Dro’s Top-Feed DWC Green Crack Fem & Northern Lights Auto Journal, 2019

[West Hippie]

Calling all experienced growers! I need some advice. Please take a look at the pics and let me know your diagnosis. The plants seem to be drooping down and they look plain sad. The Green crack is not as green as I was hoping it will get and the northern lights one is starting to sag.

Currently they are in pH water with some 3% hydrogen peroxide. The roots are not touching the water yet so I have the water 1 inch above the net pot barely touching the rapid rooter.

Everywhere I read, drooping or leaf sagging in hydroponics means not enough oxygen. I am not sure if that is the case here as the water has plenty of oxygen from 2 air stones on each bucket.

Let me know what you guys think.

@Pennywise @West Hippie @Icemann420 @Steve Jobs

What’s the ph of the water?

 

[Dro]

What’s the ph of the water?

6.1 on the northern lights and 5.8 on the green crack.

 

[West Hippie]

6.1 on the northern lights and 5.8 on the green crack.

Looks like the humidity is way too low!

 

[Icemann420]

Sup brother. First thing loose the drip feed answer let’s not over think this. Let’s take water. What type of water. Reverse osmosis is what I use. And from the get go vibe it .25 ml calmag per gall of water. No z7 or anything intill 3 sets of true leaves. No nutrients also water temperature you want warmer right now so it helps with germination. So don’t worry about water temp. No need peroxide At this young age there shouldn’t be any bacteria growth in the water. But I’m believing the plug be the issue. Did you soak it before use. I always soak for 24 hours in ph water of 5.8 with great white added. And I’ll top feed once a day intill the roots hit the water. Then I let nature do it’s thing.

 

[Icemann420]

Change the location of your air pump. There is a vent on the back that sucks in air. Put it next to a cold window or in a cooler temperature area. That will in return pump colder air in the bucket.

 

[Icemann420]

I’ll be in Tennessee in the beginning of April. Pigeon forage. If anyone is in that are. Hit me up.

 

[Steve Jobs]

My thought is that you said you had the water 1” above the net pot, just below the rooter. That might be too high. Is your plug wet and shiney?

I ran my water over an inch below my net pot and it was plenty wet enough by bubble splashing.

I didn’t notice if you still had the top feed or not but just take it away if you do. I had over watering issues with my youngins cause of it. One worked fine the other got stunted pretty bad from too much water.

 

[Steve Jobs]

My thought is that you said you had the water 1” above the net pot, just below the rooter. That might be too high. Is your plug wet and shiney?

I ran my water over an inch below my net pot and it was plenty wet enough by bubble splashing.

I didn’t notice if you still had the top feed or not but just take it away if you do. I had over watering issues with my youngins cause of it. One worked fine the other got stunted pretty bad from too much water.

I should add that I was under the same impression from what I read about the oxygenated water having having enough dissolved O2 in it to run the top feed or even high water, but once the water absorbs into the rooter it really clogs up any air that the roots could have access to.

That’s what stunted mine so badly. I thought it would be fine but the rooter kept holding too much water like a sponge and there was no oxygen getting to the roots.

Just my 2 cents but don’t run top feed and lower the water level to below the botttom of the net pot. I’m not experienced with many grows but I think I had the same issue in my first run so it might be similar for you.

 

[Steve Jobs]

Change the location of your air pump. There is a vent on the back that sucks in air. Put it next to a cold window or in a cooler temperature area. That will in return pump colder air in the bucket.

I figured my bigger air pump which ran hotter was pumping bad air into my res and causing some droop. There isn’t anywhere better to put it so I don’t know if I’ll use it again. I may give it a try next grow again and see what happens. But I can speak to bad air being an issue.

 

[Dro]

Thanks @Icemann420 and @Steve Jobs . Yeah I stopped the top feeder about two weeks ago. After I noticed the really bad slimey water and root rot I switched the plants to individual 5 gallon buckets. Added some hydrogen peroxide to fight the left over bacteria that may have been in the hydroton and pots.
Tonight I going back to the basics. Cleaned up the buckets and switched water with 5.8 pH and hydroguard. I got the humidity back up to 50% and temp around 75F.
Crossing my fingers that this does it. Thanks for the advice everyone!!

 

[Dro]

Forgot to add. I moved the air pump outside of the tent so it gets cooler air. Water level is 1/2 inch below the net pot. Very little splash is getting to the rapid rooter now.

Crossing my fingers!

 

[Icemann420]

3 gallon of water in 5 gallon bucket is perfect. Try to get a 3 gallon bucket and put two gallons in there. That’s how I start off I save the five for when she is actually growing

 

[Dro]

3 gallon of water in 5 gallon bucket is perfect. Try to get a 3 gallon bucket and put two gallons in there. That’s how I start off I save the five for when she is actually growing

I was thinking the same thing! I started with a huge tote and realized it was a waste of time and water. The 5 gallon buckets were already there but I did go out and buy some 3 gallon buckets. If these girls don't make it in the next 2 weeks I am going to start new seeds and try again!

