Fourth Grow - Same Problems

[Jahminded]

Without an EC/PPM reading it will be hard to tell what is really going on. For you to be feeding these girls full strength nutes with every watering is too much in my opinion. I would bet that once you get a EC/PPM reading you will find that your PPM level is upwards of 1800...which is too much for soiless mix every watering. You can do everything right when it comes to ph, but if you dont have the feeding level within range you will develope problems such as yours.

 

[sproutco]

Sounds like maybe too much fertilizer. You should use less in soil than hydro.

You also should not be adding so much dolomite lime to the soil. Promix has lime and your adding more. Also, you said your using hydro nutes which probably contains more calcium and magnesium.

When watering, you want 20% to runnoff through the bottom drainholes.

 

[MynameStitch]

You can do everything right when it comes to ph, but if you dont have the feeding level within range you will develope problems such as yours.


Sounds like maybe too much fertilizer. You should use less in soil than hydro.

You also should not be adding so much dolomite lime to the soil. Promix has lime and your adding more. Also, you said your using hydro nutes which probably contains more calcium and magnesium.


amen!

 

[Relaxed]

OK. It does look like a lockup but many people (including the help desk at GH) advised me to use full strenght nutes. Also. My first grow exhibited the exact same problem when using 1/4 strength GH nutes, RO water and plain soil.

In any case, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what's going on in my basement so I'll fill out the chart to make it more clear.

What STRAIN are you growing?
Blueberry
What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
clones
What is the age of your plants?
5 weeks
What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
first week flower
What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc)
just growing them straight up
What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot)
In half gallon
What substrate/medium are you using? (percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?)
33% perlite, 67% promix plus 2 Tbsp per gallon of soil lime
What Nutrient's are you using? *Knowing the brand is very helpful*
Holland Secret 3 part
What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used?
no tester available
What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
not tested yet
What method of pH test was administered?
cheap chemical (aquarium test kit with the drops
When was your last water?
2 days ago
When was your last feeding?
same
What size bulb are you using?
250 watt HPS
What is the distance to the canopy?
10"
What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
about 50%
What is the canopy temperature?
78
What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
68-82
What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.)
200 cfm+
Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
small desk fan blowing across the plants
Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
let it dry out between waterings
Is your water HARD or SOFT?
soft
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
all have been topped
Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?
safers soap
Are plant's infected with pest's?
got rid of the spider mites


So if I have an overfert problem I will flush but then what? What strength nutes, how often (alternate with clear water?) and when should I start up with the nutes again?

Thanks again

 

[mace_ecam]

the tip about nutes i gave is the Lucas formula, really easy.

I would not have a fan blowing directly at the plants

 

[OGDread]

you -bought- this ro water yeah? Id say a EC check is definately in order, you seem very much in control, and say its soft, but the signs say otherwise... being a sceptic, id say -measuring- in order.
A quick check might be to add a single drop of good soap in a gallon of water, stir, does it foam much, some or not at all? (More salts, less foam) but an EC meter is the thing to do imho.
Also, blueberry is quite notorious for being "hard" to grow. Try another strain perhaps? Is the only constant factor this one BB clone?

 

[Guest]

Your ph is out of whack. I would take a ph reading of the runoff. Run a gallon of distilled water(7.0 ph and 0ppm) through the plant and measure the ph. If it comes back in the high 5's then the soil ph is way too low. Ideally it would come back in the 6.5-6.7 range which would put the soil in the low 6's. I know you said the soil ph was high 5 to low 6. But, how did you come up with that reading?

Water feed water feed water feed.

 

[MynameStitch]

does GH know your growing pot? cannabis is NOT like other plants they are very sensitive to nutrients and trust me you are pounding them poor plants with to much

blueberry is very sensitive to nutrients too

and trust me ive grown this strain before its VERY picky to grow with hard amount of nutes

you are adding to much and locking other nutrients out


So if I have an overfert problem I will flush but then what? What strength nutes, how often (alternate with clear water?) and when should I start up with the nutes again?


yes after flushing very good with clean water you wait about a week to feed

and all you need right now is a small amount of grow and some bloom, 1 tsp of each per gallon weekly to start out with

you dont need to add al that you see what i mean about adding t much? your pounding them with high levels phosphrous potassium, yoyur plants can only take in as much as big as they are

small plants need small amount of nutes bigger [plants can take more because they are bigger

would you give a baby a 5 lb steak to eat:? thats about what your doing to your plants

 

[Relaxed]

I'll check the PPM of my tap water tonight. This morning I will flush the plants and begin feeding again in a week or so with reduced nutes. I'll also check the PH of the runoff.

Can anyone recommend a percentage to reduce my nutes? It'd be far easier for me to do it this way that to add set amounts as several people have suffested. If not I'll just be adding a Tsp of bloom and grow as advisd by MynameStitch. Maybe a better way to ask the question is; is there anyone else growing in a similar medium using GH or Holland Secret nutes who would care to detail their feeding regimen for me?

I really appreciate the effort you guys are putting in to this for me. My grow room is my baby and I've bought some nice equipment that I enjoy using. I should mention that I also use the room to start hundreds of vegetable plants from seed each spring and am hoping to do some winter vegetable and fruit growing. Perhaps I'll just have to break down and buy a PPM and PH meter though that money was earmarked for some serious new lighting. Maybe someone could recommend a decent model that's not going to break the bank.

