Katatonia's Journal - CFLs - Northern Light - Soil

[Grouchy]

Yes this helped very much ! thank u , i understand the general idea , basically it tells u how much nutes to add at every stage , and it tells u that ur flush water coming out of the pots contains no nutes so u understand that ur flush is enough , i checked few ones online and they seem much cheaper than the PH meter , i'm buying one soon

Whoa! Hold on. I think you misunderstood.

You are going to need both a TDS meter and a PH meter (or PH test (general hydroponics brand) solution which is about $8 at your local grow shop or online). The PH is a measurement of acidity and alkalinity. You want it around 6.5 since you're growing in soil I think. I grow in coco so I go by hydro standards of 5.5-6.5.
In order for all the nutrients to be taken up by the roots for the plant, the pH has to be at a designated zone. That zone is around 6.5 for you. So every time you water, add your nutrients to your water, then use some PH down solution to bring down the PH to 6.5. After you do that, you use your TDS meter to check your solution to see if you added the correct amount of nutrients.

Summary:
A TDS meter measures how much nutrients and minerals are in your water.
A PH meter (Or PH test kit which is MUCH cheaper and what I use) measures how acidic or base your nutrient solution is after you mix it.

So basically, you're going to need both.

TDS meter (literally any one on Amazon) - $10.00 USD
General Hydroponics pH Test kit (Amazon) - $8.20 USD

 

[Katatonia]

Whoa! Hold on. I think you misunderstood.

You are going to need both a TDS meter and a PH meter (or PH test (general hydroponics brand) solution which is about $8 at your local grow shop or online). The PH is a measurement of acidity and alkalinity. You want it around 6.5 since you're growing in soil I think. I grow in coco so I go by hydro standards of 5.5-6.5.
In order for all the nutrients to be taken up by the roots for the plant, the pH has to be at a designated zone. That zone is around 6.5 for you. So every time you water, add your nutrients to your water, then use some PH down solution to bring down the PH to 6.5. After you do that, you use your TDS meter to check your solution to see if you added the correct amount of nutrients.

Summary:
A TDS meter measures how much nutrients and minerals are in your water.
A PH meter (Or PH test kit which is MUCH cheaper and what I use) measures how acidic or base your nutrient solution is after you mix it.

So basically, you're going to need both.

TDS meter (literally any one on Amazon) - $10.00 USD
General Hydroponics pH Test kit (Amazon) - $8.20 USD

Haha i know man i understood u i meant it's just cheaper because PH meter costed me like 60$ and i can't afford that again now on the TDS meter till next month, but 10$ is nothing to worry about , i bought the PH meter not the kit , thought i'm gonna need it on my next grows also so why not buy a gud quality thing at once
sorry if my English is not so easy to understand sometimes

 

[Grouchy]

Haha i know man i understood u i meant it's just cheaper because PH meter costed me like 60$ and i can't afford that again now on the TDS meter till next month, but 10$ is nothing to worry about , i bought the PH meter not the kit , thought i'm gonna need it on my next grows also so why not buy a gud quality thing at once
sorry if my English is not so easy to understand sometimes

Sorry about that haha. But I understand now.

 

[Katatonia]

Day 23 of veg
the tent is getting crowded

they seem to love the LST and topping i'v done on them

 

[Katatonia]

guys do u think i should cut some of the old big fan leaves ?
they r covering light and i don't think those will carry any flowers right ? what do u think

 

[uhewekguilw]

You can cut the ones blocking light. I'm a big fan of heavy defoliation, but I'd say don't go overboard... plants really do need their leaves while they are growing and the first few weeks of flower to get all the energy they can.
GB80

 

[Katatonia]

You can cut the ones blocking light. I'm a big fan of heavy defoliation, but I'd say don't go overboard... plants really do need their leaves while they are growing and the first few weeks of flower to get all the energy they can.
GB80

I'v cut only few , i think it's better now , thanks for the help

 

[Grouchy]

yeah I'd have to agree. I think defoliation is a necessity. But some go overboard and once you're in flower, there's no going back on defoliation (or severe defoliation anyway). So, use your best judgement and if you take a lot off, give it time to recover before you do it again. Looking good though! I'm excited for this.

