall. The BP tanks sits on the toilet seat atop a board. There is a 85 cfm ventilation fan in the ceiling. I have added a 70 cfm air inlet at about the level of the top of the tank. The air comes from the utility closet on the other side of the wall. I'm using GH nutes and tap water. The tap water comes out at a ph of 7.0. I have a pH meter from my past as a photo lab Q.C. manager but no PPM meter yet. I started my seed per Roseman's instructions 17 days ago. All six seeds had sprouted within three days. I have the lights about 2-3 inches over the plants and on 24/7. To be honest I think the plants are doing well. The seeds are part of the twenty free seeds that came with my purchase of Afghan seeds from Amsterdammarijuanaseeds.com. I used the free seeds first because I wasn't sure how well it would work. The plants are all pretty bushy and range in height from 4-6 inches - but all have quite a few leaves that are broad and healthy green. (I'll try to post pics soon). From what I'm reading I shouldn't be as lucky as I am. My room temp is a constant 78F, my rez temp ranges between 77F and 78F. My home has no AC and when the outside temperatures were 100F+ last week the romm was 88F and the rez was 87F. At that point there were no nutes and the pH was about 7.2. The plants didn't seem to mind. The more I read the more I realized that I needed to go to a smaller rez - I found a 10 gallon Roughneck tote that used the same lid I was already using at Kmart for $6 so I bought it and moved the lid over to. I also added a drain at the bottom with a hose and a valve. Because it sits on the john I can easily drain it. When I refilled it I used 6 gal and added nutes using the calculator on the GH website. 15ml of each, Veg, bloom and Micro. After adding nutes the pH was about 5.9. Water temp was down to 77.8F. Plants are still happy. I noticed to day whilst inspecting my roots that with 6 gallons of solution in my rez that the net baskets are actually sitting in the water by about 1/2". I decided to drain a gallon which put about 1/4" inch between the bottom of the pots and the top of the water. The roots look healthy and are in the water. I'm keeping the pump going. I've covered the top of the tank with foil to reflect the heat from the lights - that made about a 1 degree difference. As the lights are lifted to accommodate the plants' growth, the hrez temp drops. AC to the room is out of the question for two reasons. First, because there is nowhere to mount an AC or to vent it, and secondly, because I simply can't afford it.
As I've said, the plants all seem happy and seem to look about right compared to the photos I've seen here. I've noticed that my pH is wanting to wander up and I'm thinking that I'll likely invest in some pH Down as soon as I get a few $$$ to allow it. There really isn't anything I can do about temperature except wait for winter. I can't afford AC or an Ice probe and Roseman has said he's not fond of using ice bottles. I also don't believe in fixing that which isn't broken - and they don't seem broken. I believe that as I raise the lights I'll see the temp drop some more. Forgot to mention that RH has been 40-55% throughout and usually right around 50%.
I guess that's about it. I just wanted to thank all of the BubbleHeads and to let you know what I'm up to in case you see any obvious problems or can suggest improvements that don't involve spending much moolah. I'm unemployed since being diagnosed w/ renal cell carcinoma and having part of a kidney removed last June. The cancer has not reappeared - but I have chronic back pain from stress and I can't get health insurance due to the cancer diagnosis. I haven't smoked since Christmas and I'm anxious - but if I can get this to work I should be high again before Christmas this year. I'm crossing my fingers!
Thanks.
This is my first post and I only hope I'm doing it right. I've been reading the SH Bubbleponics thread for a month - over 1100 pages - I feel like I know most of the regulars there and have filled my head with as much knowledge as I can. I built my bubbleponics system from stuff I had laying about and some stuff from our local hydroponics store. I started with an 18 gal Rubbermaid Roughneck res, a 185 gph pump, a dual output air pump driving two 8" stones, six 3.75" net baskets filled with hydroton, each had a 1.5" rockwool cube in it. For lights I'm using four 40w 4' T-12 fluorescents 5000K in shoplight fixtures suspended by chains directly over the tank. My grow room is a basement bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower stall. The BP tanks sits on the toilet seat atop a board. There is a 85 cfm ventilation fan in the ceiling. I have added a 70 cfm air inlet at about the level of the top of the tank. The air comes from the utility closet on the other side of the wall. I'm using GH nutes and tap water. The tap water comes out at a ph of 7.0. I have a pH meter from my past as a photo lab Q.C. manager but no PPM meter yet. I started my seed per Roseman's instructions 17 days ago. All six seeds had sprouted within three days. I have the lights about 2-3 inches over the plants and on 24/7. To be honest I think the plants are doing well. The seeds are part of the twenty free seeds that came with my purchase of Afghan seeds from Amsterdammarijuanaseeds.com. I used the free seeds first because I wasn't sure how well it would work. The plants are all pretty bushy and range in height from 4-6 inches - but all have quite a few leaves that are broad and healthy green. (I'll try to post pics soon). From what I'm reading I shouldn't be as lucky as I am. My room temp is a constant 78F, my rez temp ranges between 77F and 78F. My home has no AC and when the outside temperatures were 100F+ last week the romm was 88F and the rez was 87F. At that point there were no nutes and the pH was about 7.2. The plants didn't seem to mind. The more I read the more I realized that I needed to go to a smaller rez - I found a 10 gallon Roughneck tote that used the same lid I was already using at Kmart for $6 so I bought it and moved the lid over to. I also added a drain at the bottom with a hose and a valve. Because it sits on the john I can easily drain it. When I refilled it I used 6 gal and added nutes using the calculator on the GH website. 15ml of each, Veg, bloom and Micro. After adding nutes the pH was about 5.9. Water temp was down to 77.8F. Plants are still happy. I noticed to day whilst inspecting my roots that with 6 gallons of solution in my rez that the net baskets are actually sitting in the water by about 1/2". I decided to drain a gallon which put about 1/4" inch between the bottom of the pots and the top of the water. The roots look healthy and are in the water. I'm keeping the pump going. I've covered the top of the tank with foil to reflect the heat from the lights - that made about a 1 degree difference. As the lights are lifted to accommodate the plants' growth, the hrez temp drops. AC to the room is out of the question for two reasons. First, because there is nowhere to mount an AC or to vent it, and secondly, because I simply can't afford it.
