No choice but to feed excessively???

[ballplayer 2]

Hey guys, I've been dealing with issues with my grows for quite sometime. Recently I've thrown caution to the wind and tried feeding heavier as a last ditch effort to produce decent size flowers. Well, to some degree it has worked. Yet, plants still don't seem as vibrant and healthy as they should be.

I've been using floranavoa bloom and floralicious bloom. My basic starting feed rate for decent sized veg plants is 2.0 EC and full flowering between 2.4-2.8. Ive been having runoff coming out as high as 5.0EC. Yet when I tried maintaining the substrate at "normal" ec levels (1.8- 3.0) I get deficiencies galore.

Can anyone think of why I need to feed so heavy in order to maintain some semblance of plant health? When I stop fertilizing and go into flush my plants show deficiency pretty quickly.

 

[f-e]

How much feed in how much water?
Coco?

 

[Switcher56]

Hey guys, I've been dealing with issues with my grows for quite sometime. Recently I've thrown caution to the wind and tried feeding heavier as a last ditch effort to produce decent size flowers. Well, to some degree it has worked. Yet, plants still don't seem as vibrant and healthy as they should be.

I've been using floranavoa bloom and floralicious bloom. My basic starting feed rate for decent sized veg plants is 2.0 EC and full flowering between 2.4-2.8. Ive been having runoff coming out as high as 5.0EC. Yet when I tried maintaining the substrate at "normal" ec levels (1.8- 3.0) I get deficiencies galore.

Can anyone think of why I need to feed so heavy in order to maintain some semblance of plant health? When I stop fertilizing and go into flush my plants show deficiency pretty quickly.

Time to switch to a different brand, perhaps. My issues are in the rear view mirror after I changed brands.

 

[Cannabis Critic]

pH

 

[troutman]

^^^ Proper pH is critical.

Also you can feed some plants less and some more to see if there's a difference.
Increase feeding slowly or you can burn the plants and that sucks.

 

[ballplayer 2]

I'm growing in sunshine mix. I've tried running it straight out of the bag and mixing lime into it at 1 tablespoon per gallon.

I usually feed at 3-4 ml/gallon of floralicious bloom and 6-9 ml of floranova bloom.

The thing is my pH meter is always calibrated and never more than .1 off the calibration solution. I meticulously measure input ph and nutrient strength. I also collect and measure runoff pH and EC and keep notes every time...which is what makes everything so frustrating.

I'm beginning to wonder if its an air quality issue in the basement...or worse bugs...ive scoped with 40x loupe at length and see nothing.

 

[Growenhaft]

so this becomes just a guesswork.

please show pictures of an affected plant, in full and in detail.

Plants tell us more about their condition than one would like to believe.

you always have to listen to both sides ... yours ... and what your plants say.

 

[Creeperpark]

You've locked out nutrient receptor sites with the addition of lime. (1 tablespoon per gallon) Only time a person should really use lime is when there is soil ph issues . Unless you really know the amounts of Calcium and magnesium already in your soil you shouldn't add any. Sunshine has an adequate supply of Ca to buffer for the whole grow! . No need to add any!

 

[Creeperpark]

Also if you use tap water and its loaded with Calcium or add Cal -mag you will add to the lock-out the lime has on the grow. Sunshine does best when using the way the manufacture recommends. Just feed.

 

[Guest]

Why do you have to feed so heavy? You're using commercial nutes. They are designed purposely to be wasted. The government refuses to regulate the fertilizer companies, and continues to allow the land to be destroyed.

 

[Creeperpark]

Lastly, To predict the lime requirement of a peat, one must determine the total capacity for base saturation, and the percent of that capacity already saturated with bases. The correlation between increasing percent of base saturation and decreasing lime requirement is stronger (40%). The total capacity of a peat to hold bases is based on its cation exchange capacity, where cations (positively charged ions like hydrogen, calcium, magnesium) are swapped for one another. Sun Gro Horticulture!

 

[St. Phatty]

I've had some plants, in hydro rockwool, that could consume seemingly massive quantities of bloom boost.

Was feeding full strength General Hydroponics, then added a heaping tablespoon of purple Orchid food from McLellan's.

And some plants ... don't like that.

 

[ballplayer 2]

These are not my pictures, but show exactly what the issue with my plants look like. I get a bit of a dried look, hooked and wavy leaves, new growth cupping inward, and generally stunted growth. Most growth is still green...have some dark spots on the bottom most leaves, have had some bottom leaves yellow and drop, and some shaded leaves ram horn.

I honestly think it could be mites, i spotted what looked like 3 or 4 translucent(shimmering or shiny???) dots hanging off a leaf tip of one of my flowering plants that has recently stunted. And some other unexplained shiny circles that may or may not be trichomes ( some are, and some I can't really tell, but am leaning towards not trichomes).

 

[Growenhaft]

das wie 3 oder 4 durchscheinende (schimmernde oder glänzende???)

this rather suggests a mild thrips infestation.

this is not enough as a cause to exert such stress on the nerve of the leaf.

to do this, you would have to find significantly more silvery shimmering spots on the leaves ... and additional balls of feces on the plant ... in bulk. that would damage the nerves of your leaf.
with just a few points, our plants are not very impressed.

These are not my pictures

which is very bad.

Such damage to the entire nervous system of the leaf can have different consequences.

If these 4 pictures are the essence of your problem, then your plants have a problem with gas exchange.

This begins at the bottom with the roots with the absorption of oxygen and continues into the leaves with the exchange of Co2 / O2.

Of relevance is pot size, pot material, medium, watering behavior.
In addition, the amount of exhaust air and where it is directed. Fresh air passive or active. The strength of your ventilation and its orientation.

their climate and the strength of their lamp at what distance.

you see a lot of things are involved in gas exchange. it is important to find the weakest link, which ensures that the nerve of your leaves is twisted.

In the pictures shown, the nutrient supply runs smoothly. Are you likely to find additional damage to the leaves of yours?
Are their leaf tips intact? The leaf margins brown? Chlorosis?

it is not good to react to problems with gas exchange with more fertilizer, this only covers up the shortage situation that arises from a poor gas exchange for the moment. the path then goes without a branch in the direction of complete nutrient exclusion. because the salt content in the medium is higher than in the plant.

Look for the weakest link in your gas exchange and you will see that your photosynthesis increases and thus deficiency-free growth is possible with normal EC administration.

 

[ballplayer 2]

That's a terrific answer Growenhaft! Thank you for your help! I do feel like ventilation could be a weak link in that room. I'm going to get a new exhaust fan, I haven't been running my current exhaust because its an old model and the motor has been running hot. I've just been leaving the door open into the room in hopes that fresh air would find its way in. I could use more circulation in the room as well. My intake is passive, and occurs through vents cut into the wall of each room. These particular plants are under 220 watts of fluorescent t5 lighting at a distance of about 14-18 inches...they are good size plants, mid veg about 1.5 ft tall.

With normal feeding levels, especially with the pure blend pro line of nutrients, I would experience some chlorosis resembling magnesium deficiency. I would get some burnt tips, nothing terrible tho.

Honestly, the plants just never looked vibrant and glowing. It wouldn't be shocking for it to be an air exchange issue.