 

[Katatonia]

yeah I'd have to agree. I think defoliation is a necessity. But some go overboard and once you're in flower, there's no going back on defoliation (or severe defoliation anyway). So, use your best judgement and if you take a lot off, give it time to recover before you do it again. Looking good though! I'm excited for this.

thank u man , i'm excited also , i hope i won't have any problems further , i still didn't get my PH meter although i have ordered it like 2 weeks ago , some asshole shop i'm gonna call them tomorrow , i'v been so fucking high for the last 3 days i cant remember anything

 

[Grouchy]

How goes the grow bro?

 

[Katatonia]

How goes the grow bro?

Actually everything seems fine , i started to get a little purple on the stems , and little yellow dots , i think they need more nitrogen , i'v been feeding them only 25% of dosage , i raised it to 75% today , so it should do fine now
I also added 3 25 watts 2700k bulbs to cover the dark corners
this's day 33 of veg

the clones r 7 days old and still no sign of rooting , i might throw them out after a while , i don't wanna waste space and soil on 2 small plants that will not veg for morethan 3 weeks , maybe it's better to wait till i get another tent

what do u think anyways about the 2 old plants ? any suggestions

 

[uhewekguilw]

Give the clone 2 weeks before you toss them out. Sometimes they take a while. Plants are looking good, but I can't zoom in on my phone right now to see if there's any issues. I think you are doing just fine!
GB80

 

[Katatonia]

Give the clone 2 weeks before you toss them out. Sometimes they take a while. Plants are looking good, but I can't zoom in on my phone right now to see if there's any issues. I think you are doing just fine!
GB80

Yea i'll give them more time , thanks bro

 

[Grouchy]

Hey Katatonia! How goes it? Any updates?

 

[Katatonia]

Hey Katatonia! How goes it? Any updates?

Hey man ! thanks for checking on my journal
I actually had many problems , the ph meter took like 2 weeks to be delivered , i had nitrogen problem so i started feeding the old plants more , they had so many yellow leaves which started to fall , after 10 days they started recovering , i also made sure the ph was right after the meter arrived. The shitty company that i ordered my stuff from turned out to be real fucked up , not only things were late i also got a big problem today , i'm 8 days into flowering and suddenly the fucked up 200 watts 2700kcfl which i just used for 10 days stopped working , thank god i noticed that in 2 hours only , i put the 125 watts 6500 back and ordered a 140 watts led from another company , fuck cfl big lamps ! it was a beginner mistake , now hopefully my plants being flowering under 125 6500k cfl and 3 25 2700 k lamps will not ruin them up, my new led light should arrive in like 3 days .
my clones were 100% successful but i unfortunately don't have space for the 3 of them in my 2x2 ft tent , so i put one by the window and the 2 inside the tent , they're still kinda small but i'm flowering them anyway with the 2 big plants , anything they give is better than throwing them away . I'm definitely gonna buy another tent for my next grow.
Anyways i'v learned ALOT from this first grow and hopefully my plants will survive till the end and give some smokable good stuff eventually , i don't have high hopes i just want them to stay alive and flower in peace fucking problems r happening out of a sudden ! thank god i'v worked alot this month and got money to order the LED immediately , otherwise it'de be a disaster and all my effort would be wasted .
I'll b posting pix very soon , cheers buddy

 

[Katatonia]

this pic is today, 8 days into flower , as u see the nitrogen problem caused many yellow leaves , but it stopped awhile ago and the new leaves r completely green and healthy, those 2 dry leaves r accidentally burnt of the small bulbs while i was changing height. Anyway i'm still feeding them in every watering, any suggestions ?

