Hi Everyone,
I am just starting week 6 after fighting a PH issue over the weekend. I am using Future Harvest Holland's secret (full line, inherited from buddy, trying it out), DTW in Coco, 7 gallon plastic nursery pots. (I plan to use smaller pots or air/fabric pots next time, but chose these as I thought 7gal plastic would give me a longer dry time and I am going away for one weekend around week 7 or 8 and wanted my plant sitter to only have to water once).
Method:
- I follow the future harvest schedule of plain ph water ever 3rd feeding.
- My tap water is low PPM and ph 6.9 to 7. I let the water sit to de-chlorinate, and then mix to full strength and ph to 5.8. (likely big mistake #1)
- I hand water to run-off twice a day at lights on, and as close to 5 hours before lights off as I can get to help my overnight humidity. That means my schedule is something like: Monday: Feed, Feed. Tuesday: Water, Feed. Wednesday: Feed, Water, Thursday: Feed Feed, Friday: Water Feed, etc.
Mistakes I think/know I made:
- Using full strength nutes without an EC/TDS meter likely put me at or over the max EC, I need to leave a lot of breathing room I think since I don't have a meter.
- I likely wasn't getting ENOUGH run-off, even though I made sure I was getting run off after an even saturation of the medium, I probably need more than a trickle.
- I was checking run off PH all the time, and it never moved early on. I got lazy and made assumptions that I was doing such an awesome job I didn't need to anymore to save time.
My assumption/Diagnosis:
- A combination of over feeding, under watering, large pots, and not checking run off lead to a build up of salt and subsequent crash of ph.
Remediation:
- Day 1 Evening (Water): Noticed PH dive. Immediately a started flushing with PH'd plain water from one of my 5 gallon pails, this took too long and wasn't nearly enough, lights turned off. I don't have a green lamp yet.
- Day 2: Morning (Feed): I flush a bit to get some run off before feeding and see where PH is. It's still way low. I hook up the hose to my tap water and start flushing with chlorinated ph7 water. I get it close to 6.1 as I can. Then I gave it a half strength feed at 6.0. Run off seems ok-ish.
- Day 2: Afternoon (Feed): Time for another light feed, but I want to take it easy. I try a small flush again just to check, and the PH has dropped again. I suspect that as I am flushing, it is clearing out the immediate build up and running clean, but then when it sits for a while, it is leaching more and more built up salts from the perlite and dropping the PH again. I flush again with chlorinated ph7 tap water. Wait, and then flush again a little later. Finally reach PH 6.2.
- Day 3: Morning (Water): Run off still stable around 6.2.
- Day 3: Afternoon (Feed), small flush to get run-off, still 6.1-6.2, Light ph6.0 feed. Run off still 6.1.
- Today, day 4 morning (Feed): Just went for a 6.0 3.4 strength feed. Runoff showing 6.1. Sick plants seems to have new pistil growth.
Plan Going Forward:
- Continue 3/4 strength feedings at regular schedule with more run-off, resume regular monitoring run off.
My questions:
- Have I performed any steps that have increased my potential for further problems?
- Am I planning the correct steps for a return to health?
Thank for reading and any advice or confirmation of the steps I have taken!
Pics added for fun, I know to use regular lighting if I expect help based on pics. I have 3 synthetic plants on the left, and 4 more in dry organic amendments on the right off camera.
I am just starting week 6 after fighting a PH issue over the weekend. I am using Future Harvest Holland's secret (full line, inherited from buddy, trying it out), DTW in Coco, 7 gallon plastic nursery pots. (I plan to use smaller pots or air/fabric pots next time, but chose these as I thought 7gal plastic would give me a longer dry time and I am going away for one weekend around week 7 or 8 and wanted my plant sitter to only have to water once).
Method:
- I follow the future harvest schedule of plain ph water ever 3rd feeding.
- My tap water is low PPM and ph 6.9 to 7. I let the water sit to de-chlorinate, and then mix to full strength and ph to 5.8. (likely big mistake #1)
- I hand water to run-off twice a day at lights on, and as close to 5 hours before lights off as I can get to help my overnight humidity. That means my schedule is something like: Monday: Feed, Feed. Tuesday: Water, Feed. Wednesday: Feed, Water, Thursday: Feed Feed, Friday: Water Feed, etc.
Mistakes I think/know I made:
- Using full strength nutes without an EC/TDS meter likely put me at or over the max EC, I need to leave a lot of breathing room I think since I don't have a meter.
- I likely wasn't getting ENOUGH run-off, even though I made sure I was getting run off after an even saturation of the medium, I probably need more than a trickle.
- I was checking run off PH all the time, and it never moved early on. I got lazy and made assumptions that I was doing such an awesome job I didn't need to anymore to save time.
My assumption/Diagnosis:
- A combination of over feeding, under watering, large pots, and not checking run off lead to a build up of salt and subsequent crash of ph.
Remediation:
- Day 1 Evening (Water): Noticed PH dive. Immediately a started flushing with PH'd plain water from one of my 5 gallon pails, this took too long and wasn't nearly enough, lights turned off. I don't have a green lamp yet.
- Day 2: Morning (Feed): I flush a bit to get some run off before feeding and see where PH is. It's still way low. I hook up the hose to my tap water and start flushing with chlorinated ph7 water. I get it close to 6.1 as I can. Then I gave it a half strength feed at 6.0. Run off seems ok-ish.
- Day 2: Afternoon (Feed): Time for another light feed, but I want to take it easy. I try a small flush again just to check, and the PH has dropped again. I suspect that as I am flushing, it is clearing out the immediate build up and running clean, but then when it sits for a while, it is leaching more and more built up salts from the perlite and dropping the PH again. I flush again with chlorinated ph7 tap water. Wait, and then flush again a little later. Finally reach PH 6.2.
- Day 3: Morning (Water): Run off still stable around 6.2.
- Day 3: Afternoon (Feed), small flush to get run-off, still 6.1-6.2, Light ph6.0 feed. Run off still 6.1.
- Today, day 4 morning (Feed): Just went for a 6.0 3.4 strength feed. Runoff showing 6.1. Sick plants seems to have new pistil growth.
Plan Going Forward:
- Continue 3/4 strength feedings at regular schedule with more run-off, resume regular monitoring run off.
My questions:
- Have I performed any steps that have increased my potential for further problems?
- Am I planning the correct steps for a return to health?
Thank for reading and any advice or confirmation of the steps I have taken!
Pics added for fun, I know to use regular lighting if I expect help based on pics. I have 3 synthetic plants on the left, and 4 more in dry organic amendments on the right off camera.
Attachments
Last edited: