Quite a lot of progress has been made Older since the last time I checked up on you! I will try a run through a list of questions you had and also comment on a few of my concerns, as always haha
>>> I've run 10 gallons through each 5 gallon pot of sub 6.0 ph water and the run off is still 7.7 to 7.8. I will let them drain overnight and see how they are doing tomorrow. I read that trying to adjust ph too quickly will stress the plants but since these are in new pots anyway I think I'm screwed. I can't believe this ph thing is so hard to control. The soil mixes I bought all from the same supplier, the same brand and the bags were all on the same pallet in the store. But the run off I'm getting shows this stuff is much higher in ph that was the last batch I used.
Now I know this goes against what I have been telling you up to now, BUT when it comes down to pH and soil, you really don't have to worry as much as the soil buffers the pH anyway. This is what is happening here.
Now I will tell you that knowing exactly what you are mixing your soil with will aid you beyond your grow. I never was an all organic grower when I was in soil, so I did not have alot of amendments to add, but even so I used potting soil that proved to work in other grows endless times. That is your best bet there. I usually stick with a varied mix of compost and perlite, but even a mix of FFOF and perlite has worked for me before.
Now by mixing your soil before hand you now have the advantage of testing the pH. I don't know if other soil growers do this before using their medium, but I like to run water through a sample of my 'final' mix to test the pH and adjust by adding more alkaline or acidic amendments to the overall mix. This has shown me great results in the past, eliminating the need to worry about 'what's in your soil' down the road.
In your case, I am pretty sure you are right by saying there is more alkalinity in your soil than anything. But to make sure, take a picture of the potting soil you are using.
The only way I can suggest to counteract this problem would be to continue to feed with slightly lower adjusted pH so the runoff hits you at that 7.0-7.5 range. It is okay for your runoff to be higher than what you put in due to the soil's buffering effects.
In the future I would recommend mixing your own amendments into the soil before you start popping beans just to get a upper hand on the whole pH thing. It's funny that going into hydro, you have so much more control over your pH because water barely buffers anything, but pH in these setups constitute a make it or break it situation as there is not too much leniency on optimal pH range.
>>> I waited 72 hours before giving them a little more water and this water was 6.5 ph with only about 1/4 strength of the Fox Farm nutes.
When it comes to feeding clones or seedlings, I would HIGHLY suggest not to dose them with any kind of chemical nutrient at that strength, especially FF as it is a VERY HOT fertilizer. Typically seedlings/clones don't need to be feed until the first 2 weeks are reached, but it is safe to use other growth boosters or enhancers like 'Superthrive'. I have experimented with using fertilizer during the first two weeks of development and found that using it in minute quantities (literal droplets of measurements) and found that there is not much difference in growth rate but rather an improvement in the success rate of germination/rooting.
>>>I'm going to call him today to find out more on how or why it happened so as to hopefully avoid that here.
To shine a little more light on hermaphroditism, a plant usually will change sex LATE in flowering or before it is even sexually mature (and in some cases right smack-dab in the middle of flowering). The only TWO reasons that contribute to a plant going 'hermie' on you is
STRESS or
GENETICS. Genetically speaking, a plant that is grown in the most optimal conditions can show signs of male preflowers anytime during the flowering stage. This is because the 'hermaphrodite gene' is fairly dominate in that strain.
Now this MOSTLY happens to growers who purchase 'feminised' seeds. To make a feminised seed in theory, a grower lets his harvested plant grow past its ripeness date far late into flowering. After a couple of excess weeks of stress flowering, your plant will start to produce female pollen sacs (yes actual female versions of a male plant, but these are completely different from an actual male preflower). It is these female sacs that breeders use to pollinate their plants. This feminsied pollen gives more of female trait in seeds, but know as you have learned, can also pass over hermaphroditism.
The SECOND reason for a plant going 'hermie' on you would be STRESS. And the amount before you reach the brink varies amongst strains. If enough stress is induced during veg, a potential female plant can turn without even showing signs of its former gender. It can even start showing signs of both genitalia when first put into flowering. If the STRESS is induced during flowering, you will start to see pollen sacs form. I know growers have always just 'picked' them off daily to prevent seed production, and others have just completely removed the plant to avoid any risk to their healthy crop.
Now what some of these stressors include are everything and anything that may not be right for you plant. From over/under watering, to over/under fertilizing, to much/to little heat, etc. You could be stressing your plants into becoming male with all the road bumps you have had in the past with this grow, but don't worry about it as you have many plants to choose from and by the looks of things you could use the extra space.
>>>So the question becomes exactly how far below the light should I keep the tops of the plants?
Now for the HPS, I usually set my lights to about 18-24 inches above my canopy and let the plants grow to about 10-15 inches away from the light before readjusting it. So I never put them closer than under a foot away from the plants and no more than 2 feet away. I have had no problems with heat stress with this method.
Well, it looks like you have everything in order Older. The setup is really coming a long and when you get that second HID and the tent, you will be set. What yield goals have you set for yourself? What yield did you get with your previous grows, and what kind of setup?
