1st Hydroponic Grow

[Serpentz]

Hello everyone, I'm new here. I've been looking around to try and see if I can find some answer to a symptom that my first hydro grow seems to be exhibiting. I've grown some incredible plants in the soil and I am very keen on what the plant tells me by looking at the leaves and how it's growing. However, my hydro grow seems a bit different. I've got a Auto-feminized Blueberry that I started on December 19th. Things are looking good but the plant is showing me some odd behavior and I want to be sure its normal. During the day the leaves are flat or pointing up, but after about 11 hours on the light cycle, which I have set at 18 on and 6 off, a couple of the leaves start drooping as if it's being over-watered... but its hydro.

I've looked all over online and all I can see is soil grows showing over watering which I never had a problem with in soil anyway. I'm posting a couple of photos. The first one is at 6PM and then at the 11th hour...8PM.

Can someone tell me this is normal? I'm worried that the plant is having some oxygen deprivation. But that airstone and dual pump is definitely adequate, water temp is 68-69 degrees or...20 Celsius. As I said, it's my first hydro grow and the plant really looks healthy and has exploded in growth since it was a tiny sprout on the 19th. It might just be the normal way that a hydro plant grows...but looking online I can't find any similar discussion.

Your expertise is greatly appreciated.

 

[Pinktiger777]

Are you growing in deep water culture? If so, is your ph at or about 5.8? What nutrients are you using, and what light?

 

[Serpentz]

Yes it's a DWC system. I'm using General Hydroponics Flora Trio. pH is 5.5, my light is a Hans Panel 180 Watt.

 

[Pinktiger777]

Raise ph to 5.8 -5.9. It could be a nutrient issue - uptake is best at 5.8. Your lights sound ok, as long as they are not too close. Also make sure to drain and replace the water once a week or so.

 

[Serpentz]

I appreciate the response. Raising pH from 5.5 to half a point really isn't going to make a difference. If that were the case, it would be a lot harder to grow MJ. It's not a nutrient issue because I have those dialed in as per my personal contact at GE. Lights are LED so that's not the issue either, and they don't put off any heat. In fact, I changed nothing and this morning the plant was better than good. So what we are seeing is normal respiration of a hydro MJ plant. I just wanted to see if anyone else here had the experience to tell about it. So well, now I have the experience to say that its normal. Thanks for your time

 

[Rifleman]

It's normal. Increase airflow with a fan and rock on.