Coco and colored run off

[Chronic Chrissy]

This is what is going on and it saves me alot of time since nap time is over soon.
http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-problems/156710-lockout-hard-water-rain-water-choices.html

I have been collecting rainwater for flushing and using Ro water and 1/4-1/2 nute to feed. I flush equal amounts of water to soil every time I water and feed right now which is about twice a week. If the water comes out colored I flush at least double or until the water runs clear and pH matches, then lower the feed.

Everything was doing so much better except for the plants just going into flower. So to catch you up I'll take you from clone to entering flower.

Clone using gel and rockwool cubes with only pHed water.
Once roots blow I move to pots of 9/1 coco/perlite, with only pHed water Still under cloning lights to harden off.

Move 4" pots down to 400w MH for a week. They get flushed then one dose of 1/4 nutes.
Transplant to 1gl grow bags, 9/1 coco/perlite. Only pHed water.

About a week later I move to flower, flush and feed 1/4 once. Plants that looked healthy and green soon start to get sad.

So of course I with every watering again, only feeding nutes at 1/4 once a week and only when ever I feed I only use 1L of nutes(1/4-1/2) per pot after being flushed.

Now the problem. Once the plants get transplanted up to 1gl grow bags every single flush(which happens about twice a week till I figure out WTF is going on) the run off water is COFFEE brown and take twice to three times the medium amount to run clear. The pH is also raised to a little over 8, and I water with 5.2, and my water supply can stay stable at 5.2-5.5 for about a week.

This lasts till about week three of flower then the only time I see colored run off is if I give a little too strong feed, and I water an feed my plants individually. If the feed is too strong I dial it back a little and the next watering is fine for that plant. But most of my plants run clear.

So I thought that maybe this part of the batch of coco was expanded before I switched to rain water. But with the plants that are reacting now that isn't possible because I know I used rain water.

So I took a grow bag today filled it and flushed it. The run off was like a beer color maybe a little darker. What does this mean. I know when I start with fresh coco it is a reddish color and it is the color of peat by harvest so I'm thinking color or something. Or was my coco not flushed before I bought it and this is not normal.

Can anyone help me?

[Chronic Chrissy]

Stinky did I put this in the right place?

[stinkyattic]

Have you considered running drip-to-waste from a res of corrected water, and allowing 10% runoff at all times? =Constant mini-flushes.
The color may be from the coco or from your nutes. Some nutes are just really dark, like canna and pureblend. Most likely it's a combination. I'd get in the habit of watering to runoff every time you water, and if that means propping up the pots over a catch-tray, so be it.

[Chronic Chrissy]

Have you considered running drip-to-waste from a res of corrected water, and allowing 10% runoff at all times? =Constant mini-flushes.
The color may be from the coco or from your nutes. Some nutes are just really dark, like canna and pureblend. Most likely it's a combination. I'd get in the habit of watering to runoff every time you water, and if that means propping up the pots over a catch-tray, so be it.


But that's what I'm saying I flush one to three times as much water the medium amount, every time I water. Which is about twice a week.

So please picture this 3-4 plants to water means one five gallon pail of rainwater to collect, bring in, flush threw, and dump out. Now multiply that by about 60 plants in flower and about 9 in veg, every three days. IF the water comes out really dark and takes 3gl to flush I don't feed it(should have said that before), I just put it back in to recover after the runoff is clear and the pH matches. But there are instances where the next time I go to flush/water that same plant I still get yellow/brown runoff, when it wasn't fed after it ran clear. In that case I don't feed it again.