Think I'm shit at growing in nft...

[thegrower1]

Alright lads started a grow diary nearly 8 weeks ago not been about to update cuz f**k has happened lol not sure what I'm doing wrong with nft done a few different hydro grows over the years and it's been ok. I let the blocks root well before putting them in the system, at the start I put the timer on every 2 hours for 15 mins because the blocks was getting soking wet but had hardly any growth in 7 weeks...

The systems are level but obviously the tray inside does have a slope to it, the pumps now run 24/7 because I read that's best... I even got golf T's and put them under the blocks because they was just soking wet all the time. The plants closest the pump in both trays look the strongest with most root growth. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?


First pic is the roots before they went into the system...

Cheers

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[thegrower1]

Any nft growers out there had similar problems?


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[IceCalibur]

Wish I could help thegrower1, but have no clue about NFT growing...hope someone who has experience pops in for you

[Jumper114]

The root development looks very stunted and they look like they have been droughted.

I don't grow NFT, but grow coco drain to waste. So can only gauge on what I can see.

I think I would start again. Were you top feeding at the beginning?

[thegrower1]

The root development looks very stunted and they look like they have been droughted.

I don't grow NFT, but grow coco drain to waste. So can only gauge on what I can see.

I think I would start again. Were you top feeding at the beginning?

Top fed before they went Into the system mate then they had plenty of roots to go straight into the system, well so I thought anyway been reading on some other forums I'll try lifting the tray to make the water flow a little faster because it is pooling and one end. I think the blocks have just been to wet to start with, I've tried to get the blocks a few mm above the water flow so I'll give them a week let the blocks dry out a little and see how they go if not I'll put it down as 8 weeks wasted and start again lol

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[ladymaryjane]

Hello mate, I'll be able to help you out a bit here with some more info on the grow. From how they look, my first question is do you have any extraction?

I'll also need to know your temps and humidity levels in the grow-space, your ec and ph levels, what you are feeding them and also your res temps.

Once I have this information we will see what's what.

First tip is use the plastic spacers from pizza boxes to support the blocks above the water. They work much better than anything else I have tried.

[thegrower1]

Hello mate, I'll be able to help you out a bit here with some more info on the grow. From how they look, my first question is do you have any extraction?

I'll also need to know your temps and humidity levels in the grow-space, your ec and ph levels, what you are feeding them and also your res temps.

Once I have this information we will see what's what.

First tip is use the plastic spacers from pizza boxes to support the blocks above the water. They work much better than anything else I have tried.

Hi ladymaryjane, I’ve grown hydro for about 3 years now so I know to keep on top of the ec and ph levels because they can change from day to day...I’ve always run a water cooler so water temps are always around 18oC.

It’s a loft groom so unfortunately even with a 12” fan taking out and a 10” bringing fresh air in when you’re dragging 25-30oC air in some days the temps are all over the place especially with the heat from the lights as well, so room temps swing from 20-35oC and it’s done this since I’ve been in the loft for nearly 10 years now and never had plants grow this slow lol

I’m pretty sure this is down to the plants being drowned with the blocks being too wet, next time I’ll make sure there even more rooted then this time and also I won’t put the pumps on 24/7 for the first 2 weeks and hopefully they’ll be a little happier next time


Current grow...

6 Invisible sun LED boards NFT grow
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...0&share_type=t

[EvilScotsm@n]

Hiya buddy im an NFT grower. Profile pic is an auto i done that way.
The first thing absolutely screaming at me is in picture no3. You want like 30litres per hour flowing out of that manifold. I could almost surf that wave lol.

Second is that your plants are dying from the bottom up.with spattered dead patches., that sadly means the roots are knackered IMO. The tops will stay alive the longest. They may even recover but its a coin toss to be honest.
If you look at the pic of just the rockwool you can see the plant is already dying off and that theres brown stuff growing in the roots.
Was doomed from the start i reckon .

