New Grower, having issue(s). Bottom Leaves Yellowing - Week 2 Veg

[Brandon.Edward]

Hi folks.

So, I'm a new grower as of a couple months ago. Have had a couple failed attempts, and failing at this one much like the last time.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on now. I'm hoping it's just a nutrient deficiency.

I am hand watering by the way. Making sure I get enough run-off each feed.


Water I've been using this round: around 40ppm
My tap is around 240-250ppm. I'll post test results of my tap/well water or whatever.

I've been using the RAW NPK All-One-Grow ( https://www.npkraw.com/products/raw-grow )

Fox Farm's Calmag ( https://foxfarm.com/product/bush-doctor-cal-mag )

Coco Coir( https://www.amazon.com/ZeeDix-Premi...-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 )

Perlite = ( https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Hort...te&qid=1688991763&sprefix=per,aps,404&sr=8-18 )

I'm in about a 70/30 mix, coco/perlite.

This is my PPM / EC Meter ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079DN9DRS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details )
Sadly, I do not have a PH Meter yet, but have opted for test strips for now.

and that's it, so far.

Growing in a 2x4 AC Infinity Tent setup. Came with LED Lights, inline fan, etc.

Lights are currently set to 60% @ 18 inches from top of biggest plant. ( AC infinity recommends 80% @ 18 inches away during veg )




I was of the mindset that the RAW stuff has "all the nutrients plants need" minus adding Calmag at full strength (5ml / gal)

Water PPM = around 37-40ppm
Water + Calmag = around 180-190ppm with full strength
Water + Calmag + nutes = was feeding around 300ppm a few days, bumped it up to 330ppm, then 360ppm, and the past couple days it's been at around 415ppm. I had been giving them quarter, half, and 3/4 strength nutes until this morning.


Today, I said fuck it and started giving them full strength ( 1 tsp / gal ).
Water PPM = 40ish
Water + Calmag = 180ppm
Water + Calmag + Nutes = 553ppm / 1176 EC

I've been feeding them twice a day. Once at lights on around 8pm to 9pm. Second time when I wake up, around 5am-6am.

Temps = 79-81 F day / 72-75 F night
Humidity = 63%-70%
Was chasing VPD the first time I attempted, but I can't get any of it right for some reason so I've been keeping Humidity above 60% at all times, usually 65% night, 70% day.

The PH of my water seems high. It comes in at around 7-7.5 or something. After adding calmag and nutrients, according to the strips, I'm getting around 6, though it's really hard to tell exactly.
I will be buying a meter, but damn they are expensive. I hear the cheap ones ($20 range) are crap. But I've never used one either way, though if anyone has a suggestion/link, I'd love to see what people swear by.

As of now, my leaves have been starting to slowly turn yellow on the bottom. Even some of the leaves have brownish spots coming in. This was happening the last time too, but I was using my Well Water with 250ppm. And honestly, I don't know how much cal/mag and nutes I was giving. I feel like I was giving much less than I should have then as well. I was afraid that the high PPM in my water would burn them if I went by the recommended dosage of both the cal/mag and nutes.

I really hope it's just a matter of not enough nutrients, and not something like my lack of being able to determine my PH. I hope my PH is fine after adding nutes/calmag. I bought PH down, but I don't see any reason to use it, unless say I need some PH up? Uhg.

Still very new, still very confused. I just wanna get this right, and I'm not going to give up.

I am about to just switch nutrients all together and go with Canna A and B. I wish I would have bought that stuff instead of this RAW stuff, but maybe that's not the issue here. Probably isn't... it's probably me lol.

Anywho, adding some pictures. Hopefully they're good enough. If not, I will happily take more or provide any other information I can.

Really do appreciate any knowledge thrown my way, or nutrient line suggestions or anything really.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

Is the coco you're using pre-buffered? If not, did you buffer it? Unbuffered coco will grab calcium and magnesium ions from your feed. Your comment that you're seeing brown spots made me wonder about this possibility...brown spots can be a sign of Ca deficiency.

