Droopy plants and red stems.

cottonfarmer

Active Member
Mechanicals: room-8x10x8; lights-2 1000w MH bulbs in cool tubes attached to convertible ballasts; ventilation-8” CAP exhaust fan 745 CFM attached to 8x24 Phresh filter --- goes through the light tubes and out the roof, 1 16” oscillator across the table from the end, 8” floor fan rotated towards the ceiling and a 10” fan on a shelf near the ceiling to stir the top; 14k BTU AC dual hose; 4x8 flood table with 70 gal reservoir (fill to 50 to leave room for adjustments) with plants in 4x4 rockwool blocks with block covers; 5 gal cool mist digital humidifier; movable reflective walls.

Operation: presently at 18/6 on the lights and AC with the ventilation running 24/7 --- the exhaust fan is attached to a Titus controller to slow down during dark time; the reservoir runs a constant 65-66 F with no assistance in heating and cooling --- I use a submersible pump with an attached aerator to stir and oxygenate; flooding the table once a day to 1” which takes approx 10 minutes and 20 minutes to drain (keeps me at/under the 30 minute rule) --- I start the reservoir with 16 ounces of 3% H2O2 (75 PPM by volume) and add 2 ounces each day. I check the pH prior to flooding and adjust if necessary to 5.8-6.2. I check the PPMs before and after feeding to get a feel for what the plants are taking --- currently running at 700 PPM up from a recent start of 600. I rotate the plants on their axis every other day and re-position shorter plants to the center of the table once a week. Room temps are keep at 70-73 F during lights on and drops to 64-66 lights out --- RH is keep at 40-55%.

The Beginning: started with 32 clones that were fully rooted with roots extending from their cubes (rockwool) from a supplier that were grown under MH lights; allowed them to become accustomed to the room with the lights at max (about 5 feet) while dipping cubes in plain pH adjusted de-chlorinated tap water (265 PPM) and misting with the same for 5 days; transplanted to 4x4 rockwool prepped by soaking in 4.7 pH water for 12 hours followed by soaking another 12 hours in 5.7 pH Hygrozyme solution at 2ml/gal. I placed 1 tsp of Rooter’s in the planting hole of rockwool blocks before inserting the clones. Reservoir was prepped with de-chlorinated water and Advanced Horticulture’s Yellow Bottle line – sometimes called Bloom, Hygrozyme, Nutriboost and Rooter’s Myco nutrients to 700 PPMs. Lights were set to 3.5 feet and began a feeding schedule of once every other day --- chosen based on previous grows and measurements.

The Problem and Actions: after 3 days on schedule the plants began to droop with some leaf damage which appeared to be nutrient burn and noticeable ridges between the veins ; dumped res and setup for flushing using pHed water with Clearex at 5ml/gal; 1st flush was by hand pouring 2 liters slowly through each block; took PPMs before and after; continued flushing by flooding until the PPMs were no longer rising; dumped res and setup a pHed solution using Nutriboost at .25ml/gal and fed this twice a day for two days – sorta like “flushing” with Nutriboost; dumped res and setup a pHed solution of Nutriboost at .25ml/gal, Hygrozyme at 5ml/gal, Roots (Bloom) at 1.5ml/gal, H2O2 at 9ml/gal, Euro A at 1ml/gal and Euro B at .5ml/gal all to 420 PPMs and fed once a day for 3 days with no sign of improvement. Have recently added A&B to raise the PPMs to 600 and lights are at 2 feet. I’ve also misted the plants a couple of times with Epsom salt solution at ¼ tsp/gal with DM Penetrator per label.

N P Ks: Euro A: 9-0-7; Euro B: 2.7-2.1-1.8; Roots 0-0-0; Hygrozyme: ?; Nutriboost: 0-0-0

This is the second crop at this location --- the first grow performed the same while using much higher starting PPMs (900) --- the table produced nice quality but only a pound and half with droopy leaves and red stems all the way through. I’ve had local “advisors” look at the table and have yet to find anyone who can present an answer. At first I thought it might be the altitude (only 2400 feet) due to a similar experience in Big Bear --- but a “rinky-dink” check of the CO2 says we’re OK here. That only leaves the water --- I’ve helped to manage 8 other grows with similar setups using tap water as high as 400 PPMs that did not exhibit these problems however the calcium content was not tested.

