Sick Plants

[Bevelman]

Hi, I am attempting to grow some white widow plants hydroponically. I have a 32 litre reservoir, and am using full spectrum t5 lights. The water temp is 71° the humidity is 45%. The ec is .9 and the ph is 5.8. For some reason the ph keeps dropping without my adding anything to the water. Last week it was 6.8. The plants are 5 weeks old. Anyone care to guess why all the leave except the new ones are dead?

 

[BuddroGreen]

You said the pH was dropping, but also said that it went up to 6.8?

What do the roots look like?

What nutrients are you using?

 

[Rifleman]

You need to stay on top of checking ph...daily. Adjust so it is swinging between 5.7 and 6.3 You also don't say if you are or not, but you should be changing out the reservoir every 7 to 10 days.

 

[rillos]

My first question is in hydro I use only RO or distilled water and maintain a PH 5.9-6.1. Where are you getting your water. Tap water and well water has a lot of stuff that will raise then lower your PH.

 

[Bevelman]

The ph of my tap water is high, about 8, so that is why the ph was at 6.8. The roots look good, nice and white. I am using hollands secret nutrients.
Why would I change the reservoir water after a week? I am kinda new to this, so bear with me.

 

[Rifleman]

The ph of my tap water is high, about 8, so that is why the ph was at 6.8. The roots look good, nice and white. I am using hollands secret nutrients.
Why would I change the reservoir water after a week? I am kinda new to this, so bear with me.

As your plants grow they will shed organic matter into the reservoir, nutrients leave salts, nutrients get depleted, etc. If all you ever do is top it off with fresh water you are asking to have root rot and other problems in the future. A clean grow is a successful grow.

Edit: optimum ph in hydro is 5.8

 

[Rifleman]

 

[OlderGrower]

As your plants grow they will shed organic matter into the reservoir, nutrients leave salts, nutrients get depleted, etc. If all you ever do is top it off with fresh water you are asking to have root rot and other problems in the future. A clean grow is a successful grow.

Edit: optimum ph in hydro is 5.8

You are dead on with that statement Rifleman, that is the one reason Hydro scared me off to soil for my 1st grow. I am unorganized and from all the research I did on hydro, your plant grows super fast, but when you have an issue, that happens super fast as well. I am old and have bad eyes, need all the time I can to keep up with all my issues...lol

 

[Bevelman]

As your plants grow they will shed organic matter into the reservoir, nutrients leave salts, nutrients get depleted, etc. If all you ever do is top it off with fresh water you are asking to have root rot and other problems in the future. A clean grow is a successful grow.

Edit: optimum ph in hydro is 5.8

Thanks for the advice. I will follow it.