Some leaves look slightly wrinkly and serrated edges turned up

[Graysin]

@SynysterChris

The first pump, does it just keep water moving in the tote or is a second tote required or something?

The first pump is for just keeping the water moving if you don’t have a water chiller - I highly suggest a chiller, as it makes the water easier to oxygenate and makes it harder for bad nasties to grow. I personally set my water pump in its own bucket that had no plants in it - I didn’t want roots growing into my pump (and even then they still tried! Traveled down my 8” of pvc and aimed right for the water pump). But that’s also not necessary.

@SynysterChris

Aside from topping off what evaporates or gets drank, how often(if at all) do you have to drain it and completely change water?

Oooo I’m the wrong person to ask. I never changed mine. I just let it deplete almost totally once every month or so, and refilled the tote with fresh water once that happened. I ended up with some minor issues due to the Recharge and Molasses gumming stuff up - if you’re gonna use either of those, I suggest doing a proper clean at least between every grow. I am very lazy so I did not bother.

@SynysterChris

After geminating seeds do you start them in a medium like coco until they have some decent root to go into water?

Nope. Rockwool cubes. Those are my go-to. Others like to use Root Riot/peat root plugs. I found those tended to shrink as they dry out and could cause damage to my stalks if I wasn’t careful to keep them hydrated.

[SynysterChris]

@Graysin

But that’s also not necessary.

… You say not necessary, but if the roots do that crap it sounds like a pretty damn good idea🤣

I’ll have to look up water chillers, never even heard of it. Is it electric?
I get the fight against nasties but chilling the water has me confused cuz I thought roots wanted to be warm O.o

A clean each grow I can definitely work with. That’s awesome if you can just keep the same water for the grow cycle.
Is recharge a sorta needed thing with hydro? I’ve only read the product name associating with putting stuff back in soil after having to flush it.

@Graysin

Rockwool cubes

So you start those separately from the hydro setup, like in a clone-dome type thing, or just plain set rockwool cube in the hydro-basket-thingymajig and let the plant go?

[Graysin]

@SynysterChris

I get the fight against nasties but chilling the water has me confused cuz I thought roots wanted to be warm

They have a “happy place” right at 68°F. They can fluctuate up or down a little bit, but bacterial growth happens above 70°

It’s not critical - I can say that with confidence now because I have flowered out a couple plants using no chiller whatsoever, and one with no chiller and no airstones. I don’t recommend the no airstone route and the chiller makes life much less difficult, so it’s worth the investment. I use an ActiveAqua 1/10HP water chiller and it does more than adequate for my system (about 35 gallons of water). It does cost ~$300-$350, but it’s worth it to turn your grow in to a “set it and forget it” system.

@SynysterChris

Is recharge a sorta needed thing with hydro? I’ve only read the product name associating with putting stuff back in soil after having to flush it.

Not “needed” but microbes are needed - especially strains of bacillus, which keep the bacteria that causes root rot at bay. Most people get their bacillus (amoflorins? - nope, butchered the hell outta that. It’s Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) from Hydroguard. I personally use Southern Ag “Garden Friendly Fungicide” because it’s super concentrated and extremely cheap compared to hydroguard.

@SynysterChris

So you start those separately from the hydro setup, like in a clone-dome type thing

I start my seeds in rockwool in a propagation tray, but that’s how I start all my seeds. It really has nothing to do with whether it’s hydroponic or not - I suspect you could start them any way you would want to start a seed, just pretend the rockwool is soil. There’s not a good reason to introduce it into the hydro setup until visible roots are poking out the bottom, but that has to do with not wasting the nutrients for the solution or the energy it takes to power your system until your plants are mature enough to benefit from it and nothing else really.

[dbrn32]

Sorry, I’ve been really busy, but looks like Graysin and HappyHydroGrower habe you in really good hands.

[Mcsketcher]

Blumat does work great… Getting ready to use them again. I’m going to put jacks 20-20-20 in the water reservoir at 1/4 strength for a continuous feed this time… Switch to 10-30-20 for flower

[SynysterChris]

@Graysin

35 gallons of water). It does cost ~$300-$350,

Oh damn. Do you need multiple of those for multiple totes of water??
I could be way off but I think the typical storage totes I have are like 35-40 gallon, and I can’t imagine more than two plants per tote… or can one chiller be hooked up to like, 5 totes to do 10 plants?

@Graysin

microbes are needed

Would the “billions” stuff work for that?, Or is it different with soil?

Ah okay so it’s more than okay to establish a root system before switching them into the hydro setup.

@dbrn32 oh definitely, started with a simple leaf problem and turned into I learned more than my brain can hold and bought many new things and made many new plans🤣

And I’m not 100% on this but the leaf issue or a similar one is still present on a couple plants

I’m not sure if this is something different, or more like just the taco-ing “healed but never 100% went back to normal” kinda thing.
I’m guessing not that because I beleive some leaves here and there are like this that weren’t taco-ing before, but none to an extreme level?
I’m baffled.
Don’t think it can be light, its happened at low enough light to cause stretching and lower leaves dying, and doesn’t seem worse with light turned up,
Def can’t be heat, from 80s before I did a few days with AC, had it down to 70… (Too cold I know, but had to try),.
Doubt it’s humidity cuz same crap, looks like this at 20% and also at 80% lol,
Doubt it’s watering cuz dry or wet same thing…
Deprived food, fed heavy,. Same…
All outta variables haha

Probably ignore the neon green color, they needed feeding when I took the pic. Fed lastnight, so nitrogen should be being gobbled down on right now. The leaves were doing the pinch thing Before the hunger

[Graysin]

@SynysterChris

Do you need multiple of those for multiple totes of water??

