Delps 8 Hydro RDWC Gelato Autoflower 2021

[Delps8]

@FelipeBlu piqued my interest in understanding that a lot of issues are because "it was something in the water". Over the past few months, I've kept my eye out of info about cannabis nutrients and it's a real pleasure to find nuggets like this one.

 

[FelipeBlu]

That’s a great article! It summarizes my current thinking on nutrition very well.

 

[Hafta]

@FelipeBlu piqued my interest in understanding that a lot of issues are because "it was something in the water". Over the past few months, I've kept my eye out of info about cannabis nutrients and it's a real pleasure to find nuggets like this one.

@Delps8 , @FelipeBlu ,
Great find, thanks Delps.
I've been waiting a couple of days to be sure of the results of my last res change/cleaning. The initial filling of the res with RO only showed a pH of 5.7 and a ppm of 70 (typical for my RO. Following a 3 hour flush the readings were 5.8/80 ppm. I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up with the nutes to counteract the initial swing down to 5.0 (or lower). The plants started eating again! I still experienced the magnitude of pH swings but was able to catch them before they exceeded 5.5-6.5 (even though I added in the dark).
I noticed a couple of brown tips on the upper leaves but not sure if it was low nutes or a result of the lockout. This is the first deficiency of the grow so I upped the nutes to 75% of recommended.
I also received the powdered GH pH up. THIS IS A GAME CHANGER! Instead of adding 20-30 ml (4-6 tsp.) at a time I am adding a fraction of a tsp. (1 tsp. powder mixed in a cup of RO changes pH by .6-.7). The magnitude of pH swing diminished greatly. The pH dropped from 6.0 to 5.6 during the 12 hrs. of darkness. I added 1/4 tsp of up this morning (7:00am) and the pH went from 5.6 to 5.9 and is still at 5.9 7 hrs. later. It takes the panic out of chasing the pH.
The bag, and I, recommend adding with the other nutes at res changes.
Thanks for all your assistance. The plant is happy.

 

[Delps8]

@Delps8 , @FelipeBlu ,
Great find, thanks Delps.
I've been waiting a couple of days to be sure of the results of my last res change/cleaning. The initial filling of the res with RO only showed a pH of 5.7 and a ppm of 70 (typical for my RO. Following a 3 hour flush the readings were 5.8/80 ppm. I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up with the nutes to counteract the initial swing down to 5.0 (or lower). The plants started eating again! I still experienced the magnitude of pH swings but was able to catch them before they exceeded 5.5-6.5 (even though I added in the dark).
I noticed a couple of brown tips on the upper leaves but not sure if it was low nutes or a result of the lockout. This is the first deficiency of the grow so I upped the nutes to 75% of recommended.
I also received the powdered GH pH up. THIS IS A GAME CHANGER! Instead of adding 20-30 ml (4-6 tsp.) at a time I am adding a fraction of a tsp. (1 tsp. powder mixed in a cup of RO changes pH by .6-.7). The magnitude of pH swing diminished greatly. The pH dropped from 6.0 to 5.6 during the 12 hrs. of darkness. I added 1/4 tsp of up this morning (7:00am) and the pH went from 5.6 to 5.9 and is still at 5.9 7 hrs. later. It takes the panic out of chasing the pH.
The bag, and I, recommend adding with the other nutes at res changes.
Thanks for all your assistance. The plant is happy.

Hafta - thank you for the update. I was going to ask you how things were going but didn't want to add to the pain level if things had gone off the rails.

"The plant is happy" - excellent news! So the grow and the grower have recovered and are little worse of the wear. Super.

" I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up…The plants started eating again!" - that's a new res with EC reduced by 50% from previous levels + pH was raised to…?

20 ml of Up - wow. That's a lot of pH up. I was using 1 ml of GH's liquid Up to get a 0.1 increase.

"powedered GH pH Up" - I've scoured postings on maybe 5 cannabis sites and never heard of that. Great find! And it's memorialized here so other folks can find it.

"General Hydroponics pH Up Dry Fertilizer" - there it is, right there at Jeff's Place™. No kidding. And only $20 for a bag.

"I added 1/4 tsp of up this morning (7:00am) and the pH went from 5.6 to 5.9 and is still at 5.9 7 hrs. later. It takes the panic out of chasing the pH." No doubt about it!

 

[Hafta]

Hafta - thank you for the update. I was going to ask you how things were going but didn't want to add to the pain level if things had gone off the rails.

"The plant is happy" - excellent news! So the grow and the grower have recovered and are little worse of the wear. Super.

" I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up…The plants started eating again!" - that's a new res with EC reduced by 50% from previous levels + pH was raised to…?

20 ml of Up - wow. That's a lot of pH up. I was using 1 ml of GH's liquid Up to get a 0.1 increase.

