hey dudes decided to find myself a new forum. ive been growing a few years now but am plagued with newbie problems still. i`m growing nft,400w bulb,intake outake fans for air,heated etc. growing area is now pretty well sorted however ive had a maddening redding/browny/purpling of stems and leaves in all crops which stunts the growth dramatically. i didnt have a ph mater till last harvest and it was determined that a fluctating ph was causing this. the ph meter seemd to stop it altho in last week of growth the redding appeared in leaves. anyhoo this crop. 2 weeks into flowering and i had no water uptake at all(10 days or so now) my ph meter did appear to be readin correctly and i know pretty much how much acid to add to lower the ph. meter did need calibrating but when i rechencked ph twas still only6.2 i`m using canna ferts a+b and adding 25ml per 10 litres(which i have dropped down abit to 20ml. i do have a trunchion for ec but tbh it doesnt read accurately and will only callibrate to 2.6 rather than the 2.7... its sposed to read,but on comparison wit a mates working ec meter it simply read 0.2 down on what it should be. i simply cant afford a new one right now. i dont rely on the ec meter,but do use it to get a rough idea of whats being used. when the plants growing ok simply adding a set amount of a+b seems fine. i always flush the tank weekly. now i know i havent an ideal set up,but can you give me some ideas. plants now been sitting in water for 10 days now. i have lots of healthy looking roots,in fact too many it seems as the water pump had to be turned down as the tray was beginging to overflow. any info ive missed out please say. appreciate any replies.
Hey Bro, sorry you're having a tough time. (P) deficiencies are uncommon to plants in any decent soil mixture or hydroponic garden. The most serious problem occurs when the grower continuously adds (Fe/iron) to the mixture when an (Fe) deficiency is mistakenly diagnosed. (Fe) interferes with (P) uptake. I'm wondering if you may have a lot of iron in your water. Are you using an RO system? If not, maybe try to get your water analyzed, or at least get an RO water system. You can get a great deal on Ebay. (P) deficiencies often start with plants that superficially look healthy, but have an uncharacteristic dull, dark, blue-green color. Stems, petioles, and the undersides of leaves often have a red or purple tinge. Unfortunately, for anyone diagnosing this problem, some healthy plants develop a purple coloration characteristic of the strain. Check the leaf edges or margins, particularly on the lower leaves, to see if they have a downward curl. Affected leaves will also drop or easily separate from the stem. Tips of the older leaf blades sometimes turn brown or copper. Leaves may develop some gray or purple discoloration, but more often lower leaves form blotchy yellow areas before the whole leaf yellows and dies. In severe cases you'll see stunted plants, more often, just slow growth. An acidic soil or water supply may also be the cause. Try to find out the iron content of your water. You can tell if you have iron problems if your bathtub or toilet bowl looks rusty. Hopefully you'll get your problem sorted out. Good luck. chunk