First time grower this looks bad

davecw · Mar 31, 2021

Hydro Grower:
1. Are you growing from seed or clones? Seed
2. How old are your plants? 4 weeks
3. How tall are your plants? 6"
4. What type of hydro system are you using? DWC
5. What brand/type of nutrients are you using? GH Flora series
6. What is the Ph of your nutrient solution? 5.8
7. What is the PPM/EC of your tap water? N/A no PPM/EC meter...
8. What is the PPM/EC of your nutrient solution? N/A
9. What is the temperature of your nutrient solution? Not sure/feels cool
10. Does your PPM/EC show a rise or fall when you do your daily PPM check? N/A
11. Does your pH show a rise or fall when you do your daily check? Rise
12. Do you foliar feed or spray your plants with anything? no
13. What kind of lights do you use and how many watts combined? (HPS, MH, fluorescent, halogen, incandescent "plant lights") LED
14. How close are your lights to the plants? 32"
15. What size is your grow space in square feet? 40
16. What is the temperature and humidity in your grow space? 75 F 40% RH
17. Have you noticed any insect activity in your grow space? No
18. How much experience do you have growing? First time

I thought this was light burn at first but I turned the lights all the way down, moved them as high as they'll go and moved my plant off to the side of the light. The lower leaves have gotten worse and the new leaves start looking bad after a few days.

I need to get a PPM/EC meter. I use RO water. Posted pic of my feeding schedule. Numbers are ml/gal. 3 gallons of water.

Thanks for your tips

TripsRabbit · Mar 31, 2021

Looks hungry for calcium, they make water soluble gypsum for hydro I believe.

GNick55 · Mar 31, 2021

hi, can’t help i’m not a hydro guy, but this will bump up your thread,
hope you get some advice

davecw · Mar 31, 2021

TripsRabbit said:
Looks hungry for calcium, they make water soluble gypsum for hydro I believe.

I give cal-mag. Maybe I'm adding in the wrong order? I do cal-mag then micro then gro then bloom.

TripsRabbit · Mar 31, 2021

davecw said:
I give cal-mag. Maybe I'm adding in the wrong order? I do cal-mag then micro then gro then bloom.

That sounds right to me. How much of each per gallon?

davecw · Mar 31, 2021

TripsRabbit said:
That sounds right to me. How much of each per gallon?

Posted pic of my feed sched in op in ml/gal.

DankNugz420 · Mar 31, 2021

I have vivosun ph meter and ppm/ec meters and they do the trick but I hear there's better ones, I just can't remember what brands lol.

TripsRabbit · Mar 31, 2021

davecw said:
Posted pic of my feed sched in op in ml/gal.

Okay, had to zoom in.
I give mine 5ml/gal calmag from start to mid flower then cut out completely. I also supplement with gypsum and epsom salts but I don't have to worry about clogged pumps rez temp and such because I just sprinkle it on the top of the coco.

Xebediah · Mar 31, 2021

Hi Dave,
I see your nutrient schedule with the GH Flora Trio Series, which is the exact same thing I'm using for my plants right now. I'm right at about the same week your in also. However, I did not jump to week 3 yet; I kept the same feed from week 2 extended into week 3, 4, and 5 and am now gradually bringing it up to what week 3 is. What you're using is kind of an aggressive feeding schedule that's probably causing a nutrient burn and nutrient lock-out. What I would recommend you do is to flush with RO water for 24 to 48 hours, and then jump back into the feed schedule for week 3 and keep it there for a little while longer. Then begin to gradually increase to the amount for week 4. It does look like a magnesium deficiency, and the nutrient lock-out is probably hindering it from feeding.

You should definitely get a TDS/EC meter as soon as you can. I only use the feeding schedule as a reference for what to feed, but I've kept my TDS around 375 ppm for awhile and am now just getting it up over 400 ppm for this week. IMO, it's easier to underfeed it and give more of whatever it needs than to overfeed. Good luck to you bro. Keep us posted.

