ph is a bitch i adjust mine EVERYDAY, but anyway there is no airwand in the aerogarden
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ph is a bitch i adjust mine EVERYDAY, but anyway there is no airwand in the aerogarden
I have some ph down, instead of a full flush can I just add a little bit at a time to the res until i'm good?
if the waterflo is not strong enought, remove the white filter on theplant holder(top half of the revisor) and there is a dial (pump control) which it prob set to 2 or 3, change it to 5
yea, but PH DOWN IS VERY STONG so add very little at a time on my aerogarden i add 1-2 drops at a time then wait 5mins for the pump to mix it in then check and add more if necessary
i was able to take off the top, but could not find the dial to up the flow...where is it?
give me 1 sec ill take a pic
HERE:
^^^^^ thats the top half of the revosor,
just dont forget to replace the filter
better all that shit on my filter is on the filter and not cloggin the tubes
btw NEVER USE LIQUID KARMA WITH THIS MACHINE IT CLOGS IT VERY QUICKLY AND IS A BITCH TO REMOVE (HAD TO FILL REVISOR WITH BLEACH+RUBBIN ALCHOL AND PLUG IT IN FOR 2 DAYS TO CLEAN OUT THE TUBES)
If that's the case, I don't think I would try anything organic. It's more likely to have chunks.
Also I didn't think the garden came with an air stone. I highly recomend putting one in. Better yet an air wand.
thanks for the step by step pics OJB
will do on the air stone or wand...i presume this would add more air bubbles to the water in the res, correct? any suggestions on brand/type or where to get one?
OJB, just removed the filter and turned the dial up to 5. thanks for the advice. There was so much root around that filter, i think that was what was clogging it up. I had to tear away some of the roots...I know that is not good, but how bad is it to damage the roots?
If you don't go overboard, you can cut roots without a problem.
just wanted to give you guys an update plus i have a few questions (surprise surprise)....these seeds were planted on nov 5th so we are at 7 weeks this coming monday dec 17th. The strain is white widow from buydutchseeds.com The tallest one is just about a foot tall and the leaves are almost touching the aerogarden hood. i need to change my lighting soon, more on that in a second here are my questions/issues:
1. PH in this thing is a bitch. I have had a digital hanna meter for about a week now and my readings are all over the place. it came with 7.01 clalibration solution and every time I put the meter in there I have to re-calibrate by a lot. my real issue is that the ph spikes suddenly for no reason. I will change the water (which I do about three or four days) I will use a gallon of spring water (the aerogarden only holds a gallon) with fox farms grow big at approx 1/3 - 1/2 strength, then add a little bit of ph down to get to around 5.3 - 5.5 ph, everything will be OK for a day, but then my ph will suddenly shoot up to 7.5 overnight. is this normal? any suggestions? should I change the res more / less frequently?
2. Yellowing Leaves. As you can see from the pics, I still have yellowing leaves. not sure what this can be due to, I am using the correct nutes now, and ph is somewhat under control. Should I be removing these yellow leaves? if so, where should I cut them? how about the ones that are half yellow / half healthy?
3. Venting. I am adding an 250W HID to this setup in a few days (HID is late due to shipping issues) and the more I read in this forum the more i realize how important venting is. this setup is in a 2' x 9' closet, and that closet is in a room that is 25' x 12' (big room) and i have central ac/heat which i keep the fan on all the time. the door of the closet will be open when the HID is on. in addition i am going to have a table fan blowing on the HID. I would love to have a vent fan in that closet but it's not going to happen, at least not for this grow. do you think this will be sufficient? any suggestions on anything more I can do?
4. HID light. I bought a cheap 250W HPS/MH conversion from inside sun. I ordered and paid for it two weeks ago and still have not received it. latest word is that it shipped yesterday. Their shipping / general sense of urgency is beyond slow. I am not sure how the product is going to be because it was so cheap, but I "upgraded" to the new ballast from the refurbished one, so hopefully that was a good idea. anyone have any suggestions/reviews on this product? I am not expecting much.
