Heisen rdwc first grow - do I need to add nutes?

[Rattman]

Thanks much for the responses guys!
These girls are not in flower yet. The first several weeks of growth was hampere by the nute lockout... I’m gonna get a screen up and fill it with growth before flipping to 12/12.
I’ll send updated pics next week.

 

[Rattman]

Test

 

[Rattman]

Hi everyone,

So the girls are taking off! Currently they are drinking over a gallon a day.
My steering Rez is down to about 5 gallons. I
M just going to top it off with 5 more gallons and keep running the veg nutes until the scrog screen that I put up last night fills up. Guessing another week.

Then I’m going to do a full flush, flip 12/12 and switch to flower nutes.

Question....
The girls are really eating up the nutes now. Every night I increase ppm to about 220 and by next day they are back down to 180ppm. Last night I increased ppm to 260 and this morning they are back down to 210 already.

Steering Rez ppm is around 320 and ph 5.6.

So with 1000w hps how hard should I hit these girls with nutes? 300ppm?

Also... how much higher do you normally set thenppm in the steering tank?

I’m going to move the ph up a bit too. Thought it would rise on its own in time but it has stayed pretty consistent.

Thanks all!

 

[spyralout]

Hi everyone,

So the girls are taking off! Currently they are drinking over a gallon a day.
My steering Rez is down to about 5 gallons. I
M just going to top it off with 5 more gallons and keep running the veg nutes until the scrog screen that I put up last night fills up. Guessing another week.

Then I’m going to do a full flush, flip 12/12 and switch to flower nutes.

Question....
The girls are really eating up the nutes now. Every night I increase ppm to about 220 and by next day they are back down to 180ppm. Last night I increased ppm to 260 and this morning they are back down to 210 already.

Steering Rez ppm is around 320 and ph 5.6.

So with 1000w hps how hard should I hit these girls with nutes? 300ppm?

Also... how much higher do you normally set thenppm in the steering tank?

I’m going to move the ph up a bit too. Thought it would rise on its own in time but it has stayed pretty consistent.

Thanks all!

Good to hear. Increase your nutes gradually in the first 2 weeks after flip. Once they hit stretch you can push em harder. Go past 800ppm at your own RISK. Lockout can occur easily in flower. As the roots fill up the buckets watch your pH. If it drops hard then you might have a root issue. I've heard that you can go higher than that with a chiller but I'm not so sure it's all that worth it. If you intend on using a pk booster don't do that until about week 6 or so. Try keeping your steering tank about 50 PPM above your epi. Back off near end of flower.

Ph is relevant. 5.8 catches a bit of everything but I like a gradual swing from low to high. Don't be too militant about trying to maintain one pH number. Climbing PPM is what you need to be more concerned about. Having a meter like a blue lab guardian on it all the time fucks with your head - remember it's just a guide, use your instinct and watch what your plants are telling you.

Make sure your cal mag is up to par. Any rust spots on leaves, you will need to increase it especially for certain strains. Not as much as if you were to have Led but still need to keep that up for any water system.

 

[Rattman]

Hi friends!
Latest pics attached. Girls are looking good.

Need advice on two issues.

My water flow decreased substantially in the past few days. The roots are huge and nice and white. I’m confident They are causing the clog somewhere. Question... do I need to trim back the roots, and if yes how do I do that with the scrog screen up?

Question 2. I’m leaving Thursday for a one week cruise. My sister will be here but she is no expert in growing. The ladies have filled a decent amount of the screen already but I can leave the in veg until I get back. My concern is the roots are gtg too big and I don’t want them in veg too long if huge roots is going to become an issue. Should I flip them now or wait exactly 2 weeks from today to flip in your opinion?

 

[Heisen]

Looking good. The best advice your gonna get is the experience you learn for yourself. It becomes part of the way you grow. Reading your plants and being proactive and not reactive will be your best tool in the garden

 

[Rattman]

Thanks H. I definitely vegged these plants too long. The root balls are totally overtaking the 4 gal pots. I put on sterile gloves and gently pulled the roots out of the 2” pipes. The water flow is still super slow. I’m not sure what to do.
Can I cut the root balls back by 10% or would that shock them?
I hope these girls can be salvaged.

