bubblers, defficient problem

OK so I added a pic of a fan leaf which has rust looking spots popping up. Which gets worst and worst until leafs all crisp and claw upward and die.

I use Lucas formula at 8ml micro and 16ml bloom. I add 3-5ml cal-mag depending on which week and stop cal-mag after Week 3 Flower. then i start a sweetener and week 4. ph is always 5.6 - 5.8 / water temps 64-68

i use a 180 gallon rez to flood and drain the buckets and the ppm usually starts to raise to 1500 around same time. I only top off with tap water and ph water for a good 2 weeks (3-5 of flower)

im thinking they are eating next to nothing of my sweetener and all of the bloom an that's keeping ppm high and making its bloom defiencient.

My system floods for 2 Hours and drains for 1.

I could keep it flooded 24/7 since I have air stones in buckets but when it drains it gets mixed into my rez and chiller gets temp back into range.

You use Lucas formula but you have additives, Lucas never said anything about additives.

Also Lucas suggest running your PPM at 947.

I also run Lucas formula also, but remember the plant is going to kill its own leaves off, my plant is killing a lot of its lower canopy leaves right now (week 5 flower)

In mid to late flower when adding sweets or carb additives raise the pH a little to 5.9-6.1. This allows the plants to more readily absorb those while lowering the ability to absorb others not needed in that stage.

JCave said:

You use Lucas formula but you have additives, Lucas never said anything about additives.

Also Lucas suggest running your PPM at 947.

I also run Lucas formula also, but remember the plant is going to kill its own leaves off, my plant is killing a lot of its lower canopy leaves right now (week 5 flower)

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You can run additives no problem withLucas... also ppm varies with strain,mine stay usually 1300 tops until i add a bud swell.
my leafs are crisping right up top at canopy not at the bottom.

what do you mean by bloom deficient?

I'm not a big fan of lucas but I've seen it work well. If I were using it I wouldn't add sweetener and I would lower the ppm.

- Jiji

No one has an idea based off the picture of fan leaf? Hard to see it but its pretty clear once you notice the spots.

Ya bud. We all clearly see the start of a cal and mag def. but you wanna find your problem and fix it. If it's either ph or lockout occuring, adding cal/mag will only make things worse.

After reading a little more i see you're adding sugars to your res that ends up in buckets where the temp is not nesessarily "in range". This will exasporate a root problem big time. My money is on the roots being rotten and unable to soak up the nutes. This would be confirmed if your ph is constantly rising.

Root rot will lower pH, not raise it.

Ahh see , yes my pH has been dropping lately in that room. Always happens around this same time frame in flower.

my roots ddon't seem that bad though. Excellent growth. Hell my 5 Gallons are just about 100% filled with roots. They love the bubblers.

so you think the sweeteners are big issue? Should i Cut out the sweetener as im not if it makes a difference?

there is always about 2" of water left in buckets even when not flooded cause the system design . So water gets to warm and sugars start rotting roots?

superstoner1 said:

Root rot will lower pH, not raise it.

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i've been told pythium will drop ph. so in that sense you would be right. But the bug i am constantly fighting in MY system (and most people according to the heisenberg tea sticky in DWC forum) is different and actually raises the ph, until the roots are so bad that pythium sets in, and the ph starts to drop. If this is the stage you are at it is irreversible in my experience.

But regardless, sugars arent a good idea in DWC. Synthetic nutes eliminate the need for it. Unless you're talkin organic DWC, but that's a whole different thing.

Next grow look into either sterile res options or microbe tea (my preferred method).

I run sweet and hydroplex in my aero and dwc units with no problems.

Some strains just don't like the nutes too strong. I use Lucas formula with no additives but try to keep it below 1300 ppm. My Diesles only like 7-800 ppm. Those spots on the leaf are what i call rust spots or phosphorus burn from too much bloom nutes.