Jan 15th. Week 1 & 2. 1st time growing anything. well its showing. i got these as clones January 12th and put them in a single rubbermaid tub set up for DWC. I didn't have much instruction except for the Lucas Formula with Humbold nutrients so I started them off at a 10:20 solution of Micro:Bloom. Had no ppm meter and so had to rely on guess and check methods... So waited to see how they reacted, and within a few weeks they were yellowing. I thought the bleaching and yellowing might be a nutrient deficiency, so I upped the ratio to 12:24 and eventually 13:26 (Micro:Bloom). Still no ppm meter so still no idea? Temps were also pretty low, still under CFLs. Figured they needed to get under the HID and would recover? Febuary 4th. 3rd Week. Finally got the 240v set up in the room and hooked up the 1500watt digital ballast under a wing reflector. Got the package from a friend; did not realize how much heat comes off of this light, especially under a wing reflector. Temps hit high 80s and low 90s during the day, with humidity levels low at only 20%. The high temps seemed to be frying the plants and they got progressively worse. At his point I decided I needed to get the buckets setup in hopes that more water would raise humidity and help the plants. February 15th - February 23rd. 5th week. Got the RDWC system setup and replaced the hood with a vented one. These damn plants now been vegging 6 weeks, obviously i'm doing something wrong so I try everything. Get a thermostat and keeping the room 70-79, with humidity 35-60%. Changed lights from 24/0 to 18/6. Finally get the cash for a nice PH meter, rush home to check PH (been using drop kit) thinking its the solution to all my problems. But PH is at 5.8? So I check online, ideal PH. So I got somethin else goin on. Febuary 25th. 6th Week. The setup is nice, but the plants are still not happy. To get plants from the rubbermaid to the 5gals. I just stuck the 4" netcups into 10" baskets on about an inch of hydroton and a week ago the roots still hadn't reached through so this is part of my problem. But its now been a week and I still don't see too many roots coming out, although 3/4 have made considerable progress and actually tapped through the net baskets. Still got to be another problem and hit the internet in hopes figuring out what to do next. I finally learned that overfeeding could cause nute lock and can look similar to a deficiency, especially for a new grower. I then research the Lucas Formula and discover that the starting point is actually 8:16 and I'm still at 13:26..... So now I'm thinking they are just horribly nute burned. I am assuming these plants have been gettin' nuked for 8 weeks now. No growth, 30% of leaves bleached, brown spots, burnt tips, leaves curling up, roots still finding their way into the buckets. All the signs are more dramatic now so I'm hoping my diagnosis is right. That's where I need help. Is there hope for these to turn around? I don't want to start over cause I want to make it through a whole cycle to ensure I'll have a better idea of what to expect the next time around. however, if there is no chance to turn these around, or if they will stay weak, i don't see any reason why I shouldn't just start over. March 4th. I'm in the 7th week now and still don't see any chance of flowering anytime soon. Any suggestions are much appreciated. To help anyone willing to help, here is what I have done in the past few days to treat this problem; 1. Got a ppm meter; Hmm.. 2400 ppm. 2. Drain res. and all buckets 3. 2 Days of flush with Ph'd hard water @ 98 ppm and ClearX @ 15mL/gallon 4. Flush until PPM stops rising. Then drain again and refill with nute solution @ 8:16 mL 5. Now; EC - 2.0, PPM - 1400 (.700 conversion), PH - 5.9, H20 Temp - 64.9, Temp 68-77, Humidity 33-59 Now I'm just planning to wait, but will consider every suggestion. I will have pics loaded soon.
HIGH 7Trees, No Pics Eh?? How Far is the Solution from the Net Pots....When I First Transplant into The Net Pots I Have the Water (Solution) Just Touching the Bottom and Hand Feed through the Top till Roots Come out of The Pots....Then I Lower The Level Of Water a Few inches Below and By This Time I Stop Watering From the Top as The Roots Will Be doing Their Job. PPM could Be a Little HIGH...The Temp and PH is Good!!! Pics sure would Help!!!
Unoit; here are as many pics as I could get my internet connection to upload. To answer your questions; the solution level is about an inch up from the bottom of the basket in order to get the roots started. I have also been pouring a qt over each plant daily as an extra effort. About the ppm, it was at 2400 which is why I think they got so bad. But it's now at 1400 ppm on the 442 scale (.700 conversion), also equal to a 2.0 EC. Is this still too high? Anyways; i know pics are worth a thousand words... here we go 1st Week; A couple low wattage CFLs to hold em over til I get the room finished Already showing signs of some issues 3rd Week; 1500 watt HPS 5th week: 1500 watt HPS; Magnum XXL hood to combat high temps 6th - 7th week: Looking ugly...