 

[Grouchy]

Hey! Those plants are looking nice. I do notice and proble those plants are looking nice. I do see your yellow leaf problem but when you say nitrogen problem, I'm assuming you mean nitrogen deficiency? Because what you're seeing is a nitrogen deficiency. But I'm sure you already know that.
Now I don't know if you know much about nitrogen but I'm going to tell you anyway LOL. If you know then just disregard and maybe someone else can pick it up and learn. Nitrogen is a mobile nutrient. This means that the nitrogen inside the plant will go where it's needed. The new growth needs the most nitrogen because it's newly developing. So all the nitrogen the plant takes up goes to the top of the plant. This makes the lower leaves yellow because the new growth is stealing the nitrogen from the bottom of the plant. You also have to remember that the leaves that are yellow now will not turn back green. Leaves don't really recover. After they start to be damaged, the plant will recognize them as fatally injured. The plant will not repair them so don't ever watch the yellow leaves for improvement. Instead, remember all the leaves that are damaged now, or mark them somehow, and see if any new leaves are becoming yellow. If new leaves are not turning yellow, then you should be good. Have you flushed at all? I always flush once with FloraKleen before I flip them to flower so all the buildup of nutrients doesn't make my plant all wacky. Gives me a new slate to work with in regards to fertilizers.

You said you're in Flower now right? During flower, the plant will require a lot less nitrogen than when it was in veg. If you have too much nitrogen in flower, it will make for some bad smoke. You shouldn't have a Nitrogen toxicity though since you are suffering the opposite problem at the moment. But honestly it seems like it may not even be an N problem. The yellowing is very non-uniform and is affecting the upper leaves too which is not common unless you are in the late stages of N deficiency which would not be good. The good news is that you are early into flower and if you fix those problems now, it wont affect the buds.
What LED did you get by the way?

What nutes are you using right now? You might want to try some MaxiBloom. It's a one-part, powder formula (The Lucas Formula to be exact) that you can use at the same dosage throughout the entire grow. Its a fairly popular selection for people who don't want to deal with bad companies, complicated nute programs, or just want to simplify their feeding. The best part about this nutrient is that its literally one of the cheapest nutrients out there. That does not mean its a crappy product though. Its awesome in my opinion.

Anyway, great job so far man! I'm positive you'll have some good, smokable bud by the end of this!

 

[Katatonia]

Thank u dude ! i hope so too ..
I actually thought it's a nitrogen deficiency because th yellowing actually started at the bottom and many old leaves fell , it also started on the leaves between the veins , and after raising the dosage it stopped affecting new leaves and the upper new branches became much healthier and greener . It might also have been a PH deficiency because as i said the meter was really late , but now i make sure the ph is always between 6-6.5 so it shouldn't be a problem anymore.
I'm using now Hesi Bloom Complex which is supposed to be complete food for the flowering plants on soil , it has 3% N , 2,6% Phosphorus , 3.6% Potassium , and other like magnesium calcium etc ..
I'm also gonna add Hesi Phosphorus-plus in the second month of flowering , I'll search this MaxiBloom u mentioned and see if it's sold in Sweden .
I actually have never flushed yet , do u think i should do it now ? is it ok to do it just with PHed water ?
I ordered Apollo 4 GrowLight LED , which has 3w LED diodes , a total 60ps 3w diodes with both red and blue spectrum. and real power 140w , it seemed the best i could get for the money , specially that my options r limited here in Sweden , and i don't wanna buy something from outside Sweden in order to not have trouble with the warranty later .
Thank u so much man for ur advice !

 

[Katatonia]

I forgot to tell u that i also had heat problem ! it might also be a reason for the yellowing and the ph instability i guess , after i started using the 200 watts 2700k cfl the temp got up till 30 degrees , those r like 90 Fahrenheit , and that continued for few days before i figured out a way to lower the temps , now i keep it max at 75F

 

[Grouchy]

A PH issue is often overlooked. That definitely could have been the problem.

30 C is about 86 F and though that's high, it will still grow. But 75F/24C is perfect now so great job on the temp control, Katatonia! That seems to be a lot of people's problems but you handled that very nicely.

That LED will give you some good buds. Are you still going to use any CFLs with it?

I think flushing is a great idea for you now. Just run a few gallons of PHed water through each of your plants and when they dry out again, give them a nutrient feeding. I'd recommend flushing when you switch your nutrients, change from vegetative to flower, or when you have problems with your plant that you can't solve right away .

Keep up the great work!