Too small? Help!

[merl1n]

"If they do have a nitrogen lock out, should I flush next due water, then re-nute with PH corrected weater?" you ask.

That would be my advice, but if youve seen an improvement by allowing them to dry out a bit, then continue to let them dry for a bit more, just because the top is dry doesn't mean the roots are dry. And if your plant is 'drowning' adding pH adjusted nutes wont help, its a bit like throwing a drowning man a bucket of water. You can buy adjustable moisture testers that have a probe to push into the medium, but you say your a bit cash strapped at the moment and an EC meter is of higher priority. Its a case of better management of your feeds. Coco aint my forte, Im a perlite man personally, but many others here will have coco relevant info regarding feeds.

 

Good luck with it

 

Merl1n

[Mr Jane]

Thanks for the reply mer1n, after reading up alot more I think you were on the money, the problem is probably high ph levels leading to nitrogen lock out, I let the coco dry right out a couple of times irregulary earlier on and this apparently spikes the ph (lesson learned). I can't get a ph kit untill tomorrow morning now, and my EC is in the post.. and on my uni centrelink budget I might be able to afford that gizmo in about 5 years But my plants look really sad, is it worth flushing tonight with normal tap water do you think? It's hard sitting around watching them die!

[merl1n]

$10 at an aquirium store, thats wot I use and have for years. One drop in a test tube thats it. Simple.

You can go and pay shitloads for a meter that will die eventually or the dropper test. Its reliable too.

No pH test= no decent bud. $10 or no decent bud. Hmmmm......wot a choice.

You could do a flush tonight but afterwards leave them to dry out really well. Then adjust with pH adjusted nute.

Edited October 7, 2012 by merl1n

[Mr Jane]

Yeah it's a no brainer, I live in the sticks though so getting things like this hard, but tomorrow should be the day. I'll follow your advice and post pics of the results shortly, thanks again.

[The Hash Nibbler]

Mate, cheap PH test kit from hydro store, One drop think they are called, can get it from a pool store too. Get yaself also a small bottle of PH up and PH down and a pipette.

Dont worry with EC meter for now, cause will just confuse you , and you need to act fast. I have never used a PPM/EC meter in my grows here.

PH is where it is at, if thats out, nothing else works.

 

To test the PH of the COCO, flush them with PH 5.5 water. Then the run off from the pots, collect in a container. stir a lil, let sediment settle, then test water.....

If PH is 5.8-6.2 is OK, if it is higher, as I suspect, say like PH7 on run off, you should flush them again, but try with PH5 water.....this should bring it down to the acceptable range.

Make sure you clean the lil test vial with water between each test to get accurate results.

 

If ya dont do this, ya gonna have problems the whole grow.

 

Also , you could of started em off under the 600wer easy and saved yaself some money, even now, unless ya got like 12-14 of em 1600w isnt really necessary ...yet. hehe

Ya doin well, but get the basics right and they'll always come up trumps every grow.

Peace. Nibbler.

Edited October 7, 2012 by The Hash Nibbler

[Mr Jane]

Thanks for the input Nibbler, and thanks for the support, I got myself to civilisation and picked up a test kit and PH up and down, when I got home I tested the tap water, it was PH7! So before I actually got your advice, in a panic I corrected all the water to PH6'ish (the tests came out yellow) flushed like a mad man, let each plant drain for at least an hour, then re-nuted with 1/4 strength nutes and tested the run off, which came out the same as it went in. I really should probably have revised this post and followed Merlins lead when he told me to let them completely dry out THEN re-nute.

 

Really? 600W would be enough light for now? I kinda thought considering the size of the tent, and with the formula watts/per square foot, my kids wouldn't be getting enough sun? But thanks for the info, there's no point wasting power if it's not needed!

 

They have perked up a little bit, new growth is healthy and a bit of a darker green, I suspect they are suffering from wet feet as well though, still fairly droopy looking. Also some of the leaves on one curled together length ways (before I flushed) feels really brittle and the leaves have yellow spots/streaks on them, this would probably be a nitrogen/potassium deficiency I'm guessing due to the lock out (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Anyways here they are

 

 

[merl1n]

Hi Mr Jane

It will take some time to see the improvement in colour over all, but the pick up in looks is telling you you are moving in the right direction

As for the yellowing, it seems to all be at the bottom of the plant, don't worry about it at all. As the upper shade leaves develope the lower leaves die off and as you're growing under a fixed light, its the tops or crowns you are looking for. You could spread it out some so that more light gets to more growth sites. This way you'll end up with more bud sites.

At the size those plants are, a 600watter would be ample. As for "the formula watts/per square foot" Is per square foot of growth. So if you filled that whole area with growth then sure you would need to increase the light, but not yet. IMHO

 

Merl1n

Edited October 10, 2012 by merl1n

[Mr Jane]

G'day Merl1n, Yeah I fiigured it would take a little while for them to fully recover. That's comforting news about the lower fan leaves dying I was only aware that the water leaves died off, I might veg these girls out untill the end of the month then flip to 12/12 I think, spreading them out in between now and then with either scrog or LST. Have you blokes heard any rumours about white polly pipe giving off toxins under HID lights? I constructed an elaborate scrog frame with telescopic legs out of the mentioned material.. only to read somewhere last night that some plastics will produce toxins and spike the PH of your medium.. anyways hope not

 

MJ

[El Gato]

BPA is one of the toxins and is in alot of things and will leach out naturally over time.

 

I would bet the plastic in your tv, pc and what not contains BPA. It really is in so many plastics man and thats just one of a few. I cant remeber the rest, all cause cancer and shit. Scientists has just discovored "fatogens" which is a name for chemicals in plastics that directly cause you to gain weight. They change you body chemistry, BPA is just one of them.

[merl1n]

Hi Janey,

Yep I have heard of chemicals leaching out of plastics and not just under HID. My understanding is that all plastics leach chemicals over time. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about your frame being made of poly pipe, what is your netting inside the frame made from. The frame itself shouldn't be in contact with your medium or fluids anyway. You'll thank your lucky stars you made the legs telescopic, it makes it lots easier to make those little adjustments. I start my SCROG net about 4inches from the top of my pots thenforce all the growth under the net, then turn 12/12 and elevate my net to around 10-12 inches and allow the growth splurt to grow up thru the netting.

Now looking at your photos you are past that point already. Are you going to take cuttings?? If so do it now. The plant will recover and it will spread its growth out more lateral than vertical, which is what you want for a SCROG, lateral growth. I would also be 'tipping' all of your growing tips.

 

DO NOT WEAVE YOUR GROWTH THROUGH THE NETTING.

When it comes to harvest or when/if you need to move the SCROG netting, you can't, if you weave it. Push it out under your SCROG net, a bit like a starfish with your plant in the middle.

You say 'another month', I don't work on time. My plant is in veg until my longest laterals ( the arms of the starfish) have filled to the edges of my SCROG net, sometimes 3-4 weeks, sometimes 5-6. Same with flowering, some say '8 weeks and its done'. I have never had a plant that was fully ripe at 8 weeks more like 10-12 weeks.

 

Merl1n

Edited October 11, 2012 by merl1n