Still having unknown plant problemsa

[stinkyattic]

I hate to say it, but the 'autopot' style of hydro system may be making your troubles worse. Remind me again if you have aeration in there?
Let me give you some background on the place of perlite in a hydroponic system. I'm NOT an expert by any stretch, but these are the situations in which you are most likely to encounter commercial growers using it:
-As a lightener for a coco coir grow
-As a medium for starting cuttings
-As a medium for growing root vegetables or fast-cropping leafy crops in a flood-n-drain system that allows for COMPLETE drainage between flood cycles. (Yes, I spend too much time reading Growing Edge haha so sue me)
You never want your roots sitting in the solution unless it is being AGGRESSIVELY aerated as a DWC grow. You can fertilize all ya want, but with insufficient oxygenation to the root zone, the plants can't do much with their food, like giving a calzone to a dude with no teeth.

So. Given what you have there, and trying for minimal root disturbance while you are troubleshooting... I'm going to suggest adding some serious airstones to the reservoir. If you can't guarantee complete drainage, you are going to have to suck it up and build a hybrid between that style and a DWC style to deliver O2 to the root zone, or completely re-think the system.
Just out of curiosity, how many gallons does the res on that thing hold, and how is the water transferred to the inside of the pot? I hope it's not a wick system; if it is, I don't know what to tell ya other than lose the whole autopot and convert to an automatic drip-to-waste with good drainage. You should have at least a couple gallons to do this right. Stick an aquarium pump in the res and use weedhound's basic sick hydro plant schedule:
Distilled or RO water, add CalMag Plus to 300ppm, add a stand-alone base fert with micros to 600ppm, adjust pH to 6.0, cross your fingers.
I think those plants are too weak to take clones at the moment. The clones are unlikely to survive.

[Mr. Clandestine]

You can fertilize all ya want, but with insufficient oxygenation to the root zone, the plants can't do much with their food, like giving a calzone to a dude with no teeth.

LMAO! Good analogy! Sorry, just felt the need to chime in and say that. I'll get back to lurking now... :jointsmile:

[darbolah]

sorhow about ......
I sit the pots above the system for a few days (1-3) to allow full drainage and i hand water 3 times a day. While doing this i will buy a ebb and flow system that just drip waters the plants and drains the waste. Because of the space problem i have i will have to empty the drain tray (under the planter tray) once every day back into the resevoir. Il probable go with clay balls for the medium. Will this be an ok alternative ? Also would it not be wise to transplant and also do you have any ideas on how i might do that considering one of the pots has two plants in it :S

Also stinky in regards to how it feeds from the resevoir, it works like a gravity fed sorta thing and all the water builds up below the plants and then empties down to nothing for 10 mins or so then repeats. Its sorta shit i know but i will buy a two piece ebb and flow or something of that nature. I really just want to see out this grow as its my first and i dont really want to give up :P

Thanks stinky and all other

[stinkyattic]

Try adding an aquarium air stone to your res as it is right now then, if you think you want to keep using it, and try to figure out how to drain it better.
Oaky. Let's think what your other options for salvaging your system are.
A simple pump, sitting in a 5 gallon pail below your pot, and plugged into a timer to run every ~4 hours or so, pumping to drip emitter stakes or even just tubing secured so it drips at the base of the plant, is a simple and cheap automatic drip system. You can do drip-to-waste or recirc. drip on that system.
For a simple to build and maintain hydro, that is not ebb n flow, go into the grow log section and look for 'stinky kinda likes the darkside'. That style doesn't require an air pump because the water is constantly moving around and mixing in atmospheric gases. Transplanting- because of your drainage problems, you might be best off transplanting. You will have to be careful not to damage the roots. Perlite falls away easily, so be careful. Another pair of hands to support the root ball as you do a pot swap would be helpful. You can transplant into promix or coco without washing the roots, and that is what I would do if those were my plants. Both are soilless mixes and pretty compatible with perlite. If you choose coco, keep using calmag on it! But anyway, the roots will quickly grow into the surrounding medium and your watering woes will diminish.
Yikes. You have quite a tough situation to fix there. Sorry it's turning into such a clusterfuck.

[darbolah]

ok iv let my girlfriend know im going to the hydroshop today as iv been clusterfucked. Yes its officialy, well stinky thats been alot of help, but i think im going to just but a complete new setup no expense spared. As for the medium im going to be using 1 tray for all of the plants and il just use netted cups to keep them seperate so i might get clay balls a try as i cant get calmag in brisbane and i dont know what promix is :P

I wish myself good luck

[darbolah]

Im going to get some of the parts today but as for my sick plants im going to buy some good soil with no ferts and transplant them at the beginning of their light period. Im gonna mix 1/3 perlite from my current system (flushed and drained ofcourse). I will then water with tap water at ph of 6.8 using 1/4 strength canna ferts. Do you guys think this will help

[darbolah]

-indoor
-soilless
-perlite
-Hand watered 3 times per day (when lights are on
-Tap water
-pH 6.4
-7-8 weeks old
-Canna Vega a+b 1/3 strenght
-In every watering ferts are added
-400w HPS with cooltube - about 30-40cms away from light
-between 84-88F (Lights on) 74-76F (Lights off)
-Humidity unknown - i have very good ventilation
-Day 13 of 12/12
-I have 30cm bathroom fan intake and high power exhaust running off my cooltube.

Pics included and also one of my first little bud


Hope this helps
Thankyou

[darbolah]

looks like a P deficiency - how might i fix this, by upping my nutes or changing my ph ?

Peace

[Weedhound]

Darbolah......that ph is the ph of ? Your water or your adjusted nute solution? Is growing in perlite like that considered a hempy bucket?

What's the ph of your runoff? And are you checking or do you check ppms?

[Weedhound]

Also any chance we could get a pic of the whole plant from the top looking down so we can see the whole thing at once.....the side view doesn't quite do it.