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Thread: First time grow - too slow growth - please help

  1. #11

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    Sam's the man to listen to mate. As I say, I'm not a coco grower. I've tried it a couple of times but tend to stick to soil and dabble in DWC / Hydro.
    I was just going off what I know of soil and that it's important to keep the medium moist. Roots don't like mega dry. There's dry and there's dry lol.
    But by the same token, they don't like to be swamped in stagnant soggy airless mediums either.

    Be guided by Sam and the other more knowledgable people here and you'll do nice. I've seen lots of the work produced by the guidance of these guys when they're mentoring and they collectively know their stuff and then some.


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  3. #12

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    hey samgee i belive i have more or less asked u this on your wilma thread the reason is im constantly looking at others with the ph ec factor an what ml they use for there system that suits there grow my system is sitting read atm just waiting on the first sign of roots on my clones. sorry for all the questions i know from soil i add quater nutes then slowly rise up to approx 5ml per liter but the hydro is a first for me and i dont think its gonna be a walk in the park with all the benefactors you read about others grow. bugs in water. flys common in coco because of moister etc heads turned fs lol

    OR

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  5. #13

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    H OR,

    I have answered you on the Wilma thread, so as to keep this thread tidy

    Quote Originally Posted by onion ring View Post
    hey samgee i belive i have more or less asked u this on your wilma thread the reason is im constantly looking at others with the ph ec factor an what ml they use for there system that suits there grow my system is sitting read atm just waiting on the first sign of roots on my clones. sorry for all the questions i know from soil i add quater nutes then slowly rise up to approx 5ml per liter but the hydro is a first for me and i dont think its gonna be a walk in the park with all the benefactors you read about others grow. bugs in water. flys common in coco because of moister etc heads turned fs lol

    OR


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  7. #14

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    Thanks for all the replies!
    Watered lots last night and this morning until there was some run off and already noticed some new leaves coming through. Also added more wet sheets in the room and managed to get humidity almost over 50%.
    The ph is 6, using testing kit with drops and is only in 0.5 increments so can't be more accurate. Can anyone recommend a good pen? Researched a lot but not yet found a definitive answer

  8. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mooseballs View Post
    Thanks for all the replies!
    Watered lots last night and this morning until there was some run off and already noticed some new leaves coming through. Also added more wet sheets in the room and managed to get humidity almost over 50%.
    The ph is 6, using testing kit with drops and is only in 0.5 increments so can't be more accurate. Can anyone recommend a good pen? Researched a lot but not yet found a definitive answer
    Glad to hear things are picking up for you buddy. These guys will put you right.

    Regarding PH testing, the most recommended make of testers are made by Bluelabs. You can get cheaper BUT you really do get what you pay for.
    You can forget the cheapo eBay £10 testers as your main tester. They'll put you roughly in the ballpark but they're not that accurate and tend to need calibrating a lot.

    I've also heard that Essentials make decent testers that are fairly accurate. I think a set (PH and EC) pens can be had for about £70.

    Ideally though, I'd go with bluelabs if you want quality, reliablity and accuracy. Initally the bluelabs pens cost a bit BUT they're worth the investment. You'll waste more money with cheap gear than you would spending out on something decent to begin with.
    I've used a fair few brands of tester and I can tell you you will waste your money if you buy cheap ebay pens (cheap yellow testers from china for £7 - 10). You'll be constantly replacing them and by the time you've done, you could have got something decent.

    You can get a set of cheap ebay pens as a back up. I keep a couple of them cheap yellow ebay pens to hand but I don't rely solely on them. If I've any doubt as to any readings I'm getting any time, I'll drag out a cheap back up pen, calibrate it and use it to see if I'm anywhere near where my main tester says I am. They're good for that purpose but not for use as a main tester. If you get me?

    Right now I've got about 6 or 7 testers in my room. I've got a tri-meter as my main meter and several back up cheap ec and ph pens as backups.
    I use H&M meters as my cheapo back ups. They're a bit more reliable than those cheap yellow PH pens but not as expensive as essentials or blue labs pens. Great mainly for back ups.

    Also if you get PH and EC pens / testers, you'll also likely need some calibration fluid. They may come with a sachet of calibration but that wont last long. The calibrating fluid is pretty cheap from ebay. I tend to get PH Buffer 4, PH Buffer 7 and EC Calibration 1.413.
    I picked up two one liter bottles of PH Calibration Buffer (4 & 7) on ebay for a tenner and a liter bottle of ec calibration for about the same over the weekend so they're pretty cheap and will last ages if you calibrate once a week.

    I tend to calibrate daily or every other day just because it gives me peace of mind. Once a week is enough with decent test equipment like bluelabs usually though.

    So just to recap. For your main every day testers, you really want to invest in something decent like a bluelabs or essentials.
    If you do ever buy cheapo pens, use them only as back ups.


    Good luck and happy growing

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  10. #16

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    just as spongebong said though it depends on funds personally id love 1 of them bluelab trunchens everyones raving about but i got both cheap ph & ec pens for under £25 delivered. if your prepared to wait have a look at some suppliers from china. there cheaper yet can have u waiting over a month

  11. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by onion ring View Post
    just as spongebong said though it depends on funds personally id love 1 of them bluelab trunchens everyones raving about but i got both cheap ph & ec pens for under £25 delivered. if your prepared to wait have a look at some suppliers from china. there cheaper yet can have u waiting over a month
    They'll get you going no doubt but after a while, you'll soon get cheesed off with them drifting out of calibration or jumping about all over the place, not giving a stable reading.
    I can't say personally I've gotten on with any of the cheapo gear other than using it as a last resort or a back up to compare other readings.

    I recently picked up a cheapo ebay EC pen. Cost me a tenner. You can't calibrate it and it's as much as 0.3 out. It was supposedly factory calibrated. Went in the bin.

    As I say, for now they'll get you within range and they maybe okay for starters but once you've used them and want to progress with your growing you'll soon find yourself chasing your own tail thanks to these cheapo pens.
    When you want precision and you're trying to get the most out of your skills, that's when you'll really find out how bad these cheap pens really are.

    I've been "gardening" for a fair few years now and I've been through so many cheap pens it's unreal. I could have purchased a decent blue labs 5 times over. Even a few mates of mine that started growing soon ditched the cheap pens.

    One of my mates kept having stuff go wrong. He was using them cheapo pens until he discovered for himself how bad they can be. He tried 3 different pens, side by side. All calibrated at the same time and they all gave different readings.
    One of them didn't even stay calibrated after calibrating. You could calibrate it, take it out of the calibration solution, put it back in and it would be as much as .2 out. Needless to say he then went of and got himself a bluelabs truncheon and now lectures me about cheapo pens even though I was the one that told him to avoid them hahahahah

    All the testers should have some descrepency in accuracy called a tollerance. Usually +/- 0.1 or less. Even the most expensive testers. But these cheapo things are just all over the place IMO.

    By all means start out with them to give you an idea maybe, but I wouldn't use them long term. Get something decent as soon as you can afford it if you're going to be growing long term and want to progress and improve. You wont regret it.
    The money you'll save by growing good gear yourself instead of buying crappy street weed will save you a fortune. An oz is prob 200 notes these days so there's a pair of decent testers right there

    Also don't forget to store the pens correctly after use (see manufacturers instructions). That helps them last longer and stay accurate. Even the cheaper ones need care. Some pens come with storage solution but most people just leave them stored in calibration fluid so they don't dry out.

    All the best
    Last edited by SpongeBongWeedPants; 25-04-16 at 11:49 AM.

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