Indoor 1Sky's Mephisto, COB (Amare) & Fastbuds GrowBattles: BioTabs vs Adv Nutes & AutoPots vs FiberPots

[Ryker604_BT]

Have you put anything in them except the Biotabs line (not counting the last cal-mag) ? Have you watered with Bactrex anytime after the initial soak of the pots?
EDIT: What are the ambient temps in the tent?

 

[Only1Sky]

Have you put anything in them except the Biotabs line (not counting the last cal-mag) ? Have you watered with Bactrex anytime after the initial soak of the pots?
EDIT: What are the ambient temps in the tent?

Hi Bro. Good questions.
1) So far, there's nothing in the medium (which is 75/25 coco/perlite) except the recommended BioTab set-up plus a few spoonfuls of Dolomite & Azomite. The dolomite was recommended in a post from @Biotabs F69 to help prevent cal-mag issues.
2) Reverse osmosis (RO) water is used for top-feeding and also for reservoir. Top-fed 1/2 liter Orgatrex on day 14, then 1 liter Orgatrex on day 23, then a liter with the standard 20 mg Orgatrex &1 gram Bactrex on day 26. She started drinking from the AutoPot reservoir on day 32.
3) Over the past two weeks: temps in the tent range from 76-84, RH ranges from 45-58, which gives me VPD numbers ranging from 11.7 - 19.5. In general, the RH is a bit too low for these temperatures, but we've had unseasonable warm & dry weather lately. I use a small humidifier and some towels in a water bowl to try to add more humidity -- but it hasn't helped much since I'm moving too much ambient air into and out of the tent. Fortunately, outside temps are starting to drop some now and the VPD is starting to trend in the right zone.

I also mist the girls daily with RO spray. Occasionally the spray has Boom-Boom in it, and occasionally it has OpticFoliar. But I've stopped both of those lately since I'm now in flower mode.

Everything looked great up until day 37. Then yellowing started and within 4 days I had some dying leaves.

 

[Ryker604_BT]

Nothing out of the ordinary it seems, you did everything as it should be. I've found that a watering of Bactrex can help with some pH issues/deficiencies, but I really have no clue what is up with your plants . Seems like a N (or maybe Cal) deficiency, but they shouldn't have eaten through the whole N in the tabs.
Dunno dude, if I come up with better ideas I'll holla at you .

 

[Only1Sky]

Yeh, @Ryker604 - pretty much my thinking as well. Thanks for jumping in and making sure that I've covered the bases. The thing is that I'm getting the sense (from other grow journals and my own past experience) that Biotab girls under strong LEDs/Cobs can get finicky and stressed sometime after about 6 weeks. We'll see.

 

[Only1Sky]

Here's a little update on day 45 - two tents with 4 plants each.

The tent on the left photo has Fastbuds LSD and Blackberry on the left side, and the two on the right are Mephistos Creme Bubbly in back and Sour Crinkle in the front. LSD (front left) has always been a mutant, but will survive & produce. The Blackberry (back left) is twice the height and doing real well. The Crinkle and Bubbly are also doing just fine. Detailed photos of each in a few days.

The tent on the right has Autopots with Mephistos "2-ways": Creme Bubbly & Sour Crinkle being done by BioTabs on the right and by Advanced Nutes./GreenPlanet (AN/GP) on the left. The problem is with the two Sour Crinkles -- both are showing leaf coloration issues with the Biotabs girl in severe trouble. The AN/GP Sour Crinkle has only just started showing some issues. Detailed photos follow below.

You can clearly see the problems with the two Sour Crinkle girls (they're on the bottom, in front, BioTabs on the right, AN/GP on the left.) Today I gave each 3/4 liter of Sensi CalMag at 2ml/L.
Then I snipped off the more seriously affected leavers from the Biotab girl; here's a view:

Now I'm getting worried about the AN/GP Sour Crinkle, on the left. Here's a closer look at her:

Is this a classic case of cal-mag deficiency? The Creme Bubblys in this tent are not suffering the same problem, even though each has gotten the identical care & feeding as their respective sisters. But boy-o-boy do these Sour Crinkles show a hurting. Ok, but then why not the same issue with the Sour Crinkle in the other tent --- also on AN/GP diet, but in a fiber pot rather than an AutoPot. Go figure. This is kind of a head scratcher.

