Normal or Not ?

[Frogster]

Wahoooooo !

I think I have found the problem....

My old EC meter was fecked, even after multiple re calibration, it was constantly giving a higher EC than it should.... So..... I was underfeeding them.

A little bit of retail therapy soon put paid to that... I purchased one of these, a Blue Labs Truncheon EC meter.

Upped the EC to read a true 2.1, with a ph of 6.4 to compensate and adjust (with a little extra mag and p&k).

I also took a little test bud sample to look at whats happening and how long to go.... 2 weeks I think!

Considering the under feeding I think they are doing well and will pull through just fine now (fingers crossed).

@Waira your a star, thanks a lot buddy!

Frogster

 

[St. Tom]

i own that meter pal its great you cant beat blu lab

 

[Sage]

I have that one too, seem to work great except I wish they used a different colour for the little flashing LED's... I'd hung mine up outside the tent and it must have got a drop of water still on the sensors. I closed the tent up and turned round to the walls flashing blue, damn near shat myself and had a heart attack at the same time until I realised it was the godamn blulab

 

[Frogster]

Update:-

Case Solved @Waira,
Kudos, to you Sir, you were 100% correct in your advice, pointers of where to look, and conclusions.

A faulty meter resulted in badly balanced nutrients in the Res, this had deprived the plant & soil, causing the soil to drop into the low ph range, this was starting to cause some nute lockouts.

I followed your advice and have been correcting the In-Pot Ph, via direct top application of some Hardwood Oak Ash (watered in). I also raised the Ph in the Res to 6.4.and added in some extra Mag.

Everything looks back on track now, In-Pot Ph returning nicely, currently about 6.1 and still just slowly creeping up, so I have backed down the Ph in the res very slightly.

Once again, Thanks Waira, AFN is a better place for the canna experience and knowledge you bring to the table.

 

[Waira]

good on spotting that Froggers! it's not a common thing for them to go out of calibration, at least not like pH meters,... Better still you went EC, which is universal unlike TDS,... see what I mean --> https://www.autoflower.org/threads/water-hardness-converter.63689/

.... how are they taking the feed at that EC? .....just be careful, it's all too easy to overcook things when trying to "catch up",... one thing about P defc., too long in duration and/or right at early bud setting, it can lead to poor bud: leaf ratio, which can be difficult to fix well,... I went through this with plants a couple times (amended soils tapping out), and the improvement in the buds was pretty variable, strain to strain and development stage,...
... your pH meter needs lottsa love too, just a reminder in case,.... proper storage solution, RO/Di rinse before and after every single use, calibration solutions, 7.0 and 4.0 (usually)... my old fairly low budg' unit HM80 is still working! Dry-outs are what really screws them up,....
Nice fix with the ash! it's risky to use if you don't know how strongly alkaline it is, but worked right like this, it can really help fix things quickly without adding a big ppm amount into the mix,... ............. Cheers my man, appreciate the appreciation-

 

[Frogster]

There getting back to normal now @Waira, It looks like I may get a nice haul from this grow after all.

I took another test bud from about 3/4 way down the plant to see how we are doing.... The upper buds are nice, I can see they are ready.

I think it's looking OK, and will finish bang on what was my target, - 11 to 12 weeks.

So, this is my plan.... Plain water tomorrow for final 4 / 5 days, then a 3 day dark spell & chop.... Not changing anything else now, - "We are what we are".

Anyway, I thought I would show you how she has pulled through.... (Lights on in tent sorry for quality)..

Lots of bud to be had everywhere on the plant. Solid chunky stuff too.

Below is one of the secondary colas (11 inches long), the main cola was bent over in the early growth to open up the plant and let the light in.

Following pics taken from the low down test bud I harvested.... Lots & Lots of frost forming now, even at the lower levels

​

And that, just about concludes this grow... Peace and Goodwill...

Frogster

 

[Waira]

...skip the dark period Frogger's, there's no real benefit for indoor plants and plenty of down-sides, especially mold!.... the myth is that this helps increase potency, but it's not affecting cannabinoid content.. I've done my own testing with this, on outdoor plants plants mainly... These get exposed to harsher conditions that deteriorate terpenes-- Sunlight/UV, warm temps, wind,... these take their toll on terp's over the day, and it's at night and early morning that they're getting replenished,.. I know for a fact that my plants are most aromatic in the morning after a little Sun warms them up! .... My thinking is past a day of dark or so, it's not helping at all, maybe hurting,.. production of terpenes is energy and resource costly, and with no light energy coming in, reserves of more immediate energy sources tap out soon,.. after that, it'll take more energy to beak down and transport other stored sources to get more energy- -- aka rapidly diminishing returns!
...Indoor plants don't have the same "weathering" exposure, though excessive heat and light intensity can degrade them of course,... As for cannabinoids, there's no science behind dark periods increasing them, only UVB seems to be associated with slightly elevated THC content,... If there's a perceived increase in potency (I have to date not seem anybody run an objective control grouped testing of this, BTW), I'm betting it's because of the modest replenishing of terp's,... Subjective "testing" is pointless because of the many other variables in potency, plant to plant, even on the same plant,... THC content is anything but uniform on a given plant!
- let us know how they turned out! I ran Think Fast last year (Think Different x Power Plant *photo') and it's damn good! It's a direct cross between an auto and a photo', like Sweets F1FV line (all damn good too, Green Poison is tops..).. If you ever run photo's, I recommend them highly ... the F1 generation won't auto', but typically show marked increase in bloom speed,.. the GP finishes blooming for me in under 5 weeks! - holy crap good too!

 

[Frogster]

- let us know how they turned out! I ran Think Fast last year (Think Different x Power Plant *photo') and it's damn good!

Just an update for you @Waira , as requested.... 2 plants grown out....

After almost a week of just water and the last 24Hrs in total darkness, I finally chopped them today.

A couple of days short of 12 weeks to full maturity. I am very happy with the way both plants finished and based on the sample "test smoke" I will be growing them again - for sure.

Here are a couple of pics of one of them....

Loads & Loads of frosty goodness

​

 

[Waira]

--looking phat Froggers! Nice finish,...