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Hydroponic Bonsai(Bonchi)......from seed......

bonchi from seed attemp hydroponically!
this is my first try at bonchi and carolina reaper hydroponically!
white duck tape, draw device; & net pot!
pot traceddraw a quarter inch line on the inside and cut out the inner circle.
drop the net cup in
make two quarter inch holes, one in each side, with a knife or a drill. and punch air pump hoses into the container.
fill resevoir to an inch above the bottom of the net pot
now the "Reaper"!
wash soil or coco coir from soil and make a small hole for tap root in the net cup
 
Click to expand...
The medium in the pot .. are you using hydroponic clay pebbles or similar ... neat idea for mature plants to cut hole for tap root getting them quickly into the nutrients ... did you use PH up/down to get to 6-6.5 .. as others have said great little DIY bubbler system I will be watching with interest
 
i seem to already be having problems. the leaves are beginning to turn purple and are brittle. i believe this is nitrogen toxicity. anybody got any suggestions?it looks worse than the picture shows
 
Awesome set up.
 
You could try and run with pure distilled water for a day or so and see if helps.
 
Do those air stones stay on the bottom or do they squirm all around, last year I had to weigh mine done because they kept getting tangled in the roots, which made it a pain to change the nutrients.. 
 
Trident chilli said:
The medium in the pot .. are you using hydroponic clay pebbles or similar ... neat idea for mature plants to cut hole for tap root getting them quickly into the nutrients ... did you use PH up/down to get to 6-6.5 .. as others have said great little DIY bubbler system I will be watching with interest
Click to expand...
you are probably close with the ph, that is one thing i forgot to buy, will be getting some in the morning. by the way, i am no hydro expert! 8)
jimbo53 said:
Awesome set up.
 
You could try and run with pure distilled water for a day or so and see if helps.
 
Do those air stones stay on the bottom or do they squirm all around, last year I had to weigh mine done because they kept getting tangled in the roots, which made it a pain to change the nutrients.. 
Click to expand...
i already changed the water with no nutes. the stones are heavy. the air hoses go through the lid, so, when i change the nutes, everything is attached to the lid.
 
Hydroponic PH down contains Phosphoric acid which some people find worrying as you only need a few drops to completely alter the PH ... it is best to do this away from your main container then add ... bucket .. water best to leave over night then add nutrients and test PH ... did you know a can of diet coke has a PH of 5.5 .... flat diet coke has been used to reduce PH with chilli growers here in the UK (a lot safer for you plants than Phosphoric acid) ... don't use full fat coke it has too much sugar

The air stones we use are round ceramic made by a company called "Hailea" 75mm - 125mm or their Golf ball air stone

All the best
 
Diet coke basically is polluted, watered down pH- and actually gets it's acidity from phosporic acid. I use plagron pH- (phosporic acid as strong as it gets) with my nute solution. I don't deem it unsafe to use as it behaves very stable. I have very hard and alkaline water here (pH 7.90-8.08) and need 7 to 8 drops (per liter) of pH- to get my solution down to 6.

So you need a large squirt for a large nute solution. I use a 3ml Syringe to do this and it works like a charm. After about 5 tries I keep being spot on.

So why don't use coke? Well, it contains contaminants like sweeteners and organic material. It also usually contains citric acid.

Is this bad? Well, as you mentioned.. people do use it so it probably won't kill your plants.. But organic acid like citric acid is not nearly as stable as phosporic acid. Also with bubbling the co2 can actually raise your pH. And why is that? Well Co2 is a base.. (yes, it is.. Just keep reading before quoting and flaming). In a low PPM mix, the co2 will react with your nute mix and create H2CO3, an acid. In high PPM mixes you might see an increase in the pH due to the disaccociation of the H2CO3, falling apart to H+, HCO3-, and CO3-.