1st couple weeks; under a couple of low powered CFLs. Just to hold em over til I got the room set up for the HPS.
Finally got a vented hood to combat the high temps; thinking that what I was seeing was simply heat stress... no improvement except the temperature is steady 68w/ lights off and 77 w/ lights on now.
Week 7; this is my present situation. Been veggin for 7 weeks now... Still hopin for a swift recovery. Already have changed nutes down to 8:16 // Micro:Bloom. 1400 ppm; 2.0 EC; 5.8 PH, 64.9 water temp, 72 room temp, 40% humidity, hmm what else can i do now???
HIGH 7Trees, Looks Like you Done What you can For now....Just wait a Few More Days and See How they Are...Thinking They Should Start Looking Better!! And The Level of your Solution...Maybe Bring it Down to Where it's Just Touching The bottom of The Net Pot!!
that looks like super duper nute burn... 1400 ppm... are you sure your strain can take that much? whats the new growth look like?
i love the descrip bro 'super duper nute burn' right on man; these things really are scorched, as well as heat stressed from the god damn 1500 watt light that i ran for 2 weeks under a wing reflector. theyve shown little improvement in last two days, but there is still the variable that the roots havent really dipped into the buckets yet... about the ppm; to be honest man i got no idea. this my first grow and so im goin by what people are telling me. they guy who gave me the clones actually suggested 1600 ppm but he is using ebb n flow, i dont know if that makes a difference or not? ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED
Pop a lid and take a picture of the root(s). I run my RDWC as high as 1800+. 7 weeks in veg? 5.8 ph sounds a little low. How do you get a 64.9 soup temp?
Yes, 7 weeks in veg and there still strugglin', hence my temptation to just start over. chances of recovery seem slim to me, but then again, what do i know. should I bring PH to 6.0? And 64.9 degrees is with a 1/15 hp JBC water chiller i picked up from a friend I'll get on root pics ASAP, although it isn't too impressive, they are barely just starting to poke through the bottom of the net
Chillers are the bomb. I would really like to see a root pic. Here is a link to my rig: http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/733863-dwc-foggers-updated-rig-3.html#post9803186 Just changed out the soup today (start of week #10). Last week before harvest.
Hey bro, something is def very wrong here. 7 weeks veg should produce huge trees. Especially in hydro. I would bring the PH up to 6.2 - 6.4 and drop the ppm to 1000 - 1100 to start with. I run an ebb and flo and veg only 5 days and my plants are minimum 2 feet tall by second week of flower.
thats y I feel like I should just start over jerry. a friend runs this system, veg for 4 weeks, flowers 8, and he pulls up to 1/2#/plant. its just, it aint as easy as it look, and too many variable were against these ones. at least ive really learned to control all the temps, ph, and ppm now. which is y i think i should stop wastin time wit these n just start fresh.... we'll see. I'll post up pics in a few days if they show any signs of recovery.. otha wise i'm transplantin somethin new into the buckets.
with nute burns you have to give a week/ week and a half minimum recovery.. don't give up hope till the plant starts falling completely apart... just because your buddy can do something does not mean you have to... finish the grow... it will be worth the experience... your next grow will be epic patience
thats whasup man, i like the positive outlook. roots are coming through pretty good now. we'll see if the plant has the will to pull through this one.
Ebb N Flow and DWC are totally different. Since your roots are always drinking the nutrients, you need to have a lighter concentration. I am doing a DWC as well. My PPM is at 290. I was astonished to see you saying yours was at 2400, then 1400 or whatever it was. Always start low It is better to underfeed than to overfeed.
this also depends on strain... some strains can take massive nutrients,sensi star... others, more than 400 ppm nukes the plant... so it depends
trust me bro, i am just as astonished that they have survived this long... from cutlings til 7th week, they were bubblin in 2400 ppm nuclear storm type solution. It wasn't til like the 7th week that I got a ppm meter n figured out what was goin on. i followed the suggestions to dilute even further, i flushed the res n went with 3/6 (micro/bloom) which gave me a ppm of 500. This is using hard water at 80 ppm. Been a couple days now, they aren't showing much recovery yet. I'ma give em a full week (next Wednesday) and post pics again... I hope I will have something worth postin at that point.