 

[Armdog]

Hi friends!
Latest pics attached. Girls are looking good.

Need advice on two issues.

My water flow decreased substantially in the past few days. The roots are huge and nice and white. I’m confident They are causing the clog somewhere. Question... do I need to trim back the roots, and if yes how do I do that with the scrog screen up?

Question 2. I’m leaving Thursday for a one week cruise. My sister will be here but she is no expert in growing. The ladies have filled a decent amount of the screen already but I can leave the in veg until I get back. My concern is the roots are gtg too big and I don’t want them in veg too long if huge roots is going to become an issue. Should I flip them now or wait exactly 2 weeks from today to flip in your opinion?

I have the same 4 site system with epi.( Only difference is I use the ez store 8 gallon buckets) and if I go over 380 ppm I get nutrient burn. I try to keep mine at around 350 to 375, seems to be the sweet spot in flower. My PH always increases during veg and decreases in flower. So during veg I lower the pH in the topoff Rez and in flower I increase the pH in the topoff Rez. This allows for a good balance all the time. Once you get it figured out it is easy to grow with this system. I will tell you I had to add a chiller to mine,. Got mild root rot once and since the chiller was added I have not had root rot. Heisen said he was running UC roots with no chiller in a post earlier and was doing great.

 

[Armdog]

I have the same system and if I go over 380 ppm I get nutrient burn. I try to keep mine at around 350 to 375, seems to be the sweet spot in flower. Mine PH always increases during veg and decreases in flower. So during veg I lower the pH in the topoff Rez and in flower I increase the pH in the topoff Rez. This allows for a good balance all the time. Once you get it figured out it is easy to grow with this system. I will tell you I had to add a chiller to mine,. Got mild root rot once and since the chiller was added I have not had root rot. Heisen said he was running UC roots with no chiller in a post earlier and was doing great.

I run my pH at 6.2 to 6.0 in veg and 5.9 to 5.7 in flower. I try to follow the under current temp and pH schedule. I bought a Milwaukee pH doser for my pH up and down. I love that thing, makes my life so much easier. No worries about my pH fluctuating. Also setting the topoff Rez ph helps.

 

[Heisen]

Thanks H. I definitely vegged these plants too long. The root balls are totally overtaking the 4 gal pots. I put on sterile gloves and gently pulled the roots out of the 2” pipes. The water flow is still super slow. I’m not sure what to do.
Can I cut the root balls back by 10% or would that shock them?
I hope these girls can be salvaged.

You can upsize your pump. I started using a 800 and was alot better. Lift the plants up and chop all the long runner roots.

 

[Armdog]

Thanks H. I definitely vegged these plants too long. The root balls are totally overtaking the 4 gal pots. I put on sterile gloves and gently pulled the roots out of the 2” pipes. The water flow is still super slow. I’m not sure what to do.
Can I cut the root balls back by 10% or would that shock them?
I hope these girls can be salvaged.

I run general hydroponic 3 part nutes at 1/3 of the recommended by general hydroponics. If you run it at what they say it would kill your plants.

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

Really no Calmag?i thought that was required for RO water!?!

I’ll drain 1/3- 1/2 the water and replace with R/O.

Thanks much guys!

Question.....could lowering the Ph .3 and then another .3 the next day be the cause of any stress on the plants? Was that too aggressive?

I use well water which is usually 26 ppm. Depending on nutes i use i usually start a base of 150 ppm with adding cal mag. I then go from their with adding your A+B.

Right now ive been using a reverse osmosis Jacks formula and its been working very well. Ppm is going down instead of up like it always did using Mega.

Also depending on temp your plants will drink more water that raises ppm. Also fans evaporating a lot of water off will do that. Humidity levels come into play.

