Newty said:

This is my 2nd time growing Autos, the 1st time was 1 mystery auto from Fast Buds.
Both grows started having this issue during flowering.
I was told I was over feeding and then was abandoned/received no more help, hopefully someone can help me find the cause and correct it properly this time.

I'm feeding 1/2 the strength of nutrients for these Autos compared to the 1st one I grew.
I'm also growing in Pro-Mix HP-M (no nutes), first grow was in Fox Farm (has nutes).

CALIMAGIC (1-0-0) - 5 ml/gal
FloraMicro (5-0-1) - 2.5 ml/gal
FloraGro (2-1-6) - 2.5 ml/gal
FloraBloom (0-5-4) - 2.5 ml/gal

I'm nutrient deficiency and toxicity stupid, I'm a photoperiod grower with years of growing them with no issues with nutrients so this is all very new to me.

Link to Diary if needed
Thread 'Newty's Fast Buds Blackberry Auto, feat. Spider Farmer SE4500' https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/newtys-fast-buds-blackberry-auto-feat-spider-farmer-se4500.163301/
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Itscheese94 said:

you anyway of checking the ph in the soil newty, my guess is the ph in the soil is under 6.0. also when the soil drys out the ec / ppm rises. therefore shows has like a nutrient burn when the soil drys out. i would continue to feed them, but makes sure the soil dose not dry out too much in between watering. maybe that will help. they also tend to do that alot under led when the soil drys out.

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Newty said:

The soil has buffers for ph, I've never tested soil ph in my life and never have issues with Photoperiods.
I can get some strips or something and do a slurry test, I guess you never know. Could be the Autos are just more sensitive to it.

I use the AC Infinity Self-Watering Bases so they always have water, the 1st auto I grew did the same thing but they were not in the bases, they were hand watered.
I grew Photoperiods in these bases with no issues with same brand soil and nutes as the 1st auto I grew with no issues at all and even used more nutrients then the Autos.

Seems to only happen when I hit the flower stage, veg stage has no issues.
Doesn't matter if it's Fox Farm or Pro-Mix.

Thanks for the reply!

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Itscheese94 said:

the buffers run out overtime bud, thats when you get the ph dropping and stuff. normally runs out around week 4 in the soil. do you repot the photo plants by any chance, or are they in the same pots has the autos newty.

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Newty said:

They start in solo cups but then transplanted into 3 gallon where they stay until harvested.
Years like this and never observed toxicity or deficiency signs.
Always 2 parts Ocean Forest to 1 part Happy Frog.
Just started using Pro-Mix this grow for the Autos, used same Fox Farm as above the last Auto with same issue.

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Itscheese94 said:

dno maybe its the strain the newty, some are more finicky then others. with the autos next you could maybe try a bigger pot size. maybe that should help to crazy has it sounds i normally repot them. a few weeks in little pots then in a decent size one. exactly like you mentioned above.

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Newty said:

I prefer synthetic nutes with Photoperiods and is why I use the same for Autos, maybe I should try organic with Autos next run.

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organicbr016 said:

I am using organic for autos and has been very good..
automatic plants does not allow you to make mistakes.. so organic should work well on that.. and taste of terpenes gets incredible!

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Newty said:

The roots on these actually grew into my self-watering bases, maybe since the roots are directly in contact with the water it's causing issues.
Idk, the first Auto was a Fast Buds strain also but a mystery strain.
Next run won't be Fast Buds.

I plan to go to 5 gallon next run because of the roots growing down the wicks into the bases.

I'll definitely do a slurry test for soil ph as you suggested.

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Newty said:

This definitely has to be part of the problem, those are the roots inside the self-watering bases. Which means the plant is getting water (not ph adjusted) directly from the bases instead of from the soil, along with the nutrients.
Plus how much can the wicks actually suck up water when they're covered in roots?

So I need to either treat it like hydro now and go get my air pump and put them into the bases.
What about just taking all the water out and filling the bottom with medium and hand watering from now on?

Definitely getting 5 gallon pots for next grow
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R4V3N said:

Just spitballing here, but could you have started the bloom nutes too soon? They look a little N deficient, it might have dropped before the plant was ready. As others are saying the pH could simply be off too. It's probably a little 'root confused' as in, It's getting the lower side of pH direct from the reservoir, but getting a higher pH from the soil above. Top roots might be being neglected by the plant, in favor for the 'Hydro' direct feeding route, which might cause them to drop foliage. Its a semi-hydro grow. I've watched growers videos using these pots, they seem to use coco more because its so absorbent, it gets the same nutes throughout the pot quicker.

Did this thing burst through the actual fabric pot bottom? I'm about to buy 4x of these self watering bases, and I'm wondering if reinforcing the base of the pots first with inserting another cut up fabric pot base before the soil, would prevent this from happening?

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BearWater said:

Good job? Hahaha! Thats badass in a sense but totally get why its not ideal : )

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Newty said:

Even though the bases were full of water, the bottom of the pots were dry like the roots kept the water from being able to absorb and travel through the wicks.

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Newty said:

The fabric pots are damage free.
The wicks and roots pulled right off. Smaller amount of roots grew down the wick and once they hit the water, they spread like crazy.
The self-watering bases only keep the bottom 1/3 of the pot wet and roots seek out water, this could mean the upper 2/3 of the pot could not have the root system it would with top watering and saturating the whole pot.
Something to keep in mind for anyone wanting to use SIP systems, may want to top water for awhile during veg or maybe just every now and then throughout the whole grow.

Even though the bases were full of water, the bottom of the pots were dry like the roots kept the water from being able to absorb and travel through the wicks.

I went ahead and emptied the bases and cleaned them.
Put some Liquid Karma and Pure Blend Tea into 0 ppm water and gave each plant 1.5 quarts from the top of the pot.

Interestingly the smallest plant had the most/craziest roots, then the largest, the middle sized plant was just starting to take off on 1 of the wick ends so luckily I decided to do this today.

I should probably update my diary with all this
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