growlo_b
- 21
- 3
Hi,
I'm on my second grow in coco and I've been battling salt buildup issues the whole time. I'm not sure exactly what could be causing it. Details on my grow...
Medium: Cyco Coco (70/30)
Method: DTW
Nutrients: Jack's in the 3-2-1 mix. Feeding at 800-900ppm (1.6-1.8 ec)
Fertigation: Automated 4x daily. Each feed gets 10%-20% runoff
A couple of weeks into flower, I started noticing some nutrient burn. I measured runoff EC and it was close to 4! I was surprised because I'm feeding at a lower ec than is even recommended with Jacks, and I've been careful to fertigate frequently to keep the medium from drying out. I have increased the fertigation over time because I might have been under-feeding in the beginning though.
After I discovered the EC issue, I flushed with RO water with some SLF-100 and that brought things back down into range. Since then, I've been testing runoff EC pretty regularly and it's always creeping up slowly. I've ended up having to flush every couple of weeks as a result.
I'm a little stumped why this keeps happening. I've even dropped the EC in the reservoir and increased the fertigation events and that doesn't seem to have helped at all. From what I have read, these steps should have helped keep it in range by running more volume through the medium.
Any ideas on what could be happening? The only theory I have was that the initial buildup was pretty bad, and I never got it properly flushed. But if that were the case, wouldn't the increase in waterings plus the drop in feed EC helped bring it back down? Or does buildup always get worse if you don't get it flushed all the way out?
Stumped on this one. Any help is appreciated.
P.S. Plants look great. Just a little bit of burn from the initial EC spike I think...
I'm on my second grow in coco and I've been battling salt buildup issues the whole time. I'm not sure exactly what could be causing it. Details on my grow...
Medium: Cyco Coco (70/30)
Method: DTW
Nutrients: Jack's in the 3-2-1 mix. Feeding at 800-900ppm (1.6-1.8 ec)
Fertigation: Automated 4x daily. Each feed gets 10%-20% runoff
A couple of weeks into flower, I started noticing some nutrient burn. I measured runoff EC and it was close to 4! I was surprised because I'm feeding at a lower ec than is even recommended with Jacks, and I've been careful to fertigate frequently to keep the medium from drying out. I have increased the fertigation over time because I might have been under-feeding in the beginning though.
After I discovered the EC issue, I flushed with RO water with some SLF-100 and that brought things back down into range. Since then, I've been testing runoff EC pretty regularly and it's always creeping up slowly. I've ended up having to flush every couple of weeks as a result.
I'm a little stumped why this keeps happening. I've even dropped the EC in the reservoir and increased the fertigation events and that doesn't seem to have helped at all. From what I have read, these steps should have helped keep it in range by running more volume through the medium.
Any ideas on what could be happening? The only theory I have was that the initial buildup was pretty bad, and I never got it properly flushed. But if that were the case, wouldn't the increase in waterings plus the drop in feed EC helped bring it back down? Or does buildup always get worse if you don't get it flushed all the way out?
Stumped on this one. Any help is appreciated.
P.S. Plants look great. Just a little bit of burn from the initial EC spike I think...