What kind of stones you using and the amount of bubbles you got?

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

I believe I put the calmag (2ml/gal) in first because someone on here suggested not to leave a ph meter in 0ppm RO water. Then the hydroguard (2ml/gal) and silica. then sensi part A, and lastly sensi part B. Once all that sits a bit I adjust ph.

All of this got the ppm up to about 600ppm or so. I just added more sensi part A/B last night to get ppm to 740.

Ph has been slowly going up, and plants are finally large enough that I am seeing water level go down.... but the ppm is going UP slightly every few days. not down.

I have exact measurements recorded for each nute/product added to the water and can share if you guys need that info.

The top off Rez is set the same as the epi bucket except ph is set to 5.7 to help steer ph down a tad.

Spry....I will check roots consistency in the morning.

Thanks all for the advice!

If adding silicia i always added that first before anything. Ive been doing that for 10 yrs now, was i doing it wrong? Lol

 

[Armdog]

If adding silicia i always added that first before anything. Ive been doing that for 10 yrs now, was i doing it wrong? Lol

Silica always goes in first and mix for 1 hour. That is per directions. I just add it to my 30 gallon Rez the night before water change.

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

Thanks H. I definitely vegged these plants too long. The root balls are totally overtaking the 4 gal pots. I put on sterile gloves and gently pulled the roots out of the 2” pipes. The water flow is still super slow. I’m not sure what to do.
Can I cut the root balls back by 10% or would that shock them?
I hope these girls can be salvaged.

U can really trim em up good and no ill effect.


How thick are your roots? I veg in 4 gal buckets in rdwc.

This is the root structure on a plant that takes up a 4x4 area

In flower they go to an 8 gal bucket.

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

I have the same 4 site system with epi.( Only difference is I use the ez store 8 gallon buckets) and if I go over 380 ppm I get nutrient burn. I try to keep mine at around 350 to 375, seems to be the sweet spot in flower. My PH always increases during veg and decreases in flower. So during veg I lower the pH in the topoff Rez and in flower I increase the pH in the topoff Rez. This allows for a good balance all the time. Once you get it figured out it is easy to grow with this system. I will tell you I had to add a chiller to mine,. Got mild root rot once and since the chiller was added I have not had root rot. Heisen said he was running UC roots with no chiller in a post earlier and was doing great.

What kinda nutes do you use to cause burn at 350?

 

[Greenthumbskunk]

I run my pH at 6.2 to 6.0 in veg and 5.9 to 5.7 in flower. I try to follow the under current temp and pH schedule. I bought a Milwaukee pH doser for my pH up and down. I love that thing, makes my life so much easier. No worries about my pH fluctuating. Also setting the topoff Rez ph helps.

I have 2 of those dosers. One for veg and another for flower. Well i have 2 for flower in case something goes bad and ph plummets. Its happened 2x and saved some major damage before i could get back to flush.

When i hear either one running i flush. All 3 have worked well and i calibrate the meters once every 4-6 months.
I also have an expensive ph pen that i dip in the water and make sure the meters are on the money as they drift.
Also have to clean the sensors from time to time. And it will effect the ph reading.

I keep those 4.0 and 7.0 solutions handy to calibrate all my stuff.

 

[Armdog]

What kinda nutes do you use to cause burn at 350?

General Hydroponics Trio

 

[Armdog]

I have 2 of those dosers. One for veg and another for flower. Well i have 2 for flower in case something goes bad and ph plummets. Its happened 2x and saved some major damage before i could get back to flush.

When i hear either one running i flush. All 3 have worked well and i calibrate the meters once every 4-6 months.
I also have an expensive ph pen that i dip in the water and make sure the meters are on the money as they drift.
Also have to clean the sensors from time to time. And it will effect the ph reading.

I keep those 4.0 and 7.0 solutions handy to calibrate all my stuff.

I do the same

 

[Armdog]

General Hydroponics Trio

I use the expert chart. Lots of different additives.