Marcondian

Hi, i'm using flood and drain with Hydroton (5.5-6 pH soaked first) in a six inch deep stainless steel tray.
I've grown tomatoes in this tray with no probs so the SS shouldn't be causing this prob. ??
Plants are only three weeks old so i'm using the 'Optimum' brand of hydro fert at half strength.
The system floods and immediately drains twice every three hours during the light cycle (18 hours) with the nutes at 24 C.
I do find the pH needs adjusting back down to 5.8 or so every couple of days (it gets to 7 pH) for some bloody reason.
Using HPS 250 watt 10 inches above plant tops.
The problem is getting worse even though i've flushed twice in the last week.
Seed was used for this set up, ones obtained from an ealier hemaphrodite which self pollinated.
Yes the plants do look mutant in some ways, but surely that wouldnt cause this ??
I should mention that i'm using tap water and can smell chlorine when filling the tank.
Thanks for any assistance.

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burndt

looks like a lockout due to PH problem/fluctuations.

what are your temps/humidity like?

what is the ppm of your plain tap water? If your tap water is over 200 ppm Magnesium will be locked out due to the calcium in the water. Magnesium can get locked out by too much Calcium (Ca), Chlorine (Cl) or Ammonium Nitrogen (NH4+).

Try filing out a Nursery Questionnaire for better diagnosis.

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Pesci

whew, I see some major mg deficiency in there. Prolly due to lack of mg or ph lock or both.
per what my colleague said below

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aussie grow

Dude they look terable for 3 weeks old, they from seed or clone ? looks like seed, they should be 6-7" high by now at least.

Cut your nutes, the ph is rising because the plants aren't using all the nutes

Marcondian

Thanks for the replies.
The tap water measures 30 ppm at 6.7 pH.
I'm keeping nutes at 5.8 pH 300 ppm now but i stupidly had it running about 800 ppm a week ago.
Should i throw in a little Epsom salts? if so how much? or will it sort itself out now that i've lowered the ppm.
I never had the prob when i've grown with NFT so it seems strange.
Temp is not very warm this time of year, 20 C daytime 10 C at nite but this is an indoor growroom. Humidity is around 30-50.

Thanks