Fine tuning questions for bubbleponics...

HI guys and gals (and fellow herbalists)...I'm new to bubbleponics or DWC ....I've had a few successful outdoor grows .... but would like to have more control and to feel safer (growing indoors)

So I've got 16 babies ...started from seed about 22 days ago...Mixed strains (4 skunk #1, 2 purple power, 2 cali orange bud, 1 white widow max, a couple afghani hash, 1 thia skunk, 1 bubble gum, and a couple others that I cant remember right now ) I know it's not the best idea to mix all these like this...but this is an experiment, and a learning experience....so I'm just gonna do the best I can.

the plants are about 3 to 5 inches tall and 5 to 6 inches wide ...and thriving
here's what they are growing in...
(4) 10 gal Bins ...
1.5" rockwool cubes , and hydrotin in 3" netcups with neoprine lids
Lotsa air ...(2) eco3 ...35W airpumps , putting out 70Lt/min. each.... through ( 12" stones (2 stones per Bin) 1 Pump is run off a battery inverter, so in case of power outtage, EACH bin will still have 1 airstone going ...
GH nutes ... some grow and some micro currently (for about the last 15 days )
started out with tap water that measured 109 PPM and 7.8 PH
have it somewhat stable at 5.5-6.0 PH and 250 PPM
water temp is 66-70 with Ice bottles and air cond vent blowing on bins
room temp fluctuates from 68 to 80-81 (even though I have air cond ...this is a shed and the sun effects the inside temp )(it is really at 73-77 most of the time)
I added Liquid Light yesterday for the first time (and will keep using it twice a week until 4 weeks into flowering)... and I will attempt a preventative dose of reverse when I trip them to flower ( I might skip the LL for those 2 weeks)...
I have a 6 inch fan sucking from a carbon filter ...blowing through a cool hood with a 400W MH bulb (to be switched to HPS for flowering) and blowing the filtered, heated air, outside....the light is 20" from plants (I'm getting a 800-900 lumens reading from my cheap meter)(I'd like a 600W or 1000W but that will have to wait for future grow ops)
the room is 4 ft x 5 ft x 7 ft tall... walls lined with vapor barrior and then covered with mylar.
generally. it seems to be a decent $1000 grow op... if i can keep it alive throughout it's whole course.

I've been reading and learning the basics from you guys for over a year now...but Im on frikkin dial up ...so I cant look at alot of pics or Vids... and even researching is a very slow process... so i thought I'd post up some Q's ...since research might not find me an answer till it's too late....I have a couple things I might have to take care of right away...

So.... Here are My questions :

1) How long generally should it take to grow a plant to about 12 Inches ?
(that is the hieght I'm going to trip these to flower at)

2) is it common to have to add PH down daily ? it seems that I'm bringing the PH down to 5.5 every 24 hours from 6.0 ...I'm worried that something is a little "off" cause Ive read where some peeps dont have to do that...

3) My roots are looking good (generally) they are about 8 to 10 inches and white and hard and strong feeling ..... BUT...I'm just starting to notice maybe 2 or 3 plants ...that have the slightest beige color in the center of the rootmass... very faint ...could it be stains ? cause the airtubes have a slight stain where they enter the water(you know ? like a water level mark)( the GH Micro is a brown color with what seems to have staining potential) or could the hydrotin be staining them ? OR.... do I need to do something ? there is no slimyness (like ive read in some scary threads )

4) I know you cant have clear bins...cause light on the roots is bad (from what Ive read)... BUT ...How dark does it actually have to be inside the bins ? I just noticed that my bins (sterelites)(while they are light blue) still have a smidge of transparency ...meaning, when I am checking the water with the lid off...If i put my hand outside the bin on the other side ...I can see my shadow...so Some light IS getting through !...Do I need to paint the outside of these bins ? or Wrap them with vapor barrior ? (could THAT be why my roots are starting to discolor ?)

5) I realize i will need to change out the res water when I switch to flower (cause of diff nutes gonna be used ) BUT...other than That ...can I use the same water the Whole growth phase ? and then use the "flower Res Water" for the Whole 8-10 weeks of flowering ? OR ...does water HAVE to be changed out every few weeks ?

well ...THAt's all I can think of now.... I'm SURE there will be more Q's later .... but generally , All seems well right now... I just want to keep it that way ....and be ready to react if anything gets stoopid on me.

I'm gettin ready to bump the PPM to 400 as the plants are thriving and getitng big enough to prob handle more nutes (at 10 days old though ...a couple leaf tips showed signs of nute burn at 250PPM ...so I figure they were maxxed out ) ALL the new leaves are huge and have perfect tips...

Thanks in Advance for any advice or opinions you guys have... this Forum ROCKS and So do most of you guys !!!!

