narnia

@Duracell Noice one, new white growth, good news. Are those germ. kits peat? Peat holds a lot of water, as does rockwool, rapid rooters less so, but still. A common issue is over-watering if the medium is saoked, especially noticeable with seedlings, much like a soil-grow. Organic material falling in the res is also not the best. Apparently some use them, no worries. Ya sadly I just cannot find any of the products suggested for bennies in SA. I have a Bennie thread going here, but haven't heard too much on it, I'm using Environoc 401, mostly due to that being one of the only products I could find: https://www.420sa.co.za/index.php/topic,1287.0.html

@Duracell hey bro, hydro-noob so take 2 cents with pinch of salt. As others said, pH swings is *likely* what you're seeing on the leaves. However, overall root health is critically important. 25c is quite high temp, higher temps gambles for root problems (root rot, pythium, 'the slime', etc.) and also less dissolved oxygen the higher the temp. Light leaks need to be removed. Res. temp, sufficient oxygen (check airstones and pump), no light leaks, sterile environment (or bennies) are critical. Root issues will lead to a variety of symptoms and once hydro-herp has set in it's really difficult to manage with lots of peeps scrapping and starting over. What do your roots look like? Hesienberg tea (bennies), or individual products which comprise the tea, is the option chosen by many to try and combat rot once it's set in. Others running sterile go H2O2 / bleach route, which often apparently doesn't help, many scrap, sterilize, start over. All the above should be looked at first. Secondary: How high is the water level in res?. Are you using rockwool? Holds a lot of water and your drippers shouldn't hit the rockwool. I have removed my water pump after the roots hit the water in the res both to avoid over soaking the medium and leading to "wet feet" symptoms, and to reduce res temperatures. conversely I need to run a small water heater for short bursts on the really cold days. Your water pumps will create quite a lot of heat. What are you using for pH down? Haven't used your nutes; do you have an EC / TDS meter? Checked Grow powder: 0.5gm / l is apparently 1 EC, which is strong for DWC, especially seedlings that small. Your girls will only need half that, if even.

Tried it. I found the silica at 1:1000 dilution tasted a bit bitter. Nah jk.

No silica added last res change about 5 days ago, little sap droplet dudes:

@Gnome hey bro, I don't / haven't yet. hence starting this thread. All experimental. Within the thread are some links and info I've found. There was an SA supplier (expensive) I pasted in this thread. The chips should be exempt from duty (link somewhere back in this thread) but may need fight customs if don't have the correct HS code from shipper - drivers I've yet to look into duties. Make Light is, so far, the only local producer I've seen, with some sweet looking lights, and components, and seem to be expanding (Quantum Boards coming in!). Sadly I could only find the one supplier (in this thread somewhere) but given the price in ZAR compared to USD import, haven't bothered confirming whether they hold stock locally.

@ChronicGorilla Are you venting as well as providing air movement? Small redundant tip, 120mm computer fans fit nice and snug in 150mm ducting. A push / pull configuration (fans on either end of the ducting) actually moves a surprising amount of air, nice and quietly, with adjustable goodness 3-12 volt.

@Trickerst You'll be fine can park real close if at the right time. You can get containers all over the place, really. Mambos maybe best bet? Not worth missioning to Mambos though as can prob grab from any hardware store. Two 10l bottles is easy to carry. Two 25l bottles is manageable but need some grunt. If filling more than 25l at SAB, they make you join the back of the queue again. Meaning: 25 liter max per person, so need to queue again if want more than 25l. Smoke a bowl before you go or you may just hate life after queuing with all the grumpy bastards.

@Trickerst Have been running the Environoc 401 in DWC - mostly as a means to keep root issues at bay. First DWC so I have no comparison point, that said, root growth is grand, white, lateral growth, sweeeeet. Did notice a small pea-sized amount of clear jelly substance on root about a week ago, which has since disappeared. Still shitting bricks that the herp may take control in the res. though all indication, from jelly disappearing, would make me think it is doing its job. I have never seen the herp first hand, but most reading on it is pretty catastrophic. Have an unopened bottle of Em Pro Soil as well, which I plan[hope] to run side-by-side comparison, soil and coco with couple control plants, perhaps for outdoor-season or before, depending. That'd be the tits. If I do follow through with the mission will record some data and if is viable/usable will share, this'll take a while...currently I wouldn't be able to state what improvements, if any, are seen. A user on this forum, can't recall who GLO maybe? , mentioned grabbing small soil samples from different areas where there is diverse life to import bennies and I believe make a tea? Wouldn't consider doing this with DWC, and I'd be a bit concerned bringing indoors but I'm paranoid of bringing shit into my already far from sterile environment. Not the cheapest stuff, but still not Mammoth P type costs, that's ridiculous.

@Gnome I've only looked at the Cree cxb3590, 3070, and Vero29. can't find a spec sheet for the COB in the link you've provided, neither there, nor on Sencart's site. Sencart's site only list a 30W COB as highest, but that isonly run at 900mA according to their site. Perhaps they can be run at higher drive currents to reach 50W, or there's something weird going on. How many COBs for your build? That linked COB is 6500K spectrum... Given the costs for drivers / cooling / some sort of mounting, and if you're importing already, the extra money spent on 'trusted' COBs might be more beneficial. Those are listed at R70 odd, Veros you can grab at around $25, cheaper if don't get the SE version and opt to solder (if you have the tools otherwise that's a purchase), few dollars less if get the prior generation Vero29s rather than the gen 7s. Either should incur 14% VAT from customs, but should be exempt from duty as far as I can tell. Whether you can actually explain that to the customs official, who knows... Too long; didn't read version: Ya you save a few bob on the COBS, but who knows on the efficiency and emitted light. So perhaps if you're only doing a 3 or 4 COB build the extra money is well spent, if you''re going balls deep, then the 4:1 cost ratio may be tempting, you'll still need more drivers, cooling etc. which brings total cost up some.

