Desperate For Advice On Ph Issues In Small 2 Gallon Reservoir

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dsiomtw

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This is my first grow and I'm having trouble. Everything else is dialed in, so I think it must be related to the daily 5.6-6.1 pH swing I see and/or the pH down that I'm constantly having to add every single day.

My plant often looks droopy as if it's not getting enough oxygen (which it is), and most of the lower fan leaves have some degree of brown "rust" spots which point to some type of deficiency.

I'm running out of ideas and my only guess at this point is that one or more nutes are getting locked out once the pH down/phosphorus in the res gets too high??

I'm going to change the res in just a bit and see if she looks any better in the morning, but I'm desperate for any input at this point if you have a minute to chime in. Here's what I'm looking at...

Set up: Supercloset superbox w/ about 2 gallons in the reservoir
Plants: 1 single feminized auto, CBD Crack (28 days old and pre-flowering)
Light: 200w CFL on top and (2) 100w CFLs side lights. 20 hours on, 4 hours off.
Nutes: ~600ppm Technaflora (recipe for success)
Water temp: 64-72F (averages about 68F)
Air temp: 64-80F (averages about 76-78F with the lights on)
Humidity: 45-60% (averages about 50%)
pH: 5.6-6.1 swing every day, requiring pH down every day

I've done a ridiculous amount of research on everything, but as you know there aren't many "one size fits all" answers, and everyone has differing opinions. But here are some of the things I'm thinking about, if you know about or can comment on any of them ...

1. Can you have a healthy hydro plant if your pH swings from 5.6-6.1 and then back to 5.6 every day?

2. Is it even realistic to try to grow in a 2 gallon res? Do I need to use something at least 5-10 gallons in order to reduce the pH problems, and just waste a bunch of money on extra nutes?

3. Is there something else I could be using besides GH pH down? I've read that another brand called Advanced Nutrients has a pH down that supposedly "lasts" a lot longer, requiring less to be added. Or should I be using vinegar or something else that won't cause a nute lockout and be better for my plant?

4. Am I making a huge noob mistake and totally missing something here??

Sorry for the long post. If you made it this far you're awesome!
 
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heisen

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Your overthinking it man.That swing is ok.As long as it is swinging up and not down.Down is bad.Means you have root problems.Are you using RO water?Tap will tend to wanna swing upwards and requires alot of down to get it right.I think it may be the nutes you are using.Also you should be adding in about 3 to 5 ML of calmag in with each gallon first than mix your nutes and put them in.I think the reason for your Ph rising is your plant is eating up the nutrients and causing the PH to rise.This is normal and especially in a small system.
 
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dsiomtw

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Hey thanks for the reply. I may be overthinking it, but I'm only trying to figure out why my plant is stunted, growing slowly, and looks like crap. I'm using distilled water. Technaflora has something called MagiCal, so I'm just using that according to the instructions. I do believe the plant is eating nutrients because my PPM goes down by 10-20ppm per day, so that's good.
 
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dsiomtw

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It's certainly small, but there are a bunch of videos on YouTube with people successfully growing 3-4 plants with this exact same set up, which tells me it's possible but I'm just doing something wrong.
 
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dsiomtw

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Thanks for the replies. As far as the water depth, it's a small res and the water level is about 1" below the net pots, which leaves a water depth of about 2.5" in the res.

Anyway, here are some pics. The first pic shows the general "droopiness" of the plant in general and some tips curling both up and down, the second pic shows a bottom fan leaf with the brown spots (I've already had to defoliate several lower fan leaves that were 50-100% destroyed), the third pic shows the new growth up top which actually looks decent overall, the 4th pic shows the roots which have only started turning slight brown as I have increased PPM (they aren't slimy at all), and the last pic shows the top of the plant and lights which are 6-8" away. Anything jump out at you?

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg
 
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heisen

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Plant looks like it' starving I'm not familiar with that lineup of nutes but plants that look like that are deficient. Yhou have some kind of lockout issue going on with some additive your adding.water looks like hell man.it shouldn't be that cloudy.it should be clear.
Do yourself a favor and go to a hydro shop and grab 2 bottles of gen hydro floraduo part A and B and a quart of calimagic,and a small bottle of hydroguard.report back and well get you right
.
 
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heisen

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I just pulled up a chart for that nutrient line.dude I would throw that shit in the garbage.10 ML per gallon is rediculous.seems like there line is diluted shit.2.5 ml per gallon on calmag is a joke.i guarantee that chart has you locked out on so.many levels.get the 3 bottles I told you to get and a week your plant will do.a 360
 
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dsiomtw

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I agree, there's gotta be some type of deficiency going on. Just can't figure out why/how ...

