pH Problem

[Emilya Green]

the pH of most nutes, solutions or powders, is acidic. It will always act as a pH down to your water, sometimes driving it too low, so that you need a pH up solution to get it back to 6.3 pH.

When you water to saturation with this 6.3 pH mix, you essentially create a column of pH adjusted water and soil in a suspension, and the pH of that column of water, nutes and soil has no choice... it has to be the pH of the water you just used to create it, simply because there is so much water in comparison to anything else there and it hasn't had a chance yet to interact with the buffers in the soil.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

Doesn't the pH of the nute solution matter?

yes , you mix your feed in a large bucket stir well let set for up to 10/15 mins then ph the feed to 6.3 to 6.4
if your using tap water its best to leave out 48 hours as different chemicals leave the water ,doesn't mess with ph in medium as much,
if filtered water you will or might need cal/mag some filters take out secondary nutrients and the micro nutes also
a bucket with an air stone is better you free the chemicals and add oxygen ( bonus for your root system )




.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

Today, both Stacy and Taija were fed.

Prior to mixing the nutes together, I did a pH of the bottled water I use. It was about 7.0. I used my General Hydroponic test kit as I didn't calibrate the digital pH tester yet. I prepared three teaspoons of Big Bloom, two teaspoons of Tiger Bloom. A quarter teaspoon of CalMagExtra and a quarter teaspoon of Cha-Ching in a gallon of water. The pH of this mix was close to 5.0.. I added a little General Hydroponics pH UP, given the solution a pH of about 6.25.

Hopefully, pH adjustments will fix the problem. I'm guessing I'll be harvesting by Halloween.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I watered both plants today. Taija is doing well.

Stacy, on the other hand, is still looking sickly. I removed all of the badly discolored leaves (atleast a dozen) from all around her. The lower branches are still wilting and the main stalk is still leaning to the side. Trichomes are milky though there is very little bud on her.

While watering Taija, runoff didn't happen until I poured nearly a gallon of water in her. With Stacy, it happened with less than a half gallon. I still gave her the full gallon.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

little bit of time should fix it , , the plant leaning is just the weight im thinking and the roots soaked so much
i don't know the nutrients you add but its a bit , do you water feed water feed ? could choke it up again here

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I was water/feeding on a weekly basis. Emilya recommended I water more; today is the first time I simply watered.

For the last few weeks, I fed both plants both plants three teaspoons of Big Bloom, two teaspoons of Tiger Bloom. A quarter teaspoon of CalMagExtra and a quarter teaspoon of Cha-Ching. Idid a pH test of the nute solution last Friday. It was very acidic, so I added a little General Hydroponics UP to the mix.

 

[013]

I read a good post earlier (think it was by Bluter) about measuring spoons and he advised someone to get syringes and learn to dose by milliliter.... it’s so much more accurate. I never thought about it because I’ve always used syringes to get the dose correct... anyway nuff said

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I'll be flushing Stacy tomorrow, making sure her water's pH is 6.2.

She is not looking good. More leaves are yellowing and, I swear, she hasn't grown at all in the last month.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

she wont grow once flowering in full , the buds just fill out , its not easy to fix a plant deep into flower , they can respond or stall , there is always the next time , start a journal and we will help you step by step
never say die

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I have a journal. It's in the sig.

I'll be flushing both my plants tonight, making sure the water has a pH of 6.2

 

[SmokingWings]

I go along with the Nutty Prof on the point that once the flowering cycle starts the plant stops growing.

My belief is that it no longer is producing all hormones and anything else to increase in size, to grow more stems, to grow more large fan leaves or to grow roots. Basically, that stage of its life is over. Once the flowering starts that is all the plant does; it is just growing flowers.

The flowers will go through the phase called "the stretch". The buds will increase in length. Where ever the plant can start a new bud it will do so and that gives the "stacking".

My belief is that something happened about a month ago that led up to the yellowing of the leaves. Very possibly something that caused a die-off of a portion of the root system. I figure that since the plant has stopped growing more roots, except maybe a few hair roots, the root system will not recover. One thing leads to another and that is why the plant looks the way it does.

I have one that looks similar to yours, actually a lot worse, and I have stopped giving it any nutrients. Just watering when needed. I plan on harvesting in the next 2-3 days. Buds look good, smell good and are dense and sticky to the touch.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

The buds on Stacy do not look good at all. They're all small and this hasn't changed in the past few weeks. Taija continues to grow.

Today I flushed and fed both Stacy and Taija. I'll be posting the details on my journal.

Here's a pic of both of them. Can you tell which is which?

 

[SmokingWings]

I have seen similar to the one on the right. It was on a few of my plants with only one or occasionally two clones having that same look to them.

What looks really familiar to me is the way the leaves on the buds do not seem to turn yellow anymore and instead go to a brown color and seem to wilt while the other smaller leaves in the buds do not wilt or turn color. A closeup of part of your photo. Hopefully it comes out right to show what I am talking about....

 

[NuttyProfessor]

be careful with ( N) nitrogen with small plants , in soil mostly and even more with an auto , never ever feed a small one what you would a big plant , you have the classic symptoms of a plant with LOCKED IN (N) , the leaves are too green , this was the start of things going wrong , too much nitrogen locks them up in flower , we have all made mistakes at some point we are all human , well must of us i think lol

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I trimmed off the yellow leaves and some of the brown one prior to taking this picture.

I am not feeding any nitrogen to the plants except for might be in the Foxfarms nutrients.

On Thursday, I flushed and fed both plants.

 

[Emilya Green]

I bet you will find that if you do the called for flush at week 6, when you switch from Beasty Blooms to Cha-Ching, you will avoid the yellowing that plagued you this time. Salt lockout is a thing, especially in the Fox Farm Nutrient world.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

Beasty Blooms? I use Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom now. I've been using cha-ching for the past few weeks.

 

[Emilya Green]

Beasty Blooms? I use Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom now. I've been using cha-ching for the past few weeks.

You didn't get the trio of solubles, open sesame, Beasty Blooms and Cha-ching? These three supplements given at the proper times are like adding jet fuel to the grow... I strongly recommend them.

 

[Doctor Trevor]

I bought a container of Cha-Ching. I never heard of the other two.

After I pour the Sledgehammer solution into the soil, should I wait before the flush? Or do it right afterwards?

 

[Emilya Green]

I bought a container of Cha-Ching. I never heard of the other two.

After I pour the Sledgehammer solution into the soil, should I wait before the flush? Or do it right afterwards?

Mix the sledgehammer with your 3x the container size flush water... it becomes the flush.