Day 35 of 12/12....I think I might be over-fertilizing...??

System: Ebb & Gro
Media: Hydroton
Lighting: 4x 1000w, vented/sealed
Strain: Grape Stomper/Sour Grapes
Enviro: Active exhaust, passive intake. Lights on stays around 74F, lights off around 65F
Nutes: GH
Feeding Schedule: 10ml/gal Micro & 20ml/gal Bloom (label rate, aggressive bloom), 1/8th tsp/gal Fox Farms Beastie Blooms, 1ml/gal Floralicious. Four 15 min floods every light cycle...no water during dark hours. 1ml/gal 35% hydrogen peroxide every 3-4 days.

My pH stays around 5.6-5.8. My EC is parked just at or below 3.0 (1500ppm on NaCl scale), and doesnt fluctuate from day to day. The plants use about 5 gallons of nutrient solution per day.

The issue: The buds seem small!! I don't really see any signs of overfertilizing. The leaf tips are just BARELY looking yellow. The buds, leaves, and even the stems are VERY frosty, bud I feel like the buds are a bit small and leafy...which leads me to believe i am giving them too much N. This strain finishes in 7-8 weeks, so I am starting to worry a bit.

I am the victim of a terrible combo: First time growing in this system (or hydro in general for that matter), and my first time with this strain. Just looking for more eyes to offer suggestions. My family relies on this income, so I can't blow it.

Those pics are about a week old, but the plants dont look much different. Let me get some current pics up..

Be patient man, they'll start packing on weight, very soon. They look really nice, otherwise. Good job.

looks to me like your lights are too close, your buds seem small cause they are just little girls, let them grow and mature and I think you will be happy.

I would think twice about NOT watering during the dark period, thats when the roots need the most available nutrients, but I am soil and DWC and havent tried E/F yet.

^Agreed, your lights look like they'd disperse a wider beam of light, if you backed them off a couple inches. It's not necessary, but'd help fill out the outer edges a little better, given that you're using 1000 watters, and won't have to worry about losing a little intensity in the center.

I have raised the lights another foot or so since the pic because I was actually seeing some damage from them being too close.

Here are some pics from a few minutes ago. Notice all the leafyness and the small buds:

^I'd say that your yield is going to be limited by your strain, mostly, because your plants look nice and healthy. I see no obvious problems, no real lack/excess of nutes, etc...and you have plenty of light, so mostly, it's the genetics that are the limiting factor, if they don't fill out like your other strains did. Doesn't look to be a real high-yielder, but be patient, they should fill out in the next 2-3 weeks.

jawbrodt said:

^I'd say that your yield is going to be limited by your strain, mostly, because your plants look nice and healthy. I see no obvious problems, no real lack/excess of nutes, etc...and you have plenty of light, so mostly, it's the genetics that are the limiting factor, if they don't fill out like your other strains did. Doesn't look to be a real high-yielder, but be patient, they should fill out in the next 2-3 weeks.

Click to expand...

Right on.....I appreciate that. I have a degree in Horticulture, so I am pretty solid on plant physiology and nutrition. Hopefully it will start to chunk up in the next few weeks.

Do you think a late-term supplement like HG Shooting Powder or AN Overdrive would be worth it?

everyones telling ya to just be patient... which is the best advice any experienced grower can give you.

you may think that within just 2 weeks or so... the plants won't change much. well, your in for a surprise then.. because just a week can make a huge difference.

just be patient..

peace.

Haha dammit. The solution HAS to be more difficult and costly....doesn't it? =)