Plants not responding to treatment. Deficiencies worsening over time. Mephisto & Humboldt Freebie Run

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Just my 2 cents:

Sounds like too much humus in the mix, between compost and ewc you're at 60% of the total mix. Next time go for more like 20-30%.

Did you add any of the Dr Earth amendments to the original mix? Or just top-dress? With organics it's really hard to catch up once you get behind, especially with autos. 1.5 - 2 cups per cubic foot is a good place to start.

3 gallons is a bit on the small side for organic soil, hard to feed properly without it being too hot. 5-7 gallons might be a better size.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't see anything wrong with using coco instead of peat in an organic mix. Can any of the naysayers explain the science behind this? Or is it just cuz everyone wants to hate on Mr Canuck?

Oh, also looks like most of the "deficiencies" are on there top half of the plants. It's possible your light is too intense/temps too high/humidity too low? Like they're transpiring too fast and can't get the nutrients to the tops where they need to be...? I dunno what the science is behind that but I see that sort of thing happen in some grows when the environment is too "intense" in some way, and it's got nothing to do with nutrients.
 
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dwc420letsgo

Well-Known Member
Just my 2 cents:

Sounds like too much humus in the mix, between compost and ewc you're at 60% of the total mix. Next time go for more like 20-30%.

Did you add any of the Dr Earth amendments to the original mix? Or just top-dress? With organics it's really hard to catch up once you get behind, especially with autos. 1.5 - 2 cups per cubic foot is a good place to start.

3 gallons is a bit on the small side for organic soil, hard to feed properly without it being too hot. 5-7 gallons might be a better size.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't see anything wrong with using coco instead of peat in an organic mix. Can any of the naysayers explain the science behind this? Or is it just cuz everyone wants to hate on Mr Canuck?

Oh, also looks like most of the "deficiencies" are on there top half of the plants. It's possible your light is too intense/temps too high/humidity too low? Like they're transpiring too fast and can't get the nutrients to the tops where they need to be...? I dunno what the science is behind that but I see that sort of thing happen in some grows when the environment is too "intense" in some way, and it's got nothing to do with nutrients.
Absolutely nothing wrong with using coco as a base insteaf of peat… this was the first cycle on this pot using coco/perlite, compost, ewc, dr earth (veg+flower), and a few other leftover bags of karanja, crustacean meal and other goodies… had to chop early cause i had to leave for two weeks but it made it 51 days no problem
 

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RockStonedJesus

Active Member
One thing that I don't see mentioned is your EC runoff. While EC is not the ideal way to measure actual nutrients, it'll give you an idea of how much salt you have built-up in your medium.

Most people run to nutrients to try and resolve a deficiency, usually that's not going to fix the issue.

Do you have an EC meter to measure the runoff?
 

insangu

Member
Absolutely nothing wrong with using coco as a base insteaf of peat… this was the first cycle on this pot using coco/perlite, compost, ewc, dr earth (veg+flower), and a few other leftover bags of karanja, crustacean meal and other goodies… had to chop early cause i had to leave for two weeks but it made it 51 days no problem
Yeah, those look great.
 

insangu

Member
Just my 2 cents:

Sounds like too much humus in the mix, between compost and ewc you're at 60% of the total mix. Next time go for more like 20-30%.

Did you add any of the Dr Earth amendments to the original mix? Or just top-dress? With organics it's really hard to catch up once you get behind, especially with autos. 1.5 - 2 cups per cubic foot is a good place to start.

3 gallons is a bit on the small side for organic soil, hard to feed properly without it being too hot. 5-7 gallons might be a better size.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't see anything wrong with using coco instead of peat in an organic mix. Can any of the naysayers explain the science behind this? Or is it just cuz everyone wants to hate on Mr Canuck?

Oh, also looks like most of the "deficiencies" are on there top half of the plants. It's possible your light is too intense/temps too high/humidity too low? Like they're transpiring too fast and can't get the nutrients to the tops where they need to be...? I dunno what the science is behind that but I see that sort of thing happen in some grows when the environment is too "intense" in some way, and it's got nothing to do with nutrients.
Another comment below mentioned the light intensity as being a possible factor. I may have underestimated just how powerful the light is in relation to their tolerances. VPD has been solid for the most part. I attached a pic with the last couple months and set the line at about the average point.

As for the ratios, I'll keep that in mind next go around. If I do go the living soil route, I'd wanna do it when I have easier access to the organic material.
 

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dwc420letsgo

Well-Known Member
It's very well possible they couldn't handle the 75%. I may have underestimated their strength.
Do you have an iphone? The photone app is pretty great as a par measuring device. Android has another solution with the uni-t bluetooth device which works as well. I ended up buying a phantom photobio and im pretty happy with it; i used to burn all my plants under the hlg350r and the gavita 1700e until i started measuring my par readings and adjusting accordingly
 

Kushash

Well-Known Member
It's very well possible they couldn't handle the 75%. I may have underestimated their strength.
  • Light Schedule: 20/4
  • Light Intensity
    • 25% - sprout to seedling
    • 40% - seedling to veg
    • 50% - veg to preflower
    • 75% - preflower to mid-flower
    • 85% - mid-flower (now)

I don't grow autos but if they are the same as photoperiod with their demands then the light intensity should not be raised in late flower. The demands of the plant for water and nutrients are highest during the stretch. When the stretch ends the demands go down, so it is not a time to increase the light intensity. Some growers decrease the light intensity and decrease the hours in the final weeks of flower.
 

Blue_Focus

Well-Known Member
Experimentation. I figured since coco is inert, like peat moss, if I used something buffered from a decent brand, it wouldn't cause that big of a headache as long as I dialed in the feeding and kept microbial life active with the compost, ewc, and LABS.
I also used coco instead of peat moss. It works out pretty good. I don't like peat moss since if it dries and it's hard to get it soak up water again. With coco there's no problems.
 

insangu

Member
Do you have an iphone? The photone app is pretty great as a par measuring device. Android has another solution with the uni-t bluetooth device which works as well. I ended up buying a phantom photobio and im pretty happy with it; i used to burn all my plants under the hlg350r and the gavita 1700e until i started measuring my par readings and adjusting accordingly
I used to have an iPhone last year before I lost it and I've been using a Pixel 8. I actually downloaded the app for android and used that to get a general idea of what they were getting and if I remember right, at 85% the readings were in the mid 500's. I've never heard of the photobio, I'll check it out. How do you like it?
 

insangu

Member
  • Light Schedule: 20/4
  • Light Intensity
    • 25% - sprout to seedling
    • 40% - seedling to veg
    • 50% - veg to preflower
    • 75% - preflower to mid-flower
    • 85% - mid-flower (now)

I don't grow autos but if they are the same as photoperiod with their demands then the light intensity should not be raised in late flower. The demands of the plant for water and nutrients are highest during the stretch. When the stretch ends the demands go down, so it is not a time to increase the light intensity. Some growers decrease the light intensity and decrease the hours in the final weeks of flower.
Ahhh. Big mistake bumping the light up. That's very good to know. Thanks.
 

dwc420letsgo

Well-Known Member
I used to have an iPhone last year before I lost it and I've been using a Pixel 8. I actually downloaded the app for android and used that to get a general idea of what they were getting and if I remember right, at 85% the readings were in the mid 500's. I've never heard of the photobio, I'll check it out. How do you like it?
I like it a lot. Really helps dial in your lights
 

insangu

Member
I finished trimming last night and ended with 366 grams. Surprisingly I also ended up with 24 seeds.
 

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