10 Day plants not looking good

[deecee]

I have a problem and wish to get some advice on what may possibly be wrong. I have a lot of experience growing in soil indoors with great success but this is the first time going hydro. (See photos of the 10 day old plants)

My setup is a ebb and flow with a 3 gallon reservoir, the pump fills the tray every 4 hours and drains completely in about 15 minutes. Using Rockwool as a medium.

Lights are 2- 45 watt CFL's Photo/full spectrum on 24/7 and are about 6 inches above the plants.
The nutes are Microbase and Grow #1 mixed per instructions for a mild solution (1 tsp/gallon). PPM is currently at 585. On the PH I have litmus strips which say 6.0 but I also recently got the liquid drops and that gives a reading of 5.0, not sure which one is right, I have always used and have gone with the strips when I was growing in soil (measuring the fert and water I used to water the plants with) and never had problems when I had to adjust the PH down. I am using store bought Steamed water.

The grow room is a 8 X 10 room, temp is around a constant 78 Deg and humidity is around 75 to 82%.

I ordered 5 feminized Sativa seeds from a reputable company and the 3 plants are all that have germinated, I also started a pepper plant which is in one of the photos for a reference.
These plants came up real quick and looked real healthy until 5 days ago then started yellowing on the ends and spots on the leaves. I cleaned everything and changed nutes 2 days ago but haven't noticed any changes for the better.
Anyone have a idea what might be going on and some tips so I don't lose these last 3 expensive seeds?

 

[medme]

Re: 10 Day plants not looking good

if the rockwool gets wet,,, it will hold water a VERY long time,,, have just the roots coming out from the cube in the water area,, then you should see it improve...

 

[Hogdady]

Re: 10 Day plants not looking good

and certainly a more accurate ph tester is needed......

 

[deecee]

Re: 10 Day plants not looking good

if the rockwool gets wet,,, it will hold water a VERY long time,,, have just the roots coming out from the cube in the water area,, then you should see it improve...

The roots are only sticking out about a 16th of inch below the cube.
What would be better,
Should I lengthen the time between on cycles, say every 6 hours or longer.
Or should I try to lower the water level? Right now it comes up to halfway on the 1 inch Rockwool cubes.
Or maybe a combination of both?

I just ordered a Milwaukee PH pen, can't believe the drops or litmus paper can be this far apart from each other.
Thanks.

 

[Franknstrain]

Re: 10 Day plants not looking good

This is what I am seeing. The first pics shows signs of nute burn and that leaf got a growth spurt that was to much for it. which is why it looks like it does. Now the second 2 pics show me a fungis problem because the blocks are staying to soaked. When I was growing with this method I was using the 6 x6 blocks and only had to flood once a day.

Another thing I noticed that you may want to do is make some block covers for your blocks. helps prevent green algae from building up on the top of your blocks. Panda film works great.

Second.. humidity is way to high.

 

[deecee]

Re: 10 Day plants not looking good

Wow great response Thanks, some very common sense things to check. I felt that the plants had been getting to much water also, but according to a Hydroponics book for Tomato's, if i wanted to I could run the reservoir pump 24/7 provided I had aerated the reservoir. This just seems to much, even cycling the pump every 4 hours the Rockwool was just to saturated for my liking, but the book really emphasized on the roots quickly drying out.
As for the nute burn, very highly possible, the fill hose came apart and was spraying all over the place, it could have been almost 24 hours that this hose leaked before I was able to get to it.

What is a good way to get rid of excess humidity? It has been really wet here, outside humidity rarely gets below 75% as I live on the lake >>>> umm actually live next to the lake, one of the Great lakes to be precise, but it is always cool and humid around here.
running a dehumidifier or air conditioner can be a problem as I have only 15 amps of service available. Once you add up lights and the freezer that is in there, not much overhead left. and running more electricity out there is not an option.

Anyway thanks for the advice and will give it a try, and let you know how it goes.

 

[WW1000]

From reading I still can't see what kind of nutes you are using? How are you adding to 3 gal of water? Cause I can tell you that the pics look like nute burn. I did the same with my newly sprouted plants.

Currently I'm using Aeroponics and DWC for my hydro grow. Its working very well. The nutes I'm using are General Hydroponics. I like them and easy to use. FF has an organic fert that is incredible.

 

[flogger11]

Nute burn and mold would be my guess. Get the humidity down at all costs and go super mild on the nutes... 1/8 strength or less depending on what you are using. Those little girls (positive thinking!) are sensitive! I would go 100ppm per inch until max recommended nutrient is reached, this usually works well...

 

[deecee]

Thanks for the replies . The plants are doing great, one is 10 inches tall and the other is over 8. The problem appeared to be to much water, the only thing I did was cut back on the watering to once a day and within 2 days they just took off. I have since increased the water to 2/day and now have them in Hydroton.
I should also mention that I have another 2 plants growing in soil that have been started at the same time. Seeds are the same as the hydros, they all live under the same lights and environment. so far even with the setback of the hydro's watering problem the hydros are taller and fuller and the leaves are also much bigger. My goal is to see exactly how much of a difference hydro vs soil really is, comparing end results of cost, time, quantity, and especially quality of the end product.
Thanks to all and I will post progress and end results as time allows me.