Rellikbuzz
Active member
Okay, I need to enlist the help of some of the "seasoned" growers here please. I am now 32 days into 12/12. My plants (4-Blue Thunder/Reeferman and 1-Apollo Mist/Rezdog) are in a 2 to 1 mix of Fox Farms Ocean Forest and Fox Farms Light Warrior with about 25% perlite added in three gallon pots. They have been in the three gals. since two weeks before 12/12. I have been PH'ing my nutes (Advanced Nutrients entire 2+program plus Tarantula) to 6.2 -6.3 throughout the grow.
Since late veg I have had some brown spots on lower mature fan leaves. These spots turn neucrotic and eventually the leaves fall off.
I have been told not to be too concerned by this since the new growth is lush and vigorous. Then a couple of of my Blue Thunders started to get a downward curl and cupping of the newer leaves on the upper part of the plant. Mainly the side leaves coming out of the colas.
It looked like classic overwatering. So, I didn't water for four days (had been watering 1.25 liters per pot every three days). Since then I have been watering .75 liters of nutes/water every other day. The idea was less quantity more often. I normally feed twice and then plain PH'd water once every three times, so they get a little flush every third watering with plain water (recommended by Tech Mike at Advanced Nutrients). This still did not clear up the problem of the curling leaves or the yellowing/neucrosis on lower fans.
I had felt all along that this was probably a PH related problem and not a magnesium deficiency like might be suspected. Consequently, I raised the PH of the nute/water mix to 6.5 to try and bring up the PH a bit. I know that Ocean Forest, in particular, has a rather low PH and the build up of salts from feedings would lower it too. I thought this would compensate.
Well, tonight they were to receive just PH'd water. But I decided to give them some magnesium via Epsom Salts (1 tsp. for two gallons of water). I watered them in and got a bit of run off in the trays of two pots. Just out of curiosity I PH'd the run off. I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!! One plant's run-off tested out at 4.8 and the other was 5.0!! I recalibrated my Hanna Pen three different times to be sure but it was dead on at 4.8 and 5.0.
Anyway (Sorry that this is so long) I decided maybe a bit of a flush was in order and I quickly mixed up another two gallons of water with the Epsom Salts and PH'd it to 7.0 to compensate for this fluctuation. Even after doing this, the run-off still PH'd between 48.-5.3 on all five plants. I wonder how these damn things are even alive with a PH like that.
My question is whether I should raise the PH of subsequent feedings/watering to 7.5 or 8.0 until I get runoff that is in a more acceptable range (6.0-6.3) or should I even be concerned with the runoff PH at all? I have had two or three experienced growers tell me that they NEVER check runoff PH. Is the runoff PH actually indicative of whats really happening at the root level? Should the PH of runoff be in the ideal levels for cannabis (6.0-6.5)? How big of a problem do you think this is?
Any and all comments are appreciated and welcomed. I really need help here as I only have another thirty days or so until harvest and I don't want these plants to stall in their bud development. Thanks in advance for your feedback!!!
Since late veg I have had some brown spots on lower mature fan leaves. These spots turn neucrotic and eventually the leaves fall off.
I have been told not to be too concerned by this since the new growth is lush and vigorous. Then a couple of of my Blue Thunders started to get a downward curl and cupping of the newer leaves on the upper part of the plant. Mainly the side leaves coming out of the colas.
It looked like classic overwatering. So, I didn't water for four days (had been watering 1.25 liters per pot every three days). Since then I have been watering .75 liters of nutes/water every other day. The idea was less quantity more often. I normally feed twice and then plain PH'd water once every three times, so they get a little flush every third watering with plain water (recommended by Tech Mike at Advanced Nutrients). This still did not clear up the problem of the curling leaves or the yellowing/neucrosis on lower fans.
I had felt all along that this was probably a PH related problem and not a magnesium deficiency like might be suspected. Consequently, I raised the PH of the nute/water mix to 6.5 to try and bring up the PH a bit. I know that Ocean Forest, in particular, has a rather low PH and the build up of salts from feedings would lower it too. I thought this would compensate.
Well, tonight they were to receive just PH'd water. But I decided to give them some magnesium via Epsom Salts (1 tsp. for two gallons of water). I watered them in and got a bit of run off in the trays of two pots. Just out of curiosity I PH'd the run off. I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!! One plant's run-off tested out at 4.8 and the other was 5.0!! I recalibrated my Hanna Pen three different times to be sure but it was dead on at 4.8 and 5.0.
Anyway (Sorry that this is so long) I decided maybe a bit of a flush was in order and I quickly mixed up another two gallons of water with the Epsom Salts and PH'd it to 7.0 to compensate for this fluctuation. Even after doing this, the run-off still PH'd between 48.-5.3 on all five plants. I wonder how these damn things are even alive with a PH like that.
My question is whether I should raise the PH of subsequent feedings/watering to 7.5 or 8.0 until I get runoff that is in a more acceptable range (6.0-6.3) or should I even be concerned with the runoff PH at all? I have had two or three experienced growers tell me that they NEVER check runoff PH. Is the runoff PH actually indicative of whats really happening at the root level? Should the PH of runoff be in the ideal levels for cannabis (6.0-6.5)? How big of a problem do you think this is?
Any and all comments are appreciated and welcomed. I really need help here as I only have another thirty days or so until harvest and I don't want these plants to stall in their bud development. Thanks in advance for your feedback!!!
