Okay, so i will want to get cal-mag and silica, a PPM meter, an ro system, new line of nutrients and additives, new tote, and a chiller, and foil the holes in my system. Seems easy enough and i feel alot better now, thanks to yall i now have an actual plan of action
1 Like
Here is what i came home to tonight after work, deteriorating quickly, more bronzing, and the spots, does cal mag and silica still seem like a viable solution?
Heres a few pictures from today. I found a hydroponics shop about 2 hours away from me! Ill be making the drive out there today to pick a few things up
Question from a soil grower: are microbes useful in a hydro environment?
I will be getting a TDS meter, cal mag and silica, along with an RO system for sure, i will have to see what else they have in stock but i am beyond excited to get out there and see what all i can get my hands on!
I will also be getting a new tote and covering all those holes today!
Yes. Hydroguard is a good source for beneficial microbes. You would want to inoculate after any thorough cleaning. A mild peroxide solution run through the system can remove algae and kill pythium. Some growers have rinsed roots in a peroxide solution with good results. I would not run it with nutes as it will react to the salts and dissipate immediately.
1 Like
You will not be able to use peroxide and microbial at the same time. The peroxide will kill off the microbes, and you will end up will a total mess in the reservoir. I would stick with peroxide and non organic nutrients, until you can drop the reservoir down to the mid 60s. The benefits of a sterilized system that the peroxide will give far outweighs any benefits of microbes right now.
I have never used hydroguard, just peroxide only. So @MidwestGuy comments may need override mine.
Mine was just a question. I saw peroxide mentioned and peroxide kills microbes. Hence the question.
1 Like
Hey all, just wanted to share a little update and get some opinions, i feel at this point like i have solved my original issue, all new growth it looking wonderful and its really starting to spring up, i wanted to thank you all for your help with that, while i ended up having to wait for shipping for the TDS meter, cal mag, and silica, i was able to find a solution for the mean time that my plant is seeming to be happy with, on top of those products i went ahead and ordered the fox farm dirty dozen nutrient and additives line, i have covered all the exposed holes on my net pot, i lowered the water level in my 5 gallon resivour and i have also built a 14 gallon one that i will be moving the plant into once i get my gallon of ph down tomorrow (my water sits right around 7.5 ph, i adjust as needed every morning so it sits at 5.8 and never raises above 6.1) the other night i topped my plant at the fourth node, the plant is doing great and the double main stock is starting to grow in, I applied low stress training and i think im doing it right? I bent the main stock down so all of the cola sites are getting plenty of light, and 5 of the 6 sites are shooting up, but i am slightly concerned with how im going to safely maneuver the main stocks, or if i should re train the plant, or what the next best step would be, thank you! First picture i am adding is from a few days ago, the others are from this morning also you can see the difference between picture 2 and 3 i took off the dying 3 finger fan leaves, but have not done any other defoliation otherwise
Sweet! It takes a lot stress off of you, when you feel that things are dialed in, doesn’t it?
It definitely does! Now instead of worrying about keeping my plant on life support im focusing on growing out those future bud sites and its really starting to bush out now! This plant is 20 days old from sprout today and im overly excited for the next ~40! Are you able to tell if my low stress training methods are looking good? Im going for that nice even canopy, i have about 7 feet of height to work with but id like a more even and easily managable plant, but i want to make sure i learn to do it correctly, because after my first successful harvest with this plant im going to start 4 more, just didnt wanna waste 4 seeds before i knew if i could successfully grow a plant
You may want to tag in some growers experienced with growing in totes, when you run across them here. @HappyHydroGrower is the only one that comes to mind now, but there are many more here.
All of my nutrients came in today! My TDS meter will be here in the morning! New bucket is complete (yes that is a mixing bowl straight from my kitchen, i fogured it would get better use here 
)and the plant is happy. And i have no one to thank for that but all of you, so thank you guys for all of your help!
1 Like
Just using this space to post updates and photos at this point, please feel free to chime in with any good tips, comments or just extra information you think i should know! I have added cal-mag, then silica, then nutrients at 1/3 the feeding schedule recommendations, except for the OMRI rated organic big bloom i did go full strength 3tsp or 1tbsp per gallon (7 gallons of water), as it is an organic product and will be really hard to burn my plant with, ppm is at 800, ph 5.8, water level is around 2 inches under the net pot, i have been noticing much larger swings in ph since i switched to the 14 gallon tote so i have started adjusting ph twice a day instead of once. I am currently thinking i will stay in veg for another 3-4 weeks, totaling 6-7 weeks, before i switch the lighting to a 12/12 schedule, and begin the bloom cycle, the only thing im not fully happy with is my current lighting situation, i need a higher wattage light, what i have now will get me through veg but next week i am going to be ordering the spider farmer SF4000 so i am much better off for a big bloom
