Grandpa grow!

[smoke]

At this stage, I start with RO at <20PPM and add cal-mag to 150. That takes care of early flower and all the N it needs at this stage.
Add the pink stuff to 250 - 275 range.
Add the brown stuff (micro) to 350. That's a bit more N in that.
Now I add the green stuff based on what the plants are telling me. Sometimes none. Usually no more than 400ppm

Helper always said to add the micro first

 

[moe.red]

Helper always said to add the micro first

Yeah there are reasons to go both ways.

If you have a ph swing when adding micro the metals precipitate out. The ph is set at 5.8 in the bottle.

If you are using the other nutes to help you set ph (those bottles are buffered to 5.8 as well) like I do, getting the res to 5.8 first makes sense. I use cal mag and green or pink to get the res ph stable then add in micro slowly.

Adding micros before grow or bloom (after cal - mag) if you are already at 5.8 ph in the res is the correct way.

Got a video showing nute precipitation somewhere I'll dig up.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

when you first add your TPS Silica, what does the pH of your system rise to?

So I basically just add all of those bottles, in that order, to a gal of RO + 2ml hydroguard, and add that jug into the rez till I get the desired ppm. Then I'll add ph up to get to 5.9. I've been thinking about abandoning that way of adding nutes and just go w trio and calmag. They went in the system 3/21 and ph was stable until 5/8 when I noticed it would start dropping .2-.3 in a day. The dropping seems to have gotten worse, I brought it up to 6.2 about 22hrs ago and it's at 5.7 now. Been going through a decent amount of ph up to keep it around 5.9
I'm pretty sure the tip burns r nute burns? At 1 point for a couple of weeks the ppm was up to 600(500). Could the high ppm caused an imbalance? I dunno, I did a rez change on the 17th and kept the ppm around 450 which is still probably too high.
I'm not really liking the root color, they r tannish/beige colored but could that be from high nute concentration staining em?

Otherwise the plants r looking good and I noticed today the bud sites are getting plumper and starting to fill out


I have a 55gal ro barrel fed by an undersink ispring rcc7 and the water is 0 ppms and 7.3 ph. I use a garden hose(probably not a good idea?)from the bottom spigot to fill/topoff the rez and add hydroguard. I may go a day b4 topping off but usually try to do it daily as they r drinking around 3gal a day, I added 3.6 gal yesterday. My water temps r at 71/72. If I left out anything, I'll be happy to respond. This ph dropping is concerning me, I'm messing up somehow and want to get it corrected b4 I mess up the ladies!
Trying to tag @moe.red so I don't have to retype this but it's not coming up with that autofill thing after the @ sign.

 

[moe.red]

Those roots look good. If you were running 4 bottles at lower EC they would be whiter. I think you are seeing some iron causing them to be a little dark. What I am not seeing is evidence of roots disintegrating or rotting in any way. They all look like they are actively vascular, no dead zones, not dark clumps where water does not flow thru crating a low O2 pocket for anerobic activity.

Based on that one picture, I would think your PH issue is water chemistry, not the plant causing it.

Everything is super dark green. I think your EC is unbalanced more than too high. If properly balanced, the actual PPM number is not as important. All else being equal a 350PPM grow vs. 450PPM grow should not be noticeable.

This gets deep fast, but imbalances are easy to make and effect the plants in different ways. The plant will try to suck up excesses to some molecules, and actively filter out other ions. For example, N is a luxury molecule

In plant biology, the concept of "luxury uptake" refers to a plant's absorption of nutrients, such as nitrogen, in excess of its immediate needs for growth and metabolism. This uptake doesn't necessarily result in a noticeable increase in biomass or yield, but rather leads to increased storage of the nutrient within the plant. For example, a plant might take up more nitrogen than it needs to build proteins or chlorophyll, and the excess is stored in its roots or other tissues. (from AI)

All that N in an unbalanced system can lead to N Toxicity.