 

[BillyBanchan]

You pics are not showing up for me.

High pH with unbuffered coco is a recipe for nutrient lookout. This type of grow is a bit harder on someone new to growing, but certainly not impossible.

Get the pics sorted out so we can see...

 

[Brandon.Edward]

Odd, hopefully pictures will show now.

 

[Brandon.Edward]

The coco is not pre-buffered.

I did buffer it, at least I thought I did a good enough job.

I let my coco soak in 7.5 m/l gallon (150% strength) calmag in a 5gallon bucket for 8 hours. Dumped the liquid out. Soaked again for another 8 hours.
Dumped the liquid out. Then used the coco.

 

[BillyBanchan]

Odd, hopefully pictures will show now.

Pics are good!

And not as bad as was expecting!

The new growth looks pretty good. For seedling stage, in unamended coco, you would like to see 5.9-6.3 pH, .3 to .5 EC (150-250 ppm {ppm500 scale, or TDS}), and VPD of .55-.75 kPa.

With everything nailed, EC could likely be upped some, but I've noticed a lot of folks doing great with lower EC numbers in hydroponics. I'm coming around to that fact, as well.

Watering habits play a huge role, especially early on. I've heard it all (well, I've read it lol):

"You can't over water in coco! Treat coco like soil! Don't treat coco like soil! Keep coco wet! Keep it barely moist!"

It's all noise. You'll learn to watch your plants and listen to what they're telling you.

To conclude, your plants look to be a little over watered. Hopefully others with better eyes and more experience will come by and have a look-see.

B²

 

[ArtfulCodger]

The coco is not pre-buffered.

I did buffer it, at least I thought I did a good enough job.

I let my coco soak in 7.5 m/l gallon (150% strength) calmag in a 5gallon bucket for 8 hours. Dumped the liquid out. Soaked again for another 8 hours.
Dumped the liquid out. Then used the coco.

You buffered it like I would have. This might sound crazy, but can we see the bottom of one of your cups? Just wondering about how much drainage you have.

 

[BillyBanchan]

Hopefully these will help you along your journey:

 

[Brandon.Edward]

I used scissors and cut 4 slits around each cup.

Yea, now that you mention it, they do look droopy.
I've been feeding them twice a day, per many other people's suggestions, and websites I've read etc etc.
Been using the coco for cannabis website as a main reference.
But yea, people keep saying you can't over water them. I suppose I should stop watering/feeding twice a day then.

Also, I may just say screw it and buy prebuffered coco so I don't need to worry about that part.

May also just do the whole canna coco line thing. Coco and nutes and all their shit if need be.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

I used scissors and cut 4 slits around each cup.

Yea, now that you mention it, they do look droopy.
I've been feeding them twice a day, per many other people's suggestions, and websites I've read etc etc.
Been using the coco for cannabis website as a main reference.
But yea, people keep saying you can't over water them. I suppose I should stop watering/feeding twice a day then.

Also, I may just say screw it and buy prebuffered coco so I don't need to worry about that part.

May also just do the whole canna coco line thing. Coco and nutes and all their shit if need be.

I've had good results with Canna coco. I can't see your pics in the post before this one.

 

[Brandon.Edward]

 

[Brandon.Edward]

Think my PH is too low?

I do have a bottle of PH down. I know my PH is starting out at like 7-7.5 and I thought that's what my issue was before, but then I didn't even know my PH would change once I added nutrients until after I bought the stuff. Oops.

Adding nutrients and calmag I get somewhere between a 5 and a 6 according to those test strips.

I may just need to buy a proper PH pen too. Maybe PH up as well? uhg

 

[enjoimangos]

Think my PH is too low?

I do have a bottle of PH down. I know my PH is starting out at like 7-7.5 and I thought that's what my issue was before, but then I didn't even know my PH would change once I added nutrients until after I bought the stuff. Oops.

