Hey Guys, I'm using the Fox Farm Trio and Bud Candy from Advanced Nutes, and I'm currently vegging a hydro. I went a couple days without changing the water, and when I finally did go to change it, the plant had sucked all the water up and the bucket was completely dry. So I put new water in (with the same dose of nutes) and it stunned the plant pretty badly. Now it's crispy, very burned (a lot of the leaves have fallen off), and it no longer "smells." Is it worth it to salvage it? Is it even possible? ***I have a couple soil grows that are roughly 5 weeks old; if my hydro can't be saved, should I turn this little guy into a hydro? Help, please.
I wouldn't trash the plant just as long as the roots weren't destroyed, did they dry out? Are they still nice and white? What strength are you feeding them with? Do you have a tds meter? A ph meter? If not you could get a decent combo ph/tds for under $200- http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003L77LKG/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1385237354&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70 .. The specifics of your setup will be a big help, you'll hear that from most others as well.. You could find a guideline in the sick plants section I believe.. I would empty the bucket and refill with similar ph at a much lower strength... Say around 400-500 ppms, and then work back up from there .. Wouldn't go too much higher than 800-1000 ppms .. Some guys get to 1200-1300+ but it's easy to screw up if you're not experienced (excess salts, ph swings, burning etc), and there's a few pinned posts that build the case as to why such high numbers are unnecessary. Once you get to know your strain it'll be much easier to feed it spot on as long as your recording the specifics (ph/ppm/fert schedule)..What's the current ph of the bucket as well? I like to start off around 5.6 and then I let it rise to around 6.2 to get the full range of nutes - 5.8 being the ideal in hydroponics.. You should just make the new batch, and remove all the toasted remains .. As long as most of the roots are ok then she should be fine, just set back a week or two... Edit: with a second look at the pic... It almost looks more like a deficiency of sorts! I say that because a lot of the damage seems to start from the petiole and works out to the tips.. Nute burn starts at the tips and edges... Again, will need the specifics .....if I had to guess, i'd say magnesium is definitely ONE of the deficiencies... Did all the damage happen immediately after refilling? Could be a mix of some recent burn and past deficiencies because the yellowing in the margins and curled up tips are classic mag def symptoms.. She was probably starving from being dry, and then you just hit her with too much... I'd still follow the same procedure tho, with a fresh mix work the tds back up slowly (100-200 a week) - remove dead leaf material - and get meters if you don't have them ..
Luckily i caught the problem before the roots dried out. I was following the fox farm hydroponic schedule and everything was growing great until this happened at about week 5. I am a very inexperienced grower so i do not have a meter at this point unfortunately. I am using a 450 watt MH lamp currently and will switch it over to HPS when the time comes to flower. As for PH, i would have to check because i quickly changed the water this morning with a lower amount of nutrients. The damage did happen immediately after refilling so i think i may have shocked the plant as well. I apologize for my lack of knowledge but from what i understand, i am going to trim the dead areas, lower the amount of nutrients and work back up from there seeing how the roots are still looking great. I appreciate your help and i'm gonna do my best to make her happy like she was a few days ago.
Hey we all gotta start somewhere bro.. Yea I'd def invest in a meter - it will pay for itself in half of a harvest, and make your life much easier.. I almost NEVER feed at fert co's recommended rates - almost guaranteed to burn... When they're young start off at 1/4 strength and end off around 1/2-3/4 strength.. All this is much easier with a tds meter - a tds meter measures the electrical conductivity of the water and coverts the ec reading into total dissolved solids in the water- thereby giving you a general idea of the total nutrient strength.. Ph is very important in hydroponics .. Quickly altering a plants ph can shock it as well .. Say starting at 6.5 and bringing it immediately down to 5.2 for example... The plant will communicate its displeasure lol.... So yea drain the bucket and give it a fresh weak mix, remove burnt leaves etc... Keep in mind that tap water isn't optimal by any means... If you're gonna use tap you need to accommodate the tds already in it - mostly calcium a lot of the time.. Also, the use of chlorine and chloramines in tap water are another thing you don't want your plants drinking... Apart from getting a reverse osmosis system your best bet is to fill up a 5 gal bucket or two and aerate it for atleast 24 hours to "gas off" the chlorine .. Note that chloramines will NOT gas off... Good luck bro ..
Just wanted to note that although you may be feeding with a complete fertilizer, you may still get deficiencies due to the water's ph making certain nutes unavailable. Take a look at this chart and you'll see what I mean View attachment 1314511
Alright man I appreciate the advice. I will try to get the meter soon, and thanks for that chart will definitely help me.
I noticed you mentioned you added Bud Candy during veg. I doubt it had anything to do with this problem, but just so you know, it's recommended by AN to only use that supplement during the flowering stage. I'm sure your plant will bounce right back now that she's got water in the res. It makes sense she would be shocked if her roots got a bit dried out. As long as her roots survive, I believe this plant will recover way faster than starting over.
I lowered the nutrients and haven't seen any further burning. Hopefully shell bounce back quickly like everyone has said but she has looked way better in terms of yellowing and the amount of wilted leaves. I still don't have a meter and what not because I'm pretty new to this but she's certainly looking better than before. Someone also mentioned how bud candy is used for flowering; I changed the bulb and light hours into flowering so that should be all set as well. I'm away for the holiday but will upload pictured again in the near future. I hope you guys are all having a great holiday and I appreciate your consideration man. Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Grasscity Forum mobile app
She seems to be doing well again. Here are some pictures Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Glad to hear it!! Looking strong! What'd you super crop her? What strain is it that you're working with? Loving the tight node spacing
Looks like this could be a male but I'm not sure. Any chance you can help? This plant and one more look like possible males. I'm wondering if I should turn another into hydro before this pollinates the others. Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Grasscity Forum mobile app
get all that dead shit outta there and top off ur pots with hydroton. light and dead debris getting in ur res, will only exacerbate things. jm$.02 glad to hear she's doing well
yea man i was super cropping her and thought i was doing a good job until checking today . Any chance you could check out the pic i posted and lmk what you think? As a beginner, i am using seeds from previous nugs i have had which worked out for me last year. If this is a male (and im pretty certain it is), should i rip it out and make one of the younger ones a hydro? two of my smaller plants haven't shows signs of male vs. female at this point in time.
should i toss the males and try again with one of the other two? or would they already be a lost cause at this point? Also, as i practice i'd like to get my hands on nicer seeds which are female. any suggestions?
they haven't spread pollen yet from what i can tell. rip it out unless you want seeds. i've only grown bagseed thus far, but when i do buy seeds they will be regular, non feminized or auto's, i do wanna try a couple of those eventually
Ive heard of auto flowering seeds but i guess i don't understand how they work/where to get them. It seems to me that if i could get my hands on auto flowers, the growing process would be much quicker and easier without stressing about whether or not the plant is female. I have also heard that seed banks are often misleading so i don't want to try to make some kind of purchase and find out i have some male dirt seeds. Do you have a better understanding of how they work or how to get them?
http://forum.grasscity.com/medical-cannabis-seeds-banks/ i highly suggest getting a few successful grows under ur belt, before attempting an autoflower.