Spongey Sediment in Res, Normal?

System: Cabinet Aero/NFT Scrog w/ 3" net baskets. Clones are rooted in Jiffy Pots, and surrounded with Hydroton before being transplanted. Roots are misted with low pressure nutrient mix. Mix drains immediately back to the main reservoir below.

Nutrients: Gen Hydro Advanced Recirculating in RO water

Cycle: Top with fresh RO water, 10 days, flush with Florakleen for 2 hours

Target pH: 5.8-6.0 (rarely varies past this) checked twice daily.

Res Temp: 70F-75F

Cabinet Temp: 80F-85F

Everything is healthy looking for the most part. Every now and then I get a few leaves that look either like a Cal / Mag deficiency, but for the most part everything looks good. Roots are a healthy white to light brown color and smell fresh. Res tank smells fresh.

My question is this: is having a fluffy brown sediment in the tank normal? It doesn't seem to clog the pumps or misters, and it flows out fine when I siphon the tank between changes. I figure there's a possibility that some of the Jiffy Pots might be dissolving and collecting in the res. Anyone else have this going on?

Just doing one more check to see if anyone else has got this going on. I figure there's no need to panic, but if I'm somehow compromising my nutes, that'd be good to know.

Hey Eagle Eye. Hammond. Thrust!

Its your nutes. You're using organics, or botanicaire, or whatever hybrid nute programs the industry solely pushes onto growers. Well, in laymans terms, you're feeding your plants shit! And it's often the, you don't know what kind of shit, shit it is. Chemists, like fatman, will call it ammonical nitrogen. Look at the nutrient profile, if its even printed. It'll be in a 13 to or higher ratio of, ammonical nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen; which is the exact opposite of what you want...

How you want to feed your plants hydroponically is up to you. With water or air as a medium... There is no need to use ammonical nitrogen, when you can use nitrate nitrogen... Which is exactly what the plant can eat. The former requires microbiological fixation before nitrogen is available to your plant.

The inevitable stanch, and likely the foam as well... Are the result of microbes eating the shit in your res.

Again, you can choose how to feed your plant.

Pick up gh three part to use in hydro on the cheap. supernatural is avaliable in stores and is good for plant in res style hydroponics.

You're compromising the microbiological security of your plants is what you're doing. White white white healthy roots all the way through is what you want.

You won't get that using the current slough of mainstream comercial nutes.

Yeah get off the gen hydro "advanced", and go basic three part for hydro dude. go light or you might have to flush the hydroton. Get rid of it, actually. It only makes your water way dirtier, killing the filter on your pump, killing the pump, ruining the mister heads... you get the idea. It doesn't increase surface area. Its not needed to provide ground for the fixation of the ammonical nitrogen you don't want in the first place.

Reading your post again you're nearly on track. You've been way to careful not to switch to chem nutes. You can change a res, ph, etc. You bought an ro filter to dump a bunch of crap in clean water and raise an unkowable ph to run a bacteria colony... Not NASA approved at all. Give your plants what they can eat! Read up on fatman. He's a real bastard.

Peace!

That was a great answer, I would have just said it is normal for organic nutrients such as Botanicare where you will find me stirring way clear.. and lose the hydrotron/jiffy pots I always have to look those things up when people say they use them. Netcups and air man, netcups and air..

I'm going to lose the J-Pots as soon as I get around to making an aerocloner. What would you recommend as a filler for around the stalks in the netcups (which I already use) besides clay pellets such as Hydroton?

I need something to keep the light out. Are you thinking neoprene?

I know this is pretty radical... Just leave em' naked dude!
-Neoprene collars to hold the clones; and they'll grow into their respective netcups quickly.

I have an idea though cause' they charge an arm an a leg for those collars. Buy a sheet of styrofoam insulation from a big box retail home center store of adequate thickness and use that hole saw you got to make em' the same diameter as your netcups/plant sites.

The 1/4 inch drill bit or smaller, hole cut into the center of these circles would be perfect for clones.

Much more disposable solution. A little messy to cut though.

I've been trying to figure out why i have the same "shit" in my reservoir, i don't use anything organic.
I use AN:

Sensi A+B (Veg/Bloom)
B-52
SensiCal Mg
Bud Blood
Big Bud
Overdrive
Carboload


RO-DI 0ppm water.


I came up with the conclusion that the algae growth on the rockwool cubes might fall back in the water with the flow and built up in the rez.

I would guess light hitting you water somewhere. In your trays or reservoirs, maybe somewhere the water is just sitting or pooling.

Xan2,

Read those labels. Sugar is no inorganic molecule.

From http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/cumberland/fertpage/plantnutri.html ,
"
The following elements are considered essential plant nutrients: carbon(C), hydrogen(H), oxygen(O), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P), potassium(K), calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), Sulfur(S), iron(Fe), manganese(Mn), boron(B), molybdenum(Mo), copper(Cu), zinc(Zn) and chlorine(Cl). C, H, O, N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S are needed in large amounts and are referred to as the macronutrients. Fe, Mn, B, Mo, Cu, Zn and Cl are needed in small amounts compared to the macronutrients and are referred to as the minor nutrients. They are called minor nutrients because they are needed in smaller amounts, this in no way diminishes their importance.

C, H and O are mostly derived from air and water, therefore, we have very little control over the amount of these elements that plants get. The remaining thirteen nutrients are taken in by the plant from the soil. We have more control over these elements through the use of fertilizers.
"

There is 0 point in using ro/di water with any advanced nutrients lineup.

I'm not really able to explain why. Aqueos Solution Stochiomety is beyond my realm of knowledge. However their formulations, and all the sulfur, magnesium, and calcium they put in there... Is to used to purposefully create an excess and drop tons of, crap, out of solution, here refering to chlorates especially? They do this to make the ph as manageable as it is. It's a very inefficient manner of feeding plants... and AN is super diluted, and their salt content still way over priced to boot. The other, real ag industry does not work like the home cultivation industry at all; not even at the hobby level.


Anyways,
All this, stuff, drives ppms' to e/c levels which are completely incoherent, truly utterly meaningless. Those meters can only read an average for very specific salts.
So it's a slurry of crap that you don't know exactly what it is at any point in time. There is zero accountability... Just change your res!

-You can feed your plant just what it needs.

If you're interested in these biochemical / mechanics of growing I can suggest reading through my hp aero pods thread for learning about best practice hydroponics, and fatman's nutrient threads.