Adding nutrients and calmag I get somewhere between a 5 and a 6 according to those test strips.

I may just need to buy a proper PH pen too. Maybe PH up as well? uhg

It's very possible it could be nutrient lock out if you're PH is off. You could water them and test the run off, but not sure how accurate that would be with just a solo cups worth of soil. 6-7 is the general rule, but in my obsessive research since starting my first grow it seems that plants take up the primary nutrients best between 6.2 and 6.8.

I'm not using coco, but my buddy is and his coco loco had premixed dolomite lime in it, which increases the ph of the soil, so he had to adjust his water on the lower side.

I was just using test drops in sample water to test PH, but I ended up buying a bluelabs PH pen and its been a real treat. I started with a cheaper one, but it had wild swings day to day.

You could always use Baking soda if you already have that around your house to increase your waters PH too.

Happy growing!

 

[Brandon.Edward]

Baking soda, got plenty. I might just try that for now. If anything, maybe just add more plain water to raise PH a little?

Tomorrow, buying a bottle of PH up, maybe a PH pen off the internet, if Lowe's or Home Depot don't have any PH up. I live in quite a rural area, but I'm gonna give them a call once they open.


This same thing happened a month or so back too, right when I entered Veg about also. Thought my PPMs were too high. This time, I started real low (high 100s, low 200s) and worked my way up. Same issue.


Thanks for the info and suggestions folks. I'll hopefully be able to get some PH Up soon.

 

[enjoimangos]

Baking soda, got plenty. I might just try that for now. If anything, maybe just add more plain water to raise PH a little?

Tomorrow, buying a bottle of PH up, maybe a PH pen off the internet, if Lowe's or Home Depot don't have any PH up. I live in quite a rural area, but I'm gonna give them a call once they open.


This same thing happened a month or so back too, right when I entered Veg about also. Thought my PPMs were too high. This time, I started real low (high 100s, low 200s) and worked my way up. Same issue.


Thanks for the info and suggestions folks. I'll hopefully be able to get some PH Up soon.

Yeah just mix baking soda into the water to raise the PH, you can lower PH by adding vinegar to your water too.

 

[Brandon.Edward]

What Pen did you buy? Link?

Or is this fine to use? https://www.amazon.com/bluelab-Pen-...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070137933559&psc=1

Are there any that don't need to be calibrated each use? Or each time you dunk it in something? Sounds annoying as hell to be honest... but I wanna get this right.

 

[ArtfulCodger]

[pics]

I don't know if it's a big issue, but I'd double or triple the amount of drainage holes in those. Coco drains wonderfully, but if the water doesn't have enough escape routes, it kind of defeats that. Here's mine.

 

[fromogtothis]

Looks like another ph issue get the blue lab ph meter 7.0 and 4.0 solution for calibration at least once a week. Don't forget electrode storage solution. Keep the ph of your water below 6 and ec below 1.8/ 900ppm and stop listening to everyone with an opinion. 99% of lockout is from ph being off toy breed a ph pen way before you need an ec meter. Good luck

 

[fromogtothis]

Think my PH is too low?

I do have a bottle of PH down. I know my PH is starting out at like 7-7.5 and I thought that's what my issue was before, but then I didn't even know my PH would change once I added nutrients until after I bought the stuff. Oops.

Adding nutrients and calmag I get somewhere between a 5 and a 6 according to those test strips.

I may just need to buy a proper PH pen too. Maybe PH up as well? uhg

Do not mix ph up and ph down!!!!!!!

 

[TLOnewbie]

Hi folks.

So, I'm a new grower as of a couple months ago. Have had a couple failed attempts, and failing at this one much like the last time.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on now. I'm hoping it's just a nutrient deficiency.

I am hand watering by the way. Making sure I get enough run-off each feed.


Water I've been using this round: around 40ppm
My tap is around 240-250ppm. I'll post test results of my tap/well water or whatever.

