Thor's 400w DWC Closet grow

I notice my PH keeps climbing everyday I see it goes from 5.5 to like 6.3-6.5 what could cause this?

did you rinse/wash your hydroton before you put it in those cups?? Looks like the powder layer of dust is washing down the roots and causing a larger issue than just nute burns

Yea I rinsed all the rocks off before they were put in the net pots. If there was any residue left from the rocks it would of made it's way down onto the roots awhile ago anyways. I am confident that the brownish roots are a result of bad water.

My PH was too high. My res water was old over a week and a half and needed to be changed. There was debris floating around in it. And the new water I used at the time was full strength nutes and the water it self was a brownish look to it. So I think the roots were damaged and looked lack luster and a combination of nute stain.

The new problem that I see that has presented itself is my res water PH keeps rising. Everyday I have to put PH down in it. When i go to bed its 5.5 when i wake up its 6.5

Anyone have any idea whats going on with this water?

Thordinar said:

Yea I rinsed all the rocks off before they were put in the net pots. If there was any residue left from the rocks it would of made it's way down onto the roots awhile ago anyways. I am confident that the brownish roots are a result of bad water.

My PH was too high. My res water was old over a week and a half and needed to be changed. There was debris floating around in it. And the new water I used at the time was full strength nutes and the water it self was a brownish look to it. So I think the roots were damaged and looked lack luster and a combination of nute stain.

The new problem that I see that has presented itself is my res water PH keeps rising. Everyday I have to put PH down in it. When i go to bed its 5.5 when i wake up its 6.5

Anyone have any idea whats going on with this water?

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Idk, algae problem? any light getting down in there? id toss a few capfuls per gallon of h202 in there just to give those roots a little extra oxygen for a bit.

How much h2o2 should i put in for 6 gallons?

Also I read somewhere that if the res water temps are too high for too long it can be detrimental to the plants aswell. Looks like ill have to invest in a water thermometer!

Thordinar said:

How much h2o2 should i put in for 6 gallons?

Also I read somewhere that if the res water temps are too high for too long it can be detrimental to the plants aswell. Looks like ill have to invest in a water thermometer!

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warm wet environments are also good breeding grounds for algae and other bacterias. As for the h202, i use 1/4 cup per gallon in soil applications. not sure for hydro.

is your lid covered at all? because light shines right through that plastic.

No. What would you suggest would be the most effective and relatively cheap solution?

Nice setup dude!

I'm thinking of a DWC setup, Just a quick question............ How far do you keep the water level from the bottom of the net pots?

Thordinar said:

No. What would you suggest would be the most effective and relatively cheap solution?

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you can do what you did to the res of the lid to block light or fit car sun shades down there to block light.

welldiced said:

Nice setup dude!

I'm thinking of a DWC setup, Just a quick question............ How far do you keep the water level from the bottom of the net pots?

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I keep my water within an inch of the bottom of the net pot.

:::Update:::

I changed the res water. This time I mixed the nutes to the ppm that i wanted which was 350. PH is 5.5 room temp is 80 F humidity is 38%

there is a post on using bleach in hydro systems, i have done it myself and it controls the algae, you also need to look into wrapping your res. with something that wont let light penetrate, most people use aluminum duct tape to block light and that its self should help control any algae problems.

Thordinar said:

I notice my PH keeps climbing everyday I see it goes from 5.5 to like 6.3-6.5 what could cause this?

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Dead root matter.

o and if u havnt rinsed your hydroton in ph'd water and u start watering from above the plants the hydroton will rise the ph in the res.

how did u go blocking the light from getting into the res?u can use hydrogen peroxide to add an extra molecole of oxygen to the water but u dont need it your best bet is to buy an enzyme like cannazyme for example it turns the dead root matter into food for your plants imo its a must for dwc. sry for multiple posts

yeah doing a DWC set up like you have you will be needing to check the ph daily...I have a similar set up, might even be the same plastic tote and i have had my ph go way crazy all with in a day... check at 6:00am was fine and then by 6:00pm was way high... so be sure to check your ph often and i would suggest in your set up more air stones and even a small pump to run 24hrs a day to keep the water circulating... one thing i have heard about DWC is you need plenty of ciculation and planty of Oxygen... i am running 5 air stone and pumping oxygen thru my curculating pump that runs constantly... and yes watch for root rot man you are very susceptable to root rot in DWC setups...

Ok update. Now pics cause my batterys died. So pic updates another time.

Last night I changed the water. I scrubbed the inside of the res with anti-bacterial soap and thoroughly rinsed it. Added seedling strength nutes like i said before to keep my PPM at 350-355. I set my light to 15-16 inches from the tops of the plants. The humidity is 40%. I cut a piece of cardboard to block some of the light from getting into the res. I also installed another air pump and hose to a new air stone. I also upgraded the other airstone to a 6 inch high quality stone like the other. So now I have plenty of bubble action going on underneath.

I also have been making sure that the PH is balanced. It climbed a little bit today. Instead of wondering why or spending energy trying to figure out why. I decided to just balance it and not worry about it. If it needs to be balanced again later then so be it.

I accidently severed some roots on plant B. I didnt think it would effect her that much but you can clearly see that plant A is 2 inches taller then her now. Plant A is doing wonders she is 9 inches by 8 inches wide and 6 inches tall. She has 5 nodes and is working on her 6th. Plant B just finished her 5th node. Underneath there is alot of roots action. Plant A has roots coming out of the net pot on the sides aswell as the bottom. and i mean ALOT. Plant B has alot of root action too most of hers is on the very bottom of the net pot. Soo many roots coming out looks like a cactus. Well they seem to be liking all the work i have done to make the comfortable. Lets hope they are looking good tomorrow when I go to take pics.

So yesterday right after my update i discovered that my air stones were plugged into the same extension cord as the ballast with the timer on it. So when I switched my lights from 24/0 to 18/6 it was shutting off my air stone for that time too. Problem fixed! That was probably one of the biggest problems i was having controlling my water.

earlier in the grow the leaves curling up look a little like heat stress but your temps arent too too high. My temps get like that maybe 2 hours everyday. How about trying a vented hood or a cool tube? You can find a cool tube for cheap on ebay i guarantee your temps will go down. Other than that looking cool. I want to go with your setup DWC and probably a 250w Hps and CFl for vegging. Check out my grow!

I do have a air cooled hood and it did lower my temps alot. It was 105 degrees F in my closet. Now my temps after the air cooled hood and the hole in the cieling to exhaust into the attic, don't get over 84 degrees F.