It gets deeper fast - like mulders chart and how one nute will block or aid another. I'll not go too far atm but I would think that re-balancing the res is a good thing with a goal to take out half of the N.

At this stage in the plant life it's need for N is decreasing.

TLDR: I think the PH issue is related to the chemistry in the res and what you are adding more than plant / rhizosphere participation. I recommend you flush the res and build it back up with half the N and a lower overall PPM. And simplify down to the 4 basics.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

I recommend you flush the res and build it back up with half the N and a lower overall PPM.

Yeah, I was thinking I'm gonna need to flush and start off anew using only calmag and the trio. It's really nice to have that confirmation though. So I should also do the buffer thing first right? Right after the new ro goes in, add the silica to get to 9ph, use ph down to 5.9, then calmag and trio. I am out of hydroguard atm and will b using king crab, in what order do I add that? I've usually added bennies in last, is that a bad practice?
Congrats on the retirement!! That's gotta be a crazy cool feeling to have that freedom, awesome man!

U mentioned you have extra gear u r willing to sell? I'm thinking of using my 2x4 for veg in dwc. For that I'd b looking for a light, an extra aci circ fan, maybe a 69 controller(i may have one of those stashed away already,) and maybe a link to those net cup cradles? that allows you to transfer the net cups from one system to the next. Also would love to get a real time constant ph/ppm/temp system going. Should I just get a guardian or get some probes, a board, screen and use my pi5?

A big thank you to this community, I'd b way less successful without it! U all r really helpful and really cool

 

[moe.red]

So I should also do the buffer thing first right? Right after the new ro goes in, add the silica to get to 9ph, use ph down to 5.9, then calmag and trio. I am out of hydroguard atm and will b using king crab, in what order do I add that? I've usually added bennies in last, is that a bad practice?

I don't like to build the buffer that way on an active grow. That recipe you are referencing is for 1 of 2 options

Starting up a new grow from a dry res
ability to mix and manage a 100% res change outside your system.

How many gals total are you running?

I am out of hydroguard atm and will b using king crab, in what order do I add that?

Last is correct. That said, you have a colony by now so no need to keep adding. The colony will only grow as big as the food source will allow. That food source is your plant feeding them carbs thru the roots. Adding more spores at this point only adds organic material to become waste. If there was more food available, the existing colony would grow way faster than anything from spores. So the spores would wake up due to the correct environment only to starve.

and maybe a link to those net cup cradles?

Do you have a 3D printer?

ACI was about to release the hydro probes for the ACI controller last time i looked. I think if you are going down the ACI path, stick with it and add those probes.

Actually, it is still pending, but should be out this quarter?

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

How many gals total are you running?

I wanna say 47-48 gals.

Do you have a 3D printer?

I do not but know 2 ppl that do

Actually, it is still pending, but should be out this quarter?

Wasn't aware of that so I'll just sit tight for now till they come out. I was thinking of the guardian and should've got that from the start instead of the individual blue lab pens.... oh well.

 

[GrumpAzz]

ACI was about to release the hydro probes for the ACI controller last time i looked. I think if you are going down the ACI path, stick with it and add those probes.

Actually, it is still pending, but should be out this quarter?

This.. is.. sweet..

Browsing their website, I see a lot of things going on my wishlist. If I could have everything controlled by one app on my phone I would be sooo happy.

Year or two tops and I'll be building some permanent rooms and ditching the tent. This stuff is damn cool. There'll be plenty of reviews done by then, too.

Hydroponics & Growers - CONTROLLERS - AI Controllers and Sensors - AC Infinity

acinfinity.com

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

If I could have everything controlled by one app on my phone I would be sooo happy.

Yeah, it's convenient. Dunno how, but will have to find a way to upgrade my controller(69+pro atm) to the Ai controller so I can get the hydro sensor. It would be sooo nice to b able to monitor real time water conditions w/out breaking out the pens. The conductivity bluelab I have is quick and easy, but the ph one I have takes 1-2 mns b4 the reading gets stable.
I currently have everything connected to my 69+pro, 4 6" circulating fans, 6" exhaust, t7 humidifier, and the mammoth mint 8.