"powedered GH pH Up" - I've scoured postings on maybe 5 cannabis sites and never heard of that. Great find! And it's memorialized here so other folks can find it.

"General Hydroponics pH Up Dry Fertilizer" - there it is, right there at Jeff's Place™. No kidding. And only $20 for a bag.

"I added 1/4 tsp of up this morning (7:00am) and the pH went from 5.6 to 5.9 and is still at 5.9 7 hrs. later. It takes the panic out of chasing the pH." No doubt about it!

" I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up…The plants started eating again!" - that's a new res with EC reduced by 50% from previous levels + pH was raised to…?
50% of recommended amount from nute grow chart.
There was no specific target pH. I was seeing an immediate drop to the upper fours when adding nutes to the res. After having applied pH up more than 100 times I know 20 ml (20 ml for 16 gallon res, a little more than 1 ml/gal) will raise the res about 0.5, preventing it from dropping below 5.5. The res always undershoots, then overshoots (6.5 - 6.6 pH) before it settled to where it was semi-controllable. I also used a bit of pH down when it got over 6.3.

 

[Delps8]

" I added nutes at 50% AND I added 20 ml of pH up…The plants started eating again!" - that's a new res with EC reduced by 50% from previous levels + pH was raised to…?
50% of recommended amount from nute grow chart.

Just got a visual of afib paddles.

There was no specific target pH. I was seeing an immediate drop to the upper fours when adding nutes to the res. After having applied pH up more than 100 times I know 20 ml (20 ml for 16 gallon res, a little more than 1 ml/gal) will raise the res about 0.5, preventing it from dropping below 5.5. The res always undershoots, then overshoots (6.5 - 6.6 pH) before it settled to where it was semi-controllable. I also used a bit of pH down when it got over 6.3.

Yeah, hard lessons. Just amazing that it was that much Up.

pH is still steady?

 

[Hafta]

Just got a visual of afib paddles.


Yeah, hard lessons. Just amazing that it was that much Up.

pH is still steady?

7:00am now and pH still 5.9. Plant is using about 1/2 gallon/day.
Yeah, I ran these nutes in my first cabinet grow last year (2 Autos, different strains different lifespans, one plant at a time now) and had same pH fluctuation. Ran different nutes when I grew tomatoes last summer, more stable. These nutes have good results so it is worth figuring out the complexities.

 

[Delps8]

7:00am now and pH still 5.9. Plant is using about 1/2 gallon/day.

Great, pH steady and you've got water uptake.

The "standard" response is to see pH increase but you've got > 120 pounds of water in your res. That's a big buffer so it could take a few days of level EC before you see a rise.

Yeah, I ran these nutes in my first cabinet grow last year (2 Autos, different strains different lifespans, one plant at a time now) and had same pH fluctuation. Ran different nutes when I grew tomatoes last summer, more stable. These nutes have good results so it is worth figuring out the complexities.

Understood. Once you get it dialed in, it will be cookie cutter. You've got some experience with production lines, I seem to recall.

 

[Hafta]

@Delps8 , @FelipeBlu , @Rexer
My thanks to everyone who helped with this issue.
Here is an update on the pH fluctuation.
As I stated above, the situation has stabilized. According to the "Wonder Chart", "perfect conditions".
Plants are using one gallon per day at 75% of chart recommended dosage plus EC rise due to pH up powder.
3/6 ....... 1240 ppm / 5.9 pH .... added 1 gal RO .....1200/5.9
3/8 am .... 1250/5.9 ....added 1 gal RO ... 1190/5.9
3/9 ...... 1230/5.8 ..... added 1 gal RO .... 1170/5.8
3/10 .... 1210/5.8 .... added i gal RO ....1160/5.8
3/11 .... 1180/5.8 .... added 1 gal RO ....1130/5.8
3/13 am ....1170/5.8 .... added 1 gal RO .... 1130/5.8
3/14 am ....1150/5.7 .... added 1 gal RO ....1090/5.7
I use a Bluelab Guardian monitor for EC and pH, calibrated monthly.
If I monitored using only the EC instead of ppm, I might not have seen any changes whatsoever. The slight drop in ppm can be attributed to plant consumption.
It must be noted that my RO is consistently 60 ppm and 5.7 pH. This might be the cause of the subtle drop in pH.
The stabilization looks to be either the powdered version of General Hydroponics pH up (my vote) or getting past the transitional stage between veg and flowering.
I have a sixteen gallon reservoir so I am going to run this out for a while before performing a res change. The res is still squeaky clean, the roots look great, and the plant is plumping.

I highly recommend the powdered pH up. It is MUCH more stable.

 

[FelipeBlu]

Glad she’s drinking (and eating)!