Hempy Upgrade

[Barry Manilow]

Those plants are gonna be big airavata!

Did I miss something? What kind of res change did you do, you're still in hempy right?

 

[airavata]

Yep, still hempy. I'm just replacing the water in the bottom 2" of the bucket every couple weeks.

Yeah, they grew like crazy once I put them in the tent even though I kept them in the dark for 24 hours. They look like they're slowing down and putting on buds faster now though. I hope they don't get too much bigger.

 

[Barry Manilow]

I used to think about hempy exactly like you do, til Doc splained things. There's really not a 'res' in hempy like there is in most hydro setups. It's more like a bucket with an overflow valve.

The purpose is not to create a permament res down there but rather to limit the amount of water that the medium - perlite - can hold. But that water doesn't stay down there. It gets wicked upward by the perlite and the roots as they drink.

So all you need to do is water, preferably over the same small spot every time, until the overflow starts. Then you're done until the pots feel really light, should be at least 2 but maybe 3, 4 or more days depending. Basically all the water is gone, and it's time to repeat the process. This ebb and flow of water makes the roots really happy and thick. And following this method there's never any need to change the water in the res, it gets changed constantly.

Take care and good luck!

 

[airavata]

I'm starting to think I should've followed Blue's advice about using OC+. My plants basically look like they did last time around. Now I don't have any gnats to blame it on though and without soil to act as a buffer, it's apparent that the issue is nutrient burn. The plants that are now 3 weeks into flower are burned to all hell. I have been giving full doses of nutrients every other watering, which equates to every other day. The plants have tolerated it well up until the three-week mark in the bud tent. I have two other plants that have been in there for 1 week now on the same feeding schedule. No problems. The mothers in the veg tent are on the same feeding schedule. No problems. I cut the frequency of feeding to 2-3 days without before feeding again and it's still burning the hell out of them. But if I don't feed, I don't see much in the way of growth. Could it be a nutrient build-up in my medium that is bringing the salt concentration to toxic levels? Do the conditions in my bud tent just make plants more sensitive to fertilizer after a period of time? The answer would be more clear if I had been monitoring my tds this whole time, but the meter came uncalibrated and is useless for the time being. Hempy's kinda cool, I like it better than soil. I don't like the idea of using controlled-release fertilizers, though, because I want to precisely dial in my ideal growing conditions and that method leaves me with too many "what-if"s. But that seems like the only way for this method not to be a pain in the ass. When I grew hydro I never had this problem. I didn't have enough light or ventilation and I had algae, but feeding wasn't ever an issue. I'm gonna make a DWC setup the first chance I get. In the meantime, I might start using osmocote, although I don't really like the idea much. I wanna move toward organics and MaxSea is what I really want to use but that leaves me with the same hassles I'm dealing with now.

 

[Barry Manilow]

Sorry for the news bro. IMO the plants are much more sensitive in flower than during veg.

OC+ feeds at very low ppm's, either 300 or 600 I forget which.

If I were you I would flush the hell out of your sick plants, give them each 5-10 gallons of nothing but ph'd water. Let them sit for a few days then pick back up with a reduced feeding schedule, maybe half the suggested amount and see how they like that.

You could still switch to oc+, it certainly wouldn't hurt you can just top dress it and water over it. However at this stage of flower it sounds like you're where I was in my first two grows - just trying to keep them alive long enough to finish. I doubt anything you can do now will really 'fix' them but hopefully I'm wrong. Good luck!

 

[Siscokid]

Hey Airavata, some plants are a little more sensetive than others..maybe what you could also try is cutting the nutes to half dose, or tweak the ph of nutes going in.

What is your ph going in with the flowering nutes and what kinda nutes are you using again?

I'm using nothing but FF nutes and 100% Perlite, I had a similar looking burn in the oldest fan leaves, but it stopped after about a week or ten days of feeding it with a little bit lower ph. I think I was up at 6.4 and am now feeding at 6.0.

 

[airavata]

Quick picture update from 4 days ago (2 days before 4-week mark)

 

[airavata]

Sorry for the news bro. IMO the plants are much more sensitive in flower than during veg.

OC+ feeds at very low ppm's, either 300 or 600 I forget which.

If I were you I would flush the hell out of your sick plants, give them each 5-10 gallons of nothing but ph'd water. Let them sit for a few days then pick back up with a reduced feeding schedule, maybe half the suggested amount and see how they like that.

You could still switch to oc+, it certainly wouldn't hurt you can just top dress it and water over it. However at this stage of flower it sounds like you're where I was in my first two grows - just trying to keep them alive long enough to finish. I doubt anything you can do now will really 'fix' them but hopefully I'm wrong. Good luck!

Yeah, I'm guessing the results will be about what they were last time. Weight was low, plants were sick, but at least what I did get was primo stuff. I flushed everything with a really dilute nute solution. I'm think I'm gonna feed them 1/8 the recommended dose about once a week. I've stopped feeding my clone mothers b/c I'm getting ready to take cuttings and I've noticed that they're showing toxicity signs too. I think it's just toxic salt build-up....It actually looks like the perlite is wicking the fertilizer up to the top of the bucket. I should probably flush better than I have but all my water comes from a filter and it's a pain in the ass to flush the recommended amount. I'm just going to keep feeding really dilute nutrients and next time around I'll lean toward under-feeding rather than over-feeding. I would just switch to OC but I happen to be pretty strapped right now....more than pretty strapped actually....Anyway, thanks for the advice, Blue. I know I'm deviating from what you're recommending somewhat, but I agree that that would be the best thing to do.

