Yellowing leaves and dying plants

[VgAce]

do u feed from a recirculating tank or to waste after u give them a feed wait for rockwool to drain then check ph and ec

I have a 17 gallon reservoir with an air stone. I fill it up every 10 or so days with a new solution of Dynagro Bloom, Orca, and Silica. Then as I the days go on I fill up the res periodically with water. Once I hit 10 days or so I dump it all and start again. I never go higher than 900 ppms on the plants as I notice burning if I do that.

 

[AgedMaster]

I have a 17 gallon reservoir with an air stone. I fill it up every 10 or so days with a new solution of Dynagro Bloom, Orca, and Silica. Then as I the days go on I fill up the res periodically with water. Once I hit 10 days or so I dump it all and start again. I never go higher than 900 ppms on the plants as I notice burning if I do that.

do u check your ph and ppm after every feed also what do u measure ppm with as theres 3 different ppm calculators heres a chart

 

[013]

Wow thanks for the lesson guys!!! Apologies I must have glazed over part of the intro… i thought volksgarden was terms of endearment for the ops personal grow spot. Yes I’ve seen the spinning light contraptions but mostly DIY versions.… didn’t know it had an official name!!

BOOM there it is….. just out of curiosity…. Are the clones spun from day 1…?? Also what about your clone mothers - are they kept spinning in volksgarden the whole time too?? Now I’m kinda thinking plant failure may stem from stress more than nutes or ph….

1) maybe next time leave a control group…. put 75% of your clones in volksgarden and leave remaining 25% so they don’t spin but get same nutes…see what you learn from that experiment

2) timing….. don’t flip to flower so quickly, give the plants longer to adjust to spinning before flipping the lights to initiate flower…

3) maybe you’ve got ppms down but the problem is rpm’s….do you adjust rpm’s? start slow and ramp up or how does that work??

 

[AgedMaster]

If you look at my grow journal I made back in 2014 then you can see I had great success running some Grape God. I don't think the company made them exactly for cannabis, as they can grow all sorts of things. But the Grodan Improved Delta 4 is specifically made for Cannabis. That is what Grodan told me.

I have a 17 gallon reservoir with an air stone. I fill it up every 10 or so days with a new solution of Dynagro Bloom, Orca, and Silica. Then as I the days go on I fill up the res periodically with water. Once I hit 10 days or so I dump it all and start again. I never go higher than 900 ppms on the plants as I notice burning if I do that.

this is what i found when i had rockwool problems you say your res is 17 gal for 47 plants its recommended at least 1 gal per plant dont no if plant size matters and ph and ec will tell u alot about whats going on

I usually get an email from time to time from someone who is experiencing wild pH swings in their hydroponic reservoirs. Growers usually tell me that their pH was around 6.2 one day and then 8.0 by the next morning or some similar story. This situation becomes a little bit frustrating as the grower does a huge effort to keep the solution at a certain pH level only to realize that after a certain time the pH of the solution simply starts to swing wildly between very odd values. In order to help new and experienced growers better understand the nature of these swings, what they mean, and how they can be eliminated for good I decided to write this small article on hydroponic pH swings and how variables different to plant feeding affect pH levels.

Let’s suppose you got home from work, prepared a new batch of nutrient solution and set your pH level at a very comfortable level of 5.7. By the next day, when you wake up in the morning to check your plants you find that the pH of your solution is 7.5. You start to argue with your pH meter, recalibrate, readjust your solution and leave for work. When you come back – to your surprise – your pH level is now around 7.3. What ? – you ask yourself – What could be wrong if you set the pH to 5.7 again and it again went up to 7.3 ?
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The answer to these wild pH swings comes from an understanding of the chemistry behind everything within your hydroponic system. Generally these swings towards high pH values are caused by media which has surface-active basic sites which act like “buffers” and readjust the pH of your nutrient solution to their own “preset” pH level. This is very much like the mechanism used by soils to naturally control pH, only that this time the minerals are playing against you. Substrates that have been made at high temperatures which have basic potential – such as rockwool – show this kind of behavior. Other media such as river bed gravel also show strong pH buffering effects due to their natural mineral composition.
How do you end this problem ? The easiest way to end this problem is to pretreat your media before starting your crop. Place your media in a bucket and then add 1 liter of vinegar for every gallon of water. The media will attempt to neutralize the acetic acid and in doing so it will lose the proton capturing ability of its surface basic sites. Using a weak acid like acetic acid is better than using a strong acid – like nitric acid – because this ensures that residual acids within the media won’t lead to other extreme pH fluctuations. After the media is soaked in the vinegar solution measure the pH, wait a day and measure it again. If there is no difference between both readings then you can now wash and use the media – if there is – then you need to wait another day and remeasure.
Now basic media is not the only problem around. There are also wild swings to acid values which are usually a consequence of bacterial growth or dying organic matter. When organisms die or when they are being decomposed by bacteria organic acids – which lower pH – are released into your nutrient solution. Wild swings into the 3.5-4.5 region usually mean that the problem is not media but related to root disease. You should do a hydrogen peroxide treatment (check my articles on peroxide for more on this) and wait to see if pH levels stabilize after a while. In extreme cases, physical removal of dead root material may be necessary to correct the problem.
Last but not least, the problem can also be related with plant feeding from a very scarse volume of solution. If you are handling less than 1 gallon per plant of solution in your reservoir then it is likely that plants themselves – through the absorption of nutrients – are causing the swings. This is easily fixed by placing a larger reservoir and ensuring that you are always recirculating at least 1 gallon per plant of nutrient solution. Hopefully with the above guide you will be able to better understand “wild” pH swings and take corrective action whenver you see this behavior happening within your hydroponic crop.

