Other than molds, fungi and bugs nothing bad should happen unless I over water during the next three weeks. The pots are slowly drying out.
I use the 10% runoff rule.
Does everyone agree "over-watering" is frequency and not volume.
3 Little Plants needing help?
- Thread starter rmax
- Start date
I use the 10% runoff rule.
Does everyone agree "over-watering" is frequency and not volume.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Well.... if you run 10 gallons of water through a 5 gallon pot you are going to be "flushing" way to many nutes out and we all know flushing is for toilets.
Right. I already did that on a past crop.
Dry these 3 gal pots hold eight cups of water. So I give it two more cups for the 10%+/- runoff. I don't let the pots sit in runoff. I dump the trays of runoff into a pitcher and that also verifies my 10% +/- runoff.
Speaking to your flood method.... With this transplant into new FFOF I dumped the 10% runoff from the trays into a pitcher then measured the EC. The EC was 3.5!
In the past I read on RIU to check runoff EC. In the past measured output EC was 3.5. Because I didn't know beginning EC was 3.5 I flooded the pots with gallons of water until output EC equaled input EC of my fertilizer, 1.5. I did that because I thought EC 3.5 was me over fertilizing, locking the plants out and the fert inputs were stacking. Nobody told me base FFOF has a 3.5 EC when new.
I was also led to believe "organic" soils/ferts wont measure an EC. "EC" only measures inorganic salts. Which clearly was bad info but I didn't know any better.
Thoughts on a scale? 1 cup of water weights about 1/2 LB. I can flood with 10 cups of solution, weigh runoff then generally know how much moisture content is inside the pot when I think it needs to be watered again.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Yeah that doesnt surprise me. First waterings are bound to pick up lots of nutes. Its ok.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
I mean personally, i know my 20 gallon pots need 4 gallons to be well saturated. 5 gallons and there will be a little bit of runoff that sucks back into them within 12 hours. Usually stick to 4 gallons. try to keep the bottom from getting to wet and even water distribution throughout
I received and calibrated the pH meter. One/two week sitting jugs of tap water, pH tests 7.3.
Can I use aquarium chemicals to lower pH to the range?
jimihendrix1
Well-Known Member
I myself would up the temps to 78f-82f.
So far so good. Transplanted 12/22 (2 weeks today) and watered to 10% runoff. I watered two of the three Sunday and one yesterday, 10% runoff again. No nutes.
I think I've been fertilizing too soon which cascdes into over fertilizing all along.
One is 15" tall while the other two are 18" tall. Unfortunately these three are from seed so don't know which is female, if any.
I think I've been fertilizing too soon which cascdes into over fertilizing all along.
One is 15" tall while the other two are 18" tall. Unfortunately these three are from seed so don't know which is female, if any.
Attachments
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
I think they are starving for more light. Super tall stretched out and skinny.
I still have to get a handle on pH.
The pH meter I received, Milwaukee Instruments PH600 doesn't work correctly. I get different readings every time I dip the the meter into wet. Today I put the pH meter into plain tap water and the pH read 9.2. pH used to measure 7.3 in the plain tap water.
On previous pH measures I put 1/2 ml of aquarium pH down into a gallon of water to lower pH a point.... all the while the lable on the pH down said 1ml was good for 10 gallon of water.
Today I placed the pH meter into the pH 7 solution that came with the device. Initially pH read 8.3 then the meter counted pH down to 0, then started moving up and stopped at pH 3.
When I first questioned the integrity of the pH meter I went to the grow shop and started asking staff there. This time around I got a clerk that wasn't helpful at all. "Blah, blah, blah.... why do people buy cheap equipment?" Then the clerk started selling me on a Bluelab Pro Controller.
I tried communicating I hand water with jugs of water into a soil garden. "Blah, blah, blah... this controller can turn on for 1 second and turn off." I didn't understand how it could help me. You know the routine.