With other words, pH will swing a bit down and then go up. Also due to the nute up take of the plant, evaporation etc. With citric acid in the mix it will just be more severe than with phosporic acid. So just make sure to adjust/check your solution every other day and refresh in time. Use the discarded nutes to feed your give-away chilis.

Ps: puple/red stains can be a serious phosporus deficiency. The pics are to unclear to tell for sure though, but phosporic acid might just help there.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=PKzpVOylB8aqPP6_gbgP&url=http://people.umass.edu/jmeagy/Chili-Module%2520VI-P2O5%2520deficiency.pptx&ved=0CCYQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNERB5HmrcV-tCfkw1p1t39bLOOGJQ&sig2=3nRTmfgDGkzm3RhslLi2Rg
 
The fascinating fact about growing chillies is that you never know everything .. it's all about continued learning ... great write up Pfeffer thanks for putting citric acid in the bin
 
You can use it, but you just need to monitor it more closely. Also phosporic acid seems to be expensive.. But you only need 7 drops per liter.

A waterdrop is 0.05ml in lab term, so That's A 1:20,000 Ratio. . I believe they also sell it in 500ml bottles.

I also use it for getting calcium from my coffee machine, waterboiler, pans, washmachine heat element etc. Just mix in 5ml per liter of tap water and sit over night. I don't like to use vinegar due to the smell. Phosporic acid is odourless.

If a few tabs of citric acid coffee machine decalcifier run you 10 bucks, a 8 dollar Investment that serves you 1-2 years of gardening + household is a very good deal.

It's also a billion times safer than hydrochloric or sulphuric acid.

Just make sure to go to the pharmacy for some 5ct Syringes.. I always buy 3ml, 5ml, 10ml and 50ml.

They are great for everything and even find a lot of kitchen use here..
 
Pfeffer said:
Diet coke basically is polluted, watered down pH- and actually gets it's acidity from phosporic acid. I use plagron pH- (phosporic acid as strong as it gets) with my nute solution. I don't deem it unsafe to use as it behaves very stable. I have very hard and alkaline water here (pH 7.90-8.08) and need 7 to 8 drops (per liter) of pH- to get my solution down to 6.

So you need a large squirt for a large nute solution. I use a 3ml Syringe to do this and it works like a charm. After about 5 tries I keep being spot on.

So why don't use coke? Well, it contains contaminants like sweeteners and organic material. It also usually contains citric acid.

Is this bad? Well, as you mentioned.. people do use it so it probably won't kill your plants.. But organic acid like citric acid is not nearly as stable as phosporic acid. Also with bubbling the co2 can actually raise your pH. And why is that? Well Co2 is a base.. (yes, it is.. Just keep reading before quoting and flaming). In a low PPM mix, the co2 will react with your nute mix and create H2CO3, an acid. In high PPM mixes you might see an increase in the pH due to the disaccociation of the H2CO3, falling apart to H+, HCO3-, and CO3-.

With other words, pH will swing a bit down and then go up. Also due to the nute up take of the plant, evaporation etc. With citric acid in the mix it will just be more severe than with phosporic acid. So just make sure to adjust/check your solution every other day and refresh in time. Use the discarded nutes to feed your give-away chilis.

Ps: puple/red stains can be a serious phosporus deficiency. The pics are to unclear to tell for sure though, but phosporic acid might just help there.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=PKzpVOylB8aqPP6_gbgP&url=http://people.umass.edu/jmeagy/Chili-Module%2520VI-P2O5%2520deficiency.pptx&ved=0CCYQFjAB&usg=AFQjCNERB5HmrcV-tCfkw1p1t39bLOOGJQ&sig2=3nRTmfgDGkzm3RhslLi2Rg
Click to expand...
i believe you are right on the phosphorus deficiency, i put new water with no nutirents for two days, and nothing changed. Then i added the tiger bloom which is higher phosphorus and it shows the damage is done, but, it is perking up quite a bit. i have not bought the ph up down kit, but the tiger bloom says it lowers the ph, so, i think that will work for now. thanks!
 
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