My First Grow - Is This Normal?

[jandre2k3]

New Ph Pen 3 point calibration, self calibration. Make/Model Omega 8685 Pen. Now there is fluid in the top and not sure what it is? there is white crystals so i no it is not tap water, So is it Storage buffer solution? Or PH 7.0??????????Any thoughts advice would be great Thank you.
Is it already calibrated??? I have also bought buffer 4 + 7PH for re calibration as-well as storage solution and also need some advice on maintenance as plan on making this 1 last lol. Thanks

What do you mean, "the top"? It could be storage buffer.

Always, always, always calibrate a new pen. Fully read your directions to fully understand the readings the meter gives. For the first several uses, test once, rinse in tap water, test again. For pH the readings should be within 0.1 of each other. For EC the two readings should be within 0.01 of each other.

I always store mine in pH 7 buffer in the cap, but yours may not have the space to do this. It is just best not to ever let your probe dry out...ever. So if it is an open-tipped probe, get a 2 fl oz shot glass, pour pH 7 buffer to fill 1/2 full and place pen into the solution and both of those in a zipper storage bag, leaving the electronic part to the open air, to keep the solution from evaporating.

 

[Mark30g]

"The top" I actually meant cap or lid for .ph pen. And will continue to use the lid/cap of the ph pen, for storage nice 1.
I just hope the outcome isn't effective much. Can one still expect a decent yield.


MH bulbs for vegging! Now are these as hot as HPS?
Also is the guy in the Hydro Shop right about not needing a ballast for these bulbs just the hood of a 600hps that is no being used he said just wire up a plug to it and plug it in.

 

[Mark30g]

Defoliation before

After Defoliation

 

[jandre2k3]

"The top" I actually meant cap or lid for .ph pen. And will continue to use the lid/cap of the ph pen, for storage nice 1.
I just hope the outcome isn't effective much. Can one still expect a decent yield.


MH bulbs for vegging! Now are these as hot as HPS?
Also is the guy in the Hydro Shop right about not needing a ballast for these bulbs just the hood of a 600hps that is no being used he said just wire up a plug to it and plug it in.

MH is as hot, if not hotter.

Not sure what he meant about not needing a ballast. I'd need to see the setup to understand better.

 

[Mark30g]

MH is as hot, if not hotter.

Not sure what he meant about not needing a ballast. I'd need to see the setup to understand better.

Ok then thanks so I think I'll go with my first choice Cfl 125 or 250? As I wanna get 1 so veg is cheaper on electricity. And get more of a turn around besides being able to veg longer and have some on standby in case of problems.

Ph. Cleaned and flushed my reservoir and pots, Just hope they come around from having to much of a high PH level. And was wondering how long they will take to come round from high ph levels. Some parts are burnt bad and was thinking is there anything else I can do.
Ooh yea I switched to 12/12 before the old probe went and had no choice but to. If Big bud weren't as big I'd cull them all and start again. Side note; whe n cleaning out the res and flushing I noticed the roots coming out the bottom! Now I understand his is normal in certain set ups but for my particular set up and awkwardness I think I'll have trouble the next time I flush. Due to roots breaking of because of how long there getting but a lovely white colour tho.

 

[Mark30g]

PH PROBLEMS.......How long does it take for mmj plants to come round from high ph? As I understand that there a very strong plant regarding problems being solved as I understand during the beginning of flower they like N and am not sure what EC to set my res at after the PH balance and have it between 16.-1.8 schedule says 2.0 followed by 2.1 and so on. Or is this to strong because of the PH problem.
Any help or advice from past experience I'd be so grateful.

 

[jandre2k3]

Mere days. moreN-P-lessK for Veg, lessN-P-moreK for flower equalNPK for the transition 1.7 transition or so. 1.8-1.9 for flower, depending on nute brand.

 

[Mark30g]

Www thanks for that answer as I was about to increase it slightly but still can if need be and will need to be a ill patient. As I have 3 ladies OFFICIALY and will post some pic to see what you think about raising the .EC due to the bellowing of the leaves out still clawing up tho but not as bad.

