DWC Plant Problems..Help Please!

Hi everyone haven't been back in the scene since I messed up my first DWC by using too much nutes and then drying too fast. ( had a nice harvest but bud taste and buzz suffered allot from my mistakes ). Anyhow I am going for round #2 and decided to pop my " Hazeman - Headband " beans the first of this year. The plant grew extremely slow for the first few months and the roots did not come threw the net pots until just a couple of weeks ago.. ( I am using a 6 gallon rez and 10" net pot, I think I placed the rock wool too high in the net pots hydroton and thats what took so long for them to make it threw the pots ? .. not sure )... So in basic this thing has been in veg 5 months at the end of this month and is just now starting to take off since roots finally hit the rez water. Since day one I have been having Ph issues it would drop daily from 5.8 down to around 4.5 and the ppm's kept rising. That max I have ever had the ppm's on this plant was 350-400 and at that level it seemed as if I was getting N-Tox and possible slight nute burn so I backed the ppm's down to around 300 and was still having the same issues with ph dropping and ppm's rising. around 4 weeks ago it seemed at even 300 ppm's the leaves were still turning super dark green and folding in clawing and looking weird like as if N-Tox was still happening so the last few weeks I dropped the ppm's to around 200 and the Ph seemed to have stabilized way better than before and now the ppm's are dropping instead of going up. I was using Ph up like it was going out of style, finally I am using a bit of Ph down ever other day or so too keep Ph around 5.8 after it drifts up to around 6.1 - 6.3 after a day or two. What is confusing me is as big as this plant is can it be possible that this strain likes below 200 ppm ? Seems to me like it would be starving it but if I go any stronger with my ( Dyna-Gro ) nutes it seems as if I get the N-Tox symptoms and ppms rise while Ph drops. As crazy as it sounds my ppms are as low as 120-150 ppm right now and the plant seems as if it is starting to look much better on the newer growth but this just seems extremely low for nutes too me. I did do ALLOT of LST , Super Cropping, and Topping which I am sure is one reason it has taken so long to get where it is after all this time , 5 months veg I would think this thing would be massive! But I have included a few pics of her that may better show something that may help point me in the right direction or on any clues why she looks the way she does with drooping leaves and all .. Any help is much appreciated, I want to put her into flower soon but want to get her as healthy as possiable before doing so and I guess I am kind of nervous with over nuting since it ruined my last crop :/ .. Thanks in advance

Also - Hazeman seeds says she likes little nutes, but that little ???

I'm sorry man but i have to say WTF 5 MONTHS?!

That is what I find the biggest problem here... How much weed do you want, this personal use? There comes a point where the extra time isn't worth it when you could have already harvested and started another.

What lighting are you using? Just CFL? How many watts?

My root hits the water on day 8, consistently. Your problem is your roots have not been in the res and have been growing in not optimal conditions for a long time.

Where was your water line? Below the net pot or up in it?

I'd assume you're trying to get a big plant, but remember once you flower it will grow big fast. You could have this same result plant with like 6 week trained veg and then flip and train the flower stretch to this result. That'd give you an identical sized plant that would have been done and harvested over a month ago.

I never used those nutes but that is quite a low ppm as well but i think that is due to the environment you've created for the roots.

Oh and Are you top feeding? How large is the rockwool block? Let's see a pic of the roots/pull the netpot up and take a pic.

How much hydroton(inches deep) is between the rockwool and the bottom of the net pot?

