Hi, Absolute novice first time grower here from the northern latitudes. English not first language so please excuse any grammar mistakes. Having some concerns with my first grow. I'm growing two feminised CBD strains (CBD Hash plant, and Euphoria CBD) in coco and I'm in week 5 of flower. For one the bud development seem kind of small for this stage of flower? And second, the left plant (Hash plant) seems to have start developing pale leaves the last week or so. What do you guys think? Should I be worried or is this normal? Could I be underfeeding N? I'd really appreciate any help/feedback. I'm currently top feeding with approx. 10% runoff at the following ppms (FloraNova Bloom plus Canna PK 13/14): N: 73 P: 79 K: 137 Mg: 36 Ca: 123 (incl. soft tap water at approx. 50ppm Ca) View attachment 2462525
Hi, thanks for the response. I use CannaStats nutrient profile calculator for calculating the ppms, <link>. PH is 6.0 after mixing in the nutes and just checked some stagnant run-off sitting in the trays (use airpots to roots are not in contact with the run-off) and it came back at 4.5. Very low? Could indicate under feeding? Should be the same as the PH going in? Could the fact that the run-off is 2 days old affect PH?
Different strains have different color leaves - probably normal for that plant. Why don't you just feed with FloraNova Bloom - that's what it's for. At this stage of flowering your phosphorous and potassium levels should be double or triple your nitrogen level.
I had a feeling it was low ph. Mix up some nutrients at half strength and a higher ph like 6.5-7. Run it though slowly to saturate the entire medium to 50% runoff, wait 10 minutes or so and run more through again. Check your runoff ph after the second run through and see if helped. You may have to do this a few times before it corrects. Ideally you want a little higher ph the last few weeks of flower than during veg
I thought phosphorus was a little low and nitrogen a little high myself but I don’t know the NPK ppm breakdown of my nutes so I can’t be sure
Just using FloraNova Bloom at 4.5ml/gal would give me NPK at: 73/64/106; so I added in the Canna PK to boost the P and K a bit without affecting the N. Was aiming to get close to H3ad's coco formula. Thanks I definitely try that. So a lower PH in the run-off symptom of under-feeding and vice versa? A higher PH run-off is due to salt build up?
FloraNova Bloom is a stand alone bloom nute - it doesn't need help. H3ad's formula is just a variation of the original Lucas Formula for coco. There are 3 GH products that are considered Lucas formula. The original Lucas which was 8ml Flora Micro and 16ml Flora Bloom, and modified to 6ml Micro and 9ml Bloom for coco. The other two are GH MaxiBloom at 7 grams per gallon of tap water and GH FloraNova Bloom at 8 ml per gallon. I use MaxiBloom from start to finish and never have a problem. Good luck.
Did a "flush" now with 1/2 nute solution @ 7.0 PH and got the run-off PH up to 6.0-6.2 so hopefully that'll do the trick. Thanks for the advice! As a general rule, though, it's the run-off PH that's of any importance and should range between 5.5-6.5 in coco?
Yeah, I've actually heard about the MaxiBloom 7gr/gal "formula"; K.I.S.S right? Seemed kind of aggressive though.. But intrigued to hear more of your results with it! Do you taper up to 7gr/gal and also taper down when you approach harvest? E.g., w.1 2gr/gl, w.2 4gr/gal, w.3 7gr/gal etc? Do you grow in coco or soil? Works well for all strains? Do you do any flushes other than final flush? Would love to hear your exact schedule using it.
I monitor ph in and ph out as well as ppm in and out. My girls in veg are putting out a ppm of 1400 right now with two watering of 500 ppm a day. I’m making a tea with bennies to do a flush tomorrow on them to drop ppms back to safe range
If you are really interested in my exact way of growing, I have a thread on the first page of Hydroponic Growing - Coco Coir titled Mick's Coco KISS Scrog method. Good luck.
Thanks, I'll be sure to monitor my inputs and outputs more closely from now on. Yes, I'll be checking that out thanks! And thanks both for taking the time and helping out, much appreciated! Btw, here is a close up of one of the leaves from one of the top bud sites on the hash plant and the yellowing I was taking about. Hopefully this is a PH lock-out issue. View attachment 2462520
Link to my journal too. Mick and I grow very similarly with a few tweaks to make it our own. Soil2Coco’s Indoor Multi Strain Journal
Thanks, I'll be sure to check it out as well! I'm all in the process of finding my own way so all successful ways to grow out there are of much interest.