Problems in Flood and Drain

[ThickBudz]

Hello Friends, I'm having some trouble with my plants in my new flood and drain system. So plants look like crap, I'll add some pictures. I'm 2 1/2 weeks into veg and problems are arising. My flood table is new, it's a 4x4 with a 4" fill height. which I just barely reach with my res. My smart pots are 3 gallon pots and the height of the pot is 8" to the top of the coco coir media. I was cycling the flood and drain for 10 minutes once per day, a half hour after the lights come on. the plants were looking a little sickly so I started checking the pots in the evening and there still pretty heavy so I was thinking maybe I was watering too much. So I stopped that cycle and started watering as the pots were getting lighter, about every three days. The problems are still there with the plants. Light in color, burning/curling/dried out leaves. I'm using Canna nutrient regimen. A & B, Cannazym & Rhizotonic. 800 ppm 6.5 ph. The 6.5 was a surprise, found my meter out of calibration this morning. Not sure if that PH is high enough to cause havoc. So This is the second time I have done flood and drain, the first time I had a deeper smaller tray, not sure if the watering needs to reach a certain height on the pots. The one other new thing I have is I just switched over to LED and I'm running Mars Hydro TSW 2000W so not sure if that is contributing in any way. Temps in the tent average in the mid to upper 70's, humidity is pretty low 30-40% when I run my exhaust and over 60% when I do not. So that's the info, I'm sure I might be leaving out some details. I just (today) started trying some foliar feeding so hoping that would help out. Again second time with flood and drain (recycle) and I really like it. I have grown organically for years with excellent results but I'm getting older and my schedule is more demanding. I still want to keep a garden going so this is what I'm trying to get working successfully, and any help would be appreciated. Pictures below.

 

[Justlovetogrow]

It looks like a ph problem to me but I’m no expert in my experience with coco and perlite mix it’s pretty hard to overwater as it likes to be constantly saturated 90-100 percent at all times maybe up the frequency of the watering to try to stabilise your ph good luck mate.

 

[ThickBudz]

It looks like a ph problem to me but I’m no expert in my experience with coco and perlite mix it’s pretty hard to overwater as it likes to be constantly saturated 90-100 percent at all times maybe up the frequency of the watering to try to stabilise your ph good luck mate.

Thanks for the tip Justloveto grow. I'm trying that out now, no good news to share yet but I'll keep you posted.

I thought I responded on Sunday but looks like I didn't send. Danks again..

-ThickBudz

 

[Billymgb]

Thanks for the tip Justloveto grow. I'm trying that out now, no good news to share yet but I'll keep you posted.

I thought I responded on Sunday but looks like I didn't send. Danks again..

-ThickBudz

How did your plants do.

 

[ThickBudz]

How did your plants do.

So I learned something New, I have a 4 stage filter system for my water that basically puts out RO/DI water (0 TDS) for my flood & drain. What I didn't know is that you really can't use a PH meter when using DI water because there are no ions in the water. Basically you have to use PH test strip to get a general reading on the waters PH. Now I've put up my PH meters and I'm using test strips. The hilarious thing is I'm color blind so I have to get the wifey to tell me where the PH is, lol. But now I understand the problem. Unfortunately I'm down to one plant from three but this one seems to be doing better. I did up the feeding as suggested from once a day to twice a day as well. I flipped to flower last Tues 01/26 hoping things will take off. Not crazy about growing just the one plant but I pulled three clones off a couple weeks ago so I'll have them coming up behind. Kind of where I'm at for now. Danks for asking Billymgb..

Any suggestions/feedback I'd love to hear it. I used to grow organically but just getting older and trying new things so I can still keep my hobby but not be so demanding of my time.

-ThickBudz

 

[Justlovetogrow]

Glad u seemed to have sorted ya problem out mate

 

[ThickBudz]

Glad u seemed to have sorted ya problem out mate

Thanks, So far so good. Keeping an eye on it. Thanks for your support.

 

[Billymgb]

So I learned something New, I have a 4 stage filter system for my water that basically puts out RO/DI water (0 TDS) for my flood & drain. What I didn't know is that you really can't use a PH meter when using DI water because there are no ions in the water. Basically you have to use PH test strip to get a general reading on the waters PH. Now I've put up my PH meters and I'm using test strips. The hilarious thing is I'm color blind so I have to get the wifey to tell me where the PH is, lol. But now I understand the problem. Unfortunately I'm down to one plant from three but this one seems to be doing better. I did up the feeding as suggested from once a day to twice a day as well. I flipped to flower last Tues 01/26 hoping things will take off. Not crazy about growing just the one plant but I pulled three clones off a couple weeks ago so I'll have them coming up behind. Kind of where I'm at for now. Danks for asking Billymgb..

Any suggestions/feedback I'd love to hear it. I used to grow organically but just getting older and trying new things so I can still keep my hobby but not be so demanding of my time.

-ThickBudz

Thanks for answering me thick. Glad you got it figured out.

 

[ThickBudz]

Update, WTF, I was looking at these plants today and seen that this one has hermied on me. It's been a pretty rough grow so far and not sure if I should pull the plant. it' looks like the damage is done, there are a few other sites on the plant where the sacks have opened. I guess I'll just ride it out. Just wanted to give an update.
Next grow is back to organics, apparently plants in hydroponic are much more sensitive. Buds never really stacked, there pretty but pretty small as well.
Dag Nab It..

 

[ThickBudz]

The the more I thought about it, I started looking more and saw more fresh bananas popping out. I hated to do it but I pull her. So glad I did, I cut her down, flipped her over and saw spots popping up all over. Disaster averted! She did have a lot of cloudy trichomes so not a complete loss.

On to bigger and better things I hope. There are still 5 left in the tent so we'll see how it goes from here. Another couple weeks on those, they were lagging behind.

-ThickBudz

 

[ThickBudz]

Another big surprise in this Garden from hell. Check this Hermie out. Organic on the next grow, no more flood and drain for awhile.

-ThickBudz