Completed First time growing ever (Hydro) problem diagnosis with plant?

[x00m]

Okay,

and i havent seen the bug at all. it seems pretty clean in there to be honest. and i dont know how its physical damage, i dont touch the leaves or handle them improperly.

ill keep an eye on it and see what happens!

im away to go on holiday for 11 days... so i need to train a plant sitter while im gone? or do you think if i did a full res change before i leave the water will be enough after 11 days alone?

 

[derek420colorado]

Okay,

and i havent seen the bug at all. it seems pretty clean in there to be honest. and i dont know how its physical damage, i dont touch the leaves or handle them improperly.

ill keep an eye on it and see what happens!

im away to go on holiday for 11 days... so i need to train a plant sitter while im gone? or do you think if i did a full res change before i leave the water will be enough after 11 days alone?

She’s lookin great. I think you need to increase your Pom’s slightly. Maybe 50 Ppms or so. She’s lookin a bit pale. Also look on the under side of all your leaves for any buggies. They can be super hard to spot

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Okay,

and i havent seen the bug at all. it seems pretty clean in there to be honest. and i dont know how its physical damage, i dont touch the leaves or handle them improperly.

ill keep an eye on it and see what happens!

im away to go on holiday for 11 days... so i need to train a plant sitter while im gone? or do you think if i did a full res change before i leave the water will be enough after 11 days alone?

No, you will need a plant sitter for sure.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

When the water level drops like that in the reservoir it exposes the roots to air and causes the plant some stress. You should add water several times a day or add a float valve and top-off tank with aeration.

Hey @Mañ'O'Green,

Just out of curiosity. But why would exposing the roots to air cause stress? I mean, the humidity inside the DWC system would be near 100% right?
Ok, you don't want your res to be almost empty, but losing half of the liquid shouldn't be a problem me thinks...

If my statement above is not correct, then please educate me because I here to learn from the best

Regards,

Bob

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Hey @Mañ'O'Green,

Just out of curiosity. But why would exposing the roots to air cause stress? I mean, the humidity inside the DWC system would be near 100% right?
Ok, you don't want your res to be almost empty, but losing half of the liquid shouldn't be a problem me thinks...

If my statement above is not correct, then please educate me because I here to learn from the best

Regards,

Bob

If you look at the roots under 200x magnification you will see millions of tiny lateral root hairs. These eventually grow into the feeder roots. When these are exposed to air and dry out they are finished - stop growing and can no longer absorb water and nutrients. Then when in water again that part of the root system will try to grow new root hairs. This cycle is stressful. No your air is not 100% RH it will barely be above the RH in the tent. Remember you are pumping air through the res and it is the RH of wherever the air pump is located. Then the more important issue is the PPM. As the plant uses the water out of the reservoir the remaining salts become more concentrated. Plants do not take water and nutrients in at the same rate. Your PPMs can rise dramatically. This in turn changes the osmotic pressure (the difference between the salinity of the nutrient solution and the salinity inside the root) and the plant has to continually try to match that pressure so it can intake nutrients. This can be a major stressor. Finally this will also cause large PH swings.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

If you look at the roots under 200x magnification you will see millions of tiny lateral root hairs. These eventually grow into the feeder roots. When these are exposed to air and dry out they are finished - stop growing and can no longer absorb water and nutrients. Then when in water again that part of the root system will try to grow new root hairs. This cycle is stressful.

Ok, makes sense to use all available energy in making the plant grow in stead of regrowing roots.

No your air is not 100% RH it will barely be above the RH in the tent. Remember you are pumping air through the res and it is the RH of wherever the air pump is located.

If one uses a bubble stone, don't the 'exploding' bubbles keep the roots wet? And when the bubbles explode they raise the RH in the enclosed atmosphere. Wouldn't that be enough for the root hairs not to dry out?

Then the more important issue is the PPM. As the plant uses the water out of the reservoir the remaining salts become more concentrated. Plants do not take water and nutrients in at the same rate. Your PPMs can rise dramatically.

I don't completely agree with your above statement, let me explain
I always check the nutrient level, pH and PPM levels in the nutrient tank. I'll just cover the PPM part here, because the relation between pH and PPM is a whole other can of worms and I'm already hijacking the OP's thread...

There are three situations that can occur:

1. PPM is rising ------------> the plants take up more water then nutrients
2. PPM stays the same ----> the plants take up as much PPM's to water (preferred situation)
3. PPM is lowering---------> the plants take up more nutrients then water

In my years of growing tomatoes and peppers in a greenhouse (NFT) I've seen all three situations happen. If your PPM's are dialed in for the specific strain or species then number two would be the 'perfect' situation. As this 'perfect' situation is rather a theoretical one most of the time numbers one and three are more common. One will happen when it's a very warm and sunny day and three will occur when it's cloudy and/or raining.
I still look at the weather report each day to see what the next day will bring just to take in to account the PPM's I will give to my plants.

Finally this will also cause large PH swings.

A little bit of swing doesn't cause harm as long as you stay between 5.4 & 5.8. It's actually supposed to be beneficial as not all nutrients are taken up efficiently at a certain static pH.

Oh and of course, once a week (or more if you got a large DWC bucket) discard the nutrient solution inside to prevent one or more nutrient salts to build up and cause a nutrient burn of lockout...

Regards,

Bob

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

We don't need to agree. We all have different grow styles and experiences. We are just here to share those ideas. In my personal experience the safe range for DWC PH is 5.7 to 6.2.

 

[derek420colorado]

We don't need to agree. We all have different grow styles and experiences. We are just here to share those ideas. In my personal experience the safe range for DWC PH is 5.7 to 6.2.

this

 

[solian]

Okay thanks!

also, this is what the plant looks like today, a big improvement in growth, and the leaves are looking more lively. i am wondering what these small things are on the close up image.. are these nodes where the buds will form? or just more fan leaves growing?View attachment 1202567View attachment 1202569

Hey did anyone mention the net pot should be fuller of pebbles to stop light entry into the res, & check for other light leaks also?
I see you later seem to have filled it up; but on this image, that looks like a big gap between res and pebbles...
The later blotches on page 7 etc. look more like PH surfing or minor root rot (not an expert, but experienced something similar).

 

[Daipot]

I’m just starting in dwc. I’ve subbed to this, some helpful stuff here.