I've been using the RAW NPK All-One-Grow ( https://www.npkraw.com/products/raw-grow )

Fox Farm's Calmag ( https://foxfarm.com/product/bush-doctor-cal-mag )

Coco Coir( https://www.amazon.com/ZeeDix-Premium-Compressed-Starting-Gardening/dp/B08V8S5VTB/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=95FN9L3LJ3MC&keywords=coco+coir&qid=1688991700&sprefix=coco+coi,aps,281&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 )

Perlite = ( https://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Horticulture-Coarse-Grade-Perlite/dp/B08DZWC2J2/ref=sr_1_18?crid=DIKQS5RXDD01&keywords=perlite&qid=1688991763&sprefix=per,aps,404&sr=8-18 )

I'm in about a 70/30 mix, coco/perlite.

This is my PPM / EC Meter ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079DN9DRS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details )
Sadly, I do not have a PH Meter yet, but have opted for test strips for now.

and that's it, so far.

Growing in a 2x4 AC Infinity Tent setup. Came with LED Lights, inline fan, etc.

Lights are currently set to 60% @ 18 inches from top of biggest plant. ( AC infinity recommends 80% @ 18 inches away during veg )




I was of the mindset that the RAW stuff has "all the nutrients plants need" minus adding Calmag at full strength (5ml / gal)

Water PPM = around 37-40ppm
Water + Calmag = around 180-190ppm with full strength
Water + Calmag + nutes = was feeding around 300ppm a few days, bumped it up to 330ppm, then 360ppm, and the past couple days it's been at around 415ppm. I had been giving them quarter, half, and 3/4 strength nutes until this morning.


Today, I said fuck it and started giving them full strength ( 1 tsp / gal ).
Water PPM = 40ish
Water + Calmag = 180ppm
Water + Calmag + Nutes = 553ppm / 1176 EC

I've been feeding them twice a day. Once at lights on around 8pm to 9pm. Second time when I wake up, around 5am-6am.

Temps = 79-81 F day / 72-75 F night
Humidity = 63%-70%
Was chasing VPD the first time I attempted, but I can't get any of it right for some reason so I've been keeping Humidity above 60% at all times, usually 65% night, 70% day.

The PH of my water seems high. It comes in at around 7-7.5 or something. After adding calmag and nutrients, according to the strips, I'm getting around 6, though it's really hard to tell exactly.
I will be buying a meter, but damn they are expensive. I hear the cheap ones ($20 range) are crap. But I've never used one either way, though if anyone has a suggestion/link, I'd love to see what people swear by.

As of now, my leaves have been starting to slowly turn yellow on the bottom. Even some of the leaves have brownish spots coming in. This was happening the last time too, but I was using my Well Water with 250ppm. And honestly, I don't know how much cal/mag and nutes I was giving. I feel like I was giving much less than I should have then as well. I was afraid that the high PPM in my water would burn them if I went by the recommended dosage of both the cal/mag and nutes.

I really hope it's just a matter of not enough nutrients, and not something like my lack of being able to determine my PH. I hope my PH is fine after adding nutes/calmag. I bought PH down, but I don't see any reason to use it, unless say I need some PH up? Uhg.

Still very new, still very confused. I just wanna get this right, and I'm not going to give up.

I am about to just switch nutrients all together and go with Canna A and B. I wish I would have bought that stuff instead of this RAW stuff, but maybe that's not the issue here. Probably isn't... it's probably me lol.

Anywho, adding some pictures. Hopefully they're good enough. If not, I will happily take more or provide any other information I can.

Really do appreciate any knowledge thrown my way, or nutrient line suggestions or anything really.

My grow only uses ro water from seed to harvest
Start over, again
Cook your soil i.e. The Rev 2.2
Buy his book TLO
I have zero of the problems several describe here
Idk anything about my grows ppms etc....
But I praise God for the results