Identifiy the problem

[marx2k]

i am keeping it steady now at 5.6 to 6-- I drop it down to 5.6 and let it climb naturally to 6, then drop it back down to 5.6.

One of the two plants climbed to 1070 ppm overnight from 800 and to 6.8 ph from 5.8 last night. Im topping up with ro water in hopes to drop the ppm and I am also correcting the pH.


Before the plants get the yellow and then the rust spots, the leaves get these shiny spots that turn into yellow that turn into rust spots. Strange.
I also think temps are becoming an issue. The temps in my part of the country are climbing. I may not be able to see this project through to the end. May have to wait for next winter to set in

[Chris Seekins]

How does the ppm raise up? I think it has to do with calmag. ph will cause more of a yellowing from my knowledge

[GluteusMaximus]

I think you'll find that once everything is dialed in, hydro is easy and fun. You're just in the learning curve at the moment with a couple set backs, no biggie, happens to everyone eventually.

Lets go right down the list. I'm sure you can get this corrected before you lose your crop.

Fix that temp! Don't let the reservoir get above 70F if possible. If you have no way of cooling down the res, try filling a couple gallon milk jugs with RO water spiked with 1ml of PH down in each jug then freeze them. Put those frozen jugs (with the lid off) inside the reservoir. This won't cure the res/temp issue, but it will help stabilize it during long hot periods and as the water in the jugs melt, it will help dilute your brew and it will help adjust your ph slightly.

Keep that PH stable too. I would make damn sure that your ph tester is accurate and keep it as close to 5.8 as possible. DO NOT let it hit 7 or above. Don't push it too far down allowing it to climb again either, that becomes too unstable. Keep it at 5.8 even if you have to wake up in the middle of the night to adjust it. Use only a pro PH down (like GH PH down). They're more capable of stabilizing PH than vinegar.

Make sure you have a good exhaust fan pulling air out from the top of the room. Keep your room at 80F or below if possible. Plants can tolerate temps up to 90F but prefer around 80. Add a circulating fan as well so you don't get hot spots in the room. Have the circulating fan blowing between the plants and the lights (don't put the fan right on the plants).

In my opinion, your ppm is too high. A sick and suffering plant only 10" high probably can't take advantage of that much nutrients. When my plants were exhibiting those characteristics, I put only PH adjusted water in the res and flushed the plants (3 water cycles on a flood and drain) then made a new brew. DO NOT put the full strength of nutes in the reservoir when you make a new brew. Instead, add 1/3 of your brew to the res water, next day....add 1/3 more with water...next day....add final 1/3 with water to top off. This way you introduce the nutes more gradually to the roots/plants avoiding burn and shock.

If the light is too close to the plant, back it off. The heat and light might also be more than the plant can tolerate in its current condition.

Finally, as far as the nutes go, I would abandon your current batch and start over....a quick flush with PH adjusted RO water only for about a day. Then after flush, use fresh RO water having zero ppm, add your calmag+ first and bring your ppm up to 50 taking notice of how much calmag+ it took to reach 50ppm. (Tap water is usually around 140, which will be the 3rd day target for the calmag). Then add your nutes bringing the ppm up to a total of 300 the first day. Day 2.... add as much calmag+ as you did the prior day then add more nutes on day 2 bringing it up to a total of 450ppm and on day 3 add as much calmag + as on first day and top with nutes bringing it up to 650ppm. Run that for a week and when you notice a brighter green in the new growth (not yellowing), then you know you're on your way to recovery. Next water change, use the same technique with higher values.

When you said you had shiny spots on the leaves, I assumed that these shiny spots are heavy dark, or heavy bright green in color. This is what I've witnessed in cases of over fertilizing. The shiny spots soon turn patchy and eventually turn to rust. I also found that a pale light green color usually indicates it's time to up the nitrogen.

I will finish by saying I am NOT a hydro expert by any means. I am on my first hydro grow, however, my experience in simple plant health and your description of your situation suggests that you are working your plants too hard.

In my opinion, it's better to back off and not push a sick plant. It will recover if you nurse it, then you can push it after recovery.