The pH meter I received, Milwaukee Instruments PH600 doesn't work correctly. I get different readings every time I dip the the meter into wet. Today I put the pH meter into plain tap water and the pH read 9.2. pH used to measure 7.3 in the plain tap water.
On previous pH measures I put 1/2 ml of aquarium pH down into a gallon of water to lower pH a point.... all the while the lable on the pH down said 1ml was good for 10 gallon of water.
Today I placed the pH meter into the pH 7 solution that came with the device. Initially pH read 8.3 then the meter counted pH down to 0, then started moving up and stopped at pH 3.
When I first questioned the integrity of the pH meter I went to the grow shop and started asking staff there. This time around I got a clerk that wasn't helpful at all. "Blah, blah, blah.... why do people buy cheap equipment?" Then the clerk started selling me on a Bluelab Pro Controller.
I tried communicating I hand water with jugs of water into a soil garden. "Blah, blah, blah... this controller can turn on for 1 second and turn off." I didn't understand how it could help me. You know the routine.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Do you have the bulb dimmed? They should not look like that under a 1000w MH. That being said, they also should have been topped a while ago which is part of why they are doing so much vertical growth. Im still figuring things out myself but im finding soil plus a low dose (1/4 to 1/2 of what they recommend) of the GH Hydro Trio is giving me the healthiest growth Ive ever had. It also automatically adjusts PH. I havent used my meter in over a month. The 3 gallon set will last you multiple grows.
You can start with the three quart set but its 34$ for that or $87 for the 3 gallon so 43$ more gets you 4x as much.
I also use calmag and again, 20 a quart or 48 a gallon
same with armor si, 20 a quart, 37 a gallon
Cant argue with results.
Ive been against bottled nutes since day one but after continual nutrient issues even with excessive top dressing, i decided to give it an honest try and man am I glad i did.
You can start with the three quart set but its 34$ for that or $87 for the 3 gallon so 43$ more gets you 4x as much.
I also use calmag and again, 20 a quart or 48 a gallon
Amazon.com : GH CALiMAGicGallon : Fertilizers : Garden & Outdoor
Amazon.com : GH CALiMAGicGallon : Fertilizers : Garden & Outdoor
www.amazon.com
same with armor si, 20 a quart, 37 a gallon
Cant argue with results.
Ive been against bottled nutes since day one but after continual nutrient issues even with excessive top dressing, i decided to give it an honest try and man am I glad i did.
I just verified the ballast is set 100%. It's the HORTILUX Daylight Blue MH bulb.
These plants were transplanted into the 100% FFOF three weeks, tomorrow. They are pretty huge at this point compared to what I've been growing. Only water with 10% runoff.
Some of the leaves look weird. No bugs under 25x, so those should be handled too.
Any thoughts on the leaf weirdness?
These plants were transplanted into the 100% FFOF three weeks, tomorrow. They are pretty huge at this point compared to what I've been growing. Only water with 10% runoff.
Some of the leaves look weird. No bugs under 25x, so those should be handled too.
Any thoughts on the leaf weirdness?
Attachments
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Those leaves look hungry. I dont know exactly what they need but they look generally hungry. Did you add perlite to the FFOF? Straight out of the bag it might hold to much water. What size pots are you using and how much water do they hold before run off? Should only be 20-30% max. The closer to 20% the better.
Straight FFOF. The pots are supposed to be 3 gal (plastic). Four pots use 1.5 cu ft of soil. They take about 12 cups of water to runoff about 3 cups. I dump the runoff from the saucer so they don't sit. If I dump about 8 cups (half gallon) into the pot tere might be a slight dribble of overflow to the saucer.
The plants in flower are straight FFOF. Waterings are about every four days.
I think they are showing. The first and second pics are Plant 1 and Plant 2. They look like males. Plant 3 looks like it'll be female.
I'll double check tomorrow. Need better camera...
Attachments
All three or just the first two? I'll post a couple more pics tomorrow before 1 and 2 are sacrificed.