Help ASAP! Sick plants in hydro dying

[westcoastguy]

For about the last week my plants have been sick and getting worse each day.
Using a 1 gallon hydro setup with 5 plants and CFL lights.

They were growing great and heathy for a while and then growth stopped and the leaves started wilting.
I noticed about 1-2 days ago there was a bit of algae buildup on the oxygen stone which I cleaned off.

There is moon dust nutrients added.
Out of desperation I tried adding epsom salts for magnesium and Schultz plant food to no avail.

I checked the PH with litmus paper and it seems to be around 5-6.
I just want my girls to be healthy and start growing again.
Please help ASAP!!!

 

[PTSD 4 ME]

You should get us some pictures up..... Also more info like nutrients frequency so on. Its hard to find a solution to a problem when you don't have the equation.

 

[westcoastguy]

I'm fairly sure it's a nutrient lockout but I only have litmus paper right and no ph meter.

Help!! They only have 1 or 2 days left...
They were so healthy for a while and then this happened.

 

[westcoastguy]

I've been feeding them Moondust nutrients and changing water with filtered water about every 2-3 days

 

[BrixKlinger]

I'm not a hydro grower but if they only have a couple days left, clean your resevoir and just go with straight water(ph'ed of course, calmag and epsom are probably ok too but this close to the end won't probably change anything).

If they only have a couple days left it would be normal for them to have stopped eating (they stop eating when they are DONE).

 

[westcoastguy]

Thanks for the advice. When I meant done, I didn't mean done in a good way unfortunately.
They're about 2-3 weeks old and will be gone in a matter of days if this continues.

Do you recommend still changing the reservoir with only water?

I have no PH meter at the moment, only litmus paper, nutrients and epsom salts.

 

[Antics]

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[BrixKlinger]

Thanks for the advice. When I meant done, I didn't mean done in a good way unfortunately.
They're about 2-3 weeks old and will be gone in a matter of days if this continues.

Do you recommend still changing the reservoir with only water?

I have no PH meter at the moment, only litmus paper, nutrients and epsom salts.

Yea sorry, my advice for you ends about there.

You need pictures and specific instructions from the hydro guys.

How do your roots look (can't be good?!).

 

[neon green]

Those nutes are WAY too strong for those little ones. Use just ph'ed r.o. water, head to a hydro store ask for some free sampleS of some hydroponic nutes, and pray.

 

[BrixKlinger]

The good news is that they are only 2-3 weeks old and you clearly are doing something wrong.

In the grand scheme of things 2-3 weeks isn't very long.

Time to start over unless the blades around here rescue you.

Good luck homie!

Its alot of learning and work!

 

[rillos]

Ok I bet you got one of those cash box things. Not much to help you with. The best thing you can use that box for is rooting clones.

 

[westcoastguy]

Thanks guys.

The roots are still healthy but not as white as they were.

I've just changed the water (don;t have reverse osmosis am just Brita) and added a tiny amount of nutes.

I think the water may have been too acidic, probably from the nutes.... approximately 4-5 PH?

Should I add a little baking soda?

I may just have to start fresh the ways things are going, just super choked cuz this is my first grow.

 

[westcoastguy]

@rillos Whats wrong with the cash crop?

 

[neon green]

I would do what ever you could do to raise the ph without adding solids to the water. I'm not a full hydro guy, just coco. I run my ph between 5.8-6.0,I think hydro has a similar ph scale. The nute ratios on your nutrients are WAY off. You want a lot of the p-k for our flowers not so much n. But p should be higher than k and nitrogen should be least (correct me if I'm wrong please) but the ratios on the moon dust isn't something our lady's are going to.be happy with. Also if your water was ph'ed when you added it, and now it's off the charts acid, your lady's ONLY want water. That means they are drinking the water and not eating the nutes.

 

[Antics]

You need a better method to test PH. Litmus paper is basically useless, as it typically charts the readings in increments of 1. Such as 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 etc..

This doesn't help when soil needs to be around 6.5, and hydro around 5.8.

The difference between 5.0 to 4.0 is 100x more acidic. Yes.. One hundred times more acidic. And I suggest avoiding the meters with the needle that measure PH, light, moisture, fertility etc.. accuracy on them leaves much to be desired.

 

[Antics]

I absolutely agree with the EC/PPM meters as well. They're extremely helpful tools to have, and if you shop around you can often find a nice set of 3 digital meters, EC, PPM and PH for a fair price.

Check out the link in my signature, Everything to grow Cannabis, it's a huge topic filled with information that beginners will find helpful. It also contains more advanced topics so once you learn all the basics, you can still continue learning various techniques that will improve your growing experience.

 

[neon green]

I don't care what anyone says, ph meters, ppm, and ec meters aren't worth the cash. If you use the right media, the right nutes, follow instructions from the manufacturer, and the right water, 99% of the time you won't need them. You may feel better having them, but if all else fails read the instructions. I grew in coco for about 3 years with none of that stuff, not once did I have a single problem. The key though is use the right nutes for the media and plant. Bad advice? Doubt it. Moon dust is a 19-8-13 furt with those little girls? You can't convince me it's not the nutes.

 

[Antics]

I don't care what anyone says, ph meters, ppm, and ec meters aren't worth the cash. If you use the right media, the right nutes, follow instructions from the manufacturer, and the right water, 99% of the time you won't need them. You may feel better having them, but if all else fails read the instructions. I grew in coco for about 3 years with none of that stuff, not once did I have a single problem. The key though is use the right nutes for the media and plant. Bad advice? Doubt it. Moon dust is a 19-8-13 furt with those little girls? You can't convince me it's not the nutes.

For me being newer to growing, a PH meter has been absolutely crucial, especially growing in coco. Do you have any other tips, or tricks that you can share to make growing easier without meters? It'd be helpful for those on a tight budget, waiting for a meter to arrive, or helpful to those who had a meter unexpectedly fail on them. Thanks in advance bud!

 

[rillos]

@rillos Whats wrong with the cash crop?

Where to start. The pump is way too small for anything other than a fish tank. The tub is too damn small. You really can only grow 1 plant at a time and what you gonna do if you got to pull males out, roots all tangled and such. I'm not going to get into the ventilation because it has pretty much has none. For what you spent on that box you could have a stealth tent 600w hps/mh light and hood plus a couple off inline fans. Then DIY 5gal bubblers plus get real nutes GH or Fox Farm. Bam all for around 800. And then I might be able to help you. But like I said that box is a death trap and only good for rooting clones....

.

 

[rillos]

@rillos Whats wrong with the cash crop?

Ok That air pump is only good for making beautiful bubbles in a fish tank not growing plants. They need a lot more air. The roots need space and with that little as tub for 1 plant is stretching it but 5 or 6 no way. I want even get into ventilation because it really has none. For what you spent you could have had a tent 400w hps/mh dimmable ballast with a cool tube hood and inline fans. But that box is a death trap and there is nothing else I can tell you.