Fudo Myoo's Organic, LED Homegrown Journal

[Fudo Myoo]

What are your late run sativa problems?

They get about half way through flower then start turning brown and dropping leaves. By the end there’s hardly any leaf left. I’m guessing high salt, etc getting the soil ph out of wack. The pots get super crusty.

 

[Gee64]

What are your late run sativa problems?

lol nevermind, I see now.

 

[Gee64]

They get about half way through flower then start turning brown and dropping leaves. By the end there’s hardly any leaf left. I’m guessing high salt, etc getting the soil ph out of wack. The pots get super crusty.

I've watched your grows so I know you know this, but sometimes reading it all at once helps, so here we go. This is your SIP fix. It's about calcium, so grab a coffee.

Your issue is usually more of a SIP mechanical problem, not an ammendment issue. The soil mechanics occurring in a SIP pot, at least from my experience, are not conducive to proper calcium cycling.

With LOS and SIPs you need to keep the calcium rotataing. In top watering, the calcium in your EWC/topdressings waters in and moves down, creating the perfect environment for feeder roots in the top of the pot. The entire pot for that matter.

In most SIPs that fail, feeder roots disappear and the top half of the pot goes hard, dry, and crusty.

That crustiness is magnesium, in the absence of proper calcium (the cal to mag ratio is out). The excess magnesium crusts things up. It also locks up nitrogen on a 1 to 1 basis for every molecule of excess magnesium. So a dose of CalMag will fix the crusties, but it will also unleash all that nitrogen at once. In veg a few curled leaves aren't a big deal. In flower you do not want nitrogen toxicity.

Fix this before flip, and don't flip until it's fixed.

That crustiness chokes off oxygen, and every speck of plant food has to be attached to an oxygen molecule for the plant to recognize it as food, so low calcium is just the 1st domino in a death spiral.

In the absence of calcium, it's magnesium's job to kill the plant before it can produce weak genetics. Bugs are on their way. Brix levels are crashing.

Calcium works on contact, it's an electrical thing. Calcium is a nutrient, but it's also a soil conditioner, and it's heavy, so it moves downwards when it comes in contact with water.

It's double positive charge neutralizes magnesium's charge when in proper ratio, and Mag releases nitro, causing the soil to go from crusty to fluffy. Now your leaves won't die and fall off.

This is how CalMag fixes a nitrogen deficiency. It's chemistry, not biology, and it confuses people.

Occaisonal top watering until the res is full with EWC topdressing will eliminate this problem.

The Rev's system is a great example. He uses SIPs pots, but fills the reservoirs via top watering. At least that was his system in the 1st two books. I haven't read his 3rd book yet.

Your refractometer will tell you the state of the calcium content in the plant. If you are studious here, you can stay ahead and healthy and learn the plants required rhythm of needed top watering/EWC.

Once you have a top watered calcium source, or a way to cycle calcium, figured out for your style, this problem will disappear.

The health (healthy being without disease or impairment) of your plant is directly tied to the state of soil calcium. If soil calcium is off, you are either running slow on low voltage, or too fast and frying from too much voltage. Either way, you aren't processing nutrients or photosynthesizing properly.

Too slow or too fast are both no good, but you only need to be in the ball park to hit a home run, you don't have to get it perfect. Just close. The rhizosphere will dial it to perfection.

Refractometer.... thats your calcium monitoring device. The split second the line is less than very fuzzy, a calcium deficiency is arising. Stay ahead.

Somehow in the SIP world it became taboo to top water. I'm not sure what that's about, but I suspect it's related to a synthetic mentality.

LOS works differently in SIPs. Calcium must be constantly cycled back to the top, or constantly added up top. EWC is the best readily available calcium rich top dressing. It needs to be watered in.

If you topdress EWC from the very beginning, and water it in, theres a really good chance you will be successful.

Follow the refractometer. It's your best friend here. Analog refractometers are far superior to digital ones. Digital ones won't tell you about calcium levels.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

I've watched your grows so I know you know this, but sometimes reading it all at once helps, so here we go. This is your SIP fix. It's about calcium, so grab a coffee.

Your issue is usually more of a SIP mechanical problem, not an ammendment issue. The soil mechanics occurring in a SIP pot, at least from my experience, are not conducive to proper calcium cycling.

With LOS and SIPs you need to keep the calcium rotataing. In top watering, the calcium in your EWC/topdressings waters in and moves down, creating the perfect environment for feeder roots in the top of the pot. The entire pot for that matter.

In most SIPs that fail, feeder roots disappear and the top half of the pot goes hard, dry, and crusty.

That crustiness is magnesium, in the absence of proper calcium (the cal to mag ratio is out). The excess magnesium crusts things up. It also locks up nitrogen on a 1 to 1 basis for every molecule of excess magnesium. So a dose of CalMag will fix the crusties, but it will also unleash all that nitrogen at once. In veg a few curled leaves aren't a big deal. In flower you do not want nitrogen toxicity.

Fix this before flip, and don't flip until it's fixed.

That crustiness chokes off oxygen, and every speck of plant food has to be attached to an oxygen molecule for the plant to recognize it as food, so low calcium is just the 1st domino in a death spiral.

In the absence of calcium, it's magnesium's job to kill the plant before it can produce weak genetics. Bugs are on their way. Brix levels are crashing.

Calcium works on contact, it's an electrical thing. Calcium is a nutrient, but it's also a soil conditioner, and it's heavy, so it moves downwards when it comes in contact with water.

It's double positive charge neutralizes magnesium's charge when in proper ratio, and Mag releases nitro, causing the soil to go from crusty to fluffy. Now your leaves won't die and fall off.