As I've said, the plants all seem happy and seem to look about right compared to the photos I've seen here. I've noticed that my pH is wanting to wander up and I'm thinking that I'll likely invest in some pH Down as soon as I get a few $$$ to allow it. There really isn't anything I can do about temperature except wait for winter. I can't afford AC or an Ice probe and Roseman has said he's not fond of using ice bottles. I also don't believe in fixing that which isn't broken - and they don't seem broken. I believe that as I raise the lights I'll see the temp drop some more. Forgot to mention that RH has been 40-55% throughout and usually right around 50%.
I guess that's about it. I just wanted to thank all of the BubbleHeads and to let you know what I'm up to in case you see any obvious problems or can suggest improvements that don't involve spending much moolah. I'm unemployed since being diagnosed w/ renal cell carcinoma and having part of a kidney removed last June. The cancer has not reappeared - but I have chronic back pain from stress and I can't get health insurance due to the cancer diagnosis. I haven't smoked since Christmas and I'm anxious - but if I can get this to work I should be high again before Christmas this year. I'm crossing my fingers!
Thanks.
Paranoid420
Active Member
You are correct the higher the lights go the less temp readings your going to get. Try to prepare your water a week out that will sometimes help but I use ro water with a ph of 5.6. If you ph is too high the plants will lock out the nutes and thats not a good thing. so If you can scrape together a few bucks for some ph down and be sure to follow directions. everything else sounds pretty good to me. Sucks to hear about the cancer thing man hope that all works out for you!!!
growthspurt
Well-Known Member
Its gonna be hard for me to be part of this considering how little time i have been able to spend online here... i will help when I can, but honestly when I get free time everyday I try to use it taking care of my own setup.. and playing some battlefield 1943..LOL anyways here is my current grow... the tallest is bag seed, the rest are black jack sativa..
Attachments
Paranoid420
Active Member
You do what you can brother! Grow looks great keep it up!
growthspurt
Well-Known Member
Yea I just recently (for this grow) bought an portable AC unit... to keep the temps down and I say for sure it has made that room NICe..before I kept having to fight warm water and dark water because of fungus growth.. but its all good now.. i hope it stays that way.
EDIT: just added two pics, just topped...
Attachments
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
I really admire a new grower who has done his homework, and bro, reading your post, I know you have done your home work.
Until you can get some pH Up and Down, Vinegar is highly acidic iand t will bring the PH down.
Baking soda will bring it up. Both will only last a few hours, they have no BUFFERS in them to maintain it, but that should help.
Your water temp is NOT going to encourge the maximum rapid growth and needs lowering a couple degrees. As your plants grow, and you raise the lights, it will get lower. Do you also use an oscilating fan?
FANS Post # 8500
Temps, Humidity Post # 8491
And I think you already are a BubbleHead, so join us!
BubbleHead Logo Post # 10672 and visit us on that thread too.
tSunami13
Active Member
Here some food for thought. http://www.growersunderground.com/casestudies/
What do ya think? Stuff from the THC Expo in LA a few weeks ago.
What do ya think? Stuff from the THC Expo in LA a few weeks ago.
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
That was just a lenghty commercial for Advanced Nutrients, I think.
tSunami13
Active Member
Not the ad part but that they have the balls to talk about what their nutes are used for. I would be interested in botanicare and gh and fox farms if they had ads for growing pot. Crazy thing to is how all of the other companies have feeding schedules but if you have grown your own veggies and fruit, you know those feeding schedules are not for veggies.
