Newbie DWC GSC Auto Grow: Please Help Me Get It Right

sid said:
Hey folks!
Hope all well!

Ambient 35c RH 50-60%

DWC The Lemon Auto is looking ok I think, root growth is good, but the tops are slow. Res has stabilized at an EC of bout .86-.87 and a pH of 5.8, some reading suggest thick and slow growth could be a boron deficiency, which usually leads to Ca def. But maybe im overthinking it and the plant is doing well. res temps @ 19c

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Coco : So clearly a deficiency in the coco grow. Im inclined to think im looking at a Mg deficit. Could be K. I did not buffer the coco, so it could be from that ? I have today flushed the medium with a ton of water. Then ran 2L of CalMag dilution to .3 EC (with a bg of .4 for a total of .7), which was 1ml/l. The cal mag is DIY as in 2 posts above. ph to 5.8

Ill run the same tomorrow, and then add the A-B nutes dayafter. My understanding is I need to saturate the medium with Ca and Mg to avoid it reacting with the same in the nute solution which leads to an unwanted reaction. I cant remember the details exactly, please accept my apologies.

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Please correct me if im wrong.

Thanks a ton folks!
Be safe.
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Thing about coco, or any soil type mix, is the cation exchange sites. They hold onto nutrient and cannot simply be flushed out with water. Flush the pot with your regular nutrient mix for this point in the grow and the elements in the nutrient mix will knock the excess nutrient away from the cation exchange sites thereby correcting your nutrient problem. Especially if you already know your nutrient mix is good from the DWC.
 
Diatomacious said:
Thing about coco, or any soil type mix, is the cation exchange sites. They hold onto nutrient and cannot simply be flushed out with water. Flush the pot with your regular nutrient mix for this point in the grow and the elements in the nutrient mix will knock the excess nutrient away from the cation exchange sites thereby correcting your nutrient problem. Especially if you already know your nutrient mix is good from the DWC.
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I've read that coco will hold onto Calcium and is why it must be prepped by flushing it with a calmag solution, to effectively fill those sites with calcium now so it doesn't take it from later feeds.


sid said:
Im debating should I defoliate ? I dont know what and where an how and if its too late or too early. Maybe just let this one run through ?
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I never defoliate. What I do is when I take clones in veg, I use that stressful time to also remove lower branches and any middle center branches that I know will be deprived of light later in bloom. If I do a good enough job during veg where stress is easily managed, I can sometimes skip doing the rest during week 4 of bloom after the stretch has finished and bud sites begin to fill out. But otherwise, I remove all lower and center branches during week 4 of bloom. My aim is to take branches that don't get good light as well as thin out the underside of the canopy to allow maximum airflow which replenishes CO2 regularly as well as aides in perspiration which is needed for calcium movement in the plant. The more they sweat, the better they'll do with calcium, but likewise, the more RH will be in the air that needs to be moved out and good circulation through the canopy is critical for that to work.
 
Skybound said:
I never defoliate. What I do is when I take clones in veg, I use that stressful time to also remove lower branches and any middle center branches that I know will be deprived of light later in bloom. If I do a good enough job during veg where stress is easily managed, I can sometimes skip doing the rest during week 4 of bloom after the stretch has finished and bud sites begin to fill out. But otherwise, I remove all lower and center branches during week 4 of bloom. My aim is to take branches that don't get good light as well as thin out the underside of the canopy to allow maximum airflow which replenishes CO2 regularly as well as aides in perspiration which is needed for calcium movement in the plant. The more they sweat, the better they'll do with calcium, but likewise, the more RH will be in the air that needs to be moved out and good circulation through the canopy is critical for that to work.
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Sounds like good advice. Those sucker branches never produce anything of quality anyway. Defoliate when you harvest... the leaves are still producing sugar right up til the end which in turn feeds the buds. 50% RH is great for drying out the pots.
 
Skybound said:
I've read that coco will hold onto Calcium and is why it must be prepped by flushing it with a calmag solution, to effectively fill those sites with calcium now so it doesn't take it from later feeds.
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I've read that coco is full of salt NaCl (coconuts grow by the ocean) and if that's what is bonded to the cation sites then that is all the plant will have to eat until you remove it.
 
I had some tested at the lab and it does have a lot of sodium and chlorine but nothing excessive... this was cocotek coco coir that I had cut with 1 gallon each perlite and vermiculite per 8 gallon coco
N 1.82 ppm
NH4 1.00
NO3 0.82
P 3.59 ppm
K 25.6 ppm
Ca 1.02 ppm
Mg 1.00 ppm
S 4.05 ppm
Fe 0.99 ppm
Mn 0.02 ppm
Zn 0.01 ppm
Cu 0.01 ppm
B 0.15 ppm
Mo 0.00 ppm
Al 0.81 ppm
Na 8.75 ppm
Cl 6.83 ppm
Though it's not a great nutrient profile and you would want to fertilize as soon as possible nothing looks too far out of whack.
 
Sweet. I need to find a lab, get my coco and water tested then. Thanks folks! Great help.
Small note, these 3 plants are autos.
@sky, bro Ill take some detailed pics of the plant foliage and maybe then ask before i remove the lower growth.

Cheers!
 
sid said:
Sweet. I need to find a lab, get my coco and water tested then. Thanks folks! Great help.
Small note, these 3 plants are autos.
@sky, bro Ill take some detailed pics of the plant foliage and maybe then ask before i remove the lower growth.

Cheers!
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It will never be a situation where you need feedback on which branch to take, just use your best judgement. Watch a few YouTube videos and check out people's canopies from mid bloom onward, and try to reproduce that result.
 
sid said:
Sweet. I need to find a lab, get my coco and water tested then. Thanks folks! Great help.
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If there is anything you need to worry about a lab test should reveal it... but like I said before it's usually enough to simply flush the potting media with your nutrient solution and then dump the excess. If there is a problem with your potting mix then this will usually correct it. That's about your only recourse if there is a problem with the potting mix anyway... the water is another story but using rain or RO should eliminate that.

As far as removing branches you only want to remove the small branches that get shadowed out by the top of the plant... these usually only produce fluff bud anyway. Everyone you ask will say you should prune in a different manner it's really personal preference and what you have best luck with.
 
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