Hey guys. Saw some good replies on here so I figured I'd make a post.
I guess I should first tell y'all my setups.
System #1 is just a standard 7 pod aerogarden I picked up off a buddy for $5. With just a simple air stone modification to it. The reservoir holds 1gallon and the lighting I'm using is just the 2 max grow bulbs that came with it. I had read people having different results using a ag so I really didn't do too much to it because I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out (gotta start somewhere right?) but my girl did really well and actually out grew the system which brings me to my second setup...
System #2 is a homemade bubbler setup (my goal was to make a bigger version of the ag, since I now had a general idea of how it worked ) I got a 6 gallon bin from Wally World and some net pots , rock wool , air pump , and bubble stone from my local hydroponics store. Not sure exactly what they are called but I also picked up some of the rocks that you put on top and around the rock wool in the net pots (guy in the hydro store recommended them...weren't too expensive so I figured why not). I cut a hole in the top of the bin for the net pots and another small hole to run my air tubing. I have it filled with 4 gallons of water (brings it right up to the bottom of the pots. I removed the plant from the aero garden. It's got a pretty hefty trunk/root system on it, but the roots had pretty much overgrown the grow media that was included (rock wool like substance. I'll take a pic of it and post it as that's also what I'm using to start my clones/new seedling.). So I took 2 pieces of my rock wool and wrapped it around the base of the root system(I tried to get it right over top of what was left of the ag growing media) I then cut a hole in the bottom of my net pot (again MASSIVE root system...saw this way being the easiest way to transplant) and ran the roots through the hole. I started with a base layer of the rocks I got then set the cube on top. I then filled in the sides with the rocks to keep the rock wool in place and put some on top to cover the top of the cube. Finally after all that my baby was in her new home with plenty of growing room. But here's where I got even more crafty I wanted to start to flower her out. So I made another box setup to go around my reservoir/home base. I went and bought a 20 gallon bin. I covered the 3 sides and the inside of the lid with one of those reflective windshield things. I cut a hole in the top for my main light. In the top I also cut a hole for my fan to blow in and a smaller hole to vent the stale/hot air. On one side I cut a hole for another light bulb and there is also a light in the cover. I got another bulb for the other side today and will most likely set that up tomorrow. Anyway with the reservoir placed inside of this and the cover closed I now had my second setup up and going. And since I put this one in my closet even with the few holes in it, it's still 100% dark at lights out. As for the lights for this one. These are all 2700 kelvin cfl bulbs. Overhead I have a 26 watt (90watt replacement) ?? <----not sure what that means indoor flood light. On the lid I have a 100 watt and on the side I have another 100 watt. I plan to add another 100 watt to the other side tomorrow. So those are my setups.
Now I faced my first real issue. This whole time up until now I had been using the nutrients that had came with my aero garden. But with the bigger reservoir I figured its time for some real one, so it was back to the hydroponics store I went. I picked up some fox farm grow big and big bloom and some Tiger Bloom Liquid Fertilizer. I found a feeding schedule on fox farms website and decided it'd probably be best to go by that.(I'll post a pic of that as well ). For setup #1 I'm starting on week 2 and for setup #2 I started at week 6 I believe. (Week 2 of flowering). Flushed out both systems. Setup 2 I did Thursday..but I used tap water (maybe my first mistake as to what is starting to go wrong? Setup 1 I did today and was able to make it to the store for some spring water, so I used a gallon of that.
Now as for the bad....(I'm talking about my second setup here)
Yesterday afternoon (about 24 hours after the nute/water change I peeked my head in for a look and was concerned at what i saw. All of the lower leaves were drooped over pretty much touching the stem. Some even wilted completely and were laying on the reservoir lid. My first thought was that the lower leaves we're not getting enough light now, which is why I'm adding the side lighting. I called up my buddy and he said me using regular tap water could have something to do with it too.?? I checked the ph. It looked to be about 6-6.5 (using cheep paper test strips atm) I looked at the feeding schedule again to make sure I didn't put too much of anything in. I'm not sure what's going wrong. I closed up my air escape hole about half way for a hour or so to make it a little more humid in the box (guy at hydro shop suggested this) but I didn't wanna make it too hot in the box. I had also thought maybe the move to the new setup shocked my girl a little bit. Not sure if that's possible or not. But it's been 3 days since her move (she was in there and looking fine for 2 days prior to the nute change) so just to be clear it was 24 hours after the nute change when I noticed the droopyness . I also put a tiny bit of ph up in my water (bout half of what it calls for) to see if by the morning at lights on I can get a more solid 6.5 reading.
Any advice on what cold be going wrong would be greatly appreciated. Also any feedback about my setups would be awesome too. I tried to put as many details as I could in my post to answer any questions / give you a good idea what I'm working with. I tried to include things I saw other users asking people on other posts. As I said this is also my first grow (all started just messing with the aero garden, now I'm hooked! And I'm sure I still have plenty to learn. I'm just so startled how everything was going great then bam! Hopefully it's just something simple and she makes a simple recovery.
Thanks for reading my ramble
Happy growing to all
**note**
Ok so I can't figure out how to upload pics while posting on my iPad. I have almost lost this post 3 times now (thank god for this auto save ) so help with that wold be great too so I can show my setups ect.
