I have a 30 day old lemon skunk in a bubble bucket. It just doesnt look as healthy as it did a week ago. The leaves were all pointed slightly upward before and now it seems droopy. Feeding it grow big @2tsp/gal with bcuzz veg @3/4tsp/gal. pH stays 5.8, sometimes spiking up to 6.2. Using tap water left out for a few days for chlorine to evaporate. Do I maybe have the water level too high? the bottom 2" of the basket is submerged as the instructions suggested. The basket is much larger than the ones I see most people using. Am I overfeeding it maybe? I don't know why it is drooping.
I would say yes, wen i used a bucket i kept water level about 1" below net basket. The key was to keep the basket and medium moist from the bursting bubbles from the air stone as they rise to the top,but i also used 6" net pots
Sounds like you have two big issues. First, sounds to me like they are getting waaay overfed. Especially early in the grow, they don't need as much in the way of nutes. Once they start exploding, (which they will) they will need more nutes. Try cutting back to adding nutes once per week, and top off with plain water the rest of the time. The other issue could be too much water. I know it sounds wierd to hear that a hydro plant can get too much water, but it has happened to me. When the water level is too high (and yours is a bit too high), the roots can't get the oxygen they need and they literally drown. All that is necessary for a bubblebucket is to have the bubbles breaking/water misting the roots that are above the surface. Once they reach the water, they will be fine. I like to keep the water level about 3" below the bottom of the net pot. It helps to let the roots "breathe" a little. Once the plant gets going, it will use a gallon or more per day, and you can add nutes more frequently.
I figured overfeeding might be playing a part, but I am actually using less than the fox farm table recommends. I will have to keep this in mind. Last night I changed the resivor out with plain water and lowered the level and already this morning it seems to be perking back up a little. How long is is ok to leave plain water in there before adding nutes again? Thanks for the help.
You don't want the bottom 2" of net pot submerged. Have you flushed that bucket at all or just adding more nutes and water? I see yellow, wide veins etc...
I change the nutrients every 10 days but never flushed the basket. Should I run a bunch of clean water through the basket each time I change the nutes?
So I have done what was recommended. Lowered the nutrient strength, and lowered the water level to 1" below basket. It seems to have stopped drooping but now some of the lower fan leaves are turning yellow. Here are a few pics, one seems to show some nute burn. Like I said before, I don't have much for roots poking through the basket but I enclosed a pic. Do they look right? They have changed color slightly since I lowered the water level, are they drying out?
pic # 2 says you prolly don't have enough bubbles or high enough water. That's a dry netpot side. It should have little bubbles of water all over it when you lift it out to look at the side where your roots are. Not enough air or not enough water I'd say but not positive. He has one of those huge netpots in there. If he doesn't have some water touching the bottom of the netpot until roots are coming out the bottom of the netpot there is a chance he will not be getting water to the roots. It doesn't matter if the water is touching the netpot. If that plant starts getting bubbling water to the roots with a correct nutrient solution, it WILL perk right up like a miracle.
I bumped up the water level so the exposed roots would be getting splashed, I think that was my problem because I have PLENTY of air bubbles in there. 4" airstone disc and 24" flexible airstone hooked to dual diaphram pump
Looks like your plant growth has been stoped do to the cause of salt build up! What are you ppm levels @? Hydro at the begining is 500ppm if i remember correctly!
She seems to be coming around. There has been vertical growth in the top shoots and where I topped it last has some new shoots forming. Still slightly droopy and the largest fan leaves are dying but the new growth looks healthy. I will update pics tomorrow, she is sleeping right now.
looks to me imo that it needs more nutes,the yellowing could be due to a lack of nitrogen,and the spotting could be a magnese issue.theres a book called the marijuana garden saver that is awsome has detailed pics of most of the common nute issues and so much more.its like 20 bucks but worth every penny.on my seedlings i ran the water line right at the base of the net pot till the roots got in the water and then dropped it to about an inch below that.good luck man.hope she comes back around.
Wasn't able to get a pic today. I left for work before she woke up and got home 10 minutes after the timer went off. Will get an update in the morning. I went out and bought a real ph/tds tester today, well I ordered one, the hydro shop was out of stock. I have only been testing pH so far with some shitty test strips. I think a more accurate meter will help me solve this problem.
Alright, got a couple pics this morning after a couple upgrades. I switched out the clear hosing for black shit, and moved the pump above the lights so I could take off those restrictive check valves. The increase in airflow was visibly noticeable. It is perking up for sure, and I think will come around. The water level has been 2 inches below the basket for a few days now and all of the sudden there are roots shooting out the bottom like crazy. You were right whoever told me the roots need to search out the water. Thank you. I couldn't get a pic of the roots because my girlfriend was gone, I only have two arms, and my dog lacks the opposing digit necessary to take a photo. At any rate, here is a pic or two. New growth coming out of the last area where I topped it, and the four top shoots are getting taller. and yeah, I clipped a couple of the largest fan leaves, they were dying.
A couple of my roots are looking fucked up, they look shrunk in the middle and are turning brown. Anyone know what causes this? I am using fox farms grow big @1tsp/gal and b'cuzz veg. Other than the couple roots, the plant is looking much better.
