I have Springtails, and they seem to be harmful.

I use a KISS technique in hempy buckets. I grow 1 lb plants scrogged(4x4) in 5 gallon buckets. I only use 4 gallons of the bucket in 100% coco with hydroton in rez. I feed with 200ppm well water that has set for 1 to 2 days maxiBloom 1 small (7g) scoop per gallon. I add cal-mag and epsom about a teaspoon each per gallon. My nutrient solution goes in at 5.9 - 6.1 depending on ppms(usually 1000 to 1100 including the tap water ppm) sometimes I give a little less if ppms are increasing in rez. I use a 2 gallon roundup sprayer to feed.

Ok now for the problem. My soil never dries. When in flower I water my plants every day to about 10 to 15% runoff. My plants are healthy, but don't create big colas as they did my first few rounds with same mother before the springtails. They are more medium to small size. Since i have had springtails in my runoff, my ppms always go up no matter how much runoff I have. The ph always drops. If I do 20% to 30% runoff, I can get the rez ph to around 5.4-5.6. It never gets higher than that even when ppm go up.

I feel that these springtails are my problem. A lot of people say they are beneficial or don't cause a problem. They must be adding to my ppms and creating lockouts for nutrients. Whatever is in their waist product also lowers the ph of my hempy. I do not defoliate during flower. I lollipop just a little around the base so I can get my bug sprayer around the plant for easy watering. My leaves get yellow and show signs of deficiency around the 4 week mark of flower now every time. I can tell the plants are stunted and not growing healthy at that point.

Has anyone experienced this? I know its hard to kill the bastards, but what can I do to adjust for it. Should I lower nutrients to account for the extra waste from the springtails? Maybe start with a ph of 6.5 to account for the bastards?

One more note. At the end of harvest I examine my roots. The roots in the coco are white health and growing down in straight lines no swirls. No signs or root bound or anything. Nice even roots throughout the bucket. The roots in the rez are brownish maroon nasty looking but do not smell like rotting roots.

Any ideas?

maybe not springtails but aphids

Are you recirculating using coco?

Sounds like you are.

Coco really doesn't work too well as a recirculating medium as it screws with the pH and the returning mix can be less in N Ca and Mg as coco holds onto them but could be higher in K as it produces K over time.

The calcium nitrate buffer in coco doesn't last forever (usually 4 weeks of continued use) and then needs replenishing with a calcium source.


My guess is lack of oxygen in your res causing brown roots along with Ca depletion and an imbalance in your NUTE mix after feeding.

Coco should generally be used drain to waste.

In coco your base NUTES should be lower in K than N, higher in P than K and higher in N than P.

Ca should be around 5% and Mg around 2%.

Every 2 weeks you should look to rebuffer the coco using at least a Ca source.




J

I'm using hempy buckets drain to waste I never reuse the runoff. I toss it in my yard or flowerbed. I did two runs before the springtails showed up with the same setup nutes and it was a wonderful harvest with huge colas and green leaves to the end. Now I have ppms building up and ph dropping all the time. The only thing that has changed is that I get the springtails in my runoff the last few runs. I know they are springtails I used a microscope.

Has anyone seen a change in their plants after springtails show up? I just ignored them until now. I am not completely convinced the springtails are causing the problem, but I am starting to think they are at this point.

Increasing ppm's in runoff says to me over feeding.

I've had springtails before and they didn't cause any issues. However that being said there are many different types of springtails.

Whenever I have rising ppm's in my runoff (coco grower here too) I generally use a mild solution of ca and mg. About 300ppms. (I use EC0.8 ) to semi flush the medium.

At the first sign of increasing EC in my runoff I generally knock down my EC by 0.4 from my previous feed. Then wait for a decrease before increasing strength again.

Do you use any enzyme products to help convert decaying matter?


Lately I've been using 17.5% H2o2 at 2ml per litre to boost oxygen levels and since using it haven't had any springtails.

Are your mothers from feminised beans?

I've seen genetic abnormalities show through sometimes when using fem mothers for a prolonged period.



J

Yes I have been using the same genetics for the last two years (Nirvana Blue Mystic Feminized). I got the clone from my brother. I take a clone from my plants before the Flip each time.

I love the plant. It doesn't smell up the room or house when growing. It is a good hybrid leaning more towards a sativa in high but grows like an indica but with lots of side branching. Perfect for a scrog. If I lower temps at night toward harvest I get lots of colors that make it look cool too. Once it drys and cures it stinks up the place.

My first two harvests were excellent. Now its just ok. I mean its great smoke, but just not as good a harvest as before as far as weight is concerned. I don't use anything but maxibloom, cali-magic, epsom salt. I have some h202 left over from when I used DWC. I can try that if you think it will help. My thinking before was the springtails were a welcome to my rez. I figured if they were there then I must have something good going on in there besides the synthetic nutes I add.

I think you might be right about the fem seed causing the problem. Its definitely something to think about. I changed up my lights this round as well to see if that would help. I went from 600 watt cheap apollo hps to philips allstart 330 watt cmh with magnetic ballasts. The plants seem to love the light, so we will see how it helps. I just flipped my plants yesterday. Fingers crossed I see some change this round.

From your help here is what I will try this time. I am going to assume my genetics are ok and that springtails are ok.

1. Lower ppms in feed until my rez ppms start to lower. Then try to keep it at a lower level and see how the plants react.

I usually try to stay around 1000ppms every feed with 15% runoff. Once a week I do like maybe 30% runoff. I do this because a lot of hempy growers recommend maxibloom 1 scoop per gallon throughout the cycle and they say they have no problems. My ppms go from 1200 in rez and slowly builds up to over 3000ppms if I dont do anything. When my ppms get to around 2500 I feed a half feed with extra runoff maybe 50% and it goes back down to like 1700 or 1800ppms. Weird thing is my ph never rises even with the salt buildup. If nothing else it lowers even more the longer I let it stay at a high ppm. (This is what got me started on blaming the springtails, it just didn't make since to me. I figured if I have salt build up from overfeeding that my rez ph would go up not down?)

2. Add h2o2 to my feed try to sterilize the coco and rez to lower the food source for the springtails and adding more oxygen to the rez.

I didn't do this before because i liked the idea of having some organic activity in there, but if it will increase oxygen and lower organic activity I guess it would help me rule out the springtails as a cause if nothing else.

What do you think?

As salt accumulates it impacts ph by causing it to go down.

Think about when you add your NUTES to water.

It lowers the pH.

I think your plan is sound.


Remember also that less light energy requires less NUTES as the plants aren't utilising the light they were before.



J

Thanks for the help. It is my understanding that with the 330 allstart cmh light I am getting the same if not more usable light than my appollo 600watt hps bulb. At least my plants seem to be happier now. I know my eyes are a lot happier being in the same room now.