 

[airavata]

Hey Airavata, some plants are a little more sensetive than others..maybe what you could also try is cutting the nutes to half dose, or tweak the ph of nutes going in.

What is your ph going in with the flowering nutes and what kinda nutes are you using again?

I'm using nothing but FF nutes and 100% Perlite, I had a similar looking burn in the oldest fan leaves, but it stopped after about a week or ten days of feeding it with a little bit lower ph. I think I was up at 6.4 and am now feeding at 6.0.

Hey, Sisco. I'm using FF nutes and 100% perlite also. I experimented with the pH quite a bit and have been keeping it around 5.75-6.0. That seemed to be a good range to me. I'm curious if you're using regular perlite, like I am, or the chunky stuff that's recommended. Do you notice FF-colored staining of the perlite at the base of the plant?

 

[jtdglf]

Hey, Sisco. I'm using FF nutes and 100% perlite also. I experimented with the pH quite a bit and have been keeping it around 5.75-6.0. That seemed to be a good range to me. I'm curious if you're using regular perlite, like I am, or the chunky stuff that's recommended. Do you notice FF-colored staining of the perlite at the base of the plant?

Im using FF and it stained the perlite in my soil.

 

[Barry Manilow]

I like the girls in the tub lol!

No problem my friend you have to do what you can afford and think is best. They look a lot like my first grow did, I didn't know what was wrong or what to do, now I think it was also salt build-ups. Good luck and hang in there!

 

[Siscokid]

Hey, Sisco. I'm using FF nutes and 100% perlite also. I experimented with the pH quite a bit and have been keeping it around 5.75-6.0. That seemed to be a good range to me. I'm curious if you're using regular perlite, like I am, or the chunky stuff that's recommended. Do you notice FF-colored staining of the perlite at the base of the plant?

Yup, I'm using MG perlite... The staining is common, no problems. How about a little Calmag? You use any of that stuff?

 

[airavata]

I like the girls in the tub lol!

No problem my friend you have to do what you can afford and think is best. They look a lot like my first grow did, I didn't know what was wrong or what to do, now I think it was also salt build-ups. Good luck and hang in there!

3 sex-starved ladies in a tub makes for a good day any way you look at it.

Yup, I'm using MG perlite... The staining is common, no problems. How about a little Calmag? You use any of that stuff?

I thought I was getting enough cal/mag from the ff. Do I need that?

Im using FF and it stained the perlite in my soil.

Glad to know that's normal.

Thanks, everybody, for helping my attempt to get me shit together. lol.

 

[airavata]

So I harvested the high plains plant today, 2-3 weeks early. Everything was dead except the buds and it looked like they were next. Got a little less off that plant than my avg./plant last harvest :/. And the buds on that were bigger than the NYCD buds. They looked like they were going to be toast by tomorrow so I flushed with a few gallons of tap water. Maybe I'll be able to drag this out another week if I'm lucky. I really like the buds on the high plains though. Lots of big, swollen calyxes.

I also took some cuttings. I'm probably going to put 4 new plants and I took 12 cuttings. I took smaller cuttings this time. I am using the 150W cfl again but I think it'll be OK since the cuttings are shaded by the mothers this time.

 

[Barry Manilow]

Morning airavata! Sorry you had to chop her early but hopefully she went long enough. Good luck with the new cuttings!

 

[airavata]

My 2nd round of plants in the bud tent are 3 weeks in and about half the fan leaves showing problems. I flushed each with 8 gallons of tap water, un-pH'd. RO water would have been impractical with my setup. Wish I had a well. Then I filled the res with pH'd water. I top-dressed one with the vegetable CRF that I have in hopes that it would work similar to OC+. Well that stuff sucks. The plant looks slightly worse than it did in the first place. I did the same thing with the other plant but used dilute Fox Farm instead. That one looks slightly better, but still not awesome.

I think I mentioned I had flushed the Diesel plants...probably 4-5 gallons...a little under the ideal amount....But it seemed to help a little. They still seemed to be dying a little. I decided they needed to be fed if they were going to last any longer. They've been going on water since week 5. I didn't have molases so I gave them some good local honey I have. Overnight, the buds fattened up a little and put on a little sugar.

I also flushed my clone mothers with 8 gal. each. I hadn't been feeding them in preparation for their giving cuttings and I think that was the issue, but I went ahead and flushed before feeding, just to be on the safe side.

I hate flushing plants. I was hoping to avoid this by using hempy buckets. At least it's a little more obvious when I'm doing something wrong this way though.

 

[airavata]

Morning airavata! Sorry you had to chop her early but hopefully she went long enough. Good luck with the new cuttings!

Thanks, man. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Barry Manilow]

Hey bro what veggie crf did you use?

Hope they hang on for you, on my 2nd harvest they looked like hell but stayed alive. Good luck!

 

[airavata]

Thanks, Blue. It's the same Lilly Miller stuff I tried last time. They still don't like that stuff. lol. Now the other one looks just as rough as the crf one though. I'm starting to suspect it might be something more than feeding issues, but I have no idea what else it might be.

 

[Barry Manilow]

How'd the roots look on the one you chopped? Is your pH ok? Are they getting cal/mag?

If I were you I'd go get some OC+, top dress it and water over it. Then I'd use it on all future grows, your nute worries vanish.

Are your cola leaves ok? I had a lot of dead cola leaves and where they were, there was bud rot. I'm not sure which caused which but be on the lookout for that. Make sure you have ventilation on the plants because they're weak now and susceptible.

Good luck my friend.