I have respect for people who stand up for something. AN is standing up for Medical Marijuana growers and users. GH, Botanicare, FF, Hydrofarm, the list goes on, they want your money but will not help you out when it comes to growing your "tomatoes and peppers" wait stand up I mean Marijuana. All these nute places have hotlines, emails, but which of them will openly discuss growing Marijuana? AN is the only one I could ask about pot. The rest of the companies took my money but didn't support what I was growing. Sure we could talk about tomatoes and peppers all day long but middle school was so long ago. There is no point in supporting companies that do not support what you do.
growthspurt
Well-Known Member
I never thought about it like that, but after reading your post in defense to this... i agree... mainly because the more it becomes the mainstream and "common" the better chance we have of it becoming legal.
MostlyCrazy
New Member
Diagnosis and Recuperation Guide
We'll discuss some signs of illness first, then offer remedies for Recuperation and Recovery.
Both new leaves and mature leaves are the best indicators to determine how healthy your plants are. Any problem or illness will first manifest itself in the appearance of your leaves. These problems almost always originate from the plant's environment, PH imbalance or over-feeding and under feeding. These problems always result in what is called "nutritional lock-out".
Nutritional Lockout
Allow us to GIVE you a simplified definition of NUTRIONAL LOCKOUT.
Can you imagine sitting a plate before a child at dinner time, with his most favorite food, hot dogs, ketchup and french fries? But also on the plate is a major portion of steamed broccoli, which he is just not fond of and insists on nibbling on. Now imagine telling that child, "you can not eat the hot dog and fries if you do not eat all the broccoli too". NUTRITONAL LOCKOUT is when the child responds with "well then, I just won't eat!"
Stealth-Hydro's nutrients are both nutritionally and PH balanced. But after being in your tank for 5 or 6 days, and being eaten from for 5 or 6 days, they become imbalanced. Perhaps you are growing plants that ate all the nitrogen first and just snacked around the iron, magnesium and calcium, or visa versa. The results are discoloration in the leaves, yellowing or rust spots, or curling up of leaf tips. It also becomes apparent when your plants were consuming a gallon or half gallon of water every day, and then suddenly when you check the levels the next day, they did not drink any water at all. This is NUTRITIONAL LOCKOUT.
Instead of giving lengthy descriptions of indications of overfeeding, underfeeding, ph imbalance, environmental problems and Nutritional Lockout here, it is easier to just give the remedy. Here we will refer to this remedy as THE RECUPERATION AND RECOVERY REMEDY.
THE 8 STEP RECUPERATION AND RECOVERY REMEDY
1. Check the roots. If they are discolored, reddish or brown, or present an unpleasant odor, you have a problem. If they are weak, soft or mushy, you have a problem. Also while checking the roots, observe the temperature of the water. If it is warmer than "luke warm" you have a problem. This problem is probably what is referred to as "root rot" or a disease known as PYTHIUM. Remove the dead brown roots by trimming them away with sharp scissors. Do not leave them in the tank.
2.Check the humidity and temperature of the grow area below the lights in the "growing zone" when the lights are on. A temperature of above 82 degrees or below 67 degrees will slow growth, but it is not a serious problem that will kill your plants. Temperatures below 62 degrees or above 90 degrees will stop growth. An extremely high temperature in the upper 90s or below 58 degrees can slowly result in death of your plants. The most efficient temps for growth are between 72 to 80 degrees. Any Humidity between 40 and 60 percent is acceptable and desirable.
3.Check the "lights off, nighttime" temperature. Most desirable is ten to 15 degrees cooler than the daytime "lights on" temperature, averaging 66 to 70 degrees.
4.Check the distance between the tips of the plant and the tip of the light bulb. If you observe yellowing or leaf curling tips, then move the lights one inch further away. A good rule of thumb if you use HID lights, is hold the soft palm of your hand at the leaf tip and see if the bulb is too warm to your hand. If you use Stealth Hydro's compact fluorescent bulbs, we recommend a distance of three or four inches for the 65 and 85 watt bulbs and 4 inches to five inches for the 105 watt bulbs. More mature plants can handle the bulbs slightly closer.
5.Check the position of your fans. Air movement is very necessary for the health of your plants, but too strong of a fan can cause wind burn. Direct your fan toward the tops of the plants and toward the lights. Never position the fan blowing strongly downward on the leaves.
6.Add 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to a quart of water and add it to the tank of six gallons already in the tank. Wait ten minutes and then turn the water and nutrition solution pump off to prepare to drain the tank. Poor at least a cup of clean water through each grow cup, onto each rockwool cube and through the hydroton rocks.
7.Drain or pump the tank empty as possible without damaging the pump by running it dry. Add two gallons of additional clean water with 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide again and then drain it away too. Again, empty the tank as empty as possible without burning up your pump.
8. Add fresh PH balanced water and nutritional packets as prescribed. PH test it again.
The above 8 steps should repair and remedy any health problems that your plants experienced within the next two days. Now is the time to try and determine what caused the problem to start with, by investigating and researching typical hydroponics problems and illnesses. Here are a few DIAGNOSIS TIPS.
Typical Hydroponics Problems and Illnesses
Underfeeding and Weak Nutrition
The entire plant, both upper and lower leaves, will show lime or light green in color.