Thanks for the reply Anon Emaus . I can only grow 1 plant @ a time due to room and equipment so I was aiming for @ least a half lb. from her and yes for personal use. I can only get about 2 grows in a yr due to my schedule so I aim to make the most at each run. I am using x12 ( 23 watt CFL's = 8 Blue & 4 Red Spectrum ) + x6 4' Red Spectrum tube fluro's for side lighting, total approx ( 26,200 lumens ) . I just started to run the side lighting the past 2 weeks. Once I switch to flower I will be using the side lighting but swap the x12 CFL's out for a 150 watt HPS and x2 Mars-Hydro 300 watt full spectrum LED units..... Rez water line , I have a drip system on my DWC so for the first couple of months I kept water level right below the net pot's with drip running. After 3 months and I still didn't see any roots coming though the pots I started to fill the water level higher approx 1 " into the bottom of pots. You are 100% right , roots were growing in just the hydroton for months and far from optimal conditions I should have upped my water level way back then. The bottom of the rockwool ( round plug ) was only approx 4 " deep in the hydroton which I realize now was to shallow for the size of the net pot. I made some mistakes for sure but I am wondering if these mistakes would account for her not wanting hardly any nutes ? Also it seemed as if right after I added the Nutrilife H2O2 ( 5 ml per gallon ) to the rez is when the roots finally popped trough and started to take off. The main reason I am fighting this run so much is I only had x2 Headband " Regular " beans from start which I am told that are originally Loompa's Gear that Hazeman worked with ( Headband x Purple Urkle ) hit back to a Male Headband that is claimed to also be from Loompa's stock. It is very risky in my location to order beans so I am pretty much forced to work with what I can get so my intention was to do a S1 with her so I have more beans. I have already cloned her and am flowing that clone now to self for more seed. If i had more available access to " souvenirs " I would not have played this run out as long as I have but seed is the main focus so want to assure for all the effort on that I get a nice flower reward as well ... Do you think keeping her in veg now with roots doing much better and all that she will pick up normal and be ok ? Any suggestions are much welcomed .. Thanks a Mil

Lots to work on here.. .5# and CFL needn't be in the same paragraph. You're a prime candidate for a 315 or 600. Waterline needs to be at bottom of net pot so as to avoid cord roots. At her age bump it to 1.0 ec and she'll shift gears for ya. I'm not trying to be rude I'm trying to align your goals; much respect.

Thanks pinner , due for a rez change in a day and will bump up and see where it goes .. Not sure what ya mean by 315 or 600 though , lol ..Im an ol head not very familiar with the whole hydro thing at all only my second attempt at it , until the last 2 grows its always been outdoor and soil for me .. feel like Im walking in a whole new world , but lovin it if I can just get it all smoothed out

Referring to bulbs. Pick your flavor if you have a go to!

WildWoodFlower said:

Thanks for the reply Anon Emaus . I can only grow 1 plant @ a time due to room and equipment so I was aiming for @ least a half lb. from her and yes for personal use. I can only get about 2 grows in a yr due to my schedule so I aim to make the most at each run. I am using x12 ( 23 watt CFL's = 8 Blue & 4 Red Spectrum ) + x6 4' Red Spectrum tube fluro's for side lighting, total approx ( 26,200 lumens ) . I just started to run the side lighting the past 2 weeks. Once I switch to flower I will be using the side lighting but swap the x12 CFL's out for a 150 watt HPS and x2 Mars-Hydro 300 watt full spectrum LED units..... Rez water line , I have a drip system on my DWC so for the first couple of months I kept water level right below the net pot's with drip running. After 3 months and I still didn't see any roots coming though the pots I started to fill the water level higher approx 1 " into the bottom of pots. You are 100% right , roots were growing in just the hydroton for months and far from optimal conditions I should have upped my water level way back then. The bottom of the rockwool ( round plug ) was only approx 4 " deep in the hydroton which I realize now was to shallow for the size of the net pot. I made some mistakes for sure but I am wondering if these mistakes would account for her not wanting hardly any nutes ? Also it seemed as if right after I added the Nutrilife H2O2 ( 5 ml per gallon ) to the rez is when the roots finally popped trough and started to take off. The main reason I am fighting this run so much is I only had x2 Headband " Regular " beans from start which I am told that are originally Loompa's Gear that Hazeman worked with ( Headband x Purple Urkle ) hit back to a Male Headband that is claimed to also be from Loompa's stock. It is very risky in my location to order beans so I am pretty much forced to work with what I can get so my intention was to do a S1 with her so I have more beans. I have already cloned her and am flowing that clone now to self for more seed. If i had more available access to " souvenirs " I would not have played this run out as long as I have but seed is the main focus so want to assure for all the effort on that I get a nice flower reward as well ... Do you think keeping her in veg now with roots doing much better and all that she will pick up normal and be ok ? Any suggestions are much welcomed .. Thanks a Mil

View attachment 3687070

Click to expand...

No problem man! Sorry to come off a little like a dick lol depends on the night you catch me on haha

I am actually in a very similar situation as you. I run only 1 plant in dwc. I do not top feed though. I had problems with it when i tried to use it when i was completely new to growing. I also continue to see a lot of people have problems when top feeding. I highly suggest that you drop the top feed since you are new. I just keep the medium, in your case rockwool(i use rapid rooters), moist until the root makes it to the water. I think top feeding doesn't force the plant to grow to the water so it slows things down and doesn't get the roots in the best place which is the oxygenated water. Although now that your roots are in the water you should be fine.

