New Grower New Grower (3rd cycle) - 4x DP Daiquiri Lime

[Dis]

i should have read page 2 before 4.......dm and hecno got ya at a bit too much nutes, bit dry,hum and temps.thats getting tweeked.
so they bounced from underwatered to overwatered in a few days.easy done,it happens from time to time even for seasoned growers.
from saturday to now they look a lot better.an overly dry/overly dry pot can temperarararely send ph a bit scatty.
£10 ph pens are shite,ya dont want to spend £60 for a pen to tell you 6.3.
if you dont know ph,ph pens are brilliant.if the tent is doin dandy ya could have a £60 ph pen that hasnt been used this year,3 times last year it got used and said 6.3 and is practically an ornament.....but if ph is far out then everything else ya do will be pissin in the wind ........you a small holder,guessing ya can grow allsorts of fruit n veg.weed should be wee buns.maybe 50% for the canna early on goin to 100% late on ?
can ya test water/feeds before they go into the pot ? if water feeds going in are ballpark,theres no reason to assume that what comes out the arse of the pot will be far off it.
if it looks a bit better in 2 more days (im laxy) but id be inclined not to bother with the slurry test...............................and to get a better result a slurry test would need to be repeated 2,3 times...........ya can say im not a fan of the slurry test.
yep light burn/bleaching would be more likely on just the tallest main or a spot in center of light/not all tops/new growth.
and yep its a yellowing not a whiteneing.lack of N the leaves yellow from the tips inwards...nowhere near as yellow as sat.now they just a tad lighter,nomal for new growth.
soils and bugs...my soil comes in a cardboard box from tinternet,so has probably nwver spent anytime outdoors.
i live in a chilly place and have never had a bug,not that all bugs are bad.usa peeps seem to have lots o bugs.
eyesonfire mixes own soil.so to hecno,from the land of bugs,creepy crawlies,slithery things and fucking crocadillies.loves his worms and so does the indoor weed.
but then again as you have an outdoor garden some pros would maybe advise you to shower and change clothes before entering grow room.
im shit scared of bugs,so weed related stuff stays in the box room/weed cupboard and all other gardening stuff stays in the garage.
lots of organic folk around here make it work indoors without much of a bug problem.
keep er lit

I really appreciate you taking the time to read through the grow. Just gave what you wrote a quick read, going to dissect it now. I agree with you about not wanting to pH the slurry, as I said never something Ive felt the need to so, but when all else fails, do something different right? If the girls continue looking on the mend, I may just put it off until never, lets be real. I have a couple cheap pens, but I was looking at that Aperia multi pen for $130 USD, just hard to pull the trigger on something I plan on so rarely using, but like you said, if the pH is that far off, impossible to trouble shoot.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

hmm initially they was underwatered =a bit unhappy.then maybe a smidge too strong a feed=they stayed unhappy.then the overwatering = now they sad.
the infirmary really should have a sign on the door "unless ya know the ph we cant help"/or we can help,but we just guessing whats up untill the ph is known.
so no surprize PH came up.
but that was saturday,they improved from then=they not sad anymore.if in a few more days they get a bit better = they be happy again. i might hazzard a guess at *the ph is within range,it was the under/over watering thats at fault.
when all else fails ? thats not a stoner/grower ism..........dont panic flush...............keep it simply stupid K.I.S.S. is one.less is more is another ism.my favorite is the less you do the less can go wrong.
(but with any issue that pops up,get a forth opinion)
the story about the ph pen was mine.i had a £6 ph pen that i never did trust,dispite the £30 of extra fluids i spent.calibrating it every farts end.after spending £60 on a fancy new pen,i discovered that my yellow ph pen was indeed completely useless.the rare occasions i have used my new ph pen,and the numbers that have come up on it,have meant i have never adjusted the PH of a feed.
knowing that my water/feeds and im guessing the soil in pot ph is within range to is somewhat comforting.cant say im thrilled that it cost £60 to find that out.
activate or activ8 no ? hmm its a something 8 is like a dry ph pen for jabbing in a pot.but not like this shit it was£1 in b&q and only worth £1 to experiment with.
but thats me advising you to spend more money and thats not my intension.nonono wait it out a few days,if alls dandy put that new ph pen to the bottom of the to do list.
good luck n keep er lit

 