The plant will not eat, drink or show growth.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Overfeeding, Use of Too Strong Nutrients
The leaves will curl downward. They grow very dark dull flat green and then the tips show signs of burn.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Nutritional Lockout
You know that you have made recent PH adjustments. You might know you may have used too much of the PH Adjustment Solution. You may have failed to test the PH often enough. You notice the plants did not eat or drink because they did not consume the same amount of water they used yesterday. You see rust spots. The large lower leaves are prematurely dying and you are not in the BLOOMING or FLOWERING stage.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Wind Burn
You had the fan blowing downward toward the upper side of the leaves, instead of blowing up through the node spaces or toward the lights. You observe the leaves becoming dry or even crispy, perhaps shriveling, and the tips curling upward. The leaves do not appear glossy, moist and vibrant.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Water, Nutrition Solution or Roots Are Discolored Brown Or Have an Unpleasant Odor
You notice your water is becoming brownish in color, or smells distasteful. Your solution does not smell pleasant and appetizing like fresh lettuce. Your roots are not the same shade of white that they once were a week ago.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Q:Can someone explain the difference between the Bubbleponic kit and the Deep Water Culture kit? Which is better? And why. Sorry about stupid questions, but I've read most of this entire website and never really got an answer to this one
A:What is a bubbler/DWC?
DWC (Deep Water Culture) units are commonly referred to as "bubblers" and are used for a method of growing plants hydroponically in a bucket of nutrients with the plant suspended over the nutrients and the roots growing down into the nutrients which are super oxygen saturated by pumping large volumes into the nutrient solution with the aid of an aquaurium stlye pump with an airstone attached to the airline.
Plants grown in this method grow at superfast rates due to the fact that they are being fed large amounts of oxygen. This is the same reason that the roots can sit in the nutrient solution without drowning. This method of growing is perfect for a hobby grower or one who wishes to grow for personal use. Large scale commercial growers do not generally find this method appropriate for the reason that each plant is housed in its own reservoir, and would simply be entirely too much maintenance in a large scale grow.
For someone who only needs say 6 plants, this method of hydroponic cultivation is an excellent way to grow. When an environment has been created to provide your plants with the optimum conditions required for fast, healthy growth,the one limiting factor left is how much oxygen can be provided to the roots of the plants. DWC growing will take care of this factor and then some! The roots will recieve huge amounts of oxygen for some of the fastest growth rates possible. DWC is one of the easiest and yet most effective forms of hydroponic cultivation.
Added on: Saturday, March 24, 2007 Viewed: 594 times
If you go with DWC, you have clones or sprouts with roots and the roots dangle into the oxygen enriched water with nutrients in it.
To improve a DWC system, you add an Exterior DRIP or an Interior Bubbleponics System. If you are pumping water to the rockwool cubes, from the beginning, you can start with seeds int he cubes and the babies will be fed faster, and grow faster cause you don;t have to wait for the roots to reach the water in the tank. There is a video at
Stealthhydro.com showing the Bubblponics System. The owners there have applied for a copyright to the word Bubbleponics.
Note:Lights?
Things to know about lighting
Color rating- Measured in Kelvin (K). The higher the number, the more bluish the light. 4000K-7000K is mostly on the blue side of the spectrum, while 3000K and under goes from a white spectrum, to a redder spectrum.
How much light is needed?
The minimum amount of light required by marijuana plants is around 3000 lumens per square foot. However, it's not 100% accurate, since although you may have a 10,000 lumen light, the amount of light that reaches the plant varies with the distance between the light and plants, and reflectivity of the grow box. The ideal amount is somewhere around 7000-10,000 lumens/sqft, and as long as the plants do not burn, as much light can be used as you want.
(*note, the sun produces about 10,000 lumens/sqft, on a sunny summer day).
Determining lumens for your grow area:
Determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet)
If you have a 1000 watt High Pressure Sodium, that produces (approx.) 107,000 lumens.
Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 / 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot.
So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of Sq ft, and thats your lumens per square foot.
How far away from my plants do the lights go?
The lights in your grow room should be as close as possible to the plants without burning them. There is no such thing as too much, unless there is sufficient heat to dry out and burn the leaves. A good rule is to put your hand under the light, if its too hot for your hand, chances are that the plants will be too, so move the light up until your hand feels more comfortable. For seedlings and clones, I keep them a little further away from the light, because they are very susceptible to burning and drying out, at these stages.
Efficiency is very important when choosing a type of light. The wattage is not the most important thing, as you can see below, different types of light produce different amounts of lumens per watt. A 300 watt incandescent will produce about 5100 lumens. While a 300 watt Metal Halide (just an example, they do not come in 300 watts), will produce 27,000 lumens. Obviously far more efficient for growing, while still using the same amount of electricity.
