Little Johnny

Hello there fellow grower's, I'm happy to be here and I can only hope other's will be happy to have me! This is of course my first post, and although I did not want it to be a request for help, I figured this would be the best way to break the ice, and after Overgrow went down I was kinda lost there for a while, but I was very pleased to find another busy site with competent people who might be able to help me. I filled out the nursery questionaire, and I will give a brief description of symptoms after.

1. Are you growing from seed or clones?
From seeds
2. How old are your plants?
40 days , starting showing sex 3 weeks ago
3. How tall are your plants?
Approximately 2 1/2 feet tall, with some LST tie downs
4. What type of hydro system are you using?
12 gallon DWC reservoir
5. What brand/type of nutrients are you using?
General Hydroponics Flora Nova, both for veg and the bloom formula, a bit of Fulvic gold, and now about 1 teaspoon of Advanced Nutrients Dr. Hornsby's Big Bud powder.
6. Do you have a PPM/EC meter?
Yes I have the Truncheon, and I use a Milwaukee electric PH meter
7. What is the PPM/EC of your tap water?
about 100-150 ppm tops
8. What is the PPM/EC of your nutrient solution?
currently it is at 1400, began at 250 second week of sprout
9. What is the temperature of your nutrient solution?
estimating average temps about 80f, there is a water pump submersed in the res
10. Does your PPM/EC show a rise or fall when you do your daily PPM check?
recently I have seen some fluctuations, particularly a rise in ppm of several 100 points over several days after last res change
11. Does your pH show a rise or fall when you do your daily check?
there are fluctuations, the rise is alarming, but after topping res the ppm drops back down, but it's resting still about the same ppm as initial nutrient reading
12. What kind of lights do you use and how many watts combined? (HPS, MH, fluorescent, halogen, incandescent "plant lights")
150w hps security light
13. How close are your lights to the plants?
6-8 inches, seperated by a thin plexiglass sheet
14. What size is your grow space in square feet?
about 3 1/2 feet
15. What is the temperature and humidity in your grow space?
humidity rests about 15-35%, temps at top of plant can vary from 80-95f
16. Have you noticed any insect activity in your grow space?
none at all
17. How much experience do you have growing?
This is my third hydro grow, second with this seed stock, previously I grew with soil, indoors, with flouros for several years and never was able to achieve any harvest.


I have noticed recently that the lower leafs on one of my plants were yellowing, and small brown/grey spots started popping up on those leaves. There was some inhibition of growth on that plant, and some curling under of leaves at first across the entire plant. The yellowing leafs also had slight curling around the edges, but no drying out or necrosis that I could see. I have also observed some of the mid-plant leaves yellowing in the middle of the leaf blade starting on the outer edges. There is also some deep purpling occuring along the stems of side leafs off main stem, as well as a slight purpling in one spot of the main stem. All the tips are healthy though. PH is staying about 5.7-5.8 most of the time, and most recently the rise in ppm in the res over time has accompanied a drop in ph somehow. I have also noticed just last peek in the res that the roots on that plant are getting fairly dark, almost black, which is also alarming, but may be due to the high ppm of last nutrient bath. Since this is my first grow using additives like Big Bud I over ferted just a tad. One of my problems is that I don't have any means of adjusting the PH other than adding more nutrients, or flushing the res and starting the next nutrient cycle.

Generally I only change the res every 10-12 days. I am thinking that maybe one of the problems is magnesium deficiency, probably due to the low ph, but I have read that some of the symptoms might also be Phosphorous deficiency. Either way im fairly positive its nutrient lockout of some sort, if it isnt dumb ol me nute burning these babies.

Now, my last grow I saw some of these problems and assumed they were part of a natural cycle of some sort, and I was able to get about 3 oz from last harvest, so it was a complete success im my opinion, and my first success ever. I attribute my luck more to the strain I got my hands on than anything else. It matures fast, gives good yield, and is fairly resilient to stress.
Last harvest I had 1 male and 1 female and I allowed them to pollinate as I was down to only a dozen seeds or so. Now I have several hundred from those 2 plants. This time they are both girls, and the seedstock I used was the older original seedstock, which could account for the variation in these new plants nutrient requirements and developement. Only one of them is showing all these symptoms, the other one is strong and healthy, and filling up the chamber as they always do. last detail i almost forgot, I started this grow in a 12/12 light cycle, so they've been in that since sprout.

Aside from asking general opinions on my grow, and the symptoms I mentioned, I was really curious as to how you guys adjust your PH up and down, last grow I didnt even bother checking ph the entire time. Now of course I recognize the need to keep track of that, and how much it can influence the plants health.

As bad as I feel coming here and asking for help before ever contributing, sometimes you just gotta ask for help. I thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give me, and if there is anything else I might be able to add I would be happy to do so. Maybe one day I too can help others who need advice!

alteredego

Welcome aboard Little Johnny!

I'm not a hydro grower so I cannot offer much help, but I will throw my out there.

From the details given it sounds like classic symptoms of nute burn and/or lockout. Your res temp may also be a little high along with your room temps. I may have missed it, but are you using CO2 at all?
As for adjusting the pH, GH does make pH up and pH down. You could probably find it at the same place you got your nutes or even on ebay.

Here's a link on Temps/pH/TDS.
And another on lockout.
.... Hell, here's the whole hydro section from the GrowFAQ.

Hope this could be of some help.
Don't be shy about asking for help, that's what we're all here for.... to share our knowledge and opinions.

__________________

alteredego

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Little Johnny

Thanks for your , I can always use any advice I can get my hands on. I am tending to believe the same thing. And I think my post was way too long and detailed and a lot of people might just fall asleep before they get to the end heh, but that's me.

I don't use Co2 at all, other than having the passive intake to the chamber in the same roo I generally live in. And the res temps could be higher than that, maybe 85f. And the chamber temps fluctuate some, in the shade 5 inches from light it's 80f, but direct radiant readings can exceed 100f, of course the temp sensor is black as well. It's intersting to note that the temps in the light chamber itself rest at about 86f. The 2 chambers are split by a thin plexi plate.

I'm hoping it resolves itself next res change, I plan on cutting back on the ppm to about 6-700. That new Big Bud powder kinda threw me off my cycle. Hopefully some clean water and a new solution bath will correct the problems. It is interesting to notice that one plant is hurting and the other thriving, just goes to show how much variation among single strains there can be when it comes to environmental needs.

MaxDefrost

Must agree with Alteredego Rez temps should be 65 warm water holds very little O2 (dark roots) Room temps are best kept lower. Spikes of 85-90 will do no harm but prolonged high temps lead to stress (some strains can deal with it) It has been noted in a few other posts that DWC uses less nutes. Some have cut back to as little as 400 PPM with great results. PH drops with higher ppm. Suggest a rez change. Nutes at 450 ppm and control the rez temp somehow. A small fan blowing on top of your rez will drop temps. Also a bottle of frozen water will help. If you have dollars a chiller is ideal. Good Luck