alright guys i'm still having issues with deficiencies and I finally went out and bought a ph and a TDS meter so here's a run down on some back history and what i'm working with.
tds pen is NaCi based .5 constant.
5 gallon pot using 60/40 mix Fox Farms Ocean Forest/Vermiculite, 1/2 cup EWC into 1 gal. soil ratio. Strain is sativa dom. tangerine dream.
6 weeks after transplant brown rust spots started to appear.
source water at the time was city tap, aerated 24 hours to dechlorinate. ph out of tap was 7.9, corrected to 6.5-6.6ph. no ppm data at the time.
after posting pics, it was decided it was a magnesium, calcium and phosphurous deficiency.
At the time I only had lil millers sweet lime (cal but no mag.). So i used sweet lime and top dressed starting with 1 tablespoon, mixed with fork and watered for the cal. fix, water drenched with epsom salt for the mag. fix, and used a high phos. bat guano tea for the P fix.
It seemed like the problem slowed but never really improved. a week later I then found some dolomite lime and top dressed 2 tablespoons with that, and also watering with epsom salt to give the cal and mag it apparently wants. The brown spots are still present but perhaps showing at a slower rate.
I had taken clones from healthy areas, they rooted and started with good growth rates, green and lush. 3 weeks later they're still growing but the leaves are starting to show those damn spots like their mother. the soil the clones were started in was a mix of 1 gal. 60/40 Fox Farms Ocean Forest/Verm, .5 cup EWC, 2 tbls dolomite lime, 1 tbls epsom salt, 1 tbls high-N bat guano, 1 tbls high-P bat guano, 1 tbls greensand, 1 tbls alfalfa meal, 1 tea. kelp meal. this mix I did not cook so was pretty hot at first but the clones took to it.
I have a water well source now. no flouride or chlorine, 6.5ph and 120 ppm straight from tap but the water is high in iron. i'm using water as is.
So for the mother plant, I'm watering her with nothing added in. water goes in 6.6 ph, 120 ppm and the run off is reading 7.7 ph and 788 ppm. This plant I've probably already mixed in 4 tbls of dolomite lime and again, this plant is showing the brown rust spots on older growth first then moving to newer.
the clones i'm watering with nothing added in. water goes in 6.6 ph, 120 ppm and the run off is reading 7.0 ph and the ppm data was lost this last reading.
I know I need to get the ph on both down to around 6.5 or so for a lockout free situation but I'm not sure if i'm going about this the right way. I've heard different stories on dolomite, some say it's going to raise the ph steadily, others say the dolomite will simply keep it at 7.0.
I'm not sure if I want to use sulphur to bring down the ph because of harming microbes, and for now I'm not considering using peat moss because I already have dolomite and PH down acid.
I need a gameplan for now, so advice please on how to proceed.
1 tbls of dolomite lime to 1 gallon of water and drench it every watering to get ph to buffer at 7 and also supply it with ca/mag?
Or should I ph my water down past the 6.5-6.6 of my well water?
Or just keep watering with the 6.5-6.6 well water with nothing added and I'll eventually bring the ph down that way?
Also, I've only been passing maybe 3/4 to 1 gallon of water through the pot so i'm not really flushing it yet. Should I be? with 7.7 ph and 788 ppm in run off, I'd imagine I have a salt build up from the nutes? or maybe 788 is great and the high ph is simply making the nutes unavailable?
I'm also curious as to why the dolomite lime I've added to the mother plant already hasn't buffered it to 7, 3-4 tbls worth in a 5 gallon pot.
Sorry for the rambling and thanks for the help. If I left out any info just let me know and I'll update.
tds pen is NaCi based .5 constant.
5 gallon pot using 60/40 mix Fox Farms Ocean Forest/Vermiculite, 1/2 cup EWC into 1 gal. soil ratio. Strain is sativa dom. tangerine dream.
6 weeks after transplant brown rust spots started to appear.
source water at the time was city tap, aerated 24 hours to dechlorinate. ph out of tap was 7.9, corrected to 6.5-6.6ph. no ppm data at the time.
after posting pics, it was decided it was a magnesium, calcium and phosphurous deficiency.
At the time I only had lil millers sweet lime (cal but no mag.). So i used sweet lime and top dressed starting with 1 tablespoon, mixed with fork and watered for the cal. fix, water drenched with epsom salt for the mag. fix, and used a high phos. bat guano tea for the P fix.
It seemed like the problem slowed but never really improved. a week later I then found some dolomite lime and top dressed 2 tablespoons with that, and also watering with epsom salt to give the cal and mag it apparently wants. The brown spots are still present but perhaps showing at a slower rate.
I had taken clones from healthy areas, they rooted and started with good growth rates, green and lush. 3 weeks later they're still growing but the leaves are starting to show those damn spots like their mother. the soil the clones were started in was a mix of 1 gal. 60/40 Fox Farms Ocean Forest/Verm, .5 cup EWC, 2 tbls dolomite lime, 1 tbls epsom salt, 1 tbls high-N bat guano, 1 tbls high-P bat guano, 1 tbls greensand, 1 tbls alfalfa meal, 1 tea. kelp meal. this mix I did not cook so was pretty hot at first but the clones took to it.
I have a water well source now. no flouride or chlorine, 6.5ph and 120 ppm straight from tap but the water is high in iron. i'm using water as is.
So for the mother plant, I'm watering her with nothing added in. water goes in 6.6 ph, 120 ppm and the run off is reading 7.7 ph and 788 ppm. This plant I've probably already mixed in 4 tbls of dolomite lime and again, this plant is showing the brown rust spots on older growth first then moving to newer.
the clones i'm watering with nothing added in. water goes in 6.6 ph, 120 ppm and the run off is reading 7.0 ph and the ppm data was lost this last reading.
I know I need to get the ph on both down to around 6.5 or so for a lockout free situation but I'm not sure if i'm going about this the right way. I've heard different stories on dolomite, some say it's going to raise the ph steadily, others say the dolomite will simply keep it at 7.0.
I'm not sure if I want to use sulphur to bring down the ph because of harming microbes, and for now I'm not considering using peat moss because I already have dolomite and PH down acid.
I need a gameplan for now, so advice please on how to proceed.
1 tbls of dolomite lime to 1 gallon of water and drench it every watering to get ph to buffer at 7 and also supply it with ca/mag?
Or should I ph my water down past the 6.5-6.6 of my well water?
Or just keep watering with the 6.5-6.6 well water with nothing added and I'll eventually bring the ph down that way?
Also, I've only been passing maybe 3/4 to 1 gallon of water through the pot so i'm not really flushing it yet. Should I be? with 7.7 ph and 788 ppm in run off, I'd imagine I have a salt build up from the nutes? or maybe 788 is great and the high ph is simply making the nutes unavailable?
I'm also curious as to why the dolomite lime I've added to the mother plant already hasn't buffered it to 7, 3-4 tbls worth in a 5 gallon pot.
Sorry for the rambling and thanks for the help. If I left out any info just let me know and I'll update.
