Can anyone figure out what is going wrong here if anything?




So, I am growing for the first time, and this is a hydroponics setup I am trying and they plants all do not perhaps look quite as good as I would like. You can see a picture of the water level which I based on where I assumed the rockwool cube would be. I put in the recommended amount of nutrients for seedlings. I was spraying them with foliar spray that had earth work fertilizer, a calcium and mag foliar spray supp, and silica. I switched to just ph adjusted water however last night. Any advice is appreciated.

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How close is your light and at what setting

Probably about a foot away.

No anywhere near experienced and definitely never did hydro/dwc/rdwc but what I’ve read about it on here is your water should not be into the net cup it should be 1.5-2 inches below for an air gap otherwise you are drowning the plant.

If I am wrong some feel free to correct me as I like to learn all I can!

Good Luck :+1:t2:

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I thought about that, and I was not sure the rule when I filled it first and so I over filled it thinking the cubes would dry up if I did not. But, I just took two gallons out of it and am going to check the water levels back in a bit. Hopefully, that helps.

@Graysin are you the hydro guy? If not can you tag someone who is? I’m new here and not sure but I think it’s you! Also my last post about water level is that correct? Thanks for your time and not my post but trying to help this guy out.

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Your water level is way too high. Essentially you’re drowning them, not feeding them.

Exactly right.

Sure should. Think of it this way - while the plants are as young as they are, they need an incentive to grow their roots out. Keeping them submerged prevents the roots from needing to go anywhere - no need to search for water if it’s consistently Saturated. This isn’t going to make a lick of sense until you see it in action, but even hydroponically grown plants enjoy a “wet/dry cycle” of sorts.

For young seedlings, I use a solo cup and scoop water from my reservoir, and water the rockwool cube so it doesn’t dry out totally. Usually I only do this once a day, but if it’s particularly hot and dry where you are, you may want to cover the seedling and rockwool over with a clear solo cup or other humidity dome to keep the cube from getting bone dry overnight.

They’re too young to need anything except good clean water at 5.8 pH (we can talk about appropriate pH meters and nutrients for hydro plants if you fancy, I’m happy to discuss).

I start with my water level at about 2 inches below the bottom of the net pot. Airstones on blast so that you can see small sprays of water popping up out of the surface - those little sprays of water will keep everything moist but not wet.

Once roots are growing out of the bottom of the net pot, I reduce water levels by another inch, so it’s got a total of a 3” air gap.

Sure is me. It’s also @HappyHydroGrower @peachfuzz @Syndrix and some others - those just happen to be my go-to guys to assist.

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Ahah I guess I am learning @Graysin Even though I am doing soil :man_shrugging:. I will definitely try to remember the others you tagged!

@justinsloan here you go bro I found you some help!

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So, I took another 2.5 gallons out of it to put it so that it was 1-2 inches below the basket. I have never done this before, but I did not completely understand how it worked when I started obviously. So it should not be flowing above into the basket where the clay pebbles are, but 1-2 inches below it.

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Absolutely agree with what Graysin said. The first two weeks of a seedling is a little delicate. Last thing you want to do is over water while they are young.

I usually wait till they are about 10 days old before I put mine in my system. Everybody does things a little different. You will figure the best way for you given some time.

Nutes will make all the difference in the world. Jack’s 321 is a 3 part nute measured in grams that a lot of folks here have changed to. It’s cheap and supper easy to grow. Takes all the guess work out of things. You use the same amount from start to finish.

If you have questions just ask away. I’ll tag some other growers. It’s always easier to get answer when you have several folks following along. @OGIncognito @CooterJuice @Syndrix @NUG61
Good luck and keep’em growin! :+1:t2::v::sunglasses:

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Just make sure you have a good air pump that will produce enough air to splash water up on the netpot. If not then you might need to raise it up to an inch below the netpot till roots drop down below the netpot and then drop it down some. You want the air to form like a rolling boil in your buckets. @Retiredoldguy is another good hydro grower. :+1:t2::v::sunglasses:

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@justinsloan …take a deep breath brother it looks like your Calvary arrived. You have work to do but these guys got you covered for sure. Happy to follow along and watch your success. :sunglasses: :peace_symbol:

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@justinsloan …thanks for tagging me @HappyHydroGrower …everything mentioned @Graysin so far is what I would have suggested or said to address your post…if you have any questions just ask like @NUG61 said and the community will help…

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