DWC Photo Plant (F58) Nutrient Burn at 80ppm

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AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

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Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to read this! Let me preface this by stating that I am very well aware my growing setup is not ideal and has made things significantly more difficult for me. I was led astray by a local hydro store in the beginning and had to scramble my way back. I think I've learned much faster because of it, though. This is my first ever grow. Onto the important stuff:

As the title says, my DWC plant is showing nute burn at incredibly low ppm levels. Everything was fine and she was thriving at 450ppm until I gave her her first major defoliation during week 2 of flower. I knew this would stress her and I'd have to cut back, but I havent been able to stabilize since. My setup is as follows:

Strain: [Purple?] Runtz (bag seed from reputable source)
2x2x3 grow tent
1x 3.5 Gal bucket
HLG 135w (3000K)
2 outlet air pump with 2 stones
Plagron Nutrients
Ac Infinity T4
Monitoring both air and reservoir temps, as well as checking pH and ppm multiple times daily.
Res temps: 63 - 69 degF
pH: 5.8-6.3
RH: 55%
Tap water: 44ppm

As previously stated, things were hunky-dory until the first couple weeks of flower, when I did a hardcore defoliation (i.e. all fan leaves except the top 2 nodes). I cut back the nutrients to 200ppm (from 450ppm). I made the mistake of also turning my light up *slightly* (it is at minimum Voltage and Current at all times and is still almost too powerful for a 3 foot tent). Changing 2 variables is never good, I know; very unscientific and I should know better.

When I noticed 2 days later that nute burn was setting in, I turned the light back down but that didnt save anything; the nute burn continued. I have been slowly decreasing ppm levels constantly, and have gotten to where I am now (80ppm) Around this time I noticed my pH meter had decalibrated by ~1.0 pH, so shes been sitting in acidic res water (seriously, how did I overlook this?) I have since gotten a much better pH meter (about 2 weeks ago) and calibrate it regularly, and I was hoping this would solve the issue.

1 week previous to this (3 weeks ago), I also made the mistake of going BACK to 12 dark from 13 dark to try and slow maturation (my cousin said it should be okay and he has been my guru through this, and he had not yet been mistaken), and think I sent her back into veg for a couple days. Branches started growing again and bud growth halted altogether. I went back to 13 and saw minor bud growth again, and am still at 13. Because of this, my pistils seem to be maturing disproportionately (i.e. the ones before reveg are all orange and quite old, but still seeing tons of new ones) This grow was going so perfect, but I just had to fuck it up.

She's currently sitting at 85ppm with ppms rising (~20/day) and pH dropping. On the rare occasion, the ppm will drop slightly during the day (like margin-of-error levels of change), but I can't for the life of me find a correlation, I do everything the same. At this point adding ph up/down increases ppm more than I would like, so I don't even have margin to add nutrients. I follow Plagron schedules for nutrient proportions, but not volumes; I feed to a given ppm. I have changed nothing outside of ppm and pH for the last 3 weeks.

I'm not sure what to do, and any guidance would be appreciated it. I have literally read every tangentially related thread that google has presented me and I cant find a solution. At this point I'm just about to flush her and leave her until she gets chopped, I'm all out of ideas. What do you guys think? Pictures attached ( first two are pre- and post-defoliation, then 5 more pictures all taken a few minutes ago.)

Thanks again, everyone!
 
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 2
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 3
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 4
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 5
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 6
Dwc photo plant f58 nutrient burn at 80ppm 7
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Brotofsky

Brotofsky

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Congrats on the grow this far! I’m not a pro, but I do have successful grows. I could be wrong, but they look like the are starving, I think they are eating themselves as if harvest is nearing. I have to say the best thing I did was keep it simple in the beginning, defol is not a rookie training method.
 
AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

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Congrats on the grow this far! I’m not a pro, but I do have successful grows. I could be wrong, but they look like the are starving, I think they are eating themselves as if harvest is nearing. I have to say the best thing I did was keep it simple in the beginning, defol is not a rookie training method.
You're right, just another mistake I made along the way. :/ Starving, as in not receiving enough nutrients? I guess I'm confused how that could be happening with ppms rising and pH/temps constantly monitored. Even with completely fresh water (36ppm, my britta lowers it by 8ppm) and nutrients to 80/90/100/120ppm before pH adjust every day, the ppms skyrocket. I'm just so confused. To be fair, being 8 weeks into flower (from the initial change) should be pretty close to harvest if not for reveg, right?

Edit: after more thinking and discussion with my cousin, I think I'm going to flush now and chop in a week or two. Gotta get out the microscope. If anyone has any advice as to what I could do differently, were this to happen again, I'd very much appreciate it.
 
