Plants looking a little sick +REP

Hi all, well these are my babies at about 8-10 weeks old, im using an ebb and grow system keeping the ph at 5.5-5.8 and the ppm at about 500, im using a 400w cmh bulb atm but switching to 400w hps 2day to start flowering, just wondering why they are looking like this pale green and slightly droopy, it looks sorta like heat stress to me but im not too sure, any input will be greatly appreciated
Cheers

i would get that clear container covered 1st then i would try plain water (p.h)of course
give it time then hit it with some empson salt looks like cal-mg maybe ..what r ur temps and humid

or could just be over ferted

Yah they do look a little un-happy
whats the air temp?
whats the water Temp?
whats the humidity?
are they in transition?

500 ppm? Really? thats sorta low unless there seedlings or ripening....
do you R/O your water?
Do the roots look good?

Air temps get up around 28-30 celcius max and 16-20 at lows, water temp is generally 21-22 celcius, humidity sits around 25-40% generally, if you mean transition into flowering then no im just starting to do that today, i dont r/o my water im not sure what that is, is it like filtered water? i do sit my water out for a day or 2 and ph it before using, the nutes im using are 12.2/2.3/10.8, what do you think i should have the ppm at? And yes roots still look nice and white with plenty of little hairs and i can see shitloads of them.
+REP to all

Also i should mention my water is pretty hard at bout ph 7.0-8.0 and 200-230ppm would you recommend using epsom salts to replace the cal mag? if so how much would i use in my 24ltr res?

Yes you can use epsom about 1/4 Tsp per gallon. I don't think that is your problem though. You said your water was 230 out of the tap, I would bump up the nutes a little and see how they react. Try 600 ppm and work your way up. Looks like a little N deficiency going on. And space those things out a little more you don't need them crammed together. R/O water is reverse osmosis filtered water usually < .030 ppm. You need to add some nutes with a better ratio for bloom too. You also need to bring your PH down to 5.8.

Ph is at 5.5-5.8, and i dont know if i can space them out because they are all rooted, i fear moving them because i think ill snapo some roots and thats another burden i dont need i reckon lol, would it be ok to move the pots?

The lower leaves are showing signs of mg deficiency. I don't know about the top though.

my bloom nutes are dutchmaster gold flower

I went to Dutch Masters Web Site, and yah it looks like your starving them.
your water is 300 ppm and there is only 200 ppm of nutes give you your 500 ppm
depending on the water you use, well water or city water has alot to do to it.
cities use chlorine or chloramide as a buffer to raise the ph of the water.

I wouldn't worry about breaking a few roots. in-fact I would suggest root pruning before you throw your plants into 12/12
The Bonsai rule is you can cut up to half the root system off.
don't touch the tap-root.
(Plants grow long roots in soil to find nutrients. in Hydro plants don't need long roots because the plant has all the nutes it could ever need in the nutrient solution.)

The first 2-3 weeks of flowering your plants stretch, root pruning will lessen the effects of stretching.

2nd what topfuel said, about adding more nutes

Well cheers mate so should I add 600ppm plus my water or including the ppm of the water??
And so you reckon moving the plants and breaking some roots will be harmless?

yes, as long as your going from hydro to hydro.
plants that are hydro can't go into soil, something about the tap root.
your gonna have your work cut out for you if you transplant. be gentle getting them apart.
but don't worry about breaking a few roots.

dont worry im not transplanting just want to spread them out as they are growing into each other :S
What about the nutes 600ppm including water ppm or 600ppm plus the waters ppm??
Cheers guys

anyone want to chime in

just follow what they recommend for a feeding schedule at Dutch Masters.
http://www.dutchmaster.com.au/nutrient_calculator.php?language=english

do what that one dude said and increase slowly to the correct ppm.
don't count the ppm of the water before your nutes

if your water is 300 ppm before the nutes, and the nutes are 1500 ppm then 1800 ppm
would be the ball park reading after you mix it all together.
The ppm they tell you is in a 0 ppm water solution.

The only other way to feed your plants is by Foliar feeding.

Ok cheers mate I've upped the ppm to 700 and will go an extra 100 a night till I get to 1000-1500 will keep you guys posted

Would you recommend using a small amount of grow mutes with bloom for the extra N??

bridie121 said:

Would you recommend using a small amount of grow mutes with bloom for the extra N??

Click to expand...

Yeah just a little though. NEVER start your nutes at the manufacturers recommendations ALWAYS start them at 1/4 or 1/3 strength and work your way up. If I went by the manufacturers recommendations for my plants they would be at 1300-1500 ppm and DEAD. I keep mine at 550 right now because if I raise it they show signs of burn. Point being different strains require different nutes under different conditions. Your plants will tell you what they need....