New Grower Ok, ive been debating it, but heres my 1st grow journal.

[growbewan]

haha thanx squid. thanks man..i guess the reason that I get so stressed is because i feel like i wake up, all the sudden my shits messed up...but if its because of watering or feeding, ive gotta wait a week to correct it or ill drown them. im gonna chill out, ive just got so much time and money invested, i want good results..but it will come. thats great about the starwars comment too..i wasnt sure if people got my screenname..haha. Now that i figd out how low my ph is getting from the soil, i feel like im on the right track. Ill get there...im def gonna check out your grow, im not sure how to look for it though. I do have a quick question. If my ph is lowered by 2.3 or so, so i make my water's ph 9? then feed? that will make my runoff 6.5, and thats what i want right?

 

[AndyBotwin]

all i gotta say is WOW! I put water into that solo cup i just mentioned. It went in at 7.7, and it came out literally seconds later at 5.3!! thats my problem..im amazed. i cant believe how low the ph went. ill be watching that VERY closely now, and it should solve my problems.

Ouch, I was under the impression that you already had the pH in check. Those brown spots are a good indicator of pH lockout which is keeping the plant from getting any sort of nutrients. Go with that foliar feeding of calmag to get started, and you may need to top dress your soil with some dolomite lime to get things stabilized for the rest of the grow. If your pH of the pots is down in the low 5s, you are going to have to get things fixed fairly quickly since you aren't able to water as often as you like. I know Muddy uses hydrated lime for a quick boost, so he may have some advice on that front. But I can tell you from experience that those spots will spread and begin wiping out all the fan leaves. Good thing you discovered it now.

 

[growbewan]

I think its the moss and quano and other organic stuff in it, makes it acidic..i shouldve known better.

 

[AndyBotwin]

I do have a quick question. If my ph is lowered by 2.3 or so, so i make my water's ph 9? then feed? that will make my runoff 6.5, and thats what i want right?

No, don't do that! You'll shock the roots badly if you give them that sort of swing in pH. I never water mine more than 1 point off where I want it to be. So if I'm low and shooting for 6.5, I'll go with 7.5 water. Rather than hitting it with a super high pH, you can flush the soil with that 7.5 water until you see the runoff coming back into range. Depending on how low you are currently, this is not necessarily something you can do at one time. My pH was very low on my current grow, so I added dolomite lime to the top of the soil and watered with 7.5 until the runoff was approaching 6. Then I left it alone and the dolomite brought it up into the mid-6 range within a week.

 

[growbewan]

ok, thank you andy. Ill hopefully talk to muddy soon, and get hydrated or dolomite lime, depending on what he says. when i get it, what do i just sprinkle some along the top of the pot? or do I have to mix it in?

 

[growbewan]

ok, your last post didnt pop up until i replied already. so just add some dolomite lime to the top of the pot, and water until the ph gets to where i want it to be

 

[growbewan]

it may take a week or so, but as long as im going in the right direction, im ok..

 

[The Squid]

No problem man and yeah I caught on immediately, but I am a big fan so that may be why. And I saw those StarWars smileys the other day on this site I use for extra characters and whanot. Anyway...

I know what you mean man. I put a lot of time and money into mine. I am really trying to get back to breaking even on what I spent on everything and all because the missus worries sometimes. But I just remind her that eventually we won't have to pay for any of our meds, which immediately makes her feel better. haha

Yes, that is where you want your ph runoff but no I really don't think that is the way to achieve it. 9 is way too high. I am not altogether sure what is causing that. It's kinda doing the same to me basically. I water and the runoff is like 2 below what the feed was, craziness.

As far as only being able to water every five or six days and it being hard to get runoff and just all that crap that makes it more difficult, especially for new growers, to handle there grow:> One simple tip that will solve all of that. Start in party cups. Plain and simple. I started in 3 gal and it was such a bitch. I transplanted out of them into party cups and they picked back up and it was so much easier to move them and water them and get runoff because I didn't have to go through gallons of soil to catch it. I can't see myself doing it any other way. And the tier transplant is a breeze.

Now with that being said it's too late for you to do that since your plants are twice the size of mine and mine are all over 3 weeks old. lol

Wait for Muddy or Andy to help you out with what to water to get it back up.

What kind of soil are you using though? You could add some dolomite lime to the top inch of your soil and work it in before you water and that will slowly raise and stabalize your ph.

 

[AndyBotwin]

ok, thank you andy. Ill hopefully talk to muddy soon, and get hydrated or dolomite lime, depending on what he says. when i get it, what do i just sprinkle some along the top of the pot? or do I have to mix it in?

You want to stir up the top of the soil enough to get the lime down into it, but not so deep that you're hitting the roots. I usually just use my fingertips to loosen the top inch or two of the soil, and then sprinkle the dolomite lime in and mix it around. 1 tbsp per gallon of soil is a rough guideline, though I needed at least 2 tbsp to get my soil stabilized this time (it was in the low 5s). The dolomite lime will act over time to bring your pH up towards 7, but it can take a week or so to see the effect. But by top dressing, you're ensuring that the lime flows down into the pot every time you water. Hydrated lime is very fast acting and can swing pH quickly, but it can also badly fry your roots if you're not careful. I've used around 1 tbsp per gallon of water in the past, but I was too scared to go any higher with it.

 

[The Squid]

Ope. Sorry guys. Guess we were all typing at once.