 

[AgedMaster]

Wow thanks for the lesson guys!!! Apologies I must have glazed over part of the intro… i thought volksgarden was terms of endearment for the ops personal grow spot. Yes I’ve seen the spinning light contraptions but mostly DIY versions.… didn’t know it had an official name!!

BOOM there it is….. just out of curiosity…. Are the clones spun from day 1…?? Also what about your clone mothers - are they kept spinning in volksgarden the whole time too?? Now I’m kinda thinking plant failure may stem from stress more than nutes or ph….

1) maybe next time leave a control group…. put 75% of your clones in volksgarden and leave remaining 25% so they don’t spin but get same nutes…see what you learn from that experiment

2) timing….. don’t flip to flower so quickly, give the plants longer to adjust to spinning before flipping the lights to initiate flower…

3) maybe you’ve got ppms down but the problem is rpm’s….do you adjust rpm’s? start slow and ramp up or how does that work??

have u seen what he grew in 2013 using volksgarden the plants insane 1 fat bud check hes gallery

 

[013]

Wow yeah that’s the shizz - it’s just one massive nugget of a plant!!!!

 

[VgAce]

do u check your ph and ppm after every feed also what do u measure ppm with as theres 3 different ppm calculators heres a chart

It is a Hanna meter. I check the PH and PPM before every feeding which i do every other day.

 

[VgAce]

Wow thanks for the lesson guys!!! Apologies I must have glazed over part of the intro… i thought volksgarden was terms of endearment for the ops personal grow spot. Yes I’ve seen the spinning light contraptions but mostly DIY versions.… didn’t know it had an official name!!

BOOM there it is….. just out of curiosity…. Are the clones spun from day 1…?? Also what about your clone mothers - are they kept spinning in volksgarden the whole time too?? Now I’m kinda thinking plant failure may stem from stress more than nutes or ph….

1) maybe next time leave a control group…. put 75% of your clones in volksgarden and leave remaining 25% so they don’t spin but get same nutes…see what you learn from that experiment

2) timing….. don’t flip to flower so quickly, give the plants longer to adjust to spinning before flipping the lights to initiate flower…

3) maybe you’ve got ppms down but the problem is rpm’s….do you adjust rpm’s? start slow and ramp up or how does that work??

The mother plants are just grown in dirt. I take clones and put them in a Turboklone. I then take the clones from them and transplant them into the Delta 4 cubes. I let them go in the Volksgarden for about a week. Then I send them into blood. If I set them in there longer then they would grow too tall and possibly fall over from their own weight.
I do not adjust the RPMs. The little motor is spinning very slowly. It takes about 50 minutes for a full rotation. So it is very slow.

 

[AgedMaster]

If u follow this u shouldn't have problems also have u checked runoff ph as low ph means root rot what was seen on other plant u more than likely have it on all plants if your feed goes through each plant and can u not start your clones in rockwool. u shouldn't need to adjust ph and ec daily my friend grew hydro feeding from res hes was stable for 7 days he changed res once a week got 153oz off 15 plants the more u feed the more stable res will be i would feed at least twice a day it also suggests in this artical 3 to 4 times a day

It is a Hanna meter. I check the PH and PPM before every feeding which i do every other day.

GROWING CANNABIS IN ROCKWOOL​

Rockwool, stone wool, or mineral wool has been the hydroponic substrate of choice for a number of decades. Beginning its life in general hydroponic horticulture, it proved to be an excellent medium for growing all sorts of plants. It was only natural then for existing methods to translate over into the world of weed.

“Rockwool” is one of those trademarks that went on to become the generic term for this type of product. Just like Velcro or Aspirin, which are also trademarks, Rockwool is used to describe most products under this umbrella, and often drops the capital "R"—much to the chagrin of the trademark holders.

