New Grower DP Auto Ultimate-LED-NFT Grow.

[jingo]

Never liked Rockwell, I guess that's what grodan is? I either used to put it in a big container to pH balance or took the water down to pH 5 or so. I preferred the big container and have more solution to accept the buffers in the rockwool.

 

[KushNFT]

There can be loads of lime to rinse out of rockwool as apparently it gets in there due to the manufacturing process.

I like to use 2 buckets pH'd to 5.5 initially and soak for at least 12 hours in each but even then it's not unusual to see pH go up once medium such as rockwool is introduced to an active res.

To start with I like my res about half full so I have room to make adjustments either way. Lots of little adjustments is safer than trying to rush it but if root secretions or too much pH down send pH too low I can add more tap water rather than do a res change or add pH up.

 

[KushNFT]

Oh aye, I've used 0.3 mS of Ionic grow nutes in my initial res setup last few times. No root additives or anything to mess with pH and confuse things.

 

[EvilScotsman]

cheers @KushNFT youve just saved me from what was about to be my next mistake of fully filling the res. fuck me this is so much easier in coco lol. due to my hurting them a bit already im going to leave them in the cubes for another week or so to root up before i get the pump on. see if i can dry them out and fix the ph before they go in. the cubes were too wet and theres hee haw heat comming from the leds so taking its time. so glad i joined here though, having you guys for advice really is making my project so much less stressful. much respect to you and the rest of our resident experts. top bananas.

 

[EvilScotsman]

day 11 now and the stunted growth caused by my ph error with the cubes is now pretty clear. the top picture is tangs effort of the same age just so you can see the comparisson. he did get half a kilo from one of these so i dont really feel that bad about it lol. the cubes finally dried out yesterday tho so gave them a good spray with water phd down to 5 and its evened the cubes out at ph6. thank fek for that. got a few roots poking out the bottom aswell so hopefuly get them in the nft shortly. nute heater turned up yesterday so just waiting on the chlorine content of my water dropping then a wee tinker about getting the temp right and should be good to go. bumpy start but lessons have been very much learned : )

 

[EvilScotsman]

day 13 and still not seeing much growth but other than being too small they look healthy( forgot to take my phone up) and the purple tinge is fading nicely. Water in res is sitting at 22^c ph5.8 with no nutes. so glad this bit went smoothly, time to see what this baby can do. ill update midweek at some point.

 

[EvilScotsman]

ive just realised that after only a 3 days of running, the water in the tank has developed a strange texture. feels like it has soap in it, slimy almost. the only thing in the 20l is about
1-1.5ml of phosphoric acid. is this normal or have i made yet another schoolboy error? sorry @KushNFT but your still the only person ive met that uses one of these lol.

 

[KushNFT]

Sounds like root secretions bud. That's one of the reasons we change the nutrient solution on a regular basis.

If you can get a little container in you should be able to skim the worst of it off the top if you want to....that's what I've been feeding my soil ones with lol:smoking:

 

[KushNFT]

No nutes? Even at the start I use 0.3 to 0.5mS of grow.

 

[EvilScotsman]

Ah its normal then, phew. cheers @KushNFT. thought id give them a few days to get used to their new surroundings before i start feeding them. put a wee bit root boost in their grodans and stunted them so a wee bit para now lol. i might give them a little something later on. off to a funeral now so ill have a wee potter about if im still sober enough when i get back.