Yeah you can get stem rot (or root rot) right at the base of the plant if the water level is to high. It’ll kill a plant so fast you will be lucky to save them once it starts.
Covering the rock wool will prevent light from hitting it, which can cause algae. If your water level is too high, your rock wool will stay too wet, and like @DoobieNoobie said , it can cause irreversible damage. Your trunk will “damp off”, or you get root rot, or other HORRIBLE things. Water level at 1 1/2in min below net pot, cover rock wool so that it is not exposed to light, and you’re off to a good start. Just tag someone if you have a question, we’re all here to help.
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What about the 2 inches of clearance before water thing? What does that prevent?
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Same thing. Just like growing in soil, you can over water. The roots will grow down into the water, no problems, but when your medium and stalk STAY wet, bad things happen. I always put my water level at 1 1/2 - 2 inches below net pot. Bubbles from air stones, when bursting at the surface, will mist the roots until they are submerged. Come flower time, I will drop water level a little more, just because uncle @peachfuzz said to.
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Thanks guys, you guys are legends. so I have the water level at about 1-1 1/2 inches below the net pot levels now, I did stuff that up early on as I was worried they would dry up. Anyhow they systems going well, however the ph always tries to rise to 6.8- 6.9 no matter how often I add citric acid, only adding 2-5 mm at a time, I have some nutrients bubbling away in the res next to the system that is a stable 7.
So this is what I have done.
I mixed up 200 litres 50 gallons to start, found out the system takes 160 liters 40 gallons 1 1/2 liters under the nets, this means next time I should mix 160 litres and top up with straight h20 to save nutes? or just mix up 20 l 5gmore ant then the plants can have more nutes. a the moment I have the float off as the level could drop a bit after listening to you guys.
0.0 ec to start.
cal mag to recommended amount to help with my 0-20 ppm 7ph pure rainwater h2o tastes great by the way. I thought there would be more but the size of the tanks we have and the height would have helped with this I guess… still thinking I have a dodgy meter………its new it does behave perfectly when im adding nutes, but even still…
EC .8-.7 to start, .6 now woo! someone’s eating something!
I added the nutes half strength (1/4 canaysm) but at 100l so full strength and topped up with h20 stuffing around with the ph in the res but it bounced around (I even stupidly added ph up at one stage) but no more then 10mm. Should I ph the water before adding nutes ? but what to im starting with 7…
got it to 5.4, added it to the system it has slowly raised but always aiming for 7. I added 2-5 mm at a time 10mm once of citric acid solution (recommended amounts) into the sump (is this wrong should I dilute it first?) the sump is 20litres 5 gallons.
So the nutes are meant to be self balancing, but I don’t want to over feed, so I feed 1/2 strength, while having very low ec water and adding calmag I don’t think its buffering to the desired ph, its currently 6.8-6.9. and im leaving it a bit, was 6.8 10 hours ago, so stable at least, was aiming for 5.4-6.6, guidance @Grandaddy013… thanks bud. I know myself I often over do things…
So the air temps at night in the tent drop to 19’C im thinking of putting the lights on 24/7, even though I have the times set to avoid this and cool the tent in the afternoon if it gets warm. it would jut add that bit more heat, or I could just get a bigger heater, generally the temperatures range from 19-24’C.
ill take some photos when it warms up a bit but
3 delicious candy autos, doing well. never grown autos before. they look a little different. more vine like. deep green big leaves for little plants.
1 delicious black sugar rose not doing too well
2 dr kipping incredible feminized bulk new seedlings in the dwc looking damaged thanks to me but powerful…
3 dr kipling seeds germinated but growing slowly in rockwool, neglected.
Question, I do have the other system and a metal halide I think, but I think I should just wait until I get control off one system. what would you do?, I can replace the auto with another dr and have 3 normal and 3 auto, then I can add the other system when the autos start to flower, put the rest in pots and add 3 more plants in like a month or should I go for broke?.
Cheers legends
Are you in hydro?
If you’re in hydro, you need to get your ph down. I use “ph down” for that. 5.8 is your sweet spot for hydro ph. I think the range is 5.2 - 6.2 I may be wrong on the upper end. What do you say @peachfuzz
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In vegg , I like to float around 6.0 and 6.5 …
Plants are able to take up what they need for vegg in those ranges…
In flower I float around 6.0 to 5.5 …
Early vegg … 6.5
Mid vegg … 6.3
Late vegg heading into flower … 6.1
Beginning of flower … 6.0
Mid of flower … 5.8
3 to 5 weeks from harvest floating around 5.4 and 5.6 … 
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update, since I’ve dropped the water level the plants have responded really positively, the three autos are going the best and are about to take off.
Things I have done wrong …
-start with a lower water level… big one.
-use black duck tape to cover the ph UP!!! redarded
-ph up/ down solution should be diluted to 1/10 and have both, I think I read that from a post here and I can see its use.
