New Grower Hope She's Gentle. It's My First Time! - Think Different

[ThaGreenBandit]

Looking great dude, ye my 2 cents just give her another week of veg nutes, see how she responds than its flower power time! Are you flushing to correct an issue or just doin it just cuz?

I been getting a high runoff PH lately, so I'm gonna do it to make sure there is no excessive salt buildup, or anything like that. What the hell, one more week of veggie nutes won't kill her. Maybe she will surprise me with a few more inches of growth, but I won't be expecting too much.

TGB, remind me of your Cal/Mag situation again? I'm just wondering about some of the light discoloration on those fans up top...not a huge deal.
As to the scrog screen, hey man, if that's the issue you're dealing with, then that's a great thing because it has nothing to do with plant health and it
means that the vertical growth is almost done and it's following on track. It's nice and dense and healthy! I think there is one more/last stretch in her
though...

There are worse problems....I certainly know first hand, about running out of vertical room and scrambling to make it STOP growing up.

Right around the time you left to Paradise for your vacay, I started experiencing some issues. In between the veins of new growth, she started turning a light green to yellowish color. I think the high PH of the soil was causing a nute lockout. It looked like an iron or zinc deficiency, to be more specific. Anyhow, I lowered the PH of the soil, and started giving her a foliar feed of a chelated iron/zinc solution, and the color started coming back. She was looking pretty rough at one point. If growing outta control was the case, that would be perfect because she would be filling the screen out! I think I'll go ahead and do as you and Gilly suggest, and give her one more week of veggie nutes, and see she if she has one last stretch in her.

 

[medi]

Looking good man!! I agree with the others you'll likely get another stretch. I don't know that it'll help you to utilize the SCROG very well but if the least it does is open up the middle a little you'll be getting a great benefit from it. Keep on keeping on buddy!

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

Looking good man!! I agree with the others you'll likely get another stretch. I don't know that it'll help you to utilize the SCROG very well but if the least it does is open up the middle a little you'll be getting a great benefit from it. Keep on keeping on buddy!

Good to see you, Medi! Another stretch seems to be the popular opinion, so I'm gonna go with the veggie nutes for another week. As far as the flush goes, what's your opinion? How about you, Trap? What do you say?

 

[Trapper]

I would do a flush right at the switch to bloom nutes...nute/salt build-up, at least with my synth nutes, created a low pH situation, not a high one.

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

I would do a flush right at the switch to bloom nutes...nute/salt build-up, at least with my synth nutes, created a low pH situation, not a high one.

Well, my soil meter has been giving me a reading of about 6.4, but the runoff has been high, so that's what made me consider flushing. At the switch to bloom, would you flush with straight PH'd water, then start the bloom nutes a few days later, or flush using a mild bloom nute solution?

 

[Trapper]

Have you been measuring different levels in the soil? like top 2 inches vs. bottom 2"? That will tell you if you have build up...a large variance between those 2 numbers...keeping in mind that you want to do that shortly after watering so you aren't just seeing differences in dryness. How much run-off are you getting when you water? You need at least 10-15% run-off to make sure you are washing away the old and only presenting the new.

A flush, by definition, is just pH'd water....to clear out everything that may be lingering in the soil. If anything....I would add just some Cal/Mag since autos just seem to always need it. If the leaf discoloration is, in fact, Nitro def. the first shot of Bloom nutes will turn that around.

My 2 cents....

 

[Villain]

You need at least 10-15% run-off...

Hi Trapper, couple of questions as I never get that amount of run-off, what is the reason to put that amount of water through? seems a waste to me? I've read that it's best to offer the plant what it will drink daily?
Maybe salt build up? does pouring water through the pot each watering save flushing half way through the grow?

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

Have you been measuring different levels in the soil? like top 2 inches vs. bottom 2"? That will tell you if you have build up...a large variance between those 2 numbers...keeping in mind that you want to do that shortly after watering so you aren't just seeing differences in dryness. How much run-off are you getting when you water? You need at least 10-15% run-off to make sure you are washing away the old and only presenting the new.

A flush, by definition, is just pH'd water....to clear out everything that may be lingering in the soil. If anything....I would add just some Cal/Mag since autos just seem to always need it. If the leaf discoloration is, in fact, Nitro def. the first shot of Bloom nutes will turn that around.

My 2 cents....

There's where I might be screwing up a bit, because I have just been going straight towards the bottom with all of my PH checks. From here on out I will take both shallow and deep measurements. I have been watering until I get the 10-15% runoff each time I water her, though.
Today, I noticed what may be some slight clawing, not sure if it is, but I really doubt it, because she was just experiencing a deficiency, and I also noticed that some of the leaf stems are turning a purplish color. What causes that?

 

[Darth Vapour]

No biggie on the purps broheem and I doubt it's clawing in the other pic

I think some pheno's just do that, heck i think all of mine have had a little purp in the stem

I'll let an experienced grower provide more input tho, keeper eazy lil weezy

 

[Trapper]

Hi Trapper, couple of questions as I never get that amount of run-off, what is the reason to put that amount of water through? seems a waste to me? I've read that it's best to offer the plant what it will drink daily?
Maybe salt build up? does pouring water through the pot each watering save flushing half way through the grow?

Experts can probably answer more thoroughly, but it's my understanding that getting that amount of run-off insures that the plant gets a uniform feeding of what you intended (solution percentages). If you water too little, downward settling of the previous feed leaves concentrations of nutes in the bottom of the pot (salt as well) then when you do that same thing again, the same thing happens again, compounding the problem leading to a toxic build-up of nutes and or salts...leading to lock out. I thought it was a waste too, and under watered for the first part of my grow...and got build-up...and had to flush. The extra run-off acts as gesso, white-washing the canvas for the next feeding...is the way I understand it.

As to offering the plant what it will take daily....It may be because I'm in airpots, but I was led to believe that feeding to a particular run-off and then waiting however long it took to become mostly dry, was the better course of action as the plant responds to the wet and dry cycles with stronger growth. I was at 24hr cycles (with fewer mL's) and I found that I could have been going over 48hr's between feeds...and she loved it.

This also really relies on the medium...example: Coco is totally different as it relates to drainage and salt build-ups....