*** Ask Dr. VonDankenstine ***

holmes said:

Dear Dr or Mr.M

i have little ones vegging from seed right now, they are in coco, being fed a 3 part nute. about 4-6" tall
Up untill now i have had no need to check ph and ppm, i always put less than recomended. just to let you know its on the high side above 6.5, ppm were at 800 i reduced it.
another thing is that it got really hot with the light in there, its only a 150w cfl, but no air circulation and when i put a thermometer in there i realized it was in the high 80's. again up untill now ive had no reason to want to check.
the leaves are yellowing, spotting, curling, drying on the corners. they seem to have stop growing
as of now temps are normal, but what do i do about the feeding, i know i have to get some ph down, other than that?
do i need to flush the coco?
give it vitamin b?

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How old are the seedlings?---Did you get a fan in there for circulation? 800 ppm's is fine as long as you build up to it and not to early in the veg cycle---to high of a ppm will not only cause burn but slow growth as well. Also since your in a coco blend get your feeds down to 6.0 to 6.3.

DankBudds said:

Why not a fan?

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It's a proven fact that feminised seeds have a very high percentage of hermi's compared to reg non-fem-ed seed....and....My opinion and some will disagree with me but in my experience fem seeds produce a lower qualitie product---taste/smell/strenth---But thats just one oppionion. They are however produced in mass quantities and loved by many due to the factor of not having to weed out the males and time saved----they are also more expenseve than re non-femed seeds.

i started them 4-6 weeks ago, i didnt keep track.
another thing is i have them sitting in styrofoam cups, theres no drainage.
im thinking the only thing i can do is change the cups, and start feeding them a very low ph'ed solution of water, along with some b-vitamin, as i have read that it was ment for stressed plants.
and youll love this dr.
they are feminized seeds, you have to love the chances that im gonna get herms now.
thanks

Definately put some drainage hole in the bottom of your containers, this will allow the water to flow through the soil, removing what's bad and unused, and replacing it with the fresh nutrient solution... Also it will bring fresh oxygen into the soil with it.

I read somewhere that experienced growers need not worry about drainage because they can judge the amount of water needed to saturate the soil.

I've tried this, and was successful in keeping the moisture at a proper level, but they definately didn't turn out nearly as well as the ones with drainage holes on the bottom and sides. I've tried no holes in both the 5gal buckets and the 40gal keg ice bucket things... Not nearly the same results as the ones with drainage. Plus you can't thouroughly flush, only add enough plain water if you don't have drainage.

So, definately have holes in your containers.

Unless you're running bubblebuckets

thanks a ton dr and mr.m

tommorow when i get my supplies, i was wondering, i remember reading here that you can use a silicon additive to lower pH, instead of buying regular ph up or down, do you think it would work out ok if i get some silica liquid or something else to adjust pH. for multipurpose use

he hates hermies, and thinks there is a weakness in the genetics... i'm not a fan either.

update
i put the girls ( hopefully girls, feminized seeds) into slightly larger pots with soil and perlite. I picked up hygrozyme, thrive alive, and pH adjusters.
almost a week now ive been feeding them nothing but pH'ed hygrozyme with thrive alive. They are looking healthy again,and i will start a low nutrient solution soon, thanks again for the help.

I have another question, i know high humidity is bad for buds, but what about mother plants, how high can the humidity be set before slowing their growth?
i currently have it set at 70% so it doesnt work too hard.

40% to 50% is a good place to be. Over that and you need to watch for powdery mildew(not-good).

Yo Doc I have a few plants and theyre all roughly 23 days old and I have fed them earth juice grow and bloom twice since they were born and they have both been very light feedings the first feeding they were about 8 days old and I fed them a little more food 9 days ago so its been basically 9 days inbetween each feeding is that enough or too little what do you think?? I have 5 Arjans Ultra Haze#2 Females and 4 Power skunk regs and theyre all getting the same nutes.

haze2 said:

Yo Doc I have a few plants and theyre all roughly 23 days old and I have fed them earth juice grow and bloom twice since they were born and they have both been very light feedings the first feeding they were about 8 days old and I fed them a little more food 9 days ago so its been basically 9 days inbetween each feeding is that enough or too little what do you think?? I have 5 Arjans Ultra Haze#2 Females and 4 Power skunk regs and theyre all getting the same nutes.