This is how CalMag fixes a nitrogen deficiency. It's chemistry, not biology, and it confuses people.

Occaisonal top watering until the res is full with EWC topdressing will eliminate this problem.

The Rev's system is a great example. He uses SIPs pots, but fills the reservoirs via top watering. At least that was his system in the 1st two books. I haven't read his 3rd book yet.

Your refractometer will tell you the state of the calcium content in the plant. If you are studious here, you can stay ahead and healthy and learn the plants required rhythm of needed top watering/EWC.

Once you have a top watered calcium source, or a way to cycle calcium, figured out for your style, this problem will disappear.

The health (healthy being without disease or impairment) of your plant is directly tied to the state of soil calcium. If soil calcium is off, you are either running slow on low voltage, or too fast and frying from too much voltage. Either way, you aren't processing nutrients or photosynthesizing properly.

Too slow or too fast are both no good, but you only need to be in the ball park to hit a home run, you don't have to get it perfect. Just close. The rhizosphere will dial it to perfection.

Refractometer.... thats your calcium monitoring device. The split second the line is less than very fuzzy, a calcium deficiency is arising. Stay ahead.

Somehow in the SIP world it became taboo to top water. I'm not sure what that's about, but I suspect it's related to a synthetic mentality.

LOS works differently in SIPs. Calcium must be constantly cycled back to the top, or constantly added up top. EWC is the best readily available calcium rich top dressing. It needs to be watered in.

If you topdress EWC from the very beginning, and water it in, theres a really good chance you will be successful.

Follow the refractometer. It's your best friend here. Analog refractometers are far superior to digital ones. Digital ones won't tell you about calcium levels.

Thanks for all the great info Gee! I top dress with Ewc and blood meal I think? Whatever his book says, I re-read it when I build my pots.
What your saying makes sense. I’m definitely over feeding and giving them too much cal-mag, they get super crusty. My soil mix this round is far more accurate and using RO should help a lot too.
This is actually my first attempt using sips. I’m going to have 2 Sativas in sips and 2 hybrids in 7 gallon fabric pots, which is what I usually use.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

I did a little more light rearranging. I consolidated the 8, 3000k cobs to one 4’ light rail, that’s 600w. I’ll be able to run them lower and cooler with better coverage. Then after I get my last panel back from the tomato plant to put on the back wall, I’ll be cooking with 1600w for a 6’ by 5’ foot print.

I moved all the drivers out. I left a space in the middle for the last one. I can’t imagine this won’t help with the heat.

 

[Gee64]

Thanks for all the great info Gee! I top dress with Ewc and blood meal I think? Whatever his book says, I re-read it when I build my pots.
What your saying makes sense. I’m definitely over feeding and giving them too much cal-mag, they get super crusty. My soil mix this round is far more accurate and using RO should help a lot too.
This is actually my first attempt using sips. I’m going to have 2 Sativas in sips and 2 hybrids in 7 gallon fabric pots, which is what I usually use.

Oh I see, sorry. Well that will help you avoid a possible SIP issue then lol. Do you have a refractometer? It will tell you how your calcium levels are doing.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Oh I see, sorry. Well that will help you avoid a possible SIP issue then lol. Do you have a refractometer? It will tell you how your calcium levels are doing.

No I don’t but I’ll look into it.

 

[InTheShed]

Congrats on all the new equipment and the light shifting!

I’m not sure I totally trust the accuracy of the results. I was expecting more deviation but we’re headed in the right direction. I’ll buy a more reliable, probably digital tester later.

I have a liquid ph pen I could use for slurry and a prob soil ph meter that appears to work.

I'd like to see you run a comparison of the two prong against a slurry test. I never had any faith in those moisture/pH things.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Congrats on all the new equipment and the light shifting!


I'd like to see you run a comparison of the two prong against a slurry test. I never had any faith in those moisture/pH things.

I’ll do that for you Shed, definitely should know the difference. I’ve been sanding the probes clean every time I use it. The problem is even if it does work, there’s no clear number, the decimals matter as we know. It was $13, why I got it.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Did a water check and the RO system is working properly. I’m in process of picking up my clones.


Tap

RO

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Time to get this show on the road!

All tucked in under at 73F, 52H under 450-550 umol’s.

 

[StoneOtter]

Good looking clones! Was that a Stank Breath ?

 

[InTheShed]

Congrats on the head start! Will you be treating them for a while to make sure they're not bringing anything in with them?

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Good looking clones! Was that a Stank Breath ?

That’s what it say’s and that’s why I chose it. Where’s he been, haven’t seen him in awhile?

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Congrats on the head start! Will you be treating them for a while to make sure they're not bringing anything in with them?

Naw, they promise to be disease free or refund/replacement. Crossing my fingers if that counts lol. Any thing I can do to be sure?

 

[InTheShed]

Naw, they promise to be disease free or refund/replacement. Crossing my fingers if that counts lol. Any thing I can do to be sure?

Speaking of Van Stank, he used to cut a sponge to put over the dirt (to hold it in) and dip them upside down into a bucket of neem oil!

 

[Fudo Myoo]

They’ve perked up over the passed 12hrs.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Speaking of Van Stank, he used to cut a sponge to put over the dirt (to hold it in) and dip them upside down into a bucket of neem oil!

Any idea where he’s been? Man he grew some beautiful plants.

 

[InTheShed]

Any idea where he’s been? Man he grew some beautiful plants.

I don't but Otter might.

 

[StoneOtter]

Good looking clones! Was that a Stank Breath ?

That’s what it say’s and that’s why I chose it. Where’s he been, haven’t seen him in awhile?

He keeps a low profile Fudo. I haven't had contact in a while.