5. Flowering. my plan is to run that HID for a few weeks with the MH bulb, then switch to the HPS and start flowering. do you think this is a good idea? are these plants old/big enough? this is my first grow and i'm not so much concerned with the largest yield possible, I am much more concerned with producing smokeable buds. and not failing. I would like to get one or two grows under my belt then upgrade some of my equipment (starting with the aerogarden). so, anyone have any suggestions on when to start flowering these bitches?
as always, thanks for the help...enjoy the pics
As much as it would be nice to save those things......I firmly believe you should start over......and not use that thing. I would personally rather use soil over that. There are so many things about that aeroponic machine that just scream to me, "not for weed growing!!!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by pnice
no, no, no, dont think you should start over becides the yellow leaves they look fine
and i completely agree i fuckin hate ph
There are much better solutions out there. You can even build one that operates much better than that. Also, I'm not sure if you're still using those "pucks", but if so, do you even know what those nutrients consist of? Sounds to me like you have very little control over the most important factors of the grow. I will also add, that small reservoir probably isn't helping your PH problem. How big is that reservoir BTW?
It will help sooo much. Not only will your plants grow faster and bigger, but they will more likely be disease free.Quote:
Originally Posted by wordsandwich
I don't know the brand names, but I recommend getting an air wand, not an air stone. The air stones break apart after one harvest. The light green air wands will last forever and you can cut them to any size. Got mine at Walmart. Just clean them with a scouring pad after each harvest. Some air wands are a flexible rubberish type but I have not tried them. I've heard good things about them though.
quote=wordsandwich
1. PH in this thing is a bitch. I have had a digital hanna meter for about a week now and my readings are all over the place. it came with 7.01 clalibration solution and every time I put the meter in there I have to re-calibrate by a lot. my real issue is that the ph spikes suddenly for no reason. I will change the water (which I do about three or four days) I will use a gallon of spring water (the aerogarden only holds a gallon) with fox farms grow big at approx 1/3 - 1/2 strength, then add a little bit of ph down to get to around 5.3 - 5.5 ph, everything will be OK for a day, but then my ph will suddenly shoot up to 7.5 overnight. is this normal? any suggestions? should I change the res more / less frequently?
When you say recalibrate every time, do you mean the meter or the nutrient solution? Normally recalibrate refers to a meter. If it's your meter, take it back. I hear many bad things about Hanna brand. It's not too late to get your money back. If it's the water, use different water. Some water cannot hold a PH level. This is actually fairly common. Also as plants feed, the EC changes and so does PH. One way that you can use the same water and never have to worry about PH is to build this: http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs...-tutorial.html Also if you have a little money, it would be real nice if you could have a meter that continuously monitors your PH and EC. These combo meters usually also show the res temp, but that's something I've never had to worry about. Maybe for Xmas? You can test your water by simply PHing it, then leave it sit out for a day and see how much it moves. The water probably won't move at all, but the PH level might, and if it moves a lot you'll need a reverse osmosis machine or different water source.
2. Yellowing Leaves. As you can see from the pics, I still have yellowing leaves. not sure what this can be due to, I am using the correct nutes now, and ph is somewhat under control. Should I be removing these yellow leaves? if so, where should I cut them? how about the ones that are half yellow / half healthy?
This is not nute burn since the tips are not affected, so I would suggest trying a little higher concentration of nutrients, maybe 1/2 or 2/3 strength. The plant may be eating itself to stay alive. Please carefully note that I am not highly skilled at diagnosing plant problems, therefore I suggest looking on one of the 3 problem charts I posted before just plunging into more nutes. FAIRLY SURE THOUGH. (Search problem chart with my name in advanced search, or just problem chart.) Also screwed up PH, or even fluctuating PH can cause a lot of problems, including yellowing leaves. Never remove leaves until they are completely yellow or brown, unless they are blocking an important node from light and you can't successfully bend them out of the way.
3. Venting. I am adding an 250W HID to this setup in a few days (HID is late due to shipping issues) and the more I read in this forum the more i realize how important venting is. this setup is in a 2' x 9' closet, and that closet is in a room that is 25' x 12' (big room) and i have central ac/heat which i keep the fan on all the time. the door of the closet will be open when the HID is on. in addition i am going to have a table fan blowing on the HID. I would love to have a vent fan in that closet but it's not going to happen, at least not for this grow. do you think this will be sufficient? any suggestions on anything more I can do?
I think it will be OK, but you might have to keep the light a couple feet from the plants. That should still do better than what you have right now. Try to have at least one fan blowing up directly at the light and things should be fine. Is the HID MH or HPS? For your setup I was going to suggest perhaps skipping veg for the most part since you don't have a lot of space. That way there would be no need for MH.
4. HID light. I bought a cheap 250W HPS/MH conversion from inside sun. I ordered and paid for it two weeks ago and still have not received it. latest word is that it shipped yesterday. Their shipping / general sense of urgency is beyond slow. I am not sure how the product is going to be because it was so cheap, but I "upgraded" to the new ballast from the refurbished one, so hopefully that was a good idea. anyone have any suggestions/reviews on this product? I am not expecting much.
