1st hydro system - dwc

[Guest Eikel]

Hey Skyhigh,

 

Sorry your bubs died mate - good thing these weren't your quality genetics huh?

I'd say your plants died from toxic nutrient levels - the yellowing of leaves is exactly what happened to one of my seedlings when I was feeding it the same nutes I give my 5-week old plants.

 

Basically the rule of thumb for me is "No nutes until the cotyledons start to die off". Wait till the first set of the curved/furry leaves (cotyledons) start to discolour and die - this is when you can start them on low strength (1/4-1/3 strength) nutes.

 

Overgrow has some good information in it's GrowFAQ regarding the seedling/germination stage. You can find the same info in the forums here, however at OG they've consolidated it into a single area.

 

Don't be discouraged however, we all lose plants from time to time due to mistakes or other factors, keep growing and learning and you'll find yourself pulling ounce-after-ounce once you your grow-style right.

 

Good Luck!

[bluntman_77]

thanks elkel

 

ive been reading the overgrow faqs and all this site and heaps of overgrow . I think ive got alot of the basics but theres still a lot to take in at once . especially for a pot head

 

i waited till I got my 1st real leaves on the seedlings and used 1/4 nutes , probably less . I just got my ph meter and it reads 7.8-7.9 . Assuming ive calibrated it right (the ph 7 and 4 buffer things read 6.9 and 4.1 respectively so i thinks its calibrated) thats bad ! that coupled with tap water of ec 0.8 about 500 ppm means I have shit water . adding even 1/4 nutes pushes that up by another 100ppm and I dont think the little seedlings can take that sort of abuse . ive only just got the ph meter so those 1st seedlings had non adjusted water too . so that coupled with over watering sealed their fate .

 

im thinking Ive got to get some distilled or RO water for the 1st few weeks , a bigger plant should be able to handle the high salt levels in the tap water better but I dont think little seedlings will .

 

has anyone had any experience with the consumer kitchen style water distillers ? theres no waste and no water connections , they make about 1l of pure water an hour and im thinking even in flowering that would be enough to bring my water quality to a acceptable level mixed in with the tap water

 

http://www.waterdistillersaustralia.com.au...australia.shtml

 

these look good

[F420]

Just my opinion is that noone should use RO or distilled water for plants.

WHY? reason being is that the nutrient manufactures make their ferts to suit tap water not RO water.

It doesnt contain enough of the micro and macro elements and this can cause deficiencies in the plant.

 

My nutes specifically say to use TAP water.

However if the tap water is over about 300ppm then I wouldnt consider buying a bottle of water. Especially because of the time it takes for the water to be processed.

1 litre per hour would mean I would have to wait 50 hours to get enough to fill my res.

 

If your keen to try distilled water then just collect rain water, its distilled water.

[bluntman_77]

i have a rainwater tank for my new house that im in in about 1 month . hopefully that will help a bit ....

 

i think the idea with the low volume distillers is to mix it with the normal water to bring it down a bit rather than strictly using just that .

 

but with water like this I have to do something right ?

[bluntman_77]

one has survived

 

shes such a little trooper !

 

she still looks a bit sad , but she is growing again and her new growth looks ok . she is getting proper ph adjusted water , with 1ml/L nutes , watering only every 3-4 days . She is in a DWC system but her roots cant reach it yet . under the clay balls is a layer of pearlite which is being kept moist by hand watering until she can reach the water below.

 

because she wants to live I think ill keep her going even though she is bag seed . unless she turns out to be a male .