Try drip Clean as a weekly additive to your res, I’ve read that sledgehammer is better used for flushing purposes and not an additive to your nute schedule... but so far man, i like what i see, keep up the good work! SUBSCRIBED!
I had a few questions Weedo, maybe you can help me out...
first is, what scale are you using to measure your ppms? you mentioned your ppms are around 485-500, I’m assuming your using the 700 scale, I’m using 500 and my tap water is around 6.8ph and 180ppms...
Second, do you use a heat thermostat with your seedling heat matt during germination? if so, what do you keep your temp at? if not, how come? don’t those matts get kinda warm?
Thanks for the heads-up on Drip Clean. I'll look into it. Sledgehammer is mentioned as a flush on the Fox Farm feeding schedule available on their web site. It says to add 1/4 tsp per gallon along with your nutes every two weeks. Reading the label on Sledgehammer, it says it's a nutrient rinse that helps rinse out mineral salt build up and relieves nutrient lockup. it's made of 10% Saponin and 90% inert ingredients. I don't see that I have any problems so far, so I'm not 100% sold on Sledgehammer. I am new to the Fox Farm line though, so I thought a little exploration with the stuff was in order. We'll see.
I keep my Bluelab ppm pen on the 500 scale. That's how it came right out of the box. 485-500 is the ppm of my tap water - before adding anything. The water is hard here. My last res change, I ended up with ppm in the 1050 range. +- 10 or so. Am I doing it right? I've never really played around with it very much.
I use the Hydrofarm 9x20 heat mat without the temp regulator. I seriously considered buying one when I got the mat, but they're like $30 .. plus I saw a line on the box that read "This mat is designed to raise rooting area temperatures approximately 10-20 deg f above ambient air temperature." I haven't a clue how it accomplishes this, but its right on the money. I tested it with my tray and humidity dome and a couple of wet rockwool cubes for 3 days prior to starting my seeds. I snaked the temperature probe off my thermometer/hygrometer down a vent hole in the top of the dome and kept an eye on it. It ran 75 to 85 degrees the whole time. After fiddling around with the dome vents, I kept the humidity up around 60% and got the water to bead up nicely on the inside of the dome and everything. The seeds/sprouts loved it. Plus .. its low maintenance. Way better than the regular old WalMart heating pad that I used to use.
I do not use the heat mat for germination. I read somewhere that seeds will germinate nicely at room temperature and that, once sprouted, they like a warmer, more humid environment. So, I presoak my seeds in shot glasses with tap water for 24 hours, then I pour off the excess water and dump the seeds on a dinner plate covered with paper towels. I lay another couple of paper towels over the top and give the whole show a good spritzing with water. I top it off with another dinner plate and leave them be. I usually have to spritz with water again after 12-14 hours but within a day, they will have spouted. From there, I place the seeds in the rockwool cubes and hit them with the heat mat. Works like a charm.
