Hello. I am on my first grow from bag seed. I started four and ended up with one female that survived. I am three weeks into flowering and she is growing nicely. My question concerns adding water. My plant is sucking up almost a gallon of water a day. I have been changing the water once a week and that was when I added my nutes. I would just add plain water when needed. But she is sucking up so much right now and the tips of the leaves have started browning quickly. I am guessing it is because of the lack of nutes in the added water. Is it a good idea to add my nutes in my spare water so that they are in there when I add the gallon a day or should I stick with just plain water? I appreciate any help.
Ideally what you want to do is to look at the ppm whenever you add water, because it will dilute the nuts. Get a ppm meter and try to keep it consistent. So yes when you add water you will want to add nutes, and you don't need to switch your water out every week with a little system like yours you can switch it out every other week.
yes you can add nutes every time you top up with water. however, i will say that that can be a lot more difficult than it seems. it becomes easy to over-fert your plants. also, it can cause a lot of pH issues. i grow in DWC buckets and i just top up with plain water and pH adjust in the bucket as needed. once a week i empty out the whole bucket and add my nutrients. i've never had any problems with this method. how often are you topping up with water? once the plants get pretty big, i was topping up probably twice a day (once at lights on and once before lights out). also, what are you PPMs at three weeks into flowering? and how long did you veg it for? it might just be you're not adding enough nutrients each week or you're adding too much.
I have two one-gallon water jugs that I started filling and adding the manufacturer suggested amount of nutrients per liter in those jugs as I do to the water in my bucket when I change it out. That way the nutes are at the same level as what is in the bucket. I have been topping off my water once a day in the evening when I get home from work. I may start doing it twice a day. I veg'd for 9 weeks from seed and I am at 4 weeks flower as of tomorrow. The plant really is doing well. It is a good size and it looks like it is producing a good number of flowers for being from bag seed and my first grow. I don't have any kind of ppm meter right now. I ordered the small Bubble Boy Tent kit with an add on vented light hood from HTG. It came with a three part nutrient kit that I am using and I use a spray-on kelp nutrient every three days to encourage more flowers. I sprouted four seeds this time. One died young because I broke its stem while attempting to transfer it too soon. (a learning experience) Two ended up male and I had the one female that I am growing now. For my next venture I'm going to try some different nutrients. I have a hydroponics store a few blocks from my house with a great selection and they are very knowledgeable about nutrients, lighting and all that. I think I'm doing OK for my first grow. It's just the specifics of this plant that I am trying to get straightened out. I'm going to order some real seeds after this one is harvested. I don't have the space for cloning so I'm going to have to go from seed each time.
this could be the issue. generally, the suggested amounts are too high. i've read to use 1/2 strength or even 1/4 strength of recommended amounts. probably a good idea. sounds good so far. i've never used a spray before but i've read that you should be careful with them later in flowering as they can increase the chances of mold. bag seed for first grow is a good idea but it's always nice to get some top quality seeds and know exactly what you're growing. obviously after you've grown it once you'll have a better understanding of how it grows for the next time. i've only used the general hydroponics line of nutrients but they seem to be pretty good so far. gl with everything!
this is quite a bit of water for one plant. What is the temp in your res and in your room? also it sounds like you're OVERnuting judging by the "browning" you describe. Pics would help.
UPDATE: My first grow: from bag seed in a Bubble Boy setup 9 weeks veg 9-1/2 weeks flower I used the nutes I got with the tent kit and never checked my pH. I did what I discussed above with having one gallon of nuted water and one gallon of plain water and I added a little of each to the plant each day to top her off. 1 plant made it to flower (other 2 were male). I am harvesting now and so far I am easily at over 70 g I still have more to trim and weight. Next grow I will order seeds, get a ppm meter and get serious but I am happy with my yield for a first time grow. I'll do a grow journal here next time.
Actually, I mean what I said. I didn't mention it but I drained the water and let the plant die and dry for a week whole. Then I cut it into large pieces and hung it and dried it for another week. Now I am trimming it since I dried it whole and did not trim it before. I may try trimming it before drying next time, I have not decided. I do like being able to basically run my hand along the dried fan leaves and have them fall off easily. I do not have pictures. My buds aren't amazing. They are a little fluffy I would call it. They fall apart easily but have a lot of sugar. I harvested a little early, I believe. But, being from bag seed it was hard to judge. Next time it will turn out better.