 

[jandre2k3]

If you've already flipped to flower lighting, give them 10-10-10 ferts for 1 or 2 weeks, that'll perk them up a bit, but the yellowed leaves will not turn green again. Go ahead and pull them now, and see if the yellowing progresses up the plant.

 

[Mark30g]

If you've already flipped to flower lighting, give them 10-10-10 ferts for 1 or 2 weeks, that'll perk them up a bit, but the yellowed leaves will not turn green again. Go ahead and pull them now, and see if the yellowing progresses up the plant.

Flower: Day 5 of 12/12.
Ec @1.6-1.7. will increase slowly in 3-4 days as they've drunk loads since the flush/cleaned reservoir 3days ago so all seems fine there.
Temps@79-81day + night@ 64- 69+ maybe 72(running night cycle during GMT summer time) not sure if this is ok????
Water temp 21-23c (have to double check , but more than likely is Celsius)

Also i'm not sure what you meant by Go ahead and pull them. And nice 1 for the heads up as i was expecting them to turn back from yellow to green lol . And what about the Claw look will that continue on the leaves already effected?.

Nutrients Dutch pro a+b equal parts nearly of both grow+bloom + 10ml more bloom a+b plus multi total.
Dutch Pro Explode will be added on the 4th wk of flower.
I also have Plant Magic PK/13-14 for both soil/hydro and i think to be used either the 3rd or 5th wk but will double check either way.
Or would i better to not use it?? Or pay the money and buy and decent 1 to go with my Explode? But either way once my nutrients are empty or gone i'll be looking to try out another brand of nutrients and love the results of on all your Journal .

Some pictures.......PH yellowing/claw look

And the official pictures of the girls

Love to hear your thoughts tho tahnks

 

[jandre2k3]

I see no "Claw" that will hurt them. "Claw" refers to leaves completely curled under so you can see the undeside of the leaf from the top of the plant. Nothing as bad as that here. Maybe a little curled, but it's fine.

What I meant by "Pull them" is remove the yellowed leaves, that way we can see if the yellowing progresses.

23C = 73.4F
21C = 69.80000000000001

I would shoot for 20C or 68F or less if that's possible, even if it's dropping ice in the res several times throughout the day to keep things cool.

 

[Mark30g]

I see no "Claw" that will hurt them. "Claw" refers to leaves completely curled under so you can see the undeside of the leaf from the top of the plant. Nothing as bad as that here. Maybe a little curled, but it's fine.

What I meant by "Pull them" is remove the yellowed leaves, that way we can see if the yellowing progresses.

23C = 73.4F
21C = 69.80000000000001

I would shoot for 20C or 68F or less if that's possible, even if it's dropping ice in the res several times throughout the day to keep things cool.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and glad someone thinks there fine made my day,

Ok i'll aim for 20c or less if i can and whilst i am able to, and i see what you mean by "pull" them and yea that does make sense as if the infected leaf is removed and problems still arises they'll come back! thus enabling us to see if the problem has gone. So basically remove all the damaged/sick/ill looking leaves as some ov the newer ones have what seems to be tears/holes/rips in the leaves.
But am SHOCKED to notice how quickly they showed their sex! ok 3 are feminised and 1 is regular but what i mean is because of the PH stress and not forgetting the Big Difference when growing with BagSeed (omg it took ages lol). So really pleased there and seems all is not lost.

Thank once again Jandre, which then leads me to Defoliation! now im reading mixed things like don't do it stresses the plant during flower. And then it's great gives newer leaves chance to flourish more enabling the plant to bush out. I believe it is the road to go down as i have done a bit But weren't sure if i over done it on the smaller plants. What about big fan leaves where a past problem evloved!! now am/was i supposed to remove it after a few days of dealing with the problem to see if it spreads to other leaves as i think this maybe right from what we were talking about earlier "Pull Them" but please correct me if i am wrong.

 

[jandre2k3]

One thing people seem to FAIL to recognize, and often quote the opposite, is one simple fact.

