So…. Was just about to call it. Tear it all down and switch to soil for the summer. Not sure if it’s worth the time and energy to try to save her now. I’m in week 7 now on a Autoflower seed and she be looking like this. What you think, cut my loses or fight on.
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Are your roots brown?
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Yea a bit. Actually today they are the worst they have been. Not full rot but it’s setting in. But again she was left along for 5 days too.
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She’s looking pretty done trying. It may be worth putting the energy into saving - otherwise you bear the risk of repeating the mistake, even in soil.
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That’s just it Gray, I don’t know where it went wrong. Feel like Ive been checking the boxes as you know but she just ain’t liking my world.
So if a gave it a go, what do you recommend? Water change obviously, prune dead limbs, nutrient levels?
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If you got root rot, you’ll have to solve that before anything. Chiller??
There is really only so much that can go wrong in hydro. Hummm 
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You still don’t have a chiller, right?
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Yea I hear you. The rot definitely set in while I was on vacation. As mentioned I ain’t ready for a chiller investment until I have a proper dedicated space. So been doing the frozen water bottle routine. Been fairly successful and consistent with that approach with temps never getting above 71.5 and mostly between 66-70. But being away and temps rising in AZ definitely caused issues. But aside from that been having some issue the entire grow.
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The root development alone is concerning entering week 7. Mostly until this past week roots have been clean and white. So she never really took off like I see others on here do
I really believe once you can get a chiller and keep temps consistent things will improve. Plants don’t like hot water at all.
I have been known to run warm water through my system and within an hour, they are dropping. It shocks them that quick. I can only imagine what they’ll do when left for a couple of day. JM2C worth. 
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I appreciate that spy. You and gray have been pillars of info for me. You are probably right and I may have jumped to hydro too soon. It’s not really the investment of a chiller that is the issue it’s really just the space that’s stopping it and the desire to walk a bit before I ran full into a setup. But that may be trying to walk without a foot so to speak. Hence why I am thinking it may be time to call it and move back to soil until a time I can get a proper space (likely not until I get a new house or the kids grow up and move out! Lol) with summer approaching in AZ it’s only going to get harder maintaining water temps without a chiller. I got enough seeds for a couple years at the rate I am currently growing so less concerned about that side of it all.
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My biggest issues at this stage back when I was beginning hydro were: water temps, and light leaks.
Water temps alone aren’t damning, but if something else is off in the reservoir, it will be a big issue.
Light leaks alone will be damning.
Honestly you may have one or the other or both at play. If I had a blind guess, you’ve got a small light leak - maybe a pinhole. Your water temps ride a little high. But the frozen jugs/water bottles are honestly probably causing the most damage. Frozen bottles floating on the top of the reservoir run the risk of freezer-burning your roots. So they won’t be healthy, and the addition of light leak and/or water temp issue creates the trifecta of perpetual root problems that aren’t quite root rot.
I eventually got to a point that I’m comfortable running a DWC without anything to chill the water, but I had to rehearse several times in RDWC before I was absolutely confident ALL my light leaks were resolved completely and that I was supplying enough oxygen to the root zone even during warm water events.
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I live in az and im a water only grower…
No chillers in my house or garden…
I vegg in my bathroom and flower in a outbuilding that was designed just for that purpose…
And no chillers…
My vegg area is running around 81 degrees right now…
No issues…
I have one 950 gph air pump running 6 two x two air stones…
3 in each bucket , holding 5 plants in each bucket…
And they wont stop growing unless i stop giving them water…
So based off of that info , something else is going on with your grow…
What are you using for nutrients and how much air are you pumping in and what size stones… ?
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Thanks Peach.
I am using GH Flora Trio w/ hydroguard and CalMag. For air I am running a 250gph pump using two 2”round air stones per tank. I have the pump turned to about 80%+. Total system volume is around 13 gallons.
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Not enough air…
Biggest mistake most water growers make…
When i go into flower , i use 1165 gph air pumps with 2x2 air stones with six per tote with 6 plants per tote…
So 950 gph in vegg with three 2x2 air stones per bucket and two buckets of plants…
5 plants per bucket…
In flower…
1165 gph of air with 6 air stones for 6 plants…
More air , no problems…
Little air , big problems …
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Yep.
Light leaks and lack of oxygen. Hot water is harder to oxygenate. Warmer water temps also breed algae and bacteria easier (so if you have light leaks, you’ll know via root rot or general plant unhappiness).
I agree totally that a chiller isn’t necessary. I’m having success flowering out without one. I will say it makes life easier for new growers for the aforementioned reasons.
Cooler water will hold oxygen better; it will also slow the rate of growth of your bad nasties.
the mvp right here. 
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How many gallons is your system?
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When he speaks, I just sit back and listen.
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Buckets hold about 2 1/2 gallons…
Flowering system’s start at 20 gallons and every 3 weeks i drop water level 1 inch , so by the time i harvest i might be down to 18 gallons or so…
I only feed my Flowering plant’s every 3 weeks…
I dump and replace with new nutrients for what stage of Flowering i am in every 3 weeks…
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