See my responses above.
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I’ll say, you’re very fortunate to have kept a meter calibrated that long, or at least from my experience. I try to calibrate mine every couple of weeks. More so, from the beginning of flower through harvest. It has bitten me in the butt a time or two. They tend to get out of wack kind of regularly as they get older.
That is right on the edge of causing root problems. Hydroguard is good but, you still have do your part in helping the girls stay cool. Your airstones will also add heat to the water.
Plants will grow slower if the water temp is too cool and they’ll grow better when the water temp is warm. But, with warm temps comes challenges.
Sorry if I say something you already know.
Yeah, don’t apologize for sharing knowledge. It is MUCH appreciated. I am currently on grow #4, 3rd in hydro and first using my self-designed, self-built RDWC contraption. I’ve learned a lot and can ALMOST say I’m experienced, but I always appreciate someone offering help when asked. So thank you. I appreciate the insight. There don’t seem to be many authoritative resources out there on growing cannabis hydroponically. If you know of any please share. I’ve gathered most of my knowledge from random, disparate sources and there are still a lot of gaps in my knowledge. A lot of my learning has just had me pressing ahead and letting experience fill in the gaps.
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Honestly, everything I have learned in the last 4 and a half years has been right here.
ILGM is my book…lol.
I am by no means an expert. If I don’t know, there are a large amount of folks here that probably do.
The reason I ask all these questions is to try to understand what’s going on and based on the answers,
IMO, your water temp is on the verge of being to warm. Jack’s works extremely well in hydro if you haven’t already noticed. There are other brands that do good but, imo, you can’t mess up with Jack’s. Most times when something goes wrong in hydro, it’s because pH gets out of wack or water temp or water level. A smaller volume of water when growing large plants tends to lead to problems, depending on circumstances.
I’ve been using it for 3 years and have seen lots of other using it in hydro and soil. I put my res at full strength and set my pH to 6.0 and it will stay there until the cows come home. I think the main reason is because I have a little more water volume per plant than some do.
Your roots look pretty good to me. One looks a little off colored but, I know by my pictures, sometimes a picture can be deceiving. If you notice them turning brown and sticking together then it’ll more than likely be root rot. Ice bottles may be all it takes to cool the water down enough, but like most folks that have tried that end up getting a chiller. Swapping ice bottles out several timers a day can get old quick.
The way your plant is drooping and has an appearance of a slight calmag issue and a few discolored leaves, says warm temps and pH problems which is the beginning of root rot.
From what I’ve seen and experienced, hydro works a lot better with larger volume of water. It enables you to keep the pH within the root zone more balanced. Warm water will also increase the exchange of nutes and salts and that’s where your pH can mess up. And then having less water per plant will also throw things for a loop.
Like mentioned above, once roots hit the water, your water level needs to be at least 1.5” - 2” (recommended) below the netpot. May not even hurt to be more than that. Mine gets a lot lower but… it’s mine… lol
IMO, drop your water level to at least 2” below the netpot.
Get a plan to monitor the water temps and cool the water when needed.
Calibrate pH meter on a regular basis and set your pH at 6.0 with Jack’s. Remember, less water means you may need to monitor pH a little more regular…. and may not.
PPM can be full strength right about where you have it, from seed to harvest… at least I do.
I also use Armor Si and Hydroguard and that’s it. I would strongly recommend Armor Si. It helps with cell wall structure and bud development.
Sorry this is so long. Sometimes it’s necessary to explain it out in order for me to make sense.
Good luck and keep’em growin!
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Out of likes already Brother, @Thaistick64 Happy is one of the best hydro growers the community has 
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Hey brother I appreciate the kind words so much. I’m just a small fish in a big pond with many many more before me.
Thanks brother OG!
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Thanks HappyHydroGrower. That’s good info.
I drained about 8-10 gallons from my system which dropped the water level to about 2" below the net pot. Something tells me that this may be the culprit
I hear what you’re saying about water temp. 75 doesn’t seem excessively warm to me. I saw my bubble buckets reach as high as 80 degrees in the afternoons last summer (I live in AZ where daytime temps outdoors can reach 115-120 and keeping a grow room cool is a challenge) with no ill effects. Five out of six of my plants are thriving and growing like all get out. I am electricity challenged with 900 watts of LED lights on one circuit and a 800 watt A/C unit on another. Adding a chiller is going to push my power needs to where I’m popping breakers again. I’ll have to figure that out. My gut tells me this isn’t water temp though. But…meh…my gut lies sometimes…
I had the exact same thing happen last grow (not RDWC however). Same strain too–only had issues with the one grandaddy purple in my grow. This time I’ve got two–Plant #2 is doing fine.
One thing that just popped into my head that I didn’t mention earlier was that these plants ALL were transplanted into hydro from soil. It’s a challenge getting all the soil rinsed out of the roots when transplanting. I wonder if some organic material was left behind that promoted bacterial growth and is destroying the roots where they attach to the stem? How do you detect and fix that?
I ordered some calibration solution and hopefully can eliminate Ph as a cause. I run my Ph at 5.8 as with Jack’s anyway, Ph tends to rise as nutes are consumed. Running Ph a little lower seemed like a good idea. I also use Armor Si and definitely Hydroguard–all the other plants have bright white roots that look great.
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I think that is very well possible.
I have heard this more than once. Truth is, in a well balanced system, the pH and ppm’s will stay the same as the water level drops.
PH will rise if the plant is hungry.
It will also rise if your over feeding.
Depending on how much water they are drinking depends on what to do.
In hydro you need to know pretty close how much they’re drinking, how much they’re eating, (which there is a difference), and where your pH is.
If you’re running high ppm’s (say 2000 ppm’s) and your pH rises, you need less nutes.
On the same hand, if you’re running low ppm’s, (say 500 ppm’s) and pH rises, you need more nutes.
Most times, if you adjust the ppms, the pH will fall or rise accordingly and fall in line, provided pH is not too far out there…
PH will rise and fall with temperature changes.
PH will rise and fall depending on the growth stage.
PH will rise and fall according to your nute level.
Those three things are why it’s important to keep a consistent well balanced root system.
Ultimately, you want the pH to remain the same and the nutes remain the same as water level drops.
Here’s a chart that will help if you need it. It helped me when I started. 
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Wow. Thanks. I didn’t even know this was possible. I’ve sort of gotten into the habit of adjusting my Ph daily and accepting that Ph will rise and/or fall with consumption of nutrients. I’m now going to try to shoot for a more balanced nutrient solution where this doesn’t happen. I appreciate you HHG. I truly do.
Also, my girl has perked up and no longer appears sick. Roots look a lot better. I lowered the water level and trimmed off the diseased leaves. I also covered my net pots to block any potential light leaks. She is showing new growth on all colas. Good news. Thanks all!!!
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