That's a pretty sweet PDF from a brief flick-through. Fair amount of broad information, even with a bit of ye ole VPD and EC > PPM conversions thrown in for good measure. Saved for reference. Interesting on the CO2 supplementation. My assumption has been greater PPFD values are needed before seriously considering CO2, mostly based on the simple graph on diminishing returns, attached below. The PDF intimates 500umol/s/m2 being a crossover point. This vid is a mess, but there's some good info through the stoner dialogue. Not too sure on your knowledge base and whether it's too simple or tech, but may help: This is the thread with some data on optics: cxb3590 http://www.rollitup.org/t/lens-and-reflector-optics-for-cob.893660/ vero29 (not sure if gen 7) http://www.rollitup.org/t/how-to-plot-ppf-chart-with-quantum-sensors-for-led-light-comparison.881113 [edited to add vero thread and tag @Toby - since you're a mod, may I ask if it's necessary to tag peeps on reply?]

Hey @Toby , Disclaimer: I'm not that well versed in this, recommend your own further research. Growmau5 and Greengenes are where I've gleaned most... recommend watching some of their videos and referring to some of the referenced threads on rollitup in their vids. Since you have the umol/s data it's quite straight forward to calculate the PPFD, simply divide PPF (umol/s) by square meter area to get PPFD (umol/s/m2 - I think). As to spread, this will vary based on optics or lack thereof. As for spread.... regarding COBs: There's a thread from Robin on rollitup analyzing different optics and therefore spread on the CXB3590s I think there may have been similar for gen 7 Vero29s, which you could perhaps try and correlate to your setup and try figure out the spread. Not sure how you could fudge spread, without a PAR meter, if you're not running COBs. That help?

Whatsup my Gnomie. Nice. What are you looking to go with?

What are you, and peeps, using to supplement Ca and Mg when required? Calcium nitrate base hortishop type and compensating for the extra N?

Apologies for reviving old thread, but seemed better than starting another querying same; I've looked all over for good Cal-Mag supplement. Growguru don't stock whatever this was anymore Hortishop only have the calcium nitrate base which is really high in N, as you mentioned in this old post. Is there anything else on the SA market? Currently worried af at combining Epsom salts (for the Mg) with nutes and/or chelated calcium, and just about anything really, as it precipitates as gypsum (right?) so I just foliar feed epsom when needed for Mg. Really need a source of Mg!

Anyone using silica? Noticeable difference in plant "defense" response, when topping without, notice a small amount of liquid (whatever it may be) sometimes will ooze out. With silica in prior feed, heals instantly. Training for mainlining much easier with slightly more pliable stems. Also, can be used as pH up due to it's crazy alkalinity, which is the shizzle.

Bag seed *can* give gold, it *can* have a higher percentage chance at herming. Anything that's going well, is ideal

As many CFLs as you can fit into it then Better to get a few lowered wattage bulbs than one large high wattage bulb. Can then also have a mixed spectrum if desired, but mainly CFL over 100W tend to get real hot and the light is rather useless as you get further away from the light source. This you must all already know though, lots of CFL stealth info around online, as to how much, the more the merrier. Get ém close and adjust as often as can.

Can't drink tap water after the spring. Even brita filtered watered is shite. They've added more taps to the SAB point, though the pressure seems to have decreased - on Springs Rd it's been real busy when I've gone passed, perhaps just bad timing. PVC at Springs, perhaps SAB point has some copper trace from the piping and if they're pumping it something else. EC 0.1, pH 6.5ish on budget pen my tap water is usually over 7 (with EC 0.2), you're getting a nice (?) tap water source.... The linked report had a detailed breakdown on trace elements and such. It's a bit long winded but there's a table with deets if you flick through. Lower on mag and lower on calcium, lower on iron (depending), good zinc, etc. etc. Agreed it's a mission. Timed right, though, can stroll right up to a tap, fill, and bail, which is mission enough.

For the SEs I've only seen those silicon lenses... sweet, thanks man. There are some threads with PPF(D) data with different optics from Robin on rollitup (I think). Having read so many I'm not 100s there were data on the Veros, but fairly confident, you could figure out some rough numbers... I think it'll rock provided have the height above canopy. Perhaps run no optics to get better spread and less focus?

@Trickerst By SAB there is an entrance and small parking area. I've seen it quite busy on occasion, long wait behind people rinsing 20 siff little bottles The water is great though.

Thanks for the response m8. Yep, bennie benefits still beneficial. Will help combat root issues by competing with the bastard bacteria, rather than running completely sterile, as well as benefiting from those regular bennie benefits. 'Heisenberg Tea' is a much used mix of products, from a user Heisenberg on rollitup I think. It's referenced a lot, in many places and variances, but uses products I can't see SA having- to make the tea. I can only find two bottled comparable products available in SA, environoc 401 and em pro soil. Other peeps here just running sterile with H2O2?

What are local growers using in their hydro systems to cultivate bennies (beneficial bacteria)? Seen environoc 401 and EM Pro soil. Heisenberg Tea - wouldn't know where to get ingredients in SA. What are yáll using?

Noice. 2nd grow in same cabinet? How close are you keeping the CFLs, how many bulbs? DIY reflective hood? Any reflective material on the sides? As @alemo mentioned, not sure what type of info you're looking for, or whether your tatas have hakuna'd? You seem pretty set. Keen to see more as grow develops.

Hey bro, Post your grow box size. What light source? HID, LED, CFL, etc.

No worries m8, happy building and growing once you do get going. So the silicon lenses? Or are there reflectors/holders made for the SEs?