Thanks again.
I should also have mentioned that my previous grows were all different strains. AK47, Great White Shark and a couple others.

 

[mace_ecam]

Can anyone recommend a percentage to reduce my nutes?

in case you're still using GH, i will repeat my tip

a good nute recipe for GH Flora is to use 8ml Micro and 16 ml bloom per US gallon water (no grow!), nothing needs to be added, there is even enough Mg in that mix.

its called the Lucas formula
you can either use 1/3 strength of nutes every watering or every 3rd watering full strength nutes.

 

[Relaxed]

I'm still using Holland Secret so I'd rather not change. It's also the reason a percentage would be great.

1/3 strength every watering would be easiest. Will this be sufficeint in my soilless mix?

 

[mace_ecam]

nutes accumulate in medium, depending on how dense the medium is and what its composed of.
If you use full strength nutes everytime, the EC/TDS in the rootzone would rise (and the pH fall, nutes are acidry) and soon become too high, nute burn. <- thats a classical case for flushing

A good EC limit is 2mS/cm (2000uS/cm) in flowering, but that again depends on the nutes, if you're using nutes formulated for cannabis, check the bottle directions

does your bottle say what EC would be full strength?

 

[Guest]

I'm still using Holland Secret so I'd rather not change. It's also the reason a percentage would be great.

1/3 strength every watering would be easiest. Will this be sufficeint in my soilless mix?

Ive used a similiar mix of promix/perlite but only feed every 4th or 5th watering. I Keep water a 5.8-6.0 for watering. Sounds like your ph is a bit high and youre scorching them with too much nitro. Why do you feed every watering ?

 

[MynameStitch]

I should also have mentioned that my previous grows were all different strains. AK47, Great White Shark and a couple others.

every strain is different in requirements to feeding and care, and you are feding to much! never listen to the companys directions unless its made for cannabis like advanced nutrients.

Cannabis burns very easy and are prone to being burned by common store nutrients even hydro nutrients

its better to start out light first then up the dose slowly

remember you can always add more later but you cant remove what you added, the only way by doing so is flushing whi5ch causes+ stress

sorry my bird is driing me crazy chewi8ng on my keyboard while im typing lol

african greys

 

[CalcioErba2004]

I recommend a transplant into a bigger pot before it gets to far into flower. Half a gallon is not big enough and from the looks of the plant its coming close to being rootbound. I suggest going to a 5 gallon pot. Set the pot in a tray with high walls so if you dont have a mess. :smile:

With the plant in the bigger pot, water every other day with 1 gallon of 1/2 strength nute solution. Every 7th day dont water. This gives the plant 3 days to suck up the whatever water and nutes it needs(6th,7th and 8th day). On the 9th day repeat the cycle again. As you move further into flowering, change the solution to reflect flowering plants(more bloom less grow).

This is just a guideline you can follow. Every strain is different. Don't try and make the plants do what you want them to do. I tried that when I started growing and it doesn't work. You can't force feed them. Use a watering schedule as a guideline. Break up the top of the soil and feel to see if its moist. If its decently wet dont water, if its not that wet then water. Don't let your plants wilt, you stress them like this and are just making it worse. If you start to see salt build up then back off the feeding for a few waterings and just use plain water. Get an ec and a ph meter! Its like trying to find a needle in a haystack in a dark room without them. The meters turn the light on for you. :smile: Test ph and ec of your solution before feeding and test run off as well. This will tell you a lot about your medium and its condition. After a while you can pretty much read the plants and know how much they use up. I hope you get it worked out brother, let us know what happens.

 

[Hitman]

Two much nutrients, over fertilization. I'd go feed, water, water, feed. Ya, definitely nute burn I'd have to say. It looks familiar. Good luck. Water until those leaves get like butterfly wings and start to flutter and fly. Keep it glowing.

 

[Guest]

im pretty sure calcio hit the nail on the head nute lockout happens very rapidly
in a half gallon pot i began seeing it in 3rd week veg using 6 inch pots. IMHO transplant to 3gal and water only for the first time. i dont know the npk on your ferts but it is reccomended to start at half or third strength and increase gradually furthermore i would use a microbooster such as compost.
hope i helped

 

[MynameStitch]

Water until those leaves get like butterfly wings and start to flutter and fly. Keep it glowing.

ROFL! isnt that what thep lant does to you when you harvest her

 

[Relaxed]

Thanks again for the help.

The plants have been flushed and will be moving to larger pots this weekend. I tested my tap water and it came in at 250 ppm and 6.6 ph. Pretty decent I would think.

My plan is to cut my nutes to quarter strength and see what happens from there.

On a side note. I noticed that my mites were just starting to come back so I soaped the plants up real good. I think I'll spray them with water every day until I resoap (insecticidal soap, that is) them in a week. I also picked up some pest strips as I saw them mentioned elsewhere. (are they really hard to find?) This is my first time experiencing spider mites and I must say I'm not enjoying them at all. How far into flowering can I continue using the soap?

If the little buggers don't shove off it looks like I'll have to scrap the grow anyhow. Has anyone ever successfully taken clones from plants that have mites? I oly ask because I assume that I can easily dip the entire clone in insecticidal soap.

Cheers

 

[sproutco]

I can easily dip the entire clone in insecticidal soap.

Don't dip just spray.