[bloyd]

You should do an AFP test. Mix your perlite accordingly to get proper 35-40% AFP. With the larger perlite you may only need 30-40% perlite, a 5 min AFP test would let you know. In the future consider adopting d9s 2.5qt buckets on 27 gallon tub for small plants. Plants will turn around when you dial in the "nutrient rich fog" that makes the ppk so special.

[datal4b]

just did some re-reading on the ppk for a 6 plant limit thread, got the afp test refreshed in my head. just a quick question before i perform it, what do you recommend as far as time goes on letting the media soak? longer the better..? or is there a usual go to time to ensure its accurate or does it not matter a whole lot. i guess im asking how long do you do it for.

[bloyd]

Just fill solo to the top with media, add water, couple taps to get rid of bubbles, re ad water till full. No soak time necessary it will fully saturate in seconds.

[datal4b]

missed the bit about 5 min..

46%

:/

[datal4b]

think this needs rectifying or can feed schedule be adjusted to satisfy watering needs? i don't want to create any obstacles. luckily i only have 4 containers to fix if need be.

[Desert Hydro]

i have never messed with any of that stuff in my PPKs. not saying you shouldnt or that it wont help but i never had to i guess. hows the rest of your room looking? and by that i mean ph, temps, rh, vpd, nute strength etc?

mine have a bit of funky burn but im thinking it was from before when i was having weird fluctuations in ph for a week as everything was settling in. now im dead on at 5.8 and about 1.5 EC every day without adjustments. mine also got accidentally monster cropped and they are just now beginning "normal" looking growth. my ph is always low and my temps are 85 in veg. once they get big i have to run a dehumidifier but during veg i am always more dry than i should be.

[datal4b]

since bloyd's recommendation of 1/2g feeds every 90 mins the media is now staying wet & my rh is up to 65-70 which is good. temps are 78-79 so pretty much in range on vpd, ph stable at 5.8, ec 1.1. originally when i packed the dishes full i noticed that the perlite was tinging brown from not washing the turface enough so i had left them all running under water to rinse more and inadvertently a lot of perlite had floated to the top, mostly the 1/2"+ sized pieces. i did a little more investigation beneath the top and it seems that a good majority that's left is 1/2" and smaller pieces. i redistributed it once more to try and keep it uniform. i've read of people like av8or & d9 running straight perlite which is gotta be 50%+ afp so idk. if things don't start turning around i can probably deduce that the afp is the culprit as enviros and feed schedule is dialed currently

[datal4b]

worse case scenario have to re-do it, i guess i was a little confused by everyone referring to perlite as "chunky" and "extra large" but from what ive taken away from the latest posts is that smaller grade is actually how you achieve the correct afp at a 50/50 blend. i wish i had remembered about the afp test prior to mixing up. thanks to bloyd got it fresh in the noggin now

[datal4b]

got a little bit of new leaf showing, so that's cool. not moving as fast as i'd been hoping for but i did hurt them initially.






with how airy this mix is and with the lack of root mass and size of the 7gal dishes the only way i can keep everything wet is pretty much a constant feed, it's set to feed every 8 mins for 1min20sec. not seeing any overwatering signs at this time

[Desert Hydro]

i had my 6 inch pots on the same timer because i was lazy. they were getting overwatered real bad so i put them on their own timer and now they are fine.

i think as long as they arent getting over watered you should be fine. i think this is a pretty resilient system, and will work pretty much no matter what. obviously attention to detail will really boost the performance but like i said i pretty much just set it and forget it.

new growth looks clean so i would just wait and see what they do in a week or so as long as all the other parameters are in check.