first grow PROBLEMS

[skilledmonkey]

hey all,

 

great site - have learnt heaps scanning through posts. been a smoker for many years so thought i was about due to have a go at gowing my own. i will give you a run down of my set up:

 

source: bagseed (seems predominantly indica)

age: 6 wks (3 had a week head start)

lighting: 1 400w HPS & 1 1000w MH (18 hrs daily)

system: flood + drain

medium: 4 inch rockwool cubes in clay balls (no pots)

water freq: 5 times daily

nutes: 2 part aussie made + GH microblast - PPM 1000

ventilation: 210 lps exhaust thru carbon filter, 95 lps intake, large oscilating fan

temps: lights on sits around 24c, min overnight 15c.

ph: approx 5.7

 

 

everything had been going well until today. yesterday i basically changed from a drip system to the flood + drain. had the purpose built table + heaps of clay so thought why not. whilst on drip they were in 10 ltr buckets + from what i have gathered seemed to be getting close to being rootbound. this is why i switched to f + d. all had been going well til then - all 18 plants looked quite healthy.

 

my thoughts...

 

well firstly i'm sure there would have to be some shock from the move. when on drippers they were in clay in 10 liter buckets. i had to shake + knock the balls out of the roots so as to be able to bury the roots in the clay balls on the f + d table.

 

i think the main prob though is they are being underfed/watered. when i set up the table i did heaps of practice runs to make sure watr would get to all parts of the table. it is sligtly higher in the middle of the table to create fall to the ends. but now after the weight of 220 ltrs of clay balls plus the palnts + water at feed time not sure if water level is getting high enough in the middle. i guess the prime example of that is the plants at the very ends are probably the healthiest looking. also i can feel the rockwall for dampness + sure enough the sickest ones are pretty dry.

 

i need to know what the markings are on the leaves. they are on most plants but there is no consistency.

 

anyway i've gone on a bit so i'll leave it at that. any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

cheers,

chimpo

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[skilledmonkey]

these are plants close to the edge and i suspect getting better fed than those closer to the middle. even these have the speckled patchy leaves though that have only come up in the last 15 or so hours.

 

 

 

the pic above of the plant wilting + dying has since straightened up after hand watering. heaps of leaf damage though.

[skilledmonkey]

this pic is about 10 days ago when all was well...

[skilledmonkey]

thinking of leaving the table as is ie with rockwool cubes in the clay with no pots + setting up the drippers again. what do u guys think? does this give the roots plenty of room to move? they clay is 100mm deep. maybe slightly under.

[WantDaChronic]

im by no means an expert but from those pictures im assuming your having pH fluctuations and nutrients are being locked out :scratchin

 

the pic above of the plant wilting + dying has since straightened up after hand watering. heaps of leaf damage though.

 

if i had to guess, i'd say that the medium has dried out way too quick leaving a pH fluctuation as a result. because the medium was so dry, the plants couldnt get enough water and wilted, when you hand watered them, they got a well needed drink and you probably kept the plants alive by giving them that watering

 

about the only thing i can think of to help your plants is to setup a drip watering system that waters every plant....sure its going to be simular to what you were using before hand but atleast you'll know every plant is getting its fair share :smoke

[Tom]

High there skilledmonkey, welcome to the forums.

water freq: 5 times daily

For how long?

nutes: 2 part aussie made + GH microblast - PPM 1000

Is that to manufacturers specifications?

i need to know what the markings are on the leaves. they are on most plants but there is no consistency.

Check out this link. http://www.geocities.com/nutrientproblems/

 

[skilledmonkey]

hey guys,

 

thanks for the replies.

 

dachronic i reckon you could be right re the ph lockout. the plants look closest to that in the pics that Tom provided the link for. i have been checking ph reguraly + it does creep up after mixing nutes but gnerally wouldn't go higher than 6.3. not sure whether to set up the drippers again or make an adjustment to the return pipes to allow water level too go higher??

 

there all looking a little better today but a few of them look like theyve been to war!

 

Tom, was watering 5 times at 10mins - then it would take another 10 to drain.

 

I've now upped that to 15mins every 2 hours. I'm thinking the clay holds very little water so probably hard to overwater unless rockwool is getting really saturated??

 

Is that to manufacturers specifications?

thats actually a little under bottle directions. at full strength it hits about 1300ppm. btw the microblast is made by earth juice not GH.

 

have seen that page b4 on overgrow i think. if anything the pic closest is the ph lockout. a few leaves dried up to the point of being brittle where they would just break on contact. this happened in the space of 15 hrs. could ph lockout do this? or would that be from severe underwatering?

 

thanks again, its great to have a bit of support.

chimpo

 

[WantDaChronic]

if that were my setup, i'd run plain pH adjusted water through it for a day or 2 and setup the drippers around the base of the plants....

 

in a couple of days after a big nice flush, start the plants on like 1/2 strength nutes and then increase it as the plants recover...

 

also, superthrive works a treat to sick and sad plants, its always perked them up for me but keep in mind that shit is like nitro and a few drops too many will kill a plant in no time....1 drop per litre per plant is what i have used in the past and it has worked wonders for me, other times i have used too much and to see what happens as a result, look at my first indoor grow diary at the end

 

I'm thinking the clay holds very little water so probably hard to overwater unless rockwool is getting really saturated??

 

your right, clay balls hold fuck all water...

[Tom]

if that were my setup, i'd run plain pH adjusted water through it for a day or 2 and setup the drippers around the base of the plants....

 

in a couple of days after a big nice flush, start the plants on like 1/2 strength nutes and then increase it as the plants recover...

Sounds like a good plan to me, I would also consider running the PH a little higher too, probably around 6.0 and see how it goes, it looks as though 5.7 may be a bit low for them.

 

[skilledmonkey]

took your advice guys. things are definitely on the improve. started 1/2 strength last night + just picked up some superthrive so will add some today. i'm still running f + d - adjusted the return hoses so that water level is higher + now all plants seem to be getting their fair share. all plants are creating more leaf shoots at the top + these leaves look quite healthy so i'm guessing the watering system is now agreeing with them.

 

there are some dead, 'crispy' leaves on some of the mid + higher branches - should i snip them off completely or just get rid of the really dry bits?

 

also, by running f + d my reservoir is about 100 ltrs - should i use 1 drop superthrive per ltr. bottle directions suggest 1ml per 4 ltrs for stressed plants - this sound ok?

 

thanks again for all the help. will post some pics shortly.