Approximate light production:
Incandescents: 17 lumens/watt
Mercury vapor: 45-50 lumens/watt
Fluorescents: 60-70 lumens/watt
Metal halide: 90 lumens/watt
High pressure sodium: 107 lumens/watt
Nutrients:
Q:so this is what I'm looking at. I established a few days ago that I have added too much nutrient too early to my plants and flushed the system with fresh water
A:Time they are 2 weeks old, they should mostly look all the same. They just struggle those first few days, but you'll see a big difference in a day or two. ANd when those roots hit the deep water, you 'll get a inch of growth daily.
Add 1/4 nutes now.
Q:would I add half of the micro bag, mix it up good, then add to tank, then do the same with half the bag of grow nuts as well?
A:Add the same amount of MICRO as you do the nutes.
The SH nutes are not 100% organic and can take 1/4 teaspoon peroxide per gallon of water. I would not use it IF you also use CITY clorinated water. If you have CITY clorinated water, then you should not have a problem to start with.
Q:added the 1/4 strength nutes like you recommended and the plants are looking good today. I was just wondering when I should add the next dose of nutrients and how much.
Since I overdid it last time I want to make sure not to do it again, what's your take? Also, I noticed that some of the leafs still have some yellow to them, do you think that's from the first nutrient burn or the 1/4 strength I recently added?
A:1/4 ONE DAY, IF YOU ON 24/7 LIGHTS, AND 1/4 THE NEXT, ADDING 1/4 A DAY UNTIL FULL STRENGHT,
OR
1/4 ONE DAY, SKIP TWO DAYS AND ADD THE OTHER 3/4 WILL WORK TOO.
The first two leaves that ever appeared wil yellow soon, early, and wilt. That is natural.
Extra Caution is better than NO Caution and small steps is better than giant steps. There is no harm in being extra careful and cautious. It is not like you are in a race or competition
Q:My question is about the nutrients. I know for the growth phase I need to use the GROW and MICRO nutes, but my question is do I continue to use both those types of nutes up until the time I'm ready to switch to BLOOM? And once, I switch to BLOOM, is that the only nutrient I use?
A: In both stages, you use both.
I experimetned with some liquid and organic nutes but I kept coming back to those nutes because they are pH balanced and easy to use, without measuring.
We'll discuss some signs of illness first, then offer remedies for Recuperation and Recovery.
Both new leaves and mature leaves are the best indicators to determine how healthy your plants are. Any problem or illness will first manifest itself in the appearance of your leaves. These problems almost always originate from the plant's environment, PH imbalance or over-feeding and under feeding. These problems always result in what is called "nutritional lock-out".
Nutritional Lockout
Allow us to GIVE you a simplified definition of NUTRIONAL LOCKOUT.
Can you imagine sitting a plate before a child at dinner time, with his most favorite food, hot dogs, ketchup and french fries? But also on the plate is a major portion of steamed broccoli, which he is just not fond of and insists on nibbling on. Now imagine telling that child, "you can not eat the hot dog and fries if you do not eat all the broccoli too". NUTRITONAL LOCKOUT is when the child responds with "well then, I just won't eat!"
Stealth-Hydro's nutrients are both nutritionally and PH balanced. But after being in your tank for 5 or 6 days, and being eaten from for 5 or 6 days, they become imbalanced. Perhaps you are growing plants that ate all the nitrogen first and just snacked around the iron, magnesium and calcium, or visa versa. The results are discoloration in the leaves, yellowing or rust spots, or curling up of leaf tips. It also becomes apparent when your plants were consuming a gallon or half gallon of water every day, and then suddenly when you check the levels the next day, they did not drink any water at all. This is NUTRITIONAL LOCKOUT.
Instead of giving lengthy descriptions of indications of overfeeding, underfeeding, ph imbalance, environmental problems and Nutritional Lockout here, it is easier to just give the remedy. Here we will refer to this remedy as THE RECUPERATION AND RECOVERY REMEDY.
THE 8 STEP RECUPERATION AND RECOVERY REMEDY
1. Check the roots. If they are discolored, reddish or brown, or present an unpleasant odor, you have a problem. If they are weak, soft or mushy, you have a problem. Also while checking the roots, observe the temperature of the water. If it is warmer than "luke warm" you have a problem. This problem is probably what is referred to as "root rot" or a disease known as PYTHIUM. Remove the dead brown roots by trimming them away with sharp scissors. Do not leave them in the tank.
2.Check the humidity and temperature of the grow area below the lights in the "growing zone" when the lights are on. A temperature of above 82 degrees or below 67 degrees will slow growth, but it is not a serious problem that will kill your plants. Temperatures below 62 degrees or above 90 degrees will stop growth. An extremely high temperature in the upper 90s or below 58 degrees can slowly result in death of your plants. The most efficient temps for growth are between 72 to 80 degrees. Any Humidity between 40 and 60 percent is acceptable and desirable.
3.Check the "lights off, nighttime" temperature. Most desirable is ten to 15 degrees cooler than the daytime "lights on" temperature, averaging 66 to 70 degrees.