Plants are ENCOURAGED to grow taller/bigger/stronger when damage occurs. Most people say that this stresses the plant and therefore is bad. OF COURSE IT DOES!! THAT'S THE POINT!! But stress is not always a bad thing.

Placing a fan in your grow stresses a plant and makes stronger stems, even though most people only do it to get good air circulation. The biggest reason most people forget, or don't know is that blowing around in the wind is what CAUSES the big strong stems that hold up those huge colas.

When you snip/clip/prune/defoliate ANY plant, the plant responds by growing new stronger growth. It's a survival response. Anyone ever heard of TRUNK PIERCING?! I used to do it all the time in my larger grows. it causes very hearty growth in the veg stage because the plant believes it is constantly under attack and therefore grows stronger and stronger. When leaves are pulled, in order to survive, the plant grows more to replace what was lost. If this did not happen, eventually the same stressor, repeated would strip the plant completely and it would die. The general response, when lateral growth is removed, vertical growth is the response. I believe to possibly get above whatever has been biting on the sides.

Think of it like this. A deer comes along and munches the sides of a plant. The plant responds by growing taller, and adding weight to stems, and putting out more leaves/growth higher up. Eventually the deer would not be able to reach the vegetation it is after and wanders off in search of something else, thus the plant survives.

Adversely, when we top a plant, it responds by growing more girth and almost doubles it's lateral growth. In the deer scenario, eventually the deer will not be able to reach the inside of the plant where there is green, and the plant survives, and then can grow taller.

I know a lot of you are thinking, "A plant doesn't just make a decision to grow a certain way," and you'd be right: There is no thinking about it. But hormonal differences in plant tips, and stems, and trunks, are what causes this, and thus the response is the same. do you make a decision to scar over when you are cut? Poor example of course, but it does sort of prove my point here. Cells do what they're told to do by the circumstances they are presented. Cause and effect. When you work out, are you not sore the day after? Do you not grow stronger because of the torn muscle tissue regowing and increasing to withstand that stress later? Repeated stress of this sort can cause a dramatic change in muscle tone and bulk and strength of the tissue. The same thing can be observed in plants. Supercropping, for example...

 

[Mark30g]

Well what can i say! once again your knowledge of these things is flawless as always Oh yeah +REPS would give more if i could and have tried.

Jandre my friend it is spot on tho what you said as we, our cells and plants do heal them selves and grow stronger. Love how you simply put it .
Trunk piercing: Is that putting holes in the thickest parts of the stem? Now i have snapped part of a stem and it has been snapped but still connected hanging on and a few days later it has grew but not just normal growth but explosive growth once repaired itself. So yea one can see how this is a good thing

So is pruning done at say start and at the middle of flower then and what about the older big fan leaves? do they come of as well and alow the newer fan leaves to flourish?.

Misting during flower: Now i no this is a Big NO No as of mould and stuff but, do ppl do it at the start of flower or before flower cycle starts during Veg.
As i'm thinking of the stomata build up that is removed when misting once a week during veg. And getting the final/last one in before the buds appear but not sure if this would help or damage them or the lovely first signs of pistols appearing and do not know if it is worth doing.

 

[jandre2k3]

Well what can i say! once again your knowledge of these things is flawless as always Oh yeah +REPS would give more if i could and have tried.

Jandre my friend it is spot on tho what you said as we, our cells and plants do heal them selves and grow stronger. Love how you simply put it .
Trunk piercing: Is that putting holes in the thickest parts of the stem? Now i have snapped part of a stem and it has been snapped but still connected hanging on and a few days later it has grew but not just normal growth but explosive growth once repaired itself. So yea one can see how this is a good thing

So is pruning done at say start and at the middle of flower then and what about the older big fan leaves? do they come of as well and alow the newer fan leaves to flourish?.

Misting during flower: Now i no this is a Big NO No as of mould and stuff but, do ppl do it at the start of flower or before flower cycle starts during Veg.
As i'm thinking of the stomata build up that is removed when misting once a week during veg. And getting the final/last one in before the buds appear but not sure if this would help or damage them or the lovely first signs of pistols appearing and do not know if it is worth doing.

