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<span class="link_user">@Sven_Lordy</span>, Thanks for the kind msg. Ya it's all my own fault though.. I keep breaking branches on the dang plant haha. Anyway I'll get something out of her for sure. Appreciate it man, taks care and hope your Triple G works out for you!
<span class="link_user">@russrahl</span>, I'm aware of the difference between both. Ironically, the amount of air space in Kratky and DWC isn't too dissimilar (at the start, at least). Kratky is for smaller plants and the idea is, as the water gets used, the nutrients concentrate... so as the plant grows, the strength of the diminishing nutrient solution concentrates to support the bigger plant, and the airspace grows while the plant drinks too. Sometimes you need to add more water - it depends on how suitable the pot size is for the whatever being grown. Far too much opportunity for root rot if you ask me. Kratky is fine for seedlings, but past week 3 I think it makes sense to move to a different method/medium.
I left the air pump on over night. Nutrient strength has gone from 427 to 398, so it's happily eating from the water now! The drooped leaves are still dry-feeling and drooped, so you were right - it was nutrient burn. The new growth is looking much healthier now and she seems to have picked up the pace slightly in growth too. So, unless I see some deficiencies, I'll be leaving her alone for the rest of the week (until 5th node appears, which I intend to top). Roots are still growing like nuts - the tap root has doubled in size over night, so too have some of the side roots which were starting to appear from the basket. She seems to be happy as-is, so thanks for the help!
Really hate how EVERY manufacturer instructs way too high doses of their nutrients. This is 2nd grow attempt (neither seed germinated last time, so I'm not counting that one!), and 2nd time I've burned following nutrient manufacturer guidelines. From now on, less is more. Unless I see a deficiency, I'm sticking at 35% of whatever value is recommended.
BTW - my pot insulation works really well. Lights on at 6am, off at 2am. I keep 2l solution in the fridge all day. At 4/5pm I draw 2l of 'warm' solution, add 2l of refrigerated solution and the temps are sticking between 18-20c (optimal range). It helps that my air pump is outside the tent in a cool room, and that the volume of air being pumped through acts as its own cooling system.
Hi <span class="link_user">@russrahl</span>, I see where you're coming from, and when I took a reading I was actually around 650ppm! I took out half my nutrient solution so am now at 427ppm. 40ppm is baseline of my water, 110ppm is additives and the rest is NPK and micronutrients from the Formulex. So, around 300ppm now of base nutrients. Am leaving everything else as-is and will check for improvement in the morning.
What I don't understand about your comment is how on earth Kratky works if what you say is true? The tap root is literally just touching the water at present so I'm not sure oxygen starvation would be an issue. I'm running a 25w pump in a 20l bucket, so am sure I could afford a little bit of off time every hour at this early stage?
Anyway, process of elimination... have started with nutrients (absolutely no doubt you're right on that point) and will maybe look at other variables if there's no improvement by tomorrow afternoon.
<span class="link_user">@Ezzjaybruh</span>, I looked earlier and the tap root is already about an inch out the bottom of the pot (only transplanted 2 days ago)! I've been running the water level a couple inches below the bottom of the pot all day but she's still showing signs of overwatering.
Think your advice is sound - I'll switch off the pump tomorrow (while I can keep an eye on her over the course of the day), and see how things change. I have a spare timer switch so I can try just running the pump 15 mins per hour while she's getting established. Once there's more of a root mass I can progressively add extra 15 min segments to each hour and see if that keeps her happy.
It's either that, or I'm running a little hot on nutrients. Process of elimination - will try this first.
Thanks for the advice - much appreciated!
EDIT: Am just about to post pics of current situation to a new week.
Hi <span class="link_user">@Ezzjaybruh</span>, and thanks for the heads-up. My first sign that it could be a problem was when I was trying to rest the plant on the hydroton - the tap root wouldn't go through any gaps in the stones because of the amount of wind pushing it back! 2nd sign of problems was, after filling to my usual "no roots through basket" line, I got heavy signs of overwatering in around 18 hours. I think it would have appeared sooner were it not for the sheer amount of oxygen this thing moves.
So, I've currently got my water line around 10mm under the basket. The amount of bubbles popping on the surface is still keeping the hydroton wet to around 3/4 the way up the net pot. This was only done late yesterday afternoon but already the leaves are lifting back up and she's looking much happier.
There's no adjuster on this pump model so it kinda is what it is. Given the amount of splashing caused by the popping bubbles,, I'll try running my water level 2"-2.5" beneath the pot when the roots show through the basket. It'll probably operate more like an aeroponic system but at least it will give the roots a chance to get properly sturdy before splashdown. My guess is that the roots will be mostly floating around on the surface of the water given the amount of air being pushed up... is that what you found?