Good to hear you cloned her, that makes more sense that she's a mother she looks perfect for that!

I wouldn't account the nute issues you are having as anyhing you should base your growing off of in the future because this root issue caused it. If your roots were down in the water as they should have been things would have been a lot different.

As for bean ordering, i can highly suggest Nirvana as an awesome stealth sender. I can't imagine how it could be better.

What line of nutes sorry if I missed it. What sauce you rockn?

Thanks Anon feeling a bit better about her recovery now ... The last run I did was Nirvana NL however the beans came from The Single Seed Centre and I had to jump through hoops to get them here.. was paranoid as hell and something I don't want to chance often, if ever again lol. My State just became the latest for Medical use but are still complete ass wipes about accepting the fact that its a plant not the evil drug they still to date try to depict it as. pinner420 I am running Dyna-Gro . I started with the KLN and Grow first few weeks , Now using the Pro-Tekt + Grow + Very Little Mag-Pro just encase since I run Distilled Water ..With a few drops of H2O2 Each Rez Change .... Once I move into Flower I will be using the Pro-Tekt + Bloom + Mag-Pro pretty much same juice just swapping out the Grow for Bloom I was told that this run would be more challenging than my last NL run since the HB has Kush in the genepool ..Not sure why but I have been told that Kush strains can be a bit tricky for rooks like myself and I am seeing that without a doubt , just not sure why but the NL was pretty much simple to maintain compared to this run. But many thanks guys for sharing your knowledge .. Ill will keep ya posted on her very welcomed recovery

They're solid I hear great reviews.

Try switching to hydroguard maybe and see if you get better results. Here is a clone that is two weeks after roots showed in a root riot cube and transplanted, 21 days total from cut. I also run a chilled Res which helps as well. Your roots after 6 weeks should be huge and your plants are suffering for it. What PH you running, it looks a bit high but no expert . I've had issues with roots until, first I chilled the water, secondly started using hydroguard. I am looking for something a bit cheaper but I get two - three runs out of a gallon so reasonable in the scheme of things lol.

Hi Budley Doright I have heard of HydroGuard a few different times I am going to pick up a bottle asap. I have some SM-90 here as well I used a bit on last run for healthy roots and to keep them damn gnats away I am anxious to give HydroGuard a try out ... Nice Roots On That Clone !!!! . I can't afford a chiller but my Rez temps stay anywhere from 68 -71 on a normal basis if I do see temps getting any higher than that I usually chill it down with ice jugs I keep in the freezer and bring it down to around 64-65 degrees , room is well ventilated and the negative pressure pull in air conditioned cool air so I'm pretty straight with the rez temps and for Ph I try to keep it around 5.7 - 5.9 Hell yeah 2 or 3 runs from 1 gallon ain't bad at all man

WildWoodFlower said:

Hi Budley Doright I have heard of HydroGuard a few different times I am going to pick up a bottle asap. I have some SM-90 here as well I used a bit on last run for healthy roots and to keep them damn gnats away I am anxious to give HydroGuard a try out ... Nice Roots On That Clone !!!! . I can't afford a chiller but my Rez temps stay anywhere from 68 -71 on a normal basis if I do see temps getting any higher than that I usually chill it down with ice jugs I keep in the freezer and bring it down to around 64-65 degrees , room is well ventilated and the negative pressure pull in air conditioned cool air so I'm pretty straight with the rez temps and for Ph I try to keep it around 5.7 - 5.9 Hell yeah 2 or 3 runs from 1 gallon ain't bad at all man

Click to expand...

It saved the moms that produced those cuttings, they were on the verge of death. I'm sure there are other products that work as well but I'm sticking with the guard for a bit lol.

Just put her into the Scrog the other day and flipped to 12/12 today . I am going to continue running the Grow nutes for the first 2 weeks of flower before switching to Bloom nutes , However I am still keeping my ppm's at around 300ppms for now as I am afraid of burning her at this point. My last run I had nute burn at the beginning of flower and it caused allot of problems. Sound like a decent plan for now? As she gets bigger and stronger I will start bringing the nutes up a little at a time.. wondering if that sounds reasonable to you guys ? Thanks again in advance

Have you added any hydroguard yet or are you? They should be able to handle more nutes but let them tell you what they need. And yes run grow for a bit. How are the roots looking? Once I got the roots healthy I was able to almost double the amount of nutrients.