i hate my setup

[Luke Skywalker]

e.c. stands for electrical conductivity, and measures the amount of salts in a given nutrient solution.

 

You can measure it with an e.c. meter, or truncheon, (which I use) and will set you back about 120 or so new, but the truncheon now comes with a 3 year warranty, so it's certainly worth it.

 

e.c. meters will not tell you what nutrients are in there, just their overall concentration. But they are invaluable tools, and almost essential in any recirculating setup. Any hydroponics system really requires one to be used to best effect IMO, and they will help to cease a lot of heartache with nutrients.

[F420]

I wouldnt recommend that you waste your money on R/O filters.

sure they do a good job of stripping all the mico and macro nutrients as well as impurities from the water.

BUT these things filter really really slowly and do filter 50 litres would take just about all day.

 

Your best option here is to setup a huge container or something sterile out doors to collect rain water and then use that mate.

 

otherwise stick with the tap water.

[WantDaChronic]

FUCKING HELL

 

about 30 mins ago i woke up (went to bed at like 11am after staying up all night and having cones) and guess what was out the front of my place? a nice big smouldering bin had to be my bin too :thumbdown

 

fucking ghetto trash neighbours are trying to start a war last week they wouldnt strop throwing shit at my front door (water bombs, rocks, sticks, etc) after i asked em to stop they asked me or what and i drew 2 serated steak knifes on them and said we are going to have some fun...they then continued to throw shit and me being over 18 cant get into that much trouble these days so i had no choice but to ring the police on them...either that or their parents ring them on me so i figured i would save myself the problems and just ring them first (mind you i was nice about it, i told the police not to even make a report of this as it would make me look bad and nothing was done other than the police telling them what i said and to tell them to stop)....now the cunts have burnt our bin to the ground and i just rang the police to ask what my options are...they said revenge wouldnt be smart as it would start a complete ghetto war and that could fuck with the community but instead go into the cop shop tomorrow and give a detailed report....

 

these little ghetto shits are only like 15-16 and have no balls...they dog each other behind their friends backs, dob dealers into the police, all kinds of shit yet they wont stand up to take a beating for them starting shit....fucking pathetic loser cunts are gonna cop a hiding and a half if the police dont do nothing in the morning...gonna flog them all, burn their bins down and see how the fuck they like it

 

which brings me to my next point, i cant leave anything outside...which means collecting rain water is out of the question :thumbdown hell i dont think i can leave anything inside when we are not home as we'll get robbed :thumbdown

 

You can measure it with an e.c. meter, or truncheon, (which I use) and will set you back about 120 or so new, but the truncheon now comes with a 3 year warranty, so it's certainly worth it.

 

sounds like an invaluable tool to have while growing in general....will have to go check it ut but $120 is a bit rich for a poor dole bludger like me :thumbdown might have to go get a second hand one...

 

I wouldnt recommend that you waste your money on R/O filters.

sure they do a good job of stripping all the mico and macro nutrients as well as impurities from the water.

BUT these things filter really really slowly and do filter 50 litres would take just about all day.

 

damn thats pretty shitty then, dont think i'll get one although i will be using bottled mineral water for watering from now on .... if im lucky i might even manage a glass of water a day that isnt full of metals, has a pH of 8+ and tastes like shit

 

tell ya what, im getting really concerned living where i am....people hold grudges over nothing, if someone starts shit and gets the police rung on them, its like giving them a reason to seek revenge on you, even if u tell the police not to make anything out of the matter, they still think ur a total dog and they need revenge....stupid fuckers dont relise that the more revenge they try and take the more the police are going to be called on them.....i just dont wanna risk my babies (and everything else i own for that matter) over a petty little grudge some 15-16 yo fucker has with me :thumbdown

 

any ideas on what i should do ??? security is a must where im living and i cannot/will not risk the one thing that might eventually get me out of this shit hole area by allowing my girl and me to save up by not having to go to dealers....goddamn i hate living in a ghetto

 

Forgot to mention in my state of anger that my babies are starting to get white spots on them...i have done all the normal bug checking things ie. looking under the leaves and stems for the bastards but thankfully my grow area is bug free, well apart from a moth every now and then but they follow me in so yeah i did a bit of reading and found out that its probably a humidity and ventilation problem....is there much i can do about this? i will take a pic shortly and post it up so u know what im dealing with.

Edited January 4, 2005 by wantdachronic

[WantDaChronic]

 

sorry about the quality again

 

but as u can sorta see there are lil spots all over that leaf...most leaves on each plant are all good but some are going like that one...they start off with a few tiny spots (really hard to see) then they concentrate a bit and all of a sudden a 1cm square on a leaf has like 100 spots on it :thumbdown

 

overall im not too worried, couple of leaves here and there wont hurt as long as they grow faster than they die off but still i dont really want it dying at all...makes me feel bad that and the fact if this continues into flowering it could be a massive problem :thumbdown

 

im thinking humidty and ventilation as its really humid in the wardrobe and the ventilation isnt the best but since u guys know what your talking about i'll stop rambling

[pipeman]

He is using the Ph adjusters for a fishtank.

and yea all that sodium cant be good.

