Cat Jockey
Member
I'm rolling with a P defciency, spurred on by a chemical mishap in your nutrient solution. pH Down and Up, used like you were, especially in a relatively small solution (don't know how many gallons you have), can absolutely trash the solution to the point you start seeing things like a quick, severe P def. pH down is phosphoric acid (most is, at least), so it may sound counter-intuitive as you are adding more P with it, but with pH Up and Down, you are actually precipitating out some of the nutrients of the solution, and they end up sitting on the bottom of yer res, in solid form, completely unusable to your girls.
As far as that Gerber water, the website said they do add some minerals for taste. Probably not much, but who knows what. If you meant you added cal/mag to the Gerber water, is that because the nutrient mfg recommended that with RO water, or because you have read that you need to do that with RO water on the weed forums.
If the latter, I obviously have a different opinion on the need for Cal/Mag just because you have RO water. But, again, I don't know your nutes, so maybe they are designed to work with tap water, with lower Ca and Mg levels overall.
I don't know what that mfgs. Common is, but if it isn't the micro and they say to add it first, it is some additive then, and you should probably follow that direction and micro next. Regarding the micro, ALWAYS before grow or bloom nutes. If you add the micro after the bloom or grow, you get some of the chemistry, precipitating out of nutrient type bullshit.
Another thing that jumped out at me is the fact you are having to adjust the pH more than once per day. In a healthy system and reservoir, your pH should rise, gradually and predictable over the course of days, not swings by the hour. Generally, the first thing I look for when this is going on is something growing, like bacteria, algae, in your res or rootzone. Your roots look pretty clean and you have a chiller, though.
However, a chemically jacked up nute solution will do that, so I think that is the reason for that.
Looks like you have in plain water? If so and still, run some plain water, by hand, like a glass full, through each rockwool cube to flush all of that shit outta there.
The way you go forward is with a fresh res, following those mixing guidelines. Be judicious with your use of pH down (I personally won't use a nutrient regime that requires it). You shouldn't have to adjust it multiple times per day, or even daily. With a fresh and healthy res, it will take a few days for them to recover. All you can do is stop any further damage. Even with a fresh res tonight or tomorrow morning, you still might see some more necrosis on the leaves from the process already starting.
If you do all of that, and it keeps getting worse, throw another pic up. Don't blindly accept all you read on the weed forums about Cal/Mag, optimal pH, and every strain needing a different mix - that is why I linked to that post and those pics showing a whole bunch 'o strains in different systems, lights and gardens, all on the same nute regiment, which for those grows was GH 3-Part with Dutch Master's Zone as the base mix. Worked pretty damn good - don't be afraid to throw away your pH down and give that mix a shot at some point in the future.
It is a pretty solid base to then add to and easy as hell to work with, doesn't need more money spent on silly things like bottles of Cal/Mag, etc. Use RO water with it, as well.Best 'o luck ...