-germination ill probably do it in the rockwool in the other system, the small ones that essentially had the beginnings of root rot I think look way happier even though its 2+inches away in that tub, I have 2 discs in there, they are damp but defiantly not wet. but hopefully will be using cuttings.
- shouldn’t have started in the big system with that many lights, unnecessary, but I needed to test it…
- shouldn’t have started with half autos half normal, probably the main one.
- probably going to go with current culture in the future, nothing against the performance of the CANNA nutes, they are babies, how would I know. I do know they don’t balance they way they claim, that is ok mind. its just that it seems they fit more with how my brain works, but id love input.
- the lights that will be added to the system will probably be a different model. nothing against them, its just a cost thing…
so its been a slow start but its nice that the autos are about to take off,
Thanks everyone btw. take it easy
Kettle
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What is the clear tube going to your bucket?
Dang it boy… . Wowsa look at that set up
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Airline…
Get a black one. You can get algae with the clear. It let’s light in
Amen to that Grandaddy013
ill thank you now, @Grandaddy013 and @kw_Bat.
So I had a problem where the ph would always creep up, and the pump was making a funny noise so I had to go away from the room for a few days so I thought id investigate.
I cleaned the rez with clean water, the rez smelt different to the system, took the pump out, to clean. there was a scunge in the pump and sump. I washed out the rez and sump with water draining them as it filled.
i now am getting an understanding of the pluming I will want, and it will be a bit, lines in, clean, dump lines and a hose from the pump that is plumbed on a tap back into the grow room.
that’s where I noticed my next mistake, clear lines thanks to reading your posts (because i did think, black lines these guys are over the top, i mean air is passing through there sooo fast i thought there is no way algae will grow in them). I started to clean the pots, an I noticed scunge in a bucket, then none in the one next to it…… and I was like, well whats that?.. that doesn’t make sense they are all pretty much the same oh… algae. clear lines. i get it!
.
So i did have to leave in a couple of hours so i taped with sarking tape the clear lines. cleaned each bucket with the recirculating scungy water, dumped cleaned dumped. Probably need some hydrogard? it just isn’t part of CANNA’s regime… there is cannasym in my mix.
i then filled with nutrients mixed from the night before, that were ph 5.4 ec .7 water temp 19-20’C 65f (lowest the heater goes). air temp will stay at 20-23’C 68-73f, humidity 60 percent.
When i left the ph was staying at 5.9-6 as i had 20 litres left in the system of 7.1. i will see on Wednesday… on a positive note the plants are looking good.
.
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It took me over a month to get the snot out of my system.
I broke it down and leaned it, I thought I cleaned it good. I mean I took every pipe apart and flushed it with peroxide, took me 10 hours to do it correctly.
After I got it clean, 4 days later, the snot come back. I was lucky, my girls were small like yours so the roots wasn’t hitting the water yet. No harm there yet.
But after the snot returning , when I broke it down the next time. I drained it, removed all old air hose and air stones. I then ran strong bleach water for 12hours recirculating…
I then ran clean water through it about 3 times to clean all the bleach out… (30 gal res).
This time I put it back with all the new air stone and hose.
Now she is Cadillacing.
Man your system looks good. I looked every for those square buckets. Where did you get them?
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Hey bud,
I’m hoping closing off the light and it being so early on it might die down? I know it wont but I can hope, next time I will do the same as you. but it will have to wait at least a week. I actually skimmed through you grow journal to try and avoid common mistakes and saw the slim and thought god I hope that doesn’t happen to me… sometimes what you write about I’m doing the exact same thing, (I have been on a seed killing rampage all seeds were payed for, lots of reasons but heat last summer and just not paying attention to them, has been brutal).
so going of your experience if the slime reoccurs what would you do, I can take them apart by the couplings and take them outside but its not that hot at the moment, so sorry bud step by step.
yeah thanks about the setup I spent a while researching. where are you? in Australia they are at Bunnings (cheap hardware chain). they are 450mm height storm water pits, the width is 350mmx350mm. they are 3mm or 2.5mm polyethylene and I think they are $27 aud each, $20 usd, expensive but you could drive a car over them and they would be fine. they don’t come with lids but they sell polycarbonate roofing that I cut to size and painted with a waterproof membrane to stop light
oh and the rib ran down the pit on the outside that I sanded flat before I installed the bulkheads…? 2 inch couplings? whatever they are called
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Kettle, I am in USA.
Trail and error thoughout the journal. I tried not to be something I am not. Just put it all out there.
I have found, the key for hydro is keeping those water temps 67-71 or there abouts. And NO light. If those two are under control. The dang this will rock along.
You are in the same boat I am. Plants are young, so we got a little.time to get it dialed in.
Once the roots hit the water, the flush process will get tough. So I want to get it under control
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Having the roots not in the water the plant will normally grow out of it