 

[Icemann420]

Use two gallon of water with a 6inch net pot. And give it just reverse osmosis water with 5 ml calmag do that until the plant shows 3 sets of true leaves. Then start your nutrients schedule. And you will be golden. Have you looks down at my latest grow.

 

[Icemann420]

I figured my bigger air pump which ran hotter was pumping bad air into my res and causing some droop. There isn’t anywhere better to put it so I don’t know if I’ll use it again. I may give it a try next grow again and see what happens. But I can speak to bad air being an issue.

Dirty air is a big issue in dwc. One sure way to tell is put a small section of clear air line in just off the pump itself and after a week or so you will start to see black or brown color. That’s particles of the rubber and magnetic pump system. Also one of the main causes of air stone clogs.

 

[Dro]

Not much of an update right now... I am trying to calm down and start seeing some positive change.

Green Crack had so much hope with really long root reaching the water a week ago now it has no roots touching the water and looking sad. I can see roots growing closer to the top of the rooter but not downward growth.

Northern light one has leaves that are growing but still drooping down. Some roots are starting to come around the bottom of the pot.

After comparing the progress of my plants with other people I can most definitely say the growth of mine has been slow..... Not sure if it was that initial root rot or trying to give them nutes second week after they sproutef.. not sure what. I am questioning every single decision that I am making now lol

So there is very little bubble splash reaching the rooter now that I lowered the levels. I wonder if the plant may dry out. I am constantly refilling the humidifier and get the humidity above 50 but it messes with the temps too! It's a fine balance.

Here is a pic from a WiFi camera that I put in there so I can watch them grow/die and obsess over them lol. Green crack is in the back and NL in the front.

 

[West Hippie]

Not much of an update right now... I am trying to calm down and start seeing some positive change.

Green Crack had so much hope with really long root reaching the water a week ago now it has no roots touching the water and looking sad. I can see roots growing closer to the top of the rooter but not downward growth.

Northern light one has leaves that are growing but still drooping down. Some roots are starting to come around the bottom of the pot.

After comparing the progress of my plants with other people I can most definitely say the growth of mine has been slow..... Not sure if it was that initial root rot or trying to give them nutes second week after they sproutef.. not sure what. I am questioning every single decision that I am making now lol

So there is very little bubble splash reaching the rooter now that I lowered the levels. I wonder if the plant may dry out. I am constantly refilling the humidifier and get the humidity above 50 but it messes with the temps too! It's a fine balance.

Here is a pic from a WiFi camera that I put in there so I can watch them grow/die and obsess over them lol. Green crack is in the back and NL in the front.

It has no roots coming out the sides or any where else ? If an air bubble can burst near it it will survive if any kind of root is exposed . The Z7 I have been using it as quick as I pour the water ! In my cloner / seedling I put it in faithfully because it runs over 70 degrees and will turn green before the next water change in a week , now stays clear from Change to change ! I add 25% nutrients in 7 to 10 days and yes to RO water. PW told me about Z7 and made a believer out of me by also doing the neighbors DWC with half strength he uses only river water , no green and no slime anymore in his grows!

 

[Dro]

It has no roots coming out the sides or any where else ? If an air bubble can burst near it it will survive if any kind of root is exposed . The Z7 I have been using it as quick as I pour the water ! In my cloner / seedling I put it in faithfully because it runs over 70 degrees and will turn green before the next water change in a week , now stays clear from Change to change ! I add 25% nutrients in 7 to 10 days and yes to RO water. PW told me about Z7 and made a believer out of me by also doing the neighbors DWC with half strength he uses only river water , no green and no slime anymore in his grows!

I can see some roots within the hydroton and almost at the top of rapid rooter which is kind of weird but nothing on the bottom or sides. Not sure if you saw a pic of the long root it used to have! It has so much potential!!

So my big mistake I think was fill the 30 gallon tub with pH water and hydroguard while the seed germinated and sprouted. I kept the same water for 2 weeks and added z7 the second week. I thought the water looked fine but didn't realize all the slime covering the walls..... At that point I think z7 was too late. It's crazy how within 2 weeks everything just fell apart. Learned some good lessons for sure but don't wanna give up of these two little ones just yet!

 

[Dro]

@Icemann420 I am using city water but it's from a well so it only has iron removed so it has a lot of calcium already (I know because my wife complains a lot about cleaning it). I haven't had it tested but resting ppm was around 240. I am just too cheap to either buy gallons of water or put a RO system... I was just hoping to use the available water here lol

 

[West Hippie]

I can see some roots within the hydroton and almost at the top of rapid rooter which is kind of weird but nothing on the bottom or sides. Not sure if you saw a pic of the long root it used to have! It has so much potential!!

So my big mistake I think was fill the 30 gallon tub with pH water and hydroguard while the seed germinated and sprouted. I kept the same water for 2 weeks and added z7 the second week. I thought the water looked fine but didn't realize all the slime covering the walls..... At that point I think z7 was too late. It's crazy how within 2 weeks everything just fell apart. Learned some good lessons for sure but don't wanna give up of these two little ones just yet!

I change mine every week , 10 days at the most . Depends when the nutrients are depleted or the ph rises ! Since I retired I try to be on them every day and record everything they do! Never two weeks on the same water!