4.Check the distance between the tips of the plant and the tip of the light bulb. If you observe yellowing or leaf curling tips, then move the lights one inch further away. A good rule of thumb if you use HID lights, is hold the soft palm of your hand at the leaf tip and see if the bulb is too warm to your hand. If you use Stealth Hydro's compact fluorescent bulbs, we recommend a distance of three or four inches for the 65 and 85 watt bulbs and 4 inches to five inches for the 105 watt bulbs. More mature plants can handle the bulbs slightly closer.
5.Check the position of your fans. Air movement is very necessary for the health of your plants, but too strong of a fan can cause wind burn. Direct your fan toward the tops of the plants and toward the lights. Never position the fan blowing strongly downward on the leaves.
6.Add 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to a quart of water and add it to the tank of six gallons already in the tank. Wait ten minutes and then turn the water and nutrition solution pump off to prepare to drain the tank. Poor at least a cup of clean water through each grow cup, onto each rockwool cube and through the hydroton rocks.
7.Drain or pump the tank empty as possible without damaging the pump by running it dry. Add two gallons of additional clean water with 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide again and then drain it away too. Again, empty the tank as empty as possible without burning up your pump.
8. Add fresh PH balanced water and nutritional packets as prescribed. PH test it again.
The above 8 steps should repair and remedy any health problems that your plants experienced within the next two days. Now is the time to try and determine what caused the problem to start with, by investigating and researching typical hydroponics problems and illnesses. Here are a few DIAGNOSIS TIPS.
Typical Hydroponics Problems and Illnesses
Underfeeding and Weak Nutrition
The entire plant, both upper and lower leaves, will show lime or light green in color.
The plant will not eat, drink or show growth.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Overfeeding, Use of Too Strong Nutrients
The leaves will curl downward. They grow very dark dull flat green and then the tips show signs of burn.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Nutritional Lockout
You know that you have made recent PH adjustments. You might know you may have used too much of the PH Adjustment Solution. You may have failed to test the PH often enough. You notice the plants did not eat or drink because they did not consume the same amount of water they used yesterday. You see rust spots. The large lower leaves are prematurely dying and you are not in the BLOOMING or FLOWERING stage.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Wind Burn
You had the fan blowing downward toward the upper side of the leaves, instead of blowing up through the node spaces or toward the lights. You observe the leaves becoming dry or even crispy, perhaps shriveling, and the tips curling upward. The leaves do not appear glossy, moist and vibrant.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Water, Nutrition Solution or Roots Are Discolored Brown Or Have an Unpleasant Odor
You notice your water is becoming brownish in color, or smells distasteful. Your solution does not smell pleasant and appetizing like fresh lettuce. Your roots are not the same shade of white that they once were a week ago.
It is time to follow the 8 Step Remedy.
Q:Can someone explain the difference between the Bubbleponic kit and the Deep Water Culture kit? Which is better? And why. Sorry about stupid questions, but I've read most of this entire website and never really got an answer to this one
A:What is a bubbler/DWC?
DWC (Deep Water Culture) units are commonly referred to as "bubblers" and are used for a method of growing plants hydroponically in a bucket of nutrients with the plant suspended over the nutrients and the roots growing down into the nutrients which are super oxygen saturated by pumping large volumes into the nutrient solution with the aid of an aquaurium stlye pump with an airstone attached to the airline.
Plants grown in this method grow at superfast rates due to the fact that they are being fed large amounts of oxygen. This is the same reason that the roots can sit in the nutrient solution without drowning. This method of growing is perfect for a hobby grower or one who wishes to grow for personal use. Large scale commercial growers do not generally find this method appropriate for the reason that each plant is housed in its own reservoir, and would simply be entirely too much maintenance in a large scale grow.
For someone who only needs say 6 plants, this method of hydroponic cultivation is an excellent way to grow. When an environment has been created to provide your plants with the optimum conditions required for fast, healthy growth,the one limiting factor left is how much oxygen can be provided to the roots of the plants. DWC growing will take care of this factor and then some! The roots will recieve huge amounts of oxygen for some of the fastest growth rates possible. DWC is one of the easiest and yet most effective forms of hydroponic cultivation.
Added on: Saturday, March 24, 2007 Viewed: 594 times
If you go with DWC, you have clones or sprouts with roots and the roots dangle into the oxygen enriched water with nutrients in it.
To improve a DWC system, you add an Exterior DRIP or an Interior Bubbleponics System. If you are pumping water to the rockwool cubes, from the beginning, you can start with seeds int he cubes and the babies will be fed faster, and grow faster cause you don;t have to wait for the roots to reach the water in the tank. There is a video at
Stealthhydro.com showing the Bubblponics System. The owners there have applied for a copyright to the word Bubbleponics.
Note:Lights?
Things to know about lighting
Color rating- Measured in Kelvin (K). The higher the number, the more bluish the light. 4000K-7000K is mostly on the blue side of the spectrum, while 3000K and under goes from a white spectrum, to a redder spectrum.
How much light is needed?