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I feed my seedlings plain R/O water for the first 14 days of growth then on day 15 they get a very mild-----200ppm nutrient solutions that contains all major/minor/and micro nutrient's---I also add 1ml/L CarbLoad and 7.5ml/L VooDoo Juice to the mix and ph to 6.3 and feed. I increase the ppms with every other feed by 50ppms. I only feed nutrients with every other watering.

Good enough

Wanted to add in...

Holmes- silicate raises the pH... Not lowers.


Haze2- Earth Juice Grow really lowers the pH... You might want to keep an eye on it.

how long should youy veg feminzed seeds? I heard that if you veg them for to long you can cause stress and they can herm on you. is that true? i would like to grow them to about a 1.5 ft so i can get a good amount of clones off them. and are they less potent or lacking taste or smell because they are feminized?

Hey DR. what do you think the best way to fem seeds is? Geb acid, stress, col silver, asprin, or letting them grow to long(stress)?

I have a small closet grow setup with one plant going right now, should I leave the fan on at night time when the lights are turned off? will it help it, will it hurt it...just wanted to know.

gjdubbz said:

how long should youy veg feminzed seeds? I heard that if you veg them for to long you can cause stress and they can herm on you. is that true? i would like to grow them to about a 1.5 ft so i can get a good amount of clones off them. and are they less potent or lacking taste or smell because they are feminized?

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It'll take about a month until they're big enough for clones, you can put them into flower then, and still take another set after week one if you'd like.

Only if you're a bad grower will vegging them out cause stress and make them herm.

Some say fem seeds are less potent, but THC% remains the same in the studies I've read...

smppro said:

Hey DR. what do you think the best way to fem seeds is? Geb acid, stress, col silver, asprin, or letting them grow to long(stress)?

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Coliadial silver definately works, actually the stuff you can make at home is ionic silver, but all the same it works. Giberlic acid also works well. Not sure on the spellings

If you have a perpetual grow, letting one go to long until it has banannas works too. That's Soma's method, how Soma seeds are feminized... You have to pollinate when they're beginning flowering, so the seeds have the proper time to mature.

closetcultivator said:

I have a small closet grow setup with one plant going right now, should I leave the fan on at night time when the lights are turned off? will it help it, will it hurt it...just wanted to know.

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Wont hurt, will help.

The plant has to respirate, even at night, air circulation is key.

You don't want a strong wind, just a gentle breeze, if the leaves are gently dancing you're good, if they're blowing around like a flag, the fan's too strong, they will get windburn and suffer.

Alright Doc I have to hear this from you, I have a growzilla by hydrofarm this hood houses a 400w m/h and a 600w shps both are eye hortilux bulbs because Im supposed to use this for the whole cycle do you think having that m/h bulb on during flower is that going to ruin my yield?? I am trying to maximize my yield at all costs, let me know thanks!!!!

haze2 said:

Alright Doc I have to hear this from you, I have a growzilla by hydrofarm this hood houses a 400w m/h and a 600w shps both are eye hortilux bulbs because Im supposed to use this for the whole cycle do you think having that m/h bulb on during flower is that going to ruin my yield?? I am trying to maximize my yield at all costs, let me know thanks!!!!

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1. Direct answer would be no----"Your yield would be just fine with that combo---The color spectrum is well spread---They designed that light to take you from seedling into flowering without having to change lights--very nice set-up.------Now with that being said-if you want to maximize yield I would run both the 400 and 600's as HPS's and save the MH for vegging or a mother room. HPS lighting will give you heaver/larger/faster yields. I don't know if you can even run 2 HPS in that hood but if you can afford it and want the most yield then go to all HPS-----hope that helps...

Thanks again DOC !