Room conditions are okay, I have plenty of fresh air, good temps. good humidity and ton of light. My soil is a mix of three different potting soils, some chicken manure, course sand, perlite, and some extra hydroton I had laying around (not re-used)
Please reference the question you're answering by including the question number with your answer.
1) I have a soil mix in 10 gallon pots. Once the plants are well established, say 6 weeks in, how much water would you use to water this size of container, on average?
1a) How much runoff do you shoot for? (%)
2) I use a 1k halide during veg for just four plants, what kind of PPM would you feed them at? *knowing this varies somewhat throughout the cycle, please just provide an average.
3) I use a 1k HPS during flowering for the same number of plants, what kind of PPM would you feed them at? *knowing this varies somewhat throughout the cycle, please just provide an average.
Now, combining what you've told me about questions 1 and 2 and/or 1 and 3...
4) What kind of schedule do you typically feed at?
(i.e. nutes every time you feed, every other time, an alternating nute/plain water regimen, etc)
4a) If you use one of those cheap watering meters, at what number do you add more water, and when measured at what depth?
(I find I can get quite a variance from the top four inches to the bottom four)
5) If I dig about 6" down into the soil and grab a handful of soil and squeeze it together, what should I expect it to do? (assuming I'm watering properly)
10 minutes after watering -
a) clump and ooze some water (wettest)
b) clump, but not ooze water (wetter)
c) clump, but spring back and crumble (wet)
d) light clumping, easy crumble (moist)
24 hrs after watering -
a) clump, but not ooze water (wetter)
b) clump, but spring back and crumble (wet)
c) light clumping, easy crumble (moist)
d) no clumping, stays loose - (semi-dry)
6) What's the highest PPM you use?
a - Veg ?
b - Flower ?
7) How often do you flush?
(I'm currently about six weeks into flowering)
I've had some issues with nute lockout or watering issues, and the last time I flushed, it took about a week, but then they just exploded with new growth for a few weeks and now they're starting to to do the same thing. Growth is stunted, buds are not tightening up, leaves have lost their luster and shineyness, and they feel a little dry to the touch. This is something I was experiencing before the last flush, but all those sypmtoms went away temporarily.
8. More of a summary and some questions.
So at this point I don't know what it was that fixed them. Was it the large amout of water? Was it flushing away nute/salt build up ? Was it the large amount of correctly PH adjusted water that freed up the nutirients in the soil? I suspect this is more of a PH issue than anything else, but I don't want to risk overwatering just so I can get enough run-off to check the PH. After flushing I only used a light 500-600 PPM solution for the first watering several days later and yet I still got the crazy growth, which again leads me to think this is all a PH issue.
Photo #1 is from before the last flush, notice the drooping and large ridges on the leaves. They were also a little dry to the touch.
* I'll add a current photo or two in a while.
** Of course I didn't take a photo of the plants at their healthiest moment.
Now go load yourself a bowl for a being such a good samaritan.
Please reference the question you're answering by including the question number with your answer.
1) I have a soil mix in 10 gallon pots. Once the plants are well established, say 6 weeks in, how much water would you use to water this size of container, on average?
1a) How much runoff do you shoot for? (%)
2) I use a 1k halide during veg for just four plants, what kind of PPM would you feed them at? *knowing this varies somewhat throughout the cycle, please just provide an average.
3) I use a 1k HPS during flowering for the same number of plants, what kind of PPM would you feed them at? *knowing this varies somewhat throughout the cycle, please just provide an average.
Now, combining what you've told me about questions 1 and 2 and/or 1 and 3...
4) What kind of schedule do you typically feed at?
(i.e. nutes every time you feed, every other time, an alternating nute/plain water regimen, etc)
4a) If you use one of those cheap watering meters, at what number do you add more water, and when measured at what depth?
(I find I can get quite a variance from the top four inches to the bottom four)
5) If I dig about 6" down into the soil and grab a handful of soil and squeeze it together, what should I expect it to do? (assuming I'm watering properly)
10 minutes after watering -
a) clump and ooze some water (wettest)
b) clump, but not ooze water (wetter)
c) clump, but spring back and crumble (wet)
d) light clumping, easy crumble (moist)
24 hrs after watering -
a) clump, but not ooze water (wetter)
b) clump, but spring back and crumble (wet)
c) light clumping, easy crumble (moist)
d) no clumping, stays loose - (semi-dry)
6) What's the highest PPM you use?
a - Veg ?
b - Flower ?
7) How often do you flush?
(I'm currently about six weeks into flowering)
I've had some issues with nute lockout or watering issues, and the last time I flushed, it took about a week, but then they just exploded with new growth for a few weeks and now they're starting to to do the same thing. Growth is stunted, buds are not tightening up, leaves have lost their luster and shineyness, and they feel a little dry to the touch. This is something I was experiencing before the last flush, but all those sypmtoms went away temporarily.
8. More of a summary and some questions.
So at this point I don't know what it was that fixed them. Was it the large amout of water? Was it flushing away nute/salt build up ? Was it the large amount of correctly PH adjusted water that freed up the nutirients in the soil? I suspect this is more of a PH issue than anything else, but I don't want to risk overwatering just so I can get enough run-off to check the PH. After flushing I only used a light 500-600 PPM solution for the first watering several days later and yet I still got the crazy growth, which again leads me to think this is all a PH issue.
Photo #1 is from before the last flush, notice the drooping and large ridges on the leaves. They were also a little dry to the touch.
* I'll add a current photo or two in a while.
** Of course I didn't take a photo of the plants at their healthiest moment.
Now go load yourself a bowl for a being such a good samaritan.
Heres a quick suggestion. Next time buy sum Miracle Gro potting mix and just add water. There.