[Dis]

hmm initially they was underwatered =a bit unhappy.then maybe a smidge too strong a feed=they stayed unhappy.then the overwatering = now they sad.
the infirmary really should have a sign on the door "unless ya know the ph we cant help"/or we can help,but we just guessing whats up untill the ph is known.
so no surprize PH came up.
but that was saturday,they improved from then=they not sad anymore.if in a few more days they get a bit better = they be happy again. i might hazzard a guess at *the ph is within range,it was the under/over watering thats at fault.
when all else fails ? thats not a stoner/grower ism..........dont panic flush...............keep it simply stupid K.I.S.S. is one.less is more is another ism.my favorite is the less you do the less can go wrong.
(but with any issue that pops up,get a forth opinion)
the story about the ph pen was mine.i had a £6 ph pen that i never did trust,dispite the £30 of extra fluids i spent.calibrating it every farts end.after spending £60 on a fancy new pen,i discovered that my yellow ph pen was indeed completely useless.the rare occasions i have used my new ph pen,and the numbers that have come up on it,have meant i have never adjusted the PH of a feed.
knowing that my water/feeds and im guessing the soil in pot ph is within range to is somewhat comforting.cant say im thrilled that it cost £60 to find that out.
activate or activ8 no ? hmm its a something 8 is like a dry ph pen for jabbing in a pot.but not like this shit View attachment 1205933 it was£1 in b&q and only worth £1 to experiment with.
but thats me advising you to spend more money and thats not my intension.nonono wait it out a few days,if alls dandy put that new ph pen to the bottom of the to do list.
good luck n keep er lit

This all sounds spot on. The pen is definitely near the bottom of the list, but its on the list. Part of me feels like if you are going to invest in good genetics, good light, etc. Why not spend a little on your testing equipment ya know? Its not something I am excited about spending money on, but if I look past the cost, knowing I have an accurate piece of testing equipment brings me piece of mind, I could also break the cost down or a couple years, or consider the few $10 ones that never read consistently to further rationalize the expenditure. Looking at the Apera PH60 or AI316. For the time being I am kind of in a holding pattern, I think the over watering is the primary cause, its a known problem that I created, the plants took a dive immediately following, etc. Perhaps that excessive moisture also threw the pH into a temporary funk, either way they look on the mend now. Im going to keep a close eye, and do a better job checking soil moisture before water/teas, instead of just forcibly working them into a schedule. I can still keep the schedule, but if I take the time to physically check the moisture I can reduce the quantity of liquid introduced. All that to say I appreciate your insight, and definitely feel a little less anxious about the girls and their current state.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

a schedule is not a timetable its a rough guide.ya tweek or change it completely from grow to grow,its a starting point,or a note/s to a pernickity plant that ya may grow again.
a wet pot/dry pot/damp pot PH will fluctuate a tiny bit.all the manufactureerss of dry/in pot soil ph testers be used on a just damp pot.as wet/dry will give an incurent reading.using a liquid ph pen and using a slurry test is vague at best,a formula based on a ph pen that could be off by .2 take 2 or 3 readings and the offness could be .6..plus ya dont want to water/feed a plant thats just come out of overwatering/solve 1 issue and create 2 more.1 step forward 2 back etc etc.
play it safe and do nothing for a few days.i like the lift up pot method of when to water/feed.
a new pic ?
keep er lit

 

[Dis]

a schedule is not a timetable its a rough guide.ya tweek or change it completely from grow to grow,its a starting point,or a note/s to a pernickity plant that ya may grow again.
a wet pot/dry pot/damp pot PH will fluctuate a tiny bit.all the manufactureerss of dry/in pot soil ph testers be used on a just damp pot.as wet/dry will give an incurent reading.using a liquid ph pen and using a slurry test is vague at best,a formula based on a ph pen that could be off by .2 take 2 or 3 readings and the offness could be .6..plus ya dont want to water/feed a plant thats just come out of overwatering/solve 1 issue and create 2 more.1 step forward 2 back etc etc.
play it safe and do nothing for a few days.i like the lift up pot method of when to water/feed.
a new pic ?
keep er lit

Girls are sleeping. I was in there last night but got distracted with how different my 3L pot grow compares to my buddies. Forgot to snap a pic.

 

[Dis]

Alright, now we are getting somewhere. Lights came on, girls looked thirsty, pots felt light. I mixed up 6L of Berkey filtered muni water, 3.25mL 7.6% AgSil solution, freeze dried coconut water (probably about 2Tbs) and a heaping 1/4tsp of ActivAloe. I checked my pH and wouldnt you know, it was 8.0 - granted this was with 2 different $10 pH monitors, but they both said the same thing. I dont think I have any "organic" pH down, but I know that Earth Juice is acidic (read somewhere, something about having to bubble it) I happened to have an unopened bottle so I mixed in 15mL (recommended amount for 6L was 20mL), and it brought my pH to 5.5 - now that is a little lower than I was aiming for, but it was much better than being at 8 in my opinion. I watered straight into the tray, and let the girls soak it up.

 

[Shiva's Mistress]

... In regard to the slurry, I was going to take 1/4c of soil out of my pots, mix it with 250mL of water, strain it, and take the pH. ...

Hi, enjoying your grow, your plants look lovely, lush and living the life!

