Well I would run it on the low end of that and check calibration on the meter.
Ya I try to stay at the low end. And I have the ph drops for double checking my ph pen results.
I have noticed that the pouch of Aquaponic safe bloom fertilizer I put in the is raising the ph. So I took it out.
About 30 min before lights on this morning I foliar fed cal/mag. I also watered in more cal/mag yesterday morning.
Do you think the planter bed temp being 60Ā° and the outside temps getting down to 30ās and 40ās at night is to much of a swing and creating problems?
cold temps can be an issue
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@Indica_Dogo my plants are doing better , my ph is at 6.7, Iāve been top feeding them, added a layer of compost and did some foliage feeding also. When itās time to turn off light,I mist them with aloe water mix. 2 tablespoon per gallon mix blended in the blender.
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Thatās cool man glad youāve gotten them feeling better.
What does the aloe spray do?
Iāve been foliar feeding about 30 min before lights on. And theyāre looking a tiny bit better. Or maybe thatās how I wanna see it lolā¦
So I checked the temp of the planter bed inside the tent. At 9:00 this morning it was 57Ā°
And Iām sure the tank water outside was at least a few degrees lower.
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@Indica_Dogo so Iām sorry itās already been a week since the original post but Iām going to go through and just tell you what I think from the pictures and the information you have provided. IF PH HAS BEEN RULED OUT (should be between 6 and 6.5): So yeah nitrates should be at LEAST around 40 ppm (lower when transitioning into flowering). The spots on the leaves look like they could be due to calcium deficiency. The 3 minerals we have to manage most are #1- calcium, magnesium and iron. It also looks like you donāt have enough hydroton media to make a dry zone on top which would eliminate any algae or āfilmā build up in your growbeds and i would also offer that your dual root zone pots are not exactly what I would consider properly set up. The pots shouldnāt have holes along the sides. Only on the bottom. This way you get the air exchange Everytime your growbeds flood. It allows your drz pot to act like a diaphragm for the roots. That may have a small factor to do with why the plant on the far left is doing better as well it looks like it doesnāt have holes along the side of that pot. I canāt be sure about that but I hope everything else I have provided helps and I hope you are enjoying aquaponics.
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@BrayneGro Hey man thanks for chiming in! My ph right now is 6.6, ammonia 0 ppm, nitrites 0 ppm, nitrates 5 ppm.
I dosed some DTPA iron about 2 weeks ago. And used the formula to calculate how much from a Bright Agrotech video on YouTube. But that was the first time in the entire grow and was after I startedseeing issues.
I also donāt use a flood and drain system I use a CHOP system so itās a constant flow.
I grew m first plant this way from seed to harvest and all was well. I thought the extra holes in the sides of the pots would let extra air into the hydroton layer that was above the water line and help the soil not stay soaked. Maybe that was incorrect thinking on my part.
I have since added more hydroton balls to the bed also. In the second set of pics you may be able to see the bed.
I am still foliar feeding cal/mag every other day and watering it in when I water.
I know I can get this figured out and learn what I did wrong and also know from my first grow that this is very doable and man Iām in for the long haul!
I even invested in a 275g ibc tote and built a greenhouse in the last couple weeks! Lol
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Your smallest plant looks the bestā¦providing you KNOW your pH is tuned in, the 2 plants to the right are starving for a nute increaseā¦overall yellowing is a classic signā¦since your smallest plant needs less nutes, its ok FOR NOWā¦a particular pheno may also not need as many nutesā¦Feed those girlsā¦you want to nip this the butt quickly since you already induced flowerā¦breaking that momentum during transition into flower is devastating to yieldsā¦YT
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Awesome bro Iām jealous. I want a green house on my property so badly but I donāt have the $ to make it happen. Good luck with that. Anyway, it sounds like you have minerals covered. Think about your first two weeks of flowering. Some nitrates are definitely still needed for that stretch and even though they need to be low for flowering I would say they should still be around 15- 20 ppm throughout the flowering phase. Idk if the other aquaponic growers would agree with me on that but I definitely feel like some nitrates are necessary and @ 5 ppm they are basically non-existent. As for your pots, if the media layer is high enough, it provides for a dry layer that will not allow the water to wick up to the soil. If youāre using siphons or drain away, the holes in the side of the pot prevent it from having the beneficial breathing diaphragm effect I described. By CHOP, I do understand that it means constant height one pump and i could be wrong here but Iām pretty sure it is not referring to the growbed when it says constant height. If thatās what you are doing then you are effectively running a recirculating deep water culture system and aeration could be another issue contributing to your problems. If you are still getting the āfilmā build up, I would bet money that itās algae which could also be affecting your dissolved oxygen levels. Water temp should stay lower than 75 to combat low DO levels as well. How many fish do you have, what kind and how often do you feed them?