Rockwool was first produced commercially by the Danish company Rockwool in the late 1930s. It is an industrial method of mimicking a naturally occurring substance called Pele’s hair[1], which is produced when wind blows through molten lava.

When it's produced artificially, air is forced through a stream of molten basalt slag. The resulting “wool” is then pressed into different densities for different purposes. It can be used for sound/thermal insulation, and with its custom density, is ideal for growing plants hydroponically.

The modular nature of rockwool means never having to disturb the root systems of plants. The small cubes neatly fit into the next size cube up and so forth, with the final position usually being a large slab that contains a number of plants. Rockwool is highly absorbent and retains water very well. The loose structure presents virtually no resistance to roots, allowing for very efficient plants.

These top tips for growing in rockwool will make sure your indoor grow is successful.

1. PREPARATION​

Rockwool needs to be stabilised and prepared before using it to grow cannabis. Untreated, it has a pH of 7.0, which is too alkaline for healthy cannabis growth, as there are no naturally occurring buffers like with soil. When the substrate is too alkaline, there is poor nutrient uptake, especially of essential compounds like calcium and magnesium.

Soak the rockwool for 24 hours in a nutrient solution corrected to a pH of 5.5 with an EC of 0.4–0.5. This range will make sure that young plants get off to a solid start with no nutrient deficiencies.

To check if the rockwool is stabilised at the correct pH, drench with a 5.5 pH nutrient solution and test the runoff water with a pH meter. If the runoff remains at 5.5, the substrate is ready for use; if it is still too high, re-soak for a few hours and then test again.

4. GROWING IN ROCKWOOL​

An automatic irrigation system is ideal for rockwool. The material is highly absorbent and distributes nutrient solutions evenly throughout the root zone before settling at the bottom. This moisture gradient is what makes rockwool such an ideal substrate for hydroponics.

Hand watering is okay, but be prepared for multiple visits to the grow room per day, and be careful not to overdo it.

Plants sit in a shallow film of nutrient solution 2–3mm deep. Rockwool should be at medium saturation levels in the very lower layers, and drier in the upper layers.

Lower roots feed from the film of nutrient solution, while upper roots are exposed to moist air and all the oxygen they can get for healthy transpiration. Rockwool is not supposed to be wet like a sponge, as this is the equivalent of submerging roots, which will kill the plant.

Rockwool can also be used to hold plants for DWC, and there is little salt buildup since at each irrigation, fresh solution forces old salts out and draws down more fresh air into the medium. At all stages, watch plants for any kinds of nutrient stresses and adjust nutrient solutions accordingly

5. VEGETATION​

The rockwool is stabilised at 5.5 pH and with an EC of 0.4–0.5. During the early stages of vegetation, when plants are still small, irrigate for one minute to apply 60–70ml of nutrient solution twice per day. Once when the lights come on, then again halfway through the light cycle. This facilitates root growth and prevents water logging.

Watch plants for changes in nutrient demand as they grow and increase the amount of solution per plant as they get bigger. Continue this regime until the first week of flowering.

6. FLOWERING​

• Week 1

Swap to a flowering nutrient and gradually increase pH over a week from 5.5 to 5.8–5.9.

• Weeks 2 & 3

Increase the EC to 0.8–0.9 and the pH to 6.0. Increase the frequency of watering from twice a day to three times per day. Irrigate for two minutes when the lights come on, then for one minute six hours later, and for one minute prior to turning lights off.

• Weeks 4 & 5

Increase the EC to 1.0–1.2 and fluctuate the pH between 6.0 and 6.2 to ensure complete nutrient uptake. Increase frequency of watering to four times per day. Irrigate for two minutes at the beginning of the day, then for one minute at hours four and eight, then for two minutes again before the lights go off.

• Week 6

Increase EC to 1.4 and keep pH fluctuating between 6.0 and 6.2. Increase frequency of watering to six times per day. Irrigate for two minutes at the beginning and end of the day, and for one minute at regular intervals in between.

• Week 7

EC can be increased from 1.4 up to 1.6–1.7, and fluctuations in pH can rise to between 6.0 to 6.3. Keep the irrigation frequency the same as in week 6.

• Week 8

Continue as per week 7. Depending on specific strain demands, EC can be increased to 1.8.

• Weeks 9 & 10

Depending on strain, it is the last week of flowering for cannabis. Reduce EC to as low as possible and keep pH at 6.2. Keep irrigation frequency the same, but increase to two minutes at every watering.

During the final week is the time to thoroughly flush your cannabis with a flushing product to remove all excess salt buildup from the root zone. Flushing improves the final aroma and flavour of the flowers prior to harvest.