Few questions to help me understand and advise though...
how often do you empty and clean the res?
Are you using a product to keep the res healthy? Hydroguard z7,sm-90 etc?
are you using an airpump?
What ppm feed do you put in and at what ph?
Do the ppm and ph numbers rise or fall?

In all honesty i think youre screwed mate and would be better starting again but answer that lot anyway.
Ill set you back on track if its doable and make sure it doesnt happen again.
Youll know very shortly if its salvageable


In the thread under my name, im about to share as much as i can about the subject. Wont be kicking off for another week or so but tag in mate . Ill help you get it right next time

[ladymaryjane]

Hi ladymaryjane, I’ve grown hydro for about 3 years now so I know to keep on top of the ec and ph levels because they can change from day to day...I’ve always run a water cooler so water temps are always around 18oC.

It’s a loft groom so unfortunately even with a 12” fan taking out and a 10” bringing fresh air in when you’re dragging 25-30oC air in some days the temps are all over the place especially with the heat from the lights as well, so room temps swing from 20-35oC and it’s done this since I’ve been in the loft for nearly 10 years now and never had plants grow this slow lol

I’m pretty sure this is down to the plants being drowned with the blocks being too wet, next time I’ll make sure there even more rooted then this time and also I won’t put the pumps on 24/7 for the first 2 weeks and hopefully they’ll be a little happier next time


Current grow...

6 Invisible sun LED boards NFT grow
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...0&share_type=t

Hello again mate, from what you have said, I think you're bang on with your analysis. A combination of almost drowning along with room temps getting too high.

Now, if you use the spacer from a pizza box, circle side down, placing the block around 1cm above the surface of the tray, you will avoid saturating the block when it's first added to the tank in future. Make sure it is almost dry, only damp when you put it in.

The roots will find the water mate, they do not have to sit on the mat. And there is enough water already in the block to keep it going until the roots hit the tray.

Now, as for the pump, instead of turning it on and off etc.....it would be better to leave it running 24/7, but turn the flow of the water down until your root-mat is established.

But keep the water moving at all times.

I'm not really a fan of letting it sit still too long, as it could go stagnant.

With nft, you are looking to get as thin a film of water as possible at first, not a raging torrent, until they are ready to kick off, meaning plenty of roots, then turn your pump back up.

[thegrower1]

Hiya buddy im an NFT grower. Profile pic is an auto i done that way.
The first thing absolutely screaming at me is in picture no3. You want like 30litres per hour flowing out of that manifold. I could almost surf that wave lol.

Second is that your plants are dying from the bottom up.with spattered dead patches., that sadly means the roots are knackered IMO. The tops will stay alive the longest. They may even recover but its a coin toss to be honest.
If you look at the pic of just the rockwool you can see the plant is already dying off and that theres brown stuff growing in the roots.
Was doomed from the start i reckon .

Few questions to help me understand and advise though...
how often do you empty and clean the res?
Are you using a product to keep the res healthy? Hydroguard z7,sm-90 etc?
are you using an airpump?
What ppm feed do you put in and at what ph?
Do the ppm and ph numbers rise or fall?

In all honesty i think youre screwed mate and would be better starting again but answer that lot anyway.
Ill set you back on track if its doable and make sure it doesnt happen again.
Youll know very shortly if its salvageable


In the thread under my name, im about to share as much as i can about the subject. Wont be kicking off for another week or so but tag in mate . Ill help you get it right next time

Thanks for the reply mate! I'm using the pumps that come with the nft 604 system so are them pumps not big enough?

I change res every 7-10 days, I don't use anything to keep it a sterile system I tried once in rdwc and I didnt get as much root mass as I did when using voodoo juice and tnc mycorr (mycorr does strain roots brown) so this is why my roots have always been slightly brown when growing in any hyrdo system... Also pH to around 6 and let it swing, normally I find in beg it swings down and in flower it swings up, this is the case now.

Appreciate all your help looks like these will be going in the bin, can't get hold of any decent cuts just yet so I'll leave them in for the time being tho

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