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AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

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At that size, they should be getting around 800ppm nutrients. I second the hypothesis of starvation.
Do you mean she is just naturally preparing for harvest? It still doesnt make sense that 100ppm was too high 2 weeks ago, right?

Follow up question: what would you think about it if I posted this same thread 2 weeks ago, before her leaves started yellowing, but had the same problem?
 
Nate_in_AK

Nate_in_AK

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I have a difficult time believing that 100ppm was really too high, and suspect you had something else amok. I'm no expert, but I am growing in DWC as well. I didn't have a PPM meter early on, so I used about 25% of what the nutrient vendor suggested (as advised by others). Now that I am in flower, I'm pushing them upward to 900ppm+.
 
AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

11
3
I have a difficult time believing that 100ppm was really too high, and suspect you had something else amok. I'm no expert, but I am growing in DWC as well. I didn't have a PPM meter early on, so I used about 25% of what the nutrient vendor suggested (as advised by others). Now that I am in flower, I'm pushing them upward to 900ppm+.
Yeah I figured as much, too, I'm just trying to figure out what the problem may be to prevent it in the future! Haha but I flushed her today, she'll be in pH'd tap water until I chop her in two weeks. 1 or 2 amber trichs on 4 bud sites, got a bit to go.

Thanks so much, guys! I appreciate you.
 
BurnzYzBudZz

BurnzYzBudZz

HOWCan.i.helPYOU?
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I have a difficult time believing that 100ppm was really too high, and suspect you had something else amok. I'm no expert, but I am growing in DWC as well. I didn't have a PPM meter early on, so I used about 25% of what the nutrient vendor suggested (as advised by others). Now that I am in flower, I'm pushing them upward to 900ppm+.
How they looking by the way? Haven’t seen an update in a minute. Happy grows.
 
JadedMarxist

JadedMarxist

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At 36 ppm tap water, I'd would assume and I could be wrong with just a single harvest from dwc, but have you added any calcium magnesium supplement I was feeding almost 1200ppm by week 6.

My ro water was at 8-12 ppm and after adding calman I was at 200 . Just a thought
 
Nate_in_AK

Nate_in_AK

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How they looking by the way? Haven’t seen an update in a minute. Happy grows.
The runt is still hanging in there, but I have zero expectations on the yield.. Anything smokable will be a plus. The other is still doing great and drinking up a ton of water and nutrients. More pictures tomorrow probably. :) Being my first grow, I am anxious to be able to sample the goods!!!
 
AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

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At 36 ppm tap water, I'd would assume and I could be wrong with just a single harvest from dwc, but have you added any calcium magnesium supplement I was feeding almost 1200ppm by week 6.

My ro water was at 8-12 ppm and after adding calman I was at 200 . Just a thought
Honestly, this did cross my mind. It's like the last thing I didn't try, so I'm leaning toward that being the problem. It hasn't been a problem the rest of the grow, but I suppose things can change across 4 months! I'll pick some up before my next grow. Thanks for the idea :)
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
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Yup they are hungry. Change the batteries on you ppm meter and see if you get a different reading.

If it's accurate you want to add 1ml of cal mag and bring the ppm up to 500ish to start after everything is added.

Ph from 5.6.5.8 and let drift up to 6.0

Like everyone say they are hungry. You need to have a balanced nutrient solution and I assume this or roots would be the issue.

How much water a day is it drinking? Ppm rising and ph dropping if that's the case would lead me to think you have a root issue and the plants have stopped eating.

It could also be the nutrient ratio so a full res change and see what happens.

Post pics of the roots if ya can
 
AnarchyTurtle

AnarchyTurtle

11
3
Yup they are hungry. Change the batteries on you ppm meter and see if you get a different reading.

If it's accurate you want to add 1ml of cal mag and bring the ppm up to 500ish to start after everything is added.

Ph from 5.6.5.8 and let drift up to 6.0

Like everyone say they are hungry. You need to have a balanced nutrient solution and I assume this or roots would be the issue.

How much water a day is it drinking? Ppm rising and ph dropping if that's the case would lead me to think you have a root issue and the plants have stopped eating.

It could also be the nutrient ratio so a full res change and see what happens.

Post pics of the roots if ya can
Thanks so much for the tips. I ended up leaving her in tap water since this post and she has been doing really well. I have noticed the roots stopped growing a while back, so you're probably right. Everything is very hard to maintain in a 3.5 gal bucket :/ I'm about at the end though, I believe; and I'm about to post another thread with pics of trichs to get some advice on chopping (my in-person sources have different opinions). I appreciate you!

Edit: shit I really didn't mean to bump this... been a while since I've been on a true (non-reddit) forum. My bad, guys.
 
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