The minimum amount of light required by marijuana plants is around 3000 lumens per square foot. However, it's not 100% accurate, since although you may have a 10,000 lumen light, the amount of light that reaches the plant varies with the distance between the light and plants, and reflectivity of the grow box. The ideal amount is somewhere around 7000-10,000 lumens/sqft, and as long as the plants do not burn, as much light can be used as you want.
(*note, the sun produces about 10,000 lumens/sqft, on a sunny summer day).
Determining lumens for your grow area:
Determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet)
If you have a 1000 watt High Pressure Sodium, that produces (approx.) 107,000 lumens.
Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 / 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot.
So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of Sq ft, and thats your lumens per square foot.
How far away from my plants do the lights go?
The lights in your grow room should be as close as possible to the plants without burning them. There is no such thing as too much, unless there is sufficient heat to dry out and burn the leaves. A good rule is to put your hand under the light, if its too hot for your hand, chances are that the plants will be too, so move the light up until your hand feels more comfortable. For seedlings and clones, I keep them a little further away from the light, because they are very susceptible to burning and drying out, at these stages.
Efficiency is very important when choosing a type of light. The wattage is not the most important thing, as you can see below, different types of light produce different amounts of lumens per watt. A 300 watt incandescent will produce about 5100 lumens. While a 300 watt Metal Halide (just an example, they do not come in 300 watts), will produce 27,000 lumens. Obviously far more efficient for growing, while still using the same amount of electricity.
Approximate light production:
Incandescents: 17 lumens/watt
Mercury vapor: 45-50 lumens/watt
Fluorescents: 60-70 lumens/watt
Metal halide: 90 lumens/watt
High pressure sodium: 107 lumens/watt
Nutrients:
Q:so this is what I'm looking at. I established a few days ago that I have added too much nutrient too early to my plants and flushed the system with fresh water
A:Time they are 2 weeks old, they should mostly look all the same. They just struggle those first few days, but you'll see a big difference in a day or two. ANd when those roots hit the deep water, you 'll get a inch of growth daily.
Add 1/4 nutes now.
Q:would I add half of the micro bag, mix it up good, then add to tank, then do the same with half the bag of grow nuts as well?
A:Add the same amount of MICRO as you do the nutes.
The SH nutes are not 100% organic and can take 1/4 teaspoon peroxide per gallon of water. I would not use it IF you also use CITY clorinated water. If you have CITY clorinated water, then you should not have a problem to start with.
Q:added the 1/4 strength nutes like you recommended and the plants are looking good today. I was just wondering when I should add the next dose of nutrients and how much.
Since I overdid it last time I want to make sure not to do it again, what's your take? Also, I noticed that some of the leafs still have some yellow to them, do you think that's from the first nutrient burn or the 1/4 strength I recently added?
A:1/4 ONE DAY, IF YOU ON 24/7 LIGHTS, AND 1/4 THE NEXT, ADDING 1/4 A DAY UNTIL FULL STRENGHT,
OR
1/4 ONE DAY, SKIP TWO DAYS AND ADD THE OTHER 3/4 WILL WORK TOO.
The first two leaves that ever appeared wil yellow soon, early, and wilt. That is natural.
Extra Caution is better than NO Caution and small steps is better than giant steps. There is no harm in being extra careful and cautious. It is not like you are in a race or competition
Q:My question is about the nutrients. I know for the growth phase I need to use the GROW and MICRO nutes, but my question is do I continue to use both those types of nutes up until the time I'm ready to switch to BLOOM? And once, I switch to BLOOM, is that the only nutrient I use?
A: In both stages, you use both.
I experimetned with some liquid and organic nutes but I kept coming back to those nutes because they are pH balanced and easy to use, without measuring.
asakite
Member
Howdy again!
Thanks for the quick and helpful replies! I took to heart all you've said. First, Roseman, no I didn't have an oscilating fan - or cash to spare on one - but on my way back from town this a.m. guess what I found out by the curb a few miles down the road? A 7" oscillating fan! Okay, so I had to replace the plug at the end of the cord because it was missing a prong, but that was no problem! Now I have a fan in there that seems to be just about the right size for the space it's in. It's not in the photo I took earlier - but it's there now. What God doesn't provide - the neighbors throw away!
I decided to screw with things based on Roseman's assertion that my current situation per temp and pH can't be good.
For the water temp problem. I've come up with a plan that might work to keep the res a bit cooler during the times I can be here to help. I'm using the drain hose on my res to draw out 1 liter at a time and cool it to 62F with ice in baggies. I then slowly reintroduce to the res through the drain tube with the aid of a funnel. I've been able to drop the temp about 1 degree every 15 minutes and have brought the temp down to 70F. With the current ambient temp (78F) and the current light height it's rising about 1 degree per hour. So in a few hours I'll bring it down again. Before I retire tonight I'll drop it to 65F or so and that should keep it almost in range through the night.