Well that answers my question in #4. Conversion ballasts are great for non sog-style grows. I must say I would give that company an earful. I bought 2 meters from Seeds Etc. through "buy it now" on Ebay. Their prices were the lowest of the other companies offering the exact same things, and I got free next day shipping. (For a somewhat interesting story concerning that go here: http://boards.cannabis.com/cannabis-...ml#post1760773.) Kinda the opposite of your deal. In general I believe you get what you pay for, but there are many good deals available. I don't know about your particular brand, but I'll bet it will do the job fine. I also think it was wise of you to get new instead of refurbished.
5. Flowering. my plan is to run that HID for a few weeks with the MH bulb, then switch to the HPS and start flowering. do you think this is a good idea? are these plants old/big enough? this is my first grow and i'm not so much concerned with the largest yield possible, I am much more concerned with producing smokable buds. and not failing. I would like to get one or two grows under my belt then upgrade some of my equipment (starting with the aerogarden). so, anyone have any suggestions on when to start flowering these bitches?
Just remember that it's common for plants to double or triple in size once you go to flower. You might be able to find out exactly what to expect for your strain by looking at seed sites. I would start thinking about how you are going to raise the light as the plant grows, if you haven't got that figured out yet. So I'm thinking flower as soon as you feel the plants are healthy, and after you've fed them at least near full strength once or twice.
I noticed the brown on some of the root tips. This isn't great and is probably contributing to the overall stress. If you can keep the water level no farther than 3 or 4 inches from the top roots, and have an air wand running the length of the res, the popping bubbles will keep all roots moist and you won't have that problem. This and the PH would be my biggest priority, PH first.
I would not just toss the whole grow at this point. You could flower right now and have at least a little bud in the end. Just keep looking after her and try to keep the PH stable. This is huge. You've only learned about vegging with CFL's at this point. You might as well go ahead and learn about HID and budding while you are at it. It should be a big help in your next grow.
And yes, it's true the Aerogarden is not ideal for hydro weed growing, but so what? Many people grow in less than ideal situations, with good results to boot. It's just another reservoir after all. I would even consider a screen to take advantage of all the available area and to keep the plants out of the light(s). For HID lights a stadium screen is best to take advantage of the ball-shaped light intensity. I would grow only one or two plants at a time in that small space, or a couple more and skip veg entirely.
Looking forward to an end result. It's a struggle I know, but I think it would be worth it.
I hope the best for your garden. That HPS should be a nice addition to your setup.
thanks for the advice guys...opie you have basically walked me thru every step here and I appreciate you taking the time to answer all my questions. really, thank you very much..
You're very welcome.
any updated pix?
Here are some updated pics. I added an air pump and air wand to my setup as you can see, the pump/wand are for a 15 gallon fish tank, so the wand wraps around the bottom of my 1 gallon res two times and the res is filled with tiny air bubbles all day. Total cost was just over $20 at petco (prob could have gotten cheaper at walmart i think) but it's more than worth the money I paid. I have had the wand in there for three days and already there is an amazing difference. The roots have gone from brown patchy dry spots to almost pink and covered in bubbles. and my plants have grown a lot over the last three days. a few leaves of my tallest plant actually hit the CFLs (see pics) and have a few brown burned spots, so I had to get creative with my light placement. my HID should be here today, so next post hopefully I will be reporting some bigger better changes..
I am assuming I should run this pump/wand 24 hrs? or should I keep it on with the lights only?
enjoy the pics...
That is great. I'm glad they are doing good. Oh what a difference some bubbles can make.
And yes, I would leave it running constantly. I do, and I think most others do as well.
Hello all well I'm going to post in this thread seeing as I'm doing almost the exact same thing so at least you can compare the results from mine to yours.. I've made some improvements to my grow station since my cat went ahead and ate and cracked my stem of my last baby while playing with it (pic taken right before it happened :()
Anyway I'm taking everything in this thread and applying it to my current grow aside the 400w lamp. Also I got the newest aero grow news letter in and they have made the aerogrow pro 200 which puts out a lot better light and lets you grow up to 2 feet 24 inches something i will be getting if this grow goes well.
Hey rza, thanks for the added insight. That's a bummer about the cat breaking your plant. Did you know that you could have taped it back together and it would have healed, even if it was broken clean through? You gotta do it right away though.