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

So, an update on my ph issue. I turned my light up to 80% yesterday which got the temp up to 80° and today the ph had only dropped .1 compared to yesterday's drop of .5 Dunno if the air temp had anything to do w anything but not gonna mess with it now I think. Just gonna check on em and look for signs of light stress over the upcoming days. The air temps maybe got up to 72° w lights on b4. I dunno plants r still looking good? Noticed these weird new growth today, is this normal?


I'm referring to the small, round, lime green leafs on the top

 

[GrumpAzz]

Yeah, it's convenient. Dunno how, but will have to find a way to upgrade my controller(69+pro atm) to the Ai controller so I can get the hydro sensor. It would be sooo nice to b able to monitor real time water conditions w/out breaking out the pens. The conductivity bluelab I have is quick and easy, but the ph one I have takes 1-2 mns b4 the reading gets stable.
I currently have everything connected to my 69+pro, 4 6" circulating fans, 6" exhaust, t7 humidifier, and the mammoth mint 8.

Yeah I've got the 69 pro and a bluelab wifi monitor and it's the bee's knees. AC infinity has their shit figured out. I'll go the AI route when I upgrade also. Seems like 1 controller could run 2 rooms easy. Adding the pH and ppfd/co2 meter to the same app would be as good as it gets.

-------

I can't speak for the rounded leaves up top. Haven't seen that before. Maybe someone else has some info.

 

[Observer]

So, an update on my ph issue. I turned my light up to 80% yesterday which got the temp up to 80° and today the ph had only dropped .1 compared to yesterday's drop of .5 Dunno if the air temp had anything to do w anything but not gonna mess with it now I think. Just gonna check on em and look for signs of light stress over the upcoming days. The air temps maybe got up to 72° w lights on b4. I dunno plants r still looking good? Noticed these weird new growth today, is this normal?
View attachment 103075
View attachment 103076
I'm referring to the small, round, lime green leafs on the top

I'd turn the light back down to what is was, and reduce Nitrogen.

 

[Rootsruler]

The grow looks amazing!

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Seems like 1 controller could run 2 rooms easy. Adding the pH and ppfd/co2 meter to the same app would be as good as it gets.

Yeah, like 32 ports I think?

 

[Bandit420]

So, an update on my ph issue. I turned my light up to 80% yesterday which got the temp up to 80° and today the ph had only dropped .1 compared to yesterday's drop of .5 Dunno if the air temp had anything to do w anything but not gonna mess with it now I think. Just gonna check on em and look for signs of light stress over the upcoming days. The air temps maybe got up to 72° w lights on b4. I dunno plants r still looking good? Noticed these weird new growth today, is this normal?
View attachment 103075
View attachment 103076
I'm referring to the small, round, lime green leafs on the top

Normal? No

I'd say one of two things...a mutant or it got hit with enough light to interrupt a continuous 12 hour dark period and flipped her back to veg and now she's trying to figure it.
Is it an autoflower? Breeding in autos can be very sketchy and results like this are more common than not

 

[Skinnypuppy80]

Normal? No

I'd say one of two things...a mutant or it got hit with enough light to interrupt a continuous 12 hour dark period and flipped her back to veg and now she's trying to figure it.
Is it an autoflower? Breeding in autos can be very sketchy and results like this are more common than not

Its a photo gorilla roadkill, 1 of 2 is only doing it. There is also 2 dantes inferno in the tent which r not showing that growth.
Small lime colored leafs

Other gorilla in the same system

 

[Observer]

Mutation?

 

[steamroller]

Looked like early foxtails to me.

 

[MiGrampa]

How hot is the grow tent during lights on? How close to the light on the affected buds?