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Thanks guys,
I will ramp up feeding a little. Should I also feed some veg nutes to the soil, or foliar feed it?
As far as fish I have a handful of minows, 2 koi, goldfish and 4 cat fish. All less then 5" in a 20g fish tank. This is the same setup I used to grow my first Critical Kush lady.
I thought that the CHOP system had the one pump running 24/7 and the planter bed used just a stand pipe with holes in it. And not a bell siphon or anything like that? I need to read up on it some more then lol.
I have gotten rid of the film with the extra hydroton balls. And have an air pump in the fish tank.
The temps definitely stay on the cool range way less then 75Ā°, specially this time of year lol. Right now at 6am the water temps in the tent are 60Ā° outside in the fish tank Iām sure are even colder. I do run an air pump and stone in the tank.
I got some more research to do! On the CHOP system and the air flow I have and if itās enough for the system.
Man I know how expensive a greenhouse can be. Fortunately I do carpentry and construction for a living. So my greenhouse is made of re-purposed material. So far Iāve only had to buy a can of spray foam insulation and a couple tubes of caulking lol.
Check it out, still needs a roof and some finishing touches but itās on its way!
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Man I really like the greenhouse. A few old roof tins and u r done. Sweet. I want wrought iron door to get in.
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Thanks man, looks like all I need to buy is so em oof panels. I think Iāll get some of the clear fiberglass panels to let in more light.
The doors are just screen doors you can buy with faux wrought-iron lol.
If Iām not mistaken, CHOP uses a sump tank to keep the fish tank at a CONSTANT HEIGHT. I mean if u think about it, thatās the most important component to make sure stays at one height all the time. For now, I would actually recommend adding a shot of blood meal and bone meal if you have those handy. The blood meal will be taken up quickly so it should help. Donāt overwater bro. I think that should go without saying but in times like this I know you just want your plant to bounce back and overwatering can become an issue. But yeah if your growbed is staying at the same height thatās basically an rdwc system. I donāt discourage it if thatās the style you want to go with, just make sure you have all angles covered that you need to. Aeration would be your biggest issue there. Consider removing the media and adding extra airstones to your growbeds, covering the growbed with some sort of lid and using lipped pots that you can set into the lid. Either that or start putting your bed on a timer or a siphon and you should be golden. I think itās Silverarm or Dumme that has a buddy that uses rdwc aquaponics and his system is AWESOME!!
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You are correct on the CHOP system sir!
Mine is a constant flood system, I found out lol.
I think Iāll add some air stones to the bed for now I donāt have any meal right now. I do have some leftover Age Old Organics brand veg and bloom nutes in can water in the soil.
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Whatās goin on guys, well got some updated pics of the plants. Been keeping up with foliar feeding cal/mag every other day and watered soil with some Age Old Organics brand bloom nutes, cal/mag and Recharge.
I think theyāre looking a little bit betterā¦
@BrayneGro do you think I can add this to my planter bed?
Here are some updated pics.
Thanks all!
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It looks like everything on the bottle will be ok to add into your system but you might want to go pretty light the first time to see how the fish react if you add it straight to the bed. The ladies look significantly better dude. Leaves arenāt spotty or crispy anymore so thatās definitely a step in the right direction. Btw I think I forgot to answer whether recharge was safe to add into your system. It is.
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Thanks bro, I think Iāll keep adding the nutes to the soil. And try a ferment in the grow bedo and Iāll finish making my LABS!
Steve told me Recharge was safe for the fish. So I went ahead and sprinkled some around the base of the pots.