Question For Bongojaz/Sativa Growers

Specifically Bongo because I saw him mention this in another thread.

Bongo, you said something about nitrogen issues causing "the claw" only when you grew sativas. Could you elaborate on this? I've just started growing some sativa mix strains and am definitely encountering some differences between them and the indica and indica dominant strains I've always grown.

What medium were you growing them in? (i grow hydro) and have you (or ANY sativa growers out there) seen other problems with sativas "generally" that you say you wouldn't don't really encounter with the indicas?

I seem to be finding them more sensitive to most issues than my indicas.....:cool:

Height and long finish lead to other problems.

Long finish leads to major soil issues over time. This is PARTICULARLY problematic in a peat-based soil, such as ProMix and almost all commercial soil mixes.
While an indica, coming in under 9 weeks, will only inhabit its flower pot for that length of time, a sativa may inhabit the same pot of dirt for 3 full months- long enough to go through all the buffer in the soil and start seeing wild pH fluctuations caused by the peat, and for the peat itself to start breaking down into a moisture-retentive, sludgy mess with a nasty low pH. So with sativas more than any other plants, soil prep is VERY important. I'd avoid ANY soil components which don't have a pH that is already in range, or inert. Here again is a good instance where a nice composted humus with a little more perlite than you would think you need is useful. The extra perlite really prevents soil compaction and changes in how water percolates (or doesn't) through the medium, and if you need to flush during that extended flower time, your life will be a lot easier.

IMHO, it's not the characteristics of the plant itself that make it more prone to problems, it's having to live in the same dirt for much, much longer than an equivalent but faster-flowering plant.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

Bongo, you said something about nitrogen issues causing "the claw" only when you grew sativas. Could you elaborate on this? What medium were you growing them in? (i grow hydro)

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i have only grown sativas 3 times, i hate the long wait. the first time, i was in soil and had no problems. the second time was in coco. i was growing 3 different strains. 2 indicas and one sativa dom (pok kush x product 19.) i believe the mistake i made was feeding them from the same rez. the indicas did great, and the sativa got the claw like i've never seen before. it was on nearly every leaf and the plant looked terrible. i asked around at the old advanced site, and was told it was from too much nitrogen and woud prob. not recover. apparently, sats. don't eat the same strength as most indicas. next time, i had a different rez for the sativas, and toned the ppm down to around 800, and they did great. i don't know if that;ll help you but that's what hapened to me. gotta love that sativa buzz though!!

But Stinkster I'm growing in hydro....:(........they DO seem to need to be flushed more.... Bongo...I have two 50% sativas I'm growing right now and one has some claw and one doesn't.....interestngly the one showing more INDICA characteristics seems to have less issues with "the claw"......as in....none. :confused:

thanks for the info you guys. :)