I'm no pH expert, but just some thoughts on what you planned for the pH test.
1/4 c ( = cup? ) of soil with 250 ml of water (which is a cup itself), is NOT going to give you the soil pH.
That's a lot of water for that much soil.
So whatever pH the soil has is going to get swamped out by the pH of the water you're using.

1/4 cup soil may have... 50 ml of water in it. Let's say it's some crazy pH of 4.5 (!)
Then you have another cup, 250 ml of water. Let's say it's a perfect pure water of 7.0.
You pH sample is mostly the pH 7.0 water, and only a small amount the soil in your pot.

Alsi, for pH, you CAN'T just average out the pH, like:
((50 * 4.5) + (250 * 7.0)) / 300 --> whatever...
Because pH is a logarithmic scale, i.e. pH 6.0 has 10 times the amount of H+ ions than pH 7.0, and 7.0 has 10X that os 8.0, etc.

I think you may need to do something like this:
Slowly add some pure water (or water of clearly known pH) to your soil in the pot,
and quickly collect the first run off water from the pot.
Take the pH of this.
The more water you add for run off, the more the run off water pH will be like whatever you put in (like a flush).

You could try this tool that will do the calculations for you:

pH Averaging Tool

Online tool for calculating average value of multiple pH readings

wgr-sw.com

Use "True average" not "Arithmetic average".
But you'll need to make sure each sample size is the same.

 

[Dis]

Hi, enjoying your grow, your plants look lovely, lush and living the life!

I'm no pH expert, but just some thoughts on what you planned for the pH test.
1/4 c ( = cup? ) of soil with 250 ml of water (which is a cup itself), is NOT going to give you the soil pH.
That's a lot of water for that much soil.
So whatever pH the soil has is going to get swamped out by the pH of the water you're using.

1/4 cup soil may have... 50 ml of water in it. Let's say it's some crazy pH of 4.5 (!)
Then you have another cup, 250 ml of water. Let's say it's a perfect pure water of 7.0.
You pH sample is mostly the pH 7.0 water, and only a small amount the soil in your pot.

Alsi, for pH, you CAN'T just average out the pH, like:
((50 * 4.5) + (250 * 7.0)) / 300 --> whatever...
Because pH is a logarithmic scale, i.e. pH 6.0 has 10 times the amount of H+ ions than pH 7.0, and 7.0 has 10X that os 8.0, etc.

I think you may need to do something like this:
Slowly add some pure water (or water of clearly known pH) to your soil in the pot,
and quickly collect the first run off water from the pot.
Take the pH of this.
The more water you add for run off, the more the run off water pH will be like whatever you put in (like a flush).

You could try this tool that will do the calculations for you:

pH Averaging Tool

Online tool for calculating average value of multiple pH readings

wgr-sw.com

Use "True average" not "Arithmetic average".
But you'll need to make sure each sample size is the same.

All excellent points, as previously mentioned I have never worried about the pH in an organic grow, so all of this is good to hear. I understand the point you bring up about the pH being in a state of flux directly correlative to the amount and pH of the solution used to "test" the soil, I suppose I had planned on looking for a trend. I plan on pHing my water going in for the next few days, and testing the run off after the next watering. Gathering data has always been something I have felt generally worth doing, but of course that data need be usable. I appreciate the thorough write up.

 

[Shiva's Mistress]

All excellent points, as previously mentioned I have never worried about the pH in an organic grow, so all of this is good to hear. I understand the point you bring up about the pH being in a state of flux directly correlative to the amount and pH of the solution used to "test" the soil, I suppose I had planned on looking for a trend. I plan on pHing my water going in for the next few days, and testing the run off after the next watering. Gathering data has always been something I have felt generally worth doing, but of course that data need be usable. I appreciate the thorough write up.

I think testing the pH of the water going in is critical.
I don't do it myself, because after X years I know my water supply is a very constant pH 7.0 and 80 ppm.
That's for the indoor garden.

I've been thinking about it a lot because of my outdoor garden, and horrible acidic rain of around pH 5.7...
And thinking what I need to do to naturally and organically bring that up to around 6.3-6.7.

Hope you can find a nice solution (pun intended!)

 

[Dis]

I think testing the pH of the water going in is critical.
I don't do it myself, because after X years I know my water supply is a very constant pH 7.0 and 80 ppm.
That's for the indoor garden.

I've been thinking about it a lot because of my outdoor garden, and horrible acidic rain of around pH 5.7...
And thinking what I need to do to naturally and organically bring that up to around 6.3-6.7.

Hope you can find a nice solution (pun intended!)

Me too friend, Im sure it will. Despite the other 2 cycles Ive completed, this is the most control I have had over my environment, so I am really looking at this as my "first" grow. Everything about this grow is different from my last, other than the physical location, so this is really my jumping off point for dialing it in. Looking forward to discovering and developing a system that works for me. Wouldnt gypsum or oyster shell flour increase the alkalinity of your outdoor garden?