 

on the water thing, if I use R/O water then where do you get all the macro and micro nutrients from?

 

my local servo has a big R/O machine that they sell for $4-00 a 19 litre. I was thinking of using it but not sure. as I cant see where they will get the minor things not included in the a+b formulas. :scratchin

 

The purer your water is the better. If your nute solution is not providing everything your plants need then change nute your nute solution. There are no nutrients in tap water that plants need :scratchin

 

BUT these things filter really really slowly and do filter 50 litres would take just about all day.

 

yes well thats more along the lines of why its probably not worth bothering with RO filters, along with the price. But really 50 litres a day is not a problem, just fill up a container with water the day before you need it. No grow setup on this site would use more than 50 litres a day.

 

wantdachronic, I'd suggest you take a sample of your tap water to a hydro shop and get teh ec tested. if its 0.4 or below thats good enough for growing dope plants.

[WantDaChronic]

today was payday :thumbsup

 

bought myself a 400watt son-t globe, 12L spring water and Hy-Gen pH tester with pH up and down....

 

just watered with pH adjusted spring water with 1/2 strength vege nutes with a pH of about 5.0-5.5 which should make my ladies bounce right back :thumbsup

 

i cant be bothered with any filters or anything like that, im just going to use spring water or mineral water depending on which is cheapest at the time :smoke

 

as for the son-t globe, what a difference i swear it glowed way more orange and for longer than the last globe i had in and the colour when fully warmed up looks soooooo much better it aint funny :smoke

 

i just love watching my system grow from the nothing it was, to atleast something that will grow plants decently and i have you guys to thank :smoke

 

hopefully with the bin burning incident, we will finally get a transfer out of this shit hole into atleast 1 where we know no-one

 

anyways im off to smoke a $50 with the missus who is happy as a pig in shit as today we bought 2 tickets to go see good charlotte in sydney :: she loves them to death so all in all today was a good day :thumbsup

[Chev]

:thumbsup Good shit mate, enjoy the concert too

[Tom]

Sounds like you are starting to enjoy growing too, that's how it should be. :thumbsup

 

[F420]

woohoo!! good stuff mate.

Now be careful cannabis is very addictive!!

Well the growing part of it anyways ::

[Luke Skywalker]

The purer your water is the better. If your nute solution is not providing everything your plants need then change nute your nute solution. There are no nutrients in tap water that plants need

 

Generally yes, the purer the water the better. But to say that there are no nutes in tap water that plants need shows a basic misunderstanding of what's in tap water.

 

In fact, many of the micro nutrients present in tap water are used by plants, and "hard" water nutrient solutions are usually designed to take these minor nutrients into account. Many, many growers have found that when changing from tap to RO water systems, and I've seen this myself, personally, find that there is not enough of these micro-nutrients present in the finished nutrient solution, made up to similar levels as before the change to RO. This doesn't mean that the nutrient is shit, it just means that the nutrient is probably designed for use with tap waters from your local area. You can get the benifits of both by adding a small proportion of unfiltered tap water to the RO water, which may seem a little ridiculous at first, but plants don't live in RO water in nature, and even rainwater has significant levels of nutrients that plants can absorb.

 

There are nutrient lines designed for use with RO water, and these are usually more "complete" than those designed for use with tap water.

 

wantdachronic, I'd suggest you take a sample of your tap water to a hydro shop and get teh ec tested. if its 0.4 or below thats good enough for growing dope plants.

 

If it's below 1.2 it would be suitable, but not ideal. Below 0.4 and you're close to ideal. The only problems with higher e.c. water is usually salinity, which can develop into a severe problem in recirculating setups. Run to waste systems can cope with higher levels of salinity in the water itself as it's only passed by the plants once.

 

The best way to determine if your water is suitable for use in hydroponics is to check with the local water authority and ask for an average analysis of the scheme water in your area. They provide this information regularly, and to all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons, so it won't appear suspicious to them, just routine.

 

If you get your water supply from a bore, however, you may find it totally unsuitable, as this can contain extreme levels of salts sometimes. Not so much that you'll be unable to drink it, but certainly enough to make plant growth problematic. You can usually get this analysed from your water authority too, but you'll have to send in a sample. The local agriculture departments could also have some information about mineral levels in the water in local bore water, but you may have to do some chasing to find the specific figures for your area, particularly in the country.

 

Good luck with the grow Wantdachronic, I'm sure you'll be loving it.

 

Oh yeah, and with the spots, you may want to be checking the leaf underside with a magnifying glass or photographers loupe, as spider mites can be so small you can't see them with the naked eye. Look directly beneath the area where the spots are, and you may well find something you didn't think was there before.

 

Hope that helps.