What’s wrong?
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laceygirl

Well-Known Member
It can't be your pH as you seem to be on top of that... This is a puzzlement... Potassium as in not enough, as Rusty said, could be a problem...Maybe a little more nitrogen too for the purple stems... Its missing something, the problem isn't that its getting too much of something....I shall ponder that a little more and try to give you a more concise answer..:-) I'll be back....
 

Rusty Crutch

Well-Known Member
I had a drunk/stoned think about it and I came up with the possible cause.

I can't see root porn anywhere in those pics. They should have root balls at least the size of coke cans on them. I try to put more emphasis on root development from clone to flowering. Show us some Root Porn dude. If you don't have at least an equal or greater amount of roots compared to vegetation you will end up with bonsais which need far less nutrients. IMO they need to stretch their legs.

Sorry if that made no sense. I blame it on the 5 pints, a fat hash laced (after work on a Monday) doobie and two cones I had before coming up with the idea. bongsmilie
 

cottonfarmer

Active Member
I had a drunk/stoned think about it and I came up with the possible cause.

I can't see root porn anywhere in those pics. They should have root balls at least the size of coke cans on them. I try to put more emphasis on root development from clone to flowering. Show us some Root Porn dude. If you don't have at least an equal or greater amount of roots compared to vegetation you will end up with bonsais which need far less nutrients. IMO they need to stretch their legs.

Sorry if that made no sense. I blame it on the 5 pints, a fat hash laced (after work on a Monday) doobie and two cones I had before coming up with the idea. bongsmilie
You're right --- the roots are grossly underdeveloped and while that would certainly effect nutrient uptake that uptake was lacking from the beginning. Trying to figure out why.
 

cephalopod

Well-Known Member
Over Watering:
The plants in figure 5 were on a continous drip system, where nutrient solution is constantly being pumped into the medium. This tends to keep the entire root system completely saturated. A better way would be to periodically feed the plants, say for 1/2 hour every 2-3 hours. This would give the roots a chance to get needed air to them, and prevent root rot and other problems.
Don't be throw off by the fact that the plants in figure 5 are sitting in still water, this is actually an H2O2 solution used to try and correct the problem. Adding an airstone to the tub would also help add O2 to the solution.

 

cottonfarmer

Active Member
Over-watering? Once every other day at the beginning? The tables in other locations don't have this problem and we hit those 4 to 6 times a day --- and, the Grodan scientists tell me that you really can't over-water rockwool. The minute it's completely saturated it contains 80% solution, 15% air and 5% fiber. It's running similar to any type of constant contact hydro system (DWC, NFT, bubblers, etc). I'm told by Grodan and Advanced Nutrients that letting the plants sit in rockwool for more than 6 hours without refreshing the solution begins to turn toxic.

Looking at the pictures and many of the leaves browning and curling up most folks are saying it's a phosphorus deficiency.
 

ElectricPineapple

Well-Known Member
hey like i said. they looked like my plants when mine were overwatered. i have no experience in rockwool, i was just giving my .02 cents
 

ElectricPineapple

Well-Known Member
at the time they werent big enough, but on my flowering plants, some are purple. supposedly that means PH being off but i am in FFOF with PH balanced nutes so i dont think so. my vote is still overwatering. let the rockwool dry out a little before you water next time. maybe they will perk up, maybe they wont. if they dont then atleast you rule out overwatering.
 
They are showing the classic CLAW shape in the leaves.. its overfeeding IMHO... lower the PPMs a little. those are babies... i would run 200ppms max at that stage and go up 200 peer week until your back at 800-1200..

-jas
 

medimaker

Active Member
I'm not a hydro guy but looking at the last couple pics I would say your issue is down in the root zone, and probably nothing to do with the environment above as you seem to have that well sorted out.

Again no hydro for me but a plant is a plant. When I get into trouble I flush the root zone with ph'ed room temp water with B1 added (B1 to offset shock). Then start with a mild complete nute solution.
 
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