Just to let you know.... I never... EVER... mist... Unless there's a fungus treatment or something, the leaves stay completely dry.

The practice as it stands now, is a partial defoliation at day 22 of flower and a full defoliation at day 45. This seems the best timing/balance of food production from the leaves vs. light exposure to the buds.

WARNING! This is an advanced technique and if done incorrectly will kill your plant. Only attempt if you know exactly how to do it, and have witnessed at least 3 demonstrations of the procedure, and are 420% sure of how it is done. Alternatively, you could go ahead and and try it if you have the plants to kill until you get it right. Trunk piercing is making a fairly large cut vertically all the way through the trunk near the base of the plant, and placing a wooden stake inside the hole to keep it from healing. It's basically supercropping the entire plant... continuously... The plant thinks it's constantly under attack, so-to-speak, and grows stronger, faster, heartier because of it.

 

[Mark30g]

Misting, i'd only done so as i hadn't for a while and as i had ph probs just wanted to get 1 last mist on the leaves.

Yellowing of the leaves! pulling the leaves ! now some where really bad and i am not sure if i'd over done it? But then i thought about the Deer Story lol. So a few side stems of none leaves at all and the next part of the growth stage bewteen the stem and the leaf are growing but deformed!! So i raised my EC aswell as lowering my reservoir temp to 20c
I have left a few of the not so yellow leaves.
Now i understand the stress of the plants during flower and Hope the Big bud dont turn male.

Sexing female: the pistols come first!! correct? please correct me if im wrong.
Male: not to sure the growth stages of the male as i have never come accross one before and don't want to yet.
So males do they show pistols first like females or the classic ball signs we see in the photo's??
Hermie's: now do these start of female buds then half way through flower where stress is to cause like a light leak, they then turn both male and female buds? or all male buds and the existing females turning male??
Feminised seeds: now these are supposed to be a defo female? and can they turn hermi?
My worries are with the Big Bud as it's the only one i have not seen ant pistols on. for all your advice.

 

[jandre2k3]

If it's male it will flower before the females. It will not show female, then show male. You will see the balls, the balls will grow, the balls will open, and defile your girls quite indiscriminately.

HERMIES, however, will start out female, and flower with the rest of the female. Interspersed with the female flowers, a male flower will sprout.

Feminized seeds have 99.9% change to be female and can hermie just like a regular(non-feminized) seed. If there is a predisposition within the strain to hermie, there is a chance that any seed (feminized or not) will hermie and produce male flowers. Defoliation, in my experience will not stress a plant to hermie.

 

[Mark30g]

Nice, so defoliation on a big scale like leaving no leaves left on a few stems! now will that kinda grow or the buds?
What about the slowed growth on the tips of all the tops! will they resume normal growth? or can buds be effected though out the flower period.!

The yellowing of the leaves and stunted growth! can that also be from not enough food as well as high ph levels!
some pictures before i'd over done it,

Why i'm worrying i suppose is because of the high ph water and not the Defoliation as it makes sense to pull them just like you described the Deer scenario. thanks

Some pictures

ps, i'll take some more pictures as to give them chance to come round,
Also obviously one must take pic before the lights go on or just after they go and not...lets say half way through the off/night period.

 

[Mark30g]

Side note.... Can you see looking at the photo's that a few stems have no leaves on what so ever!! and there are still quite a few young newish leaves still looking yellow!! Now my new pen came Monday so it has been 6nights since it was corrected and put right. Now do you think my EC@ 18-20 (nearest i can it with trucheon nutrient stick) on the last night of week 1 of flower could also be causing this??????????
Or am i just worrying to much and being the typical new growing being too impatient!!!!! lol.

 

[jandre2k3]

I would recalibrate BOTH meters... I think you might find that something is still wrong.

I would also break your system down as much as you can, clean, and flush the pots, and make new nutes.

EC 1.8 to 2.0 should be just about right. but your meters may be off a bit and giving you the wrong readings.