I did not know that. This is all very new to me it seems that im learning something new everyday with all of this..Quote:
Originally Posted by Opie Yutts
i just got my fox farm grow big in. The instructions say to add 3 teaspoons per gallon.. Ok well thats a no brainer, with the aero garden we are only working with a 1 gallon res.
I assume that i want to do a complete flush ( taking out all the old water and put fresh water in) since i have old nuets in there from the tablets the system origionally came with. Is this correct?
Also how often do i add the 3 teaspoons into the res.?
thanks all!
Yeah, I would do a flush. Dump everything out, then refill it with plain PH'd water and dump that out. At that point, if your plants are having any kind of problems you should just let them feed on another batch of PH'd water for 2 or 3 days, then dump again and start feeding. Otherwise, proceed as described below.
Also how often do i add the 3 teaspoons into the res.?
Never. Don't ever add nutrients to your reservoir unless you know what you are doing as far as EC and PPM. Unless you have a multimeter monitoring the PPM and PH in the res, you would have no way of knowing how much nutrients or PH up/down to add. It is much much safer to mix up your solution then add it. As the plant uses the nutrients the PH and PPM are always changing. Every time you add solution, you are adding to a solution that is already in there, and each time what is left is higher and higher in salt content and other bad stuff. That's why you need to flush about every 3rd feeding or at least once every three weeks in that size res.
OR
If you don't want to worry about what the PPM or salt content is in your res, you can always play it safe by feeding twice normally, then every third feeding is just PH'd water. This should help keep the salt content and what not low enough that you don't have flush nearly as often, maybe roughly kinda sorta every 8th feeding instead. Personally I prefer more flushing, and therefore more feeding nutrients instead of a watered down version of an old nutrient solution.
As far as how often do you feed? Depends, but I have a similar system right now but on a larger scale, and I just let the nutes run as low as I can without drying out roots too much, then feed. If you have an air stone or wand, you can run the nutes lower since bubbles breaking will splash moisture on the roots. A few days ago that was once every 3 days. Now it's more like once every 2 days. As they get older they eat more and faster.
Oh, and I would just not start right out at full strength with a new nutrient. I use Grow Big, and it seems like 3 teaspoons per gallon might be a little much for even full grown plants, and younguns want even less.
Merry Christmas. Darn I gotta go wrap 2 presents still.
i am sorely tempted to try one of these with some of the autoflowering Lowlife strains
The pro version goes up to 24", which is the tallest a lowlife currently gets.
Light shouldnt be a problem, lowlifes are autoflower, so i could just put it in the conservatory, 80w of CFL+Sunlight should be plenty
tempted.., tempted...
Thanks for the quick response :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Opie Yutts
I currently have a ph meter that i got off of ebay so i will be able to monitor that at least.
So let me see if I got this right. Your saying with my current setup that i want to basically starve the plant then add the fox farm ensuring that I dont over feed the plant?
Again sorry for being such a noob at this..
You would only want to flush them and then have them suck on plain water for a few days if there is some kind of problem like lock-out, which is very possible when you don't know your PH. If there is no problem, just start feeding after 2 weeks of growth, but start at about 1/4 strength. And whenever you change brands, don't start at what the directions call for, since sometimes they are too aggressive.
looks prity good
what is the difference from using distilled or purified water? I have been using purified water with my grows is that wrong to do?
I would check into that and find out exactly what's in your purified water. If it is like reverse osmosis, where all the metals and trace elements are stripped out, then you need to add CalMag or something to make up for it. Iron, zinc, all that stuff is important. I use well water just fine. Most people use city tap water just fine if they neutralize the chlorine either with drops or by letting it sit out for about 3 days so all the chlorine can evaporate.
I don't know what the difference is between distilled and purified. Try running it through a search engine.
think distilled water is heated into steam then cooled back to liquid which is clean water, and purified can be filtered/reverse osmosis, but not 100% im too lazy to look it up
That sounds about right if memory serves.
in the past few days I have noticed some pink slime in my res...it has gotten everywhere, it's all in the roots and clogging up the flow of the aerogarden..
i will post a few pics later...anyone have any ideas as to what it may be?
pink slime....?? hmmm....
whats everything your adding to your revisor?
i just skimmed the last page quickly and noticed that when you added the air wand that you have the tube going through the hindge on the.... water adding lid <- dont know what to call it, has it been like that for a wile?, letting water in the revisor can result in a bad mold problem
did it at all resimble somthing like this only in pink?
this is Plasmodium Stage of Slime Mould