No, just one for the whole system. If you are planning a large system, I would bump up to a 1/4 or 1/2HP chiller, the price difference is negligible ($400 vs $350 in most cases) and will allow you to scale up without having to buy multiples.

@SynysterChris

can one chiller be hooked up to like, 5 totes to do 10 plants?

Yep. The point of the system is to recirculate the water and keep it in constant motion, so the chiller just cools all the water in the system.

@SynysterChris

Would the “billions” stuff work for that?, Or is it different with soil?

I use Billions in my hydro system too. But hydro requires extra bacillus amyliwhatever, so you use it in addition to the microbes you use for general plant growth/health.

@SynysterChris

All outta variables haha

Root issues. That’s the last variable. Just because your pot is dry and light doesn’t mean the roots didn’t get over saturated and almost drowned/are actively fighting against root rot. It may take them a while of careful watering practices (ensuring they’re really, really dry between waterings) and plenty of microbial life to rejuvenate them fully.

As far as the tacoed leaves - remove them. See if it recurs. Then you’ll know.

[SynysterChris]

Okay good, def wouldn’t wanna spend that for just a couple plants haha so I guess Like most other things when I do it I’ll be diving deep and doing like 5 tubs/10 plants haha

Aaah ok, I’ll have to start a wishlist for the stuff I’ll need

The other day I was thinking the same, musta been the roots, maybe watered a day early or something,
But yesterday I noticed the same issue to a slighter degree on two of the smaller ones that are in pure coco and have hardly been watered O.o

Also noticed it’s slightly on the little ones on one end of the room, and(pictured) on the two at the back of the room, but not at all on the ones in the middle.
Guess it’s still possible tho I just don’t understand it haha
I used the billions the other day when I fed,
Runoff Ppms weren’t alarming on any of them really so I guess next time i can water I’ll feed again and use a little extra billions, I assume that can’t hurt anything?
They’re generally high up leaves like the 2nd-to-newest growth on one of them, is it okay to cut those without harming anything?

[Graysin]

@SynysterChris

They’re generally high up leaves like the 2nd-to-newest growth on one of them, is it okay to cut those without harming anything?

Yeah, a few fans here and there won’t hurt anything.

[SynysterChris]

Okay cool, I’ll trim off the worst ones. Gonna leave the ones that seem to slightly do it on and off, since that’s a lot of leaves haha. I’m thinking maybe the weather contributed too, it’s been way humid lately from the rain. Got up to 80% in there yesterday and they are NOT accustomed to that so maybe they’re trying to sweat it out even more? Ran the AC to lower it a bit, as much as I could without making it too cold.
I ordered a dehumidifier to help later in flower on days we get monsoons/rain etc cuz even with the fan in the AC and my other fans if the air outside is humid I can’t really dry it.

What do you think of this?, The new growth kinda curling?
Is that normal if they’re kinda exploding with growth?(last two days they have been, probably starting to flower)
Or is that something coinciding with the taco/serration thing?

[Graysin]

They look fairly regular, only thing that seems a little out of place is the taco on the last picture. Even that seems minor compared to how they’ve been in the past.

Since they’re really starting to flower now, it’s time to crank your lights to max, though. They’re gonna need every bit of energy you can give em.

I’ll be curious to see how they respond.

[SynysterChris]

Yeah for sure, it’s def not as extreme as it was in the past. I think you’re right it’s gotta be a root thing and they’re seemingly recovering from it, since I’ve screwed with Every other variable from light to humidity and temp, hell I had it as low as 63(accidentally left ac on too long lol)
They didn’t care though and Im glad cuz it showed me I can easily get it as cool as I want late in flower to try to get all those pretty fall colors haha.

@Graysin

lights to max, though.

Already on it since flipping them 6 days ago I’ve been turning it up a little bit each day, think I’m around probably 75%ish power currently, also put the viparspectra 150 in there as well over the two at the end that taco the most, they probably get the least light from the greenbeams plus I figured with the high humidity lately maybe the extra heat could help them dry out and start choosing to keep some of their water haha

[SynysterChris]

#StupidLeafOfTheDay haha

Like, geeze make up your damn mind are you trying to conserve your water, or get rid of it?

[SynysterChris]

@Graysin this the start of male flowers?
Im assuming that, just wanted a second verification before I give it a funeral and punch myself in the nads for wasting the time effort and supplies transplanting this one into a 5 gal.
And then an extra punch because it is my second biggest plant >.<

[Beck]

Looks like boy to me…
Punch him in the nads, not yourself

[SynysterChris]

Yup that’s what I figured just wanted to make sure nobody disagrees before I give it a Viking funeral

And it just freaken had to be one of the biggest ones that I uppotted to a 5gal lmao

[Beck]

But you need the space anyway right? So maybe it’s a blessing in disguise

[Beck]

My only time growing regular seeds it was the biggest, most robust, fasted growing that turned out to be boys. So sad. Sticking with gems now…
*Fems not gems. Damn autocorrect

[SynysterChris]

Bahaha that’s exactly what I just told myself, “well now I’ll be able to walk in there”.
I think a second one is also male:( not as far along as this one, will take a pic in a bit but it looks like it’s starting to me

[Beck]

Like that you have space, not that maybe another male