Thanks guys.
I guess I should first tell y'all my setups.
System #1 is just a standard 7 pod aerogarden I picked up off a buddy for $5. With just a simple air stone modification to it. The reservoir holds 1gallon and the lighting I'm using is just the 2 max grow bulbs that came with it. I had read people having different results using a ag so I really didn't do too much to it because I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out (gotta start somewhere right?) but my girl did really well and actually out grew the system which brings me to my second setup...
System #2 is a homemade bubbler setup (my goal was to make a bigger version of the ag, since I now had a general idea of how it worked ) I got a 6 gallon bin from Wally World and some net pots , rock wool , air pump , and bubble stone from my local hydroponics store. Not sure exactly what they are called but I also picked up some of the rocks that you put on top and around the rock wool in the net pots (guy in the hydro store recommended them...weren't too expensive so I figured why not). I cut a hole in the top of the bin for the net pots and another small hole to run my air tubing. I have it filled with 4 gallons of water (brings it right up to the bottom of the pots. I removed the plant from the aero garden. It's got a pretty hefty trunk/root system on it, but the roots had pretty much overgrown the grow media that was included (rock wool like substance. I'll take a pic of it and post it as that's also what I'm using to start my clones/new seedling.). So I took 2 pieces of my rock wool and wrapped it around the base of the root system(I tried to get it right over top of what was left of the ag growing media) I then cut a hole in the bottom of my net pot (again MASSIVE root system...saw this way being the easiest way to transplant) and ran the roots through the hole. I started with a base layer of the rocks I got then set the cube on top. I then filled in the sides with the rocks to keep the rock wool in place and put some on top to cover the top of the cube. Finally after all that my baby was in her new home with plenty of growing room. But here's where I got even more crafty I wanted to start to flower her out. So I made another box setup to go around my reservoir/home base. I went and bought a 20 gallon bin. I covered the 3 sides and the inside of the lid with one of those reflective windshield things. I cut a hole in the top for my main light. In the top I also cut a hole for my fan to blow in and a smaller hole to vent the stale/hot air. On one side I cut a hole for another light bulb and there is also a light in the cover. I got another bulb for the other side today and will most likely set that up tomorrow. Anyway with the reservoir placed inside of this and the cover closed I now had my second setup up and going. And since I put this one in my closet even with the few holes in it, it's still 100% dark at lights out. As for the lights for this one. These are all 2700 kelvin cfl bulbs. Overhead I have a 26 watt (90watt replacement) ?? <----not sure what that means indoor flood light. On the lid I have a 100 watt and on the side I have another 100 watt. I plan to add another 100 watt to the other side tomorrow. So those are my setups.
Now I faced my first real issue. This whole time up until now I had been using the nutrients that had came with my aero garden. But with the bigger reservoir I figured its time for some real one, so it was back to the hydroponics store I went. I picked up some fox farm grow big and big bloom and some Tiger Bloom Liquid Fertilizer. I found a feeding schedule on fox farms website and decided it'd probably be best to go by that.(I'll post a pic of that as well ). For setup #1 I'm starting on week 2 and for setup #2 I started at week 6 I believe. (Week 2 of flowering). Flushed out both systems. Setup 2 I did Thursday..but I used tap water (maybe my first mistake as to what is starting to go wrong? Setup 1 I did today and was able to make it to the store for some spring water, so I used a gallon of that.
Now as for the bad....(I'm talking about my second setup here)
Yesterday afternoon (about 24 hours after the nute/water change I peeked my head in for a look and was concerned at what i saw. All of the lower leaves were drooped over pretty much touching the stem. Some even wilted completely and were laying on the reservoir lid. My first thought was that the lower leaves we're not getting enough light now, which is why I'm adding the side lighting. I called up my buddy and he said me using regular tap water could have something to do with it too.?? I checked the ph. It looked to be about 6-6.5 (using cheep paper test strips atm) I looked at the feeding schedule again to make sure I didn't put too much of anything in. I'm not sure what's going wrong. I closed up my air escape hole about half way for a hour or so to make it a little more humid in the box (guy at hydro shop suggested this) but I didn't wanna make it too hot in the box. I had also thought maybe the move to the new setup shocked my girl a little bit. Not sure if that's possible or not. But it's been 3 days since her move (she was in there and looking fine for 2 days prior to the nute change) so just to be clear it was 24 hours after the nute change when I noticed the droopyness . I also put a tiny bit of ph up in my water (bout half of what it calls for) to see if by the morning at lights on I can get a more solid 6.5 reading.
Any advice on what cold be going wrong would be greatly appreciated. Also any feedback about my setups would be awesome too. I tried to put as many details as I could in my post to answer any questions / give you a good idea what I'm working with. I tried to include things I saw other users asking people on other posts. As I said this is also my first grow (all started just messing with the aero garden, now I'm hooked! And I'm sure I still have plenty to learn. I'm just so startled how everything was going great then bam! Hopefully it's just something simple and she makes a simple recovery.
Thanks for reading my ramble
Happy growing to all
**note**
Ok so I can't figure out how to upload pics while posting on my iPad. I have almost lost this post 3 times now (thank god for this auto save ) so help with that wold be great too so I can show my setups ect.
Thanks guys.
