2 weeks flowering, new growth curling under

[KnobodyKnows]

H=Ebb/Flow
R=plants in RockWool
T=HydroTon in grow tray
E= EVERYONE needs to answer lol!


E-indoor
E- hydroponics
E-Hydroton
HCL-Hydro, ebb/flow
SCLR-Soil or slab runoff pH
E-filtered tap water (PUR water filter)
E-Source water pH - 7.0 from tap, adjusted to 5.8ish before adding
HRT- unsure, no ppm meter
E- Age of Plant â?? approx. 8 weeks total; 12 days flowering
E-botanicare
E-Rate of application â?? for the last 7 gallon reservoir change the following nutes were added:

210 ml Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Bloom
70 ml Botanicare Instant Karma
9 ml Bushwhacker (will be last feeding with Bushwhacker)

E-400w HPS, 1 ft from plants
E-Day cycle 75 â?? 80, Night Cycle 70 - 75
HD-Reservoir temperature â?? unsure?
E-Air % Relative humidity â?? 35%
E-12/12
E- 4 in. exhaust on light, 2 intakes, 1 main exhaust, and circulation fan.
TR-Did you pre-soak your media in pH corrected solution? Rockwool grow cubes â??yesâ??, HydroTon â??noâ??


When I initially moved my 4 plants from veg. to bloom, I had some heat issue during the light cycle for the first 6 days; temps were in the 88 - 92 degree range. During that period (heat problems), I noticed some rust spots on some of the larger, lower fan leaves and the new growth, near the blooming buds, curling under.

After fixing the heat issues, the rust spots stopped (damaged leaves were removed) but the curling doesn't appear to have been corrected.

My suspicion is overdoing the nutes, but wanted to confirm with the pros before my next reservoir change

Any help is greatly appreciated. Pictures below.

[stinkyattic]

Curling is Nitrogen overdose and won't correct itself. If new growth is normal, you are back to normal.
Remember that your nutrient solution should be pH adjusted as the last step after adding nutes.

[KnobodyKnows]

Thank you for your assistance.

Overdoing the Nitrogen? What should I reduce, the Bloom solution or the Instant Karma? I'm following the directions on all nutes.

Also, I was considering adding some SuperThrive but have read its not best for the bloom cycle -- is that accurate?

And to clarify, I do adjust the ph after adding the nutes -- sorry for not being specific enough! I also check ph once a day to ensure everything is OK.

Thanks for taking the time to help

[stinkyattic]

No SuperThrive in bloom, ESPECIALLY if you are already maxxed out on N!
Read your labels and determine if either have an N number over '2'.
pH adjustment should be made AFTER adding all fertilizers to your res or watering can. Most soil growers don't even have to worry about pH thoguh- if you re-pot on schedule, it is very likely just to manage itself! Have you been repotting on a good schedule? Also remember curled over leaves can indicate the plant is root bound. Yours is too extreme to be simply rootbound, unless you have been seeing some curl for like 2-4 weeks already...?

[Dutch Pimp]

We need a "sticky" on transplanting schedules for soil. ...or an amendment...or banner...or something...:stoned:

We could call it..."ill'Legal Transplanting"....:s4:

and need to know current pot size and transplant history....(in the troubleshoot guidelines). IMO.

[stinkyattic]

You're right, and it is something I've been meaning to add. There is a transplant thread in the FAQ that I wrote, and teh continuous canopy sticky in basic is the same thing.
This is in hydroton so transplanting is real different- it's possible if the plants are containerized, and I actually do that myself, but a bit twitchy and not for the faint of heart.

[Dutch Pimp]

Hydroton?...oopps!~~~nevermind...forget, I mentioned it...:stoned:

I wandered into the darkside.

[stinkyattic]

You were lured by the heady scent of the cookies we bake here to tempt you with I'm certain... :D

[KnobodyKnows]

OK, allow me to clarify a couple of things based on the responses:

I'm not growing in soil; hydroponic ebb/flow (see initial post).

I check the ph of my solution before adding the nutes and again after adding the nutes. Subsequently, I check the reservoir ph everyday to ensure its around the 5.8 range.

Also, plants are growing in 4 inch rockwool, surrounded by hydoton. I seriously doubt 'root bound' is the issue.

Thanks for the tip on the superthrive -- I will not add. As far as the total amount of N shown on the back of the nutrient products, it is as follows:

Pure Blend Pro Bloom --> 2.5% N

Instant Karma --> 0.1% N

I'm unsure if the Bushwacker contains any N since it doesn't disclose the active ingredients.

As the picture indicates, I'm only noticing the downward curl on the new growth and I had previous issue with heat stress last week, so that may have added to the severity of the curl.

Should I just reduce the amount of nutes next reservoir change? Or do I need to flsuh with a product liek Clarex?

All your responses are greatly appreciated!

[stinkyattic]

Is your reservoir only 7 gallons for all those plants? That's a lot of biomass in thurrrr.
You talking about Bushmaster to keep them short? I'd lose it until you get the plant health back to normal.
Get back to me re: res volume...

[KnobodyKnows]

Yes, the reservoir is 7.5 gallons; its a Hydrofarm MegaGarden grower.

I figured it would provide enough room for 4 plants, but this is my first grow so I could most definitely have calculated that decision incorrectly.

I waited until the plants were 22 inches before moving the 4 plants to the flower cycle, and was given advice by a local grow shop to give the Bushwhacker the first 2 weeks of flowering to reduce stretching.

The last reservoir change was the second week with the Bushwhacker, so I won't be using that any more.

Other than the curling leaves on top, the rest of the plant looks healthy, not to trivialize the problem though -- I desperately want to solve the problem before it totally destroys my babies!

[KnobodyKnows]

Oh, and allow me to add the plants were vegged in their rockwool grow cubes, then moved into the megagarden grower when the bloom cycle started 13 days ago

[stinkyattic]

Ahhh... *sigh it's one of those pre fab systems. Hrm.
Well, 7 gallons for that much biomass is pretty tight and you are going to find that you have to change out the res REALLY often, like weekly- or even less!
Some strains REALLY don't like any nitrogen in flower and personally, seeing that curl, I'd be doing the following:
-Change to a bloom fert that has virtually NO nitrogen in it
-Change the res every 4 days
-Find a way to check your EC; a meter is REALLY helpful in hydro
-Next time, start with a clone mother and use that system to flower multiple rooted clones with almost ne veg time. They will finish as a single cola plant about 8-10" tall which is almost all bud and very little leaf, and be a lot easier to manage in a system that was designed for smaller plants.

Edit: Add another air stone to that res pronto, too... lots of roots and little water will lead to problems before you know it, and the air stone will help prevent that.