Yet another TAG challenge!!!

[Villain]

Just out of random I decided to check the PPM of the other two seedlings that are not in the cabinet. To my my most serious surprise the reading was over 1000ppm . Needless to say I took care of that pretty darn quick. I adjusted it to around 250ppm and rinsed the RW with the new water. They will be just fine but there is a lesson. The reason that the TDS was so high is actually elementary but over looked. These two seedling are still in a tray under a florescent. I feed them just by adding water to the try, but when the water dissolves the solids are still left behind. Ever time I added water the solids dissolved into the water raising the TDS. So I will keep that in mind from now on.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Plants are never too young for your big lamp. These things are designed to live under the SUN from day one. This doesn't mean you're a bad daddy for using small lamps, you could have your reasons. While excessive proximity to the lamp can cause burns, your seedlings laugh in the face of your 400's intensity.

 

[Villain]

LOL thats funny I love the way you said that. They might love as much light as I can give them but those nute were WAY to strong for there liking.

 

[Villain]

Not much has been happening in past few days I think it is because the res temps are to low. They dropped to 60F and I have been fighting to get it back up naturally. It is now up to 66F and I still think it is a bit low. The roots are not doing to much and of course the top is going slow as well.

 

[Villain]

Hey there guys I added a bunch more pictures can you please try and critic my plants. I am not sure that they look right. I am thinking that in some on the pictures the veins look a bit greener than the rest of the plant. Take a look at the pictures please and tell me what you think. Should I be concerned or not?


EDIT: In case you are wondering the Al. foil is to help light proof the res, and RW cubes.

 

[stevewinthrop]

60*f is fine for res temperature.
mine goes between 57 and 65 depending on the temperature outside, and i've never seen a problem with growth.

-- steve

 

[Villain]

Thanks you Steve that is great to hear. What do you think of these plants are they looking good to you. LIke I said they seem a bit green in the veins, what do you think?

 

[konstantgrdnr]

HairlessCaveApe, he posted i think on the second page, he has a true aero going on in his sugarshack thread, he's been getting great results. It would good to see him post his knowledge here. Are you going to lay out the parameters of your operation ie; lighting , pump, nutes,tank size,misters,as well as all the detials on the envromental conditions. and any pest controls.

 

[Villain]

Thank you Konstant, I will seek him out and try to gain some of his knowledge. As for the parameters they have been covered but I don't mind posting again for a good recap.

Starting with the lights:

I am using a 400w CMH with a regular 400w HPS magnetic ballast. I mounted the light in a econ wing reflector with dimples.

As for the pump I am using a 12v DC RV pump. It is called the Shurflo Smart Sensor 5.7. This pumps runs at a constant 65psi, and is intended as an RV water pump. I am using a standard 400w computer power supply unit. The thing to look for is that the PSU is rated to output AT LEAST 10 amps.

Dutch Master One is the nutrient line that I decided on using. It is said that it was specially designed for AERO style growing. These nutes are suppose to help to prevent lockout, and PH fluctuation. They are a bit stinky but nothing that is intolerable.

For the tank I have two one stacked on the other. The top tank is the Aero chamber and the lower tank is the res. The top tank is about 30g, and the reservoir is only 8 gallon, but I only use 6 at the most. One thing that is unique IMO about my design is the way the Aero chamber drains back into the res. I made a drain at the bottom of the aero chamber and the lid to the res, so it just drains directly into it.

The misters are from DripWorks.com, they are 55 micron, and require something like 50psi minimum I think. I can get you a link if you really want but aside from the droplet size they are nothing special.

Finally you asked for details on the environmental conditions. While like in many garden conditions are not constant but here is the green zone for this technique. As with any garden I try to keep my ambient temps around 70-80F. The highest I have ever seen them with the plants inside is about 82 or so. On the first page you will see many pictures and it willl give you a good idea of what is going on. I have an intake level with my res so that the cool air flows across the res container helping to keep it cool. The res for the most part stays around 70, and have never seen anything higher. On the other hand they have been as low as 58F so you can see that the design is doing it's job well. Ph is right on all the time and never swings out of the green zone. 5.2 is lowest it has ever been and 6.0 is the highest, with 5.4-5.6 being the regular average. I have been keeping my EC at .55 for the past 4-5 days and they seem to be ok with that. The EC is about 275 TDS, and that is for seedlings. If I had to start over I would have used about 200PPM. No CO2 and no pest control ATM, I will be using filters at the intakes, and aside from them it is a sealed cabinet. I have no over houseplants to cross contaminate and the stay int he house aside from work at night. Not saying that I will not get pest but I take precautions not to cross contaminate. All in all I think I am n the right track, what do you guys think... Is there any room for improvement do you suppose?

 

[ExEcutioner]

Looks Great so far man, ill def be sticking around for this show.

 

[Villain]

Well I am having some issues ALREADY!!! I am thinking N deficient, but I am not 100%. Yellowing seems to appear on the older/ lower leaves, and as far as I can tell between the veins. Take a look and please tell me what you think it may be and the best way to correct it.

 

[Villain]

Anything I mean fellas we are here for a reason... to help each other out. I have been away for 3 years and I decided to try something new to me. All was well till the other day, but it is getting worse by the hour. I need your input fellas, what do you think? More nutes, less nutes, more water, more air. I mean HELP!!

 

[ExEcutioner]

Are you over watered? That is my guess looking at that pic.

 

[Villain]

Well I decided that the RW was holding to much water like you said, and I made the cycle longer between waterings. I went from 5 minutes between watering to 15minutes. The RW will keep them watered for long enough but as they get older I will need to shorten the gap.

 

[Villain]

Here are updated pictures of the sickness. I hope that we can nip this in the butt soon. I already ordered Cal-Mag Plus but I had to use my PP account which is connected to me CC. So to go along with plant sickness I can add nervousness to the stress list.

 

[ExEcutioner]

Cool, hopefully it clears up and its not a ph issue or something else.

 

[Villain]

Ok so here is the thing... I am looking for a production grow so that I can spare myself the 500.00 dollars a month I spend on bud. So I put the TAG away and switched to a very easy ebb & flow. I have not given up on TAG but I am not gonna use it ATM. I have to learn this TAG thing and dial it in and that may take some time. I decided that I will start at the begging and learn it all over again. I am starting easy and learning how to grow. I have been away so long that I need start over.

 

[rrog]

Have you considered converting to drip? This is my first hydro. First grow of any kind since the late 70s...

It's stable, simple, and I can leave it. Obviously you know all of that. But I didn't

It always gets air, so always dripping.

 

[rrog]

Despite my last post, the reason I came to this forum is because it seems to the mecca for Aero, specifically fogging

 

[Villain]

Well I have no intentions of given up on aero but for now until I get my own home or a bigger area to grow I have to focus on production like I said. I cannot afford to experiment ATM and should have thought about that a while ago. I am not out anything as of right now because I am using all the equipment for TAG on the E&F system LOL. One of the issues I was facing was light proofing my containers. Aluminum foil rips, paint chips, tape peels, and they just don't seem to make light proof totes that fit my application.

I am looking into making my own containers from wood and lining them with vinyl plastic. The idea is to make a box the size I want and then water/light proof the whole thing. I have to think about a lot of things first as I cannot experiment, so we will see what happens.