To the pH issue. I don't have vinegar - and whilst I could certainly afford to buy a bottle - I do have a few liters of 80% acetic acid in my photo darkroom. Acetic acid is the acid in vinegar - this is just about a zillion times stronger. I took the gallon (4 liters actually) that I drained out of my res last night and checked the pH and temp - 7.2 @ 77F. I took a guess and added 5 ml (about a teaspoon) of the acid to the 4 liters of nute solution and it lowered the pH all the way to 3.1! I checked the pH over the next two hours and it remained constant at pH 3.1 . I tested my res when I started the cooling procedure and it was 7.2 - so what I did was add 25 ml of the pH 3.1 nute solution to each liter of solution that I was cooling and added it back to the res. I did this each time until the res pH was down to 6.0. I'm going to monitor it over the next day or two and see how it is. I still want to invest in some buffered pH down - but for now this may work.
I've put some pictures in a gallery and I'll try to include them here. You'll see a dryer vent hose coming out of the wall and aimed at the plants. That's my inlet being pushed by a 70 cfm vent fan - it was what I was using to fan the plants but I think it was too strong and and too constant. I fear that windburn may have been in my near future, now the 7" oscillator sits where the hose was and gently tickles the plants. The hose has been removed - but the fan is still blowing air into the room.
I'll keep you posted. I sure hope I haven't screwed things up by "trying to help".
Thanks again.
Thanks for the quick and helpful replies! I took to heart all you've said. First, Roseman, no I didn't have an oscilating fan - or cash to spare on one - but on my way back from town this a.m. guess what I found out by the curb a few miles down the road? A 7" oscillating fan! Okay, so I had to replace the plug at the end of the cord because it was missing a prong, but that was no problem! Now I have a fan in there that seems to be just about the right size for the space it's in. It's not in the photo I took earlier - but it's there now. What God doesn't provide - the neighbors throw away!
I decided to screw with things based on Roseman's assertion that my current situation per temp and pH can't be good.
For the water temp problem. I've come up with a plan that might work to keep the res a bit cooler during the times I can be here to help. I'm using the drain hose on my res to draw out 1 liter at a time and cool it to 62F with ice in baggies. I then slowly reintroduce to the res through the drain tube with the aid of a funnel. I've been able to drop the temp about 1 degree every 15 minutes and have brought the temp down to 70F. With the current ambient temp (78F) and the current light height it's rising about 1 degree per hour. So in a few hours I'll bring it down again. Before I retire tonight I'll drop it to 65F or so and that should keep it almost in range through the night.
To the pH issue. I don't have vinegar - and whilst I could certainly afford to buy a bottle - I do have a few liters of 80% acetic acid in my photo darkroom. Acetic acid is the acid in vinegar - this is just about a zillion times stronger. I took the gallon (4 liters actually) that I drained out of my res last night and checked the pH and temp - 7.2 @ 77F. I took a guess and added 5 ml (about a teaspoon) of the acid to the 4 liters of nute solution and it lowered the pH all the way to 3.1! I checked the pH over the next two hours and it remained constant at pH 3.1 . I tested my res when I started the cooling procedure and it was 7.2 - so what I did was add 25 ml of the pH 3.1 nute solution to each liter of solution that I was cooling and added it back to the res. I did this each time until the res pH was down to 6.0. I'm going to monitor it over the next day or two and see how it is. I still want to invest in some buffered pH down - but for now this may work.
I've put some pictures in a gallery and I'll try to include them here. You'll see a dryer vent hose coming out of the wall and aimed at the plants. That's my inlet being pushed by a 70 cfm vent fan - it was what I was using to fan the plants but I think it was too strong and and too constant. I fear that windburn may have been in my near future, now the 7" oscillator sits where the hose was and gently tickles the plants. The hose has been removed - but the fan is still blowing air into the room.
I'll keep you posted. I sure hope I haven't screwed things up by "trying to help".
Thanks again.
I have a quick question, my grow box will be 2ft in length by 1ft in width. It will house 6 plants (its an 8 gallon tote bubbleponmic system. I am trying to light the whole thing with cfl's, but I have no idea how many lumens i need. Someone told me 1500 per square foot, but thats only like 4 lights for this setup. I was planning on putting in 3600lumens of 2700k spectrum and 3600lumens of 6700k spectrum. Is this wrong, just right, overkill? Someone please help me out.
MostlyCrazy
New Member
For good production I saw where you need about 5000 lumens per sq ft. The sun has 10000 psf. I run about 53000 in my 2 1/2x4' space. 3k psf would be a minimum for good veg but flower needs more power.
MostlyCrazy
New Member
I got an 250 HPS of this for my roughly 3x4 area. For a smaller area you could go to the 175 but the price is so close it may not matter. I veg with large 105w CFL and turn this light on them when I switch to flower and get explosive growth.
http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=56
Real key is can you vent the area? I'm lucky in that I can open a door for ventailation and have some fans in the right place to keep my area in the 75-78% area. If you need stealth you'll need a vent fan to get the heat out mounted high.
http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=56
Real key is can you vent the area? I'm lucky in that I can open a door for ventailation and have some fans in the right place to keep my area in the 75-78% area. If you need stealth you'll need a vent fan to get the heat out mounted high.