I'll post pics if needed...but all is good right now ...and pics and dial up ...well, that's kinda like growing bagseed deep in the woods gorilla style....lol...it's do-able but a pain in the Ass ...ROFL

Peace out

1) I grow 12" plants mostly, high density style. I flower my plants straight from rooted clones. Any good indica dominate strain should work just fine for you. If your asking "from seed", you could flower straight from seed, or get auto flowering strains.

2) First, make sure your meter is calibrated correctly. Get one of those cheap liquid pH test kits made by General Hydroponics and use it for reassurance. Try using RO water, something might be "up" with your tap.

3) Light leaks are a good reason for brown roots. Look into a product called "Hygrozyme", or even hydrogen peroxide.

4) Make as dark as possible in the root zone.

5) Click >>> https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/338720-lucas-formula.html#post4267692

....Good luck.

thanks fiend for the quick response

...but on Q#1... I've already started ...from seed...for 22 days now...and they are 3-5 inches (depending on strain) ...and I was wondering how many more days approx, till they'll be 12" ?

also ...what does RO stand for ? I see it everywhere but dont know what it means

I couldnt even find it in the terms section ...

thanks again

...how tall they get , and how fast would depend on their distance form your light and the strain. Only time will tell you forsure how fast your plants will get 12"

RO = reverse osmosis , google it for an indept explaination, but in general...it's very clean water with a near zero count of elements in it ( or 0 ppm) due to it's process of filtering. You can use any filtered water pretty much with the same results.

...The normal household's tap water has a ppm of around 300-400 and the #'s go up, which could effect your plants depending on what elements are in your tap. Tap water is also alkline on the pH scale usually, meaning it is out of the pH range for plants. From my understanding, rainwater is naturally acidic but the city water companies raise the pH to stop pipe corrosion. So, not everyone is fortunate enough to use tap water. Some tap water will constantly effect your pH depending on what is in your tap. I'd get some filtered water and see if you still need to add the pH daily, that will solve that problem I believe, or your meter is out of wack one.

thanks fiend.... My tap water is only 109 PPM... But the PH is high (7. my meters are accurate im pretty sure ...they are like new (hanna) and calibrated from the factory .... I'll double check them when I get a chance ....but they seem to be accurate (Ive tested my tap water vs distilled vs treated water vs captured condensation....and all readings seem to be approx where they should) (I DO have one of thos liq. PH test kits ...I'll use it today to double check )

(i started catching condensation water from my AC unit and I can catch 10 gallons in 48 hours.... IT measures about 5 PPM and a PH of 5.5 (sweet numbers, huh ?) BUT I wonder if there is any other reason I shouldnt use that water ??? (the bad thing about it is ... after 48 hours (when the bin is full) is is about 90+ degrees in there )

alright ...I'll keep pluggin away .... I'm gonna wrap my bins with vapor barrior to block out ALL light .... My babies seem to have taken off approx 48 hours after the first dose of LL.... very cool ....

anyone else who has ideas or opinions ....I'm all ears.... always interested in brainstorming...

thanks again

Hello,
At Menards they have a type of duct insulation thats like a super wide insulated foam tape with a shiny metal surface on the other side and it will work well for lowering your temp at least a few degrees.The stuff is probally 14 inches wide and around a 1/4" thick and theres enough of it wrap probally 4-5 5gal buckets. I think its around $18.00.
I would use it if i were you my res is around 80F and im getting horrible root rot and there dying from it.

Yeah BigBudE ...you gotta get those res temps down .... My res temps are like 64 today(i have my A/C duct blowing on them and Now they are wrapped in aluminum foil and it 's acting like a insulator and I have a cardboard wall up holding in all the cold air conditioning around my bins....they are lovin it ...My room temps are like 73 -79 depending on what time of day ...but the res temps are staying 64-68 with A/C and Ice bottles.

whree I mentioned hot water above isnt my res water ...Only clean water Im catching that I was thinking about using as res water...(and it would cool down as soon as i brought it inside) But it's sitting outside really hot, so I im afraid somethingis growing in it ...and Im Not going to use it for my grow...I'm just gonna keep stabilizing my tap water...Im getting good at it now...

good luck with that ...get those res temps down !

As for the water you catch from the AC, you could put an air pump in that bucket to encourage aerobic microbes to grow. Plant problems are almost always caused by anaerobic microbes, and water that contains lots of oxygen should encourage good stuff while displacing the bad stuff. You could even make some EWC tea (basicaly a brew of beneficial microbes) and inoculate the AC bucket. Or you could instead use a sterilizing agent in the water, such as Dutch Master Root Zone, which does an excellent job at killing microbes...except for the dreaded slime you read about.