TripsRabbit · Mar 31, 2021

Xebediah said:
Hi Dave,
I see your nutrient schedule with the GH Flora Trio Series, which is the exact same thing I'm using for my plants right now. I'm right at about the same week your in also. However, I did not jump to week 3 yet; I kept the same feed from week 2 extended into week 3, 4, and 5 and am now gradually bringing it up to what week 3 is. What you're using is kind of an aggressive feeding schedule that's probably causing a nutrient burn and nutrient lock-out. What I would recommend you do is to flush with RO water for 24 to 48 hours, and then jump back into the feed schedule for week 3 and keep it there for a little while longer. Then begin to gradually increase to the amount for week 4. It does look like a magnesium deficiency, and the nutrient lock-out is probably hindering it from feeding.

You should definitely get a TDS/EC meter as soon as you can. I only use the feeding schedule as a reference for what to feed, but I've kept my TDS around 375 ppm for awhile and am now just getting it up over 400 ppm for this week. IMO, it's easier to underfeed it and give more of whatever it needs than to overfeed. Good luck to you bro. Keep us posted.

If it were mag deficiency it would have red petioles, that's why I said calcium because they look similar.

davecw · Apr 1, 2021

Xebediah said:
Hi Dave,
I see your nutrient schedule with the GH Flora Trio Series, which is the exact same thing I'm using for my plants right now. I'm right at about the same week your in also. However, I did not jump to week 3 yet; I kept the same feed from week 2 extended into week 3, 4, and 5 and am now gradually bringing it up to what week 3 is. What you're using is kind of an aggressive feeding schedule that's probably causing a nutrient burn and nutrient lock-out. What I would recommend you do is to flush with RO water for 24 to 48 hours, and then jump back into the feed schedule for week 3 and keep it there for a little while longer. Then begin to gradually increase to the amount for week 4. It does look like a magnesium deficiency, and the nutrient lock-out is probably hindering it from feeding.

You should definitely get a TDS/EC meter as soon as you can. I only use the feeding schedule as a reference for what to feed, but I've kept my TDS around 375 ppm for awhile and am now just getting it up over 400 ppm for this week. IMO, it's easier to underfeed it and give more of whatever it needs than to overfeed. Good luck to you bro. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to get a TDS/EC meter and do like you said and flush with RO for the next couple days. Do you have a feed schedule you can share with me or have a link to one with PPM? There's so much info out there I'm getting lost in the weeds as it were lol

Xebediah · Apr 1, 2021

TripsRabbit said:
If it were mag deficiency it would have red petioles, that's why I said calcium because they look similar.

You're right. It probably is a calcium deficiency. The lock-out plus the drop in the amount of CalMag .

davecw said:
Do you have a feed schedule you can share with me or have a link to one with PPM?

I really don't know of a PPM schedule, the feed schedule I reference is pretty much the same as yours. But, like I said I only use it as a reference for the ratios of the different parts of the Trio. I know it's counter intuitive for a hydro grower, but I just keep an eye on the plant(s) and let it determine if what I'm doing is good for it by the ways it's growing. And all increases I make are gradual. I base that on the size of the plant. They're all able to take within a certain range and these feed schedules are more of the maximums for the ranges. I'll keep looking for one, because I would like to have a reference for PPMs as well.

However, I did not jump to week 3 yet

I guess I was in week 3 since it's the exact same as week 2, though.

davecw · Apr 1, 2021

So after a couple days of just ro water I'll go back to week 1 feed. Wonder if I should start using tap water instead of ro water?

Xebediah · Apr 1, 2021

davecw said:
So after a couple days of just ro water I'll go back to week 1 feed.

Just keep increases of your nutrients in gradual doses. Yesterday, I added 1 tsp of each (GH Trio and CalMag) into 18 gallons and added another tsp of each today, so it only increases the amount by 50 PPMs each day until it's to the recommended levels. This morning I noticed a small brown spot on one of the leaves which indicated a deficiency in calcium, ergo I've fed it another tsp of CalMag. Again, for me it's easier to correct underfeeding than to correct overfeeding.

davecw said:
Wonder if I should start using tap water instead of ro water?