I have to disagree on the water though. It's not going to be "clear" with Technaflora nutes. I'm currently using 5 different solutions (BC Grow, BC Boost, Thrive Alive B1-Red, SugarDaddy and MagiCal) and they are all colored. Especially the Thrive Alive B1-Red - it's the seaweed stuff, and it's very dark brown, and it instantly makes your water look like mine above as soon as you add it, and colors your roots slightly brown.
 
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dsiomtw

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Hmm that's weird. When I researched Technaflora (it came with my set up), I found nothing but good reviews. A bunch of people even claiming it's a "high end" line of nutes and much better than the stuff from GH and what most people use.

I'm getting desperate though so I will certainly look into your recommendation.

Can you explain a bit more though? Why is 2.5 ml per gallon on calmag a joke? Based on my research it seems like most people use between 2.5-5ml tops.

You said it seems like Technaflora is diluted, which would mean it's "weaker" than other nutes, so how would weaker nutes cause things to get locked out on so many levels? Just trying to understand. Thanks!
 
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heisen

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Also try and find a float valve
dsiomtw said:
Hmm that's weird. When I researched Technaflora (it came with my set up), I found nothing but good reviews. A bunch of people even claiming it's a "high end" line of nutes and much better than the stuff from GH and what most people use.
Click to expand...


All that organic seaweed and crap in a system without a water chiller is asking for issues.those bottles come in individual bottles for a reason.they cant put them in the same bottle cause it would harden up into a clunk of shit.when u add all that crap to a small res it' doing the same thing.the nutrients are binding and causing issues.
You do not need all those additives to grow bad ass plants.all the retarded names and gimmicks do not grow healthy plants.nutrients come in N P and K that's it.all the extra additives are creating more problems than it's worth.
 
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dsiomtw

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The thing is, there are lots of people growing with this same exact set up using these same exact nutes, and growing beautiful plants with nice yields. So why would that be happening to just me and not them? A quick YouTube search for "superbox" shows people doing exactly what I'm doing, using the same nutes (I've asked several of them to confirm they actually used the Technaflora nutes that came with their box)

As far as a chiller, I just don't need one. It's winter time and it's very easy for me to maintain my res temp between 65-70. It's been an average of 68F for weeks.

And just to be clear, SuperCloset recommends the Technaflora nutes, and includes them with all of their grow boxes that they sell.
 
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heisen

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dsiomtw said:
Hmm that's weird. When I researched Technaflora (it came with my set up), I found nothing but good reviews. A bunch of people even claiming it's a "high end" line of nutes and much better than the stuff from GH and what most people use.

I'm getting desperate though so I will certainly look into your recommendation.

Can you explain a bit more though? Why is 2.5 ml per gallon on calmag a joke? Based on my research it seems like most people use between 2.5-5ml tops.

You said it seems like Technaflora is diluted, which would mean it's "weaker" than other nutes, so how would weaker nutes cause things to get locked out on so many levels? Just trying to understand. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Because Gen hydro is 1 ML per gallon on calmag. and there base nutes are 2 to 4 ML per gallon.
Your adding in so much chemical into your res because it has so.many other additives.not only are you pissing money away but your adding in 30to 50 ML of chemical per gallon of water.
 
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heisen

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dsiomtw said:
The thing is, there are lots of people growing with this same exact set up using these same exact nutes, and growing beautiful plants with nice yields. So why would that be happening to just me and not them? A quick YouTube search for "superbox" shows people doing exactly what I'm doing, using the same nutes (I've asked several of them to confirm they actually used the Technaflora nutes that came with their box)

As far as a chiller, I just don't need one. It's winter time and it's very easy for me to maintain my res temp between 65-70. It's been an average of 68F for weeks.

And just to be clear, SuperCloset recommends the Technaflora nutes, and includes them with all of their grow boxes that they sell.
Click to expand...
So go ask them.i can grow twice the plant for half the cost using gen hydro.good luck to you man.
 
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heisen

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dsiomtw said:
The thing is, there are lots of people growing with this same exact set up using these same exact nutes, and growing beautiful plants with nice yields. So why would that be happening to just me and not them? A quick YouTube search for "superbox" shows people doing exactly what I'm doing, using the same nutes (I've asked several of them to confirm they actually used the Technaflora nutes that came with their box)

As far as a chiller, I just don't need one. It's winter time and it's very easy for me to maintain my res temp between 65-70. It's been an average of 68F for weeks.

And just to be clear, SuperCloset recommends the Technaflora nutes, and includes them with all of their grow boxes that they sell.
Click to expand...
That doesn't add up.your water temp cant be 68 and your air temp maintain 78 especially without a chiller.if your radiant heat from the light is 78 than your ambient temp is probably around 68 especially if your water temp is 68.your plants are to cold.good luck bro.
 
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dsiomtw

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Keep in mind I'm growing in a very small grow box. The grow box is in a room, with ambient air temp of about 66 degrees. But in the grow box the water temp is 68 degrees and the air temp near the plant averages around 76-78 degrees under the lights.
 
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