Hey everyone.... im having some(alot) trouble with my 1st grow... Its soil, indoors, under a 400w HPS, in an open front box in a large garden shed. Light is about 1foot away from the plant and there is a small fan blowing air about continulously. The plant is about 3 months old and I was just getting ready to flower it.... when it all started going downhill. First I stopped any fert at all, was doing it once a week with not much at all. Secondly I started ph testing the water I was putting into it and correcting to around 6. Was a little high(I THINK?), around 7-7.5 (tapwater). Gets watered every 2nd day, both on the leaves and in the soil. Been hoping the PH+lack of fert may let it pick back up but its not getting any better, its getting worse! From what I can tell, looks like magnesium...but im not 100% If anyone can help, mass freaking kudos.
Yes, and this is most likely caused from poor PH. You changed the PH of the wateer, however if you did not flush the pot well, salinity would have already set in and lockout would strill be present. You should have flushed with the 6.0 water than watered with at least 6.5 and less than 7.0 water each watering afterwards. It can still be saved and within a week be ready to take into flowering. Flush it very well, 3 gl ph balanced water to every gl of soil. You will see with the first few gallons an orangish brown type of color, that is salinity or salt build up from the nutes. Allow it to dry out good, then begin your flowering nute program, maybe a light dose of cal/mag would not hurt either. Keep me posted, you can PM if you like, and within the next couple weeks we shall see this plant back to normal and beginning to flower. less
yes, for ph. buy a PH pen. its from 50-120 dollars. If i were you i would get the most expensive as its price for quality in this alley of equipment. Right now i would flush any of those pants with ph 5.9-6.2 , and 5ml/gallon oh h202 hydrogen peroxide. Make sure you wait until the soil is dry though, and fully flush it.(meaning lots of exess run-off water.) After that trim eveything that is DEAD. Leave anything with green on it. Light will be taken through that foliage. After this cleanup part is done. I would really sit down and read all the chemicals you use and put together a nice, well balanced feeding schedule as that baby needs it, and feed them that when dry again hope this helps dude.
The cheap PH kits work fine and keep you within range, have used them for decades. As for flushing with low PH, where is the logic there? Can you explain this to me? Lockout is caused from salinity, flushing with a lower ph will only lockout many of the secondary nutes and trace minerals the plants obviously lacking right now. H2O2 will only destroy any beneficial bacteria and harm vital micro organisms which will assist in breaking down nutrients. It is only needed for early stages of growth, I personally only use it for soaking my seeds, after which I seldom use it, maybe a little during the seedling stage. We need to understand how and why plants do what they do, it is far more complex than any book or search can explain. You need to flush, allow them to dry out, and then begin your flowering nute regime if you plant to go into flowering soon. A shot of molasses on the first watering after your flush would not hurt a buit either. less
either way, i'll buy a PH pen or something similar. Im gonna lay off flowering for a bit, let it get settled back down. Thanks heaps for the help!
Alright, so today I've run fresh water through it, then left it for a few hours, then did it again twice. Then I went down the hardware store and got a PH soil testing kit (no probe versions) and tested the soil. it was between 6-6.5. Also removed all dead + mostly dead leaves. From here im imagining I let it be for a while? If my soils ok and the water im putting in is ok, is this all thats needed?
ya, now be patient and see what happens. but make sure you arent flushing multiple time and too much frequent watering will overwatered. flushing needs to be one big drenched of your pot and let all the water come out the holes