 

[Sensi Jay]

Hi Bro. Good questions.
1) So far, there's nothing in the medium (which is 75/25 coco/perlite) except the recommended BioTab set-up plus a few spoonfuls of Dolomite & Azomite. The dolomite was recommended in a post from @Biotabs F69 to help prevent cal-mag issues.
2) Reverse osmosis (RO) water is used for top-feeding and also for reservoir. Top-fed 1/2 liter Orgatrex on day 14, then 1 liter Orgatrex on day 23, then a liter with the standard 20 mg Orgatrex &1 gram Bactrex on day 26. She started drinking from the AutoPot reservoir on day 32.
3) Over the past two weeks: temps in the tent range from 76-84, RH ranges from 45-58, which gives me VPD numbers ranging from 11.7 - 19.5. In general, the RH is a bit too low for these temperatures, but we've had unseasonable warm & dry weather lately. I use a small humidifier and some towels in a water bowl to try to add more humidity -- but it hasn't helped much since I'm moving too much ambient air into and out of the tent. Fortunately, outside temps are starting to drop some now and the VPD is starting to trend in the right zone.

I also mist the girls daily with RO spray. Occasionally the spray has Boom-Boom in it, and occasionally it has OpticFoliar. But I've stopped both of those lately since I'm now in flower mode.

Everything looked great up until day 37. Then yellowing started and within 4 days I had some dying leaves.

Hi Sky, only just noticed you use RO, per the tabs instructions you're supposed to use tap, I'd never used anything but. I suspect that may be the cause of calmag type issues with the leaves.

Can u not use your tap?

 

[Only1Sky]

Hi Sky, only just noticed you use RO, per the tabs instructions you're supposed to use tap, I'd never used anything but. I suspect that may be the cause of calmag type issues with the leaves.

Can u not use your tap?

Hi Sensi,
Sure, I could use tap. Just figured that the RO would be better 'cause of no chlorine, etc. Figured that BioTabs recommends tap 'cause if they said that they recommend RO that could create a huge barrier to sales for them. But hey, what the heck, I'll try the tap.

Also, I'll just repeat that the 2nd plant starting to show the same problems is not on BioTabs, but rather on Advanced Nutrients + GreenPlanet Nutrients. The common thread here is that both plants are Sour Crinkle, whereas the other the plants in the tent (who are not showing signs of stress) are Creme Bubbly. Of course, all that means is that different strains have different requirements.

I'm not too sure yet, but it seems like MAYBE the leaf coloration has slowed or stopped since I hit them twice with 1 ltr top-fed Sensi CalMag+. But I'll try the tap water anyway.

CHeers and thanks.

 

[Sensi Jay]

Hi Sensi,
Sure, I could use tap. Just figured that the RO would be better 'cause of no chlorine, etc. Figured that BioTabs recommends tap 'cause if they said that they recommend RO that could create a huge barrier to sales for them. But hey, what the heck, I'll try the tap.

Also, I'll just repeat that the 2nd plant starting to show the same problems is not on BioTabs, but rather on Advanced Nutrients + GreenPlanet Nutrients. The common thread here is that both plants are Sour Crinkle, whereas the other the plants in the tent (who are not showing signs of stress) are Creme Bubbly. Of course, all that means is that different strains have different requirements.

I'm not too sure yet, but it seems like MAYBE the leaf coloration has slowed or stopped since I hit them twice with 1 ltr top-fed Sensi CalMag+. But I'll try the tap water anyway.

CHeers and thanks.

See how they go mate, but I'm also curious as to whether RO would be recommended by them..

@Biotabs F69 , is RO recommended with tabs? I thought tap was always preferred.

 

[waynejohn]

RO works best in combination with silicium, i think i read somewhere that's what they use in BT hq...that is calmag def for sure, i had the same symptoms, usually starts after the stretch is done and starts spreading

 

[Only1Sky]

RO works best in combination with silicium, i think i read somewhere that's what they use in BT hq...that is calmag def for sure, i had the same symptoms, usually starts after the stretch is done and starts spreading

@waynejohn - thanks for the input. This is my 2nd Biotabs/AutoPot grow, both under strong LED/COBs, and YES I have repeatedly gotten the calmag problem each time. Not always equally on all strains in the tent - some are worse than others. But it consistently happens, as you say, after the stretch, around weeks 6 or 7.
What did you do to address the problem?