GM

[Zandor]

The PPM will change. The plants take nutrients and deposit others so the PPM number is only good for the time you mixed it. Once it's been through the plant cycle it will change. How often do you do a full water rez change?

[Gen]

ok, from the ic forum, what is your ph? For hydro ph should be 5-6, because this is when all the nutes are available to the plant. You probably have a phosphorus deficiency if this occurs during flowering or zinc deficiency during vegetative growth. Since this looks like veg cycle is't zinc.

[marx2k]

Gen, that was quite a lengthy and helpful post you produced there. I am very thankful of it. I think that since the only means I have of controlling indoor temps are with low outdoor temps, this batch will not make it because it will be flowering when temps are in the 90's outside. This is a closed room with the only venting out being an air conditioner in a blacked out window. The air conditioner doesn't work :/ The only thing I can think of doing is having the hydro shop make my reflector air cooled and vent that air out through the air conditioner grille?? That is an option although right now I am dirt poor so I may have to only go with the means already available to me. For my next batch, I will definately DEFINATELY use that process you mentioned above. It is one of the more descriptive processes for dialing in a hydro grow that I've seen! I like it, and thank you.

I am not overly sad as I still have enough lifesaver to last me till next winter from my LAST grow (I barely smoke and I only grow for myself. This is more of a hobby than anything else) and with the summer brings in my OTHER hobby... MYCOLOGY!!!!

[GluteusMaximus]

I do all the work.... Gen gets all the credit.

Just a thought, some air conditioners have fans that blow both directions. If yours can be reversed, maybe you could exhaust the air to the outdoors. Or maybe you could take the air conditioner apart and simply turn the fan blade around on the motor shaft thus making it blow outside instead of inside.

Hate to see you give up.

GM

[marx2k]

Ah, it's time well spent learning, Gluteus. And as I am under no pressure to make some superyield at the moment, I'll continue learning from this grow.

Thanks for the help, though, Gluteus! Always appreciated.

My one other question. I purchased a Bake-A-Round cooltube for my 400W HPS bulb. I have a SunSystem 400W HPS Ballast. The ballast connects to the reflector. At the reflector end, there is a box that the black wire runs into and then theres the bulb. I took everything apart today to see how it works and the box that's attached to the ballast is just an easy circuit box. (I've included a pic of it)

With that, that will not fit into a cooltube. I'm wondering what I need from HomeDepot in order to make it work. I don't have to take this apart as I have another ballast I can use the wire assembly with. But I need a link to or a list of parts I will need from Home Depot including a socket assembly (the socket the bulb screws into) in order to make it work in cooltube fashion.

There was once a GREAT link on this on OG but... well... yeah

I've also seen some links on here but they haven't shown what I need to know in detail or they look somewhat flimsy.

Any help on this or a point in the right direction would be of help.

[marx2k]

Also, is this root rot? Algae? Or is it normal crap from the nutes?

The roots are neither slimy nor are they weak. The stuff comes off in amber/brown chunks and the roots seem very white underneath.

[Garden Knowm]

MARx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is very very bad...
feel the roots .. do they feel slimy and do they break easy.....?

Now you have a serious problem.. that very very few people recover from..

1. you will need to keep ALL debri out of you reservor... dead debri in the reservor will consume O2 and make the problem worse..

2. you need to gently pull away all dead roots from the plant....

3.. you need to add Hydrogen peroxide to your water..

4. THE saving grace of your grow will be adding airstones to you reservor, as many as you can...NOW......AND

5. lowering the water temperature ASAP... get the temp between 65 and 68 degrees


There are really only 2 aspects to growing.. to be a GOOD grower..
1. PH balance!!!!!
2. oxygen


because we grow indoors.. temperature, bugs, humidity, etc have become factors.. BUT if you can give your plants adequate O2 and a the proper PH.. you are one level awAy from the GREATS!!!!!! We can talk about the LEGENDS some ther time..

GOOD LUCK..

you will need IT

i send all the LOVE in the universe --- love is you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!