I would stick with RO water while the plant is still rather young. When the plant is bigger and can tolerate higher PPMs, then you can use tap water. The amount of PPMs in tap water won't impact the total PPMs at higher concentrations. However, I recommend letting the tap water sit for at least a day before using to allow for some of the chlorine to evaporate out. But, RO water provides a "blank canvas" that allows you to control exactly what the TDS contain at lower concentration levels.

davecw · Apr 5, 2021

Xebediah said:
Just keep increases of your nutrients in gradual doses. Yesterday, I added 1 tsp of each (GH Trio and CalMag) into 18 gallons and added another tsp of each today, so it only increases the amount by 50 PPMs each day until it's to the recommended levels. This morning I noticed a small brown spot on one of the leaves which indicated a deficiency in calcium, ergo I've fed it another tsp of CalMag. Again, for me it's easier to correct underfeeding than to correct overfeeding.

I would stick with RO water while the plant is still rather young. When the plant is bigger and can tolerate higher PPMs, then you can use tap water. The amount of PPMs in tap water won't impact the total PPMs at higher concentrations. However, I recommend letting the tap water sit for at least a day before using to allow for some of the chlorine to evaporate out. But, RO water provides a "blank canvas" that allows you to control exactly what the TDS contain at lower concentration levels.

I have a Rainsoft water softener that my Rainsoft RO system gets the water from. Do you think the the water could still harmful because it came from the water softener even though its going through the RO system?

Xebediah · Apr 5, 2021

davecw said:
Do you think the the water could still harmful because it came from the water softener even though its going through the RO system?

As long as it's PH is adjusted correctly and you add back in the the calcium and magnesium you should be fine.

Peppersmints · Apr 5, 2021

Im not using the same nutrients line, whoever, a meter for tds/ppm is required to figure if its a lockdown or a defiency. You can mesure the water going back out into the reservoir if needed, you will know if its higher in ppm then what goes in...you probably have a lockdown. I am personnaly using tap water instead of RO but, some city use chlorine that could be harmfull, just let it air out if you city using it. Also avoid any salt water filtration system... In the case of a lockdown, you want ppm as much as possible on the low ( same between schedule nutrients change, and same at the end flush for the last fews days. Depending on the medium using, the PH could also cause a lockdown if not in the right range ( 6.2 ph for VEG , and 5.8 ph for Flower seem ideal and basic knowledge to remind of ! ) Dont expect your plant to take back from a defiency if your using RO water for 2 days...tap water should help in this case.

GREENSOURCE · Apr 5, 2021

davecw said:
I have a Rainsoft water softener that my Rainsoft RO system gets the water from. Do you think the the water could still harmful because it came from the water softener even though its going through the RO system?

No

davecw · Apr 5, 2021

I got a tds/ec meter. Water out of my RO is ppm 120 so I'm guessing I need to replace the filters. I flushed for a few days and backed off the nutes. Ppm is now at 320 after adding 5 ml calmag, 2.4 ml macro, gro, and bloom to 3 gallons. I also ph'd water to 5.8 before adding nutes this time as I read that adding pH down to nute water could cause a lockout. Ph didn't change after adding nutes. If the signs of deficiency don't show again I'll keep same ppm for a couple more weeks before raising it again.

Peppersmints · Apr 6, 2021

make sure you calibrate the tds meter upon first use, and mind the water temperature as it can change the ph result by a bit !
5.8 is a reference at a certain temperature for the probe or meter you are using, and you mention that water feel cool

I dont use dwc personnaly, you may look at my current grow journal, im around 1300ppm right now, but I usually stay around 1100. My reservoir temperature stay around 64f-68f night-day, Day 45 flower now ! If you want to share more photo of the plants overall so we can see if the rest is healthy, but your overall setup, is your bucket directly on the ground, in a basement?

First time grower this looks bad

First time grower this looks bad

davecw

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