Consistently getting purple stems, low yield

M

mpaw

Member
Hey guys,

I wanted to seek some help as I am about to flip my third round of ladies into flower and seemed to get the same problem with the first two grows.

First two rounds were Honey Cream (first from seed, second from clones), and this third round will be Honey Cream and Lemon Shining Silver Haze. They’re seeds I got from Amsterdam.

My stems are purple, consistently. Plant growth is rapid and steady, but the damn stems - and it’s definitely not genetics. The larger they get the harder I feel like it is to correct, and I have no doubt it has hurt my yields. My first grow i barely got 2 oz after a 4 month veg in a 5 gal smart pot doing LST/HST, and the second grow may have been even worse. I really want to correct the problem this time around.

Current setup:
-Two 300w LEDs (I realize this could be a factor; I have another 450w on the way) in a 4x4 tent for flower
-One 300w LED in a 2x4 for veg
-Exhaust fan/carbon filter going through both
-3 gallon smart pots
-Growing in coco/perlite mix
-was using R/O water for a long time, but have started using tap after letting sit for at least 24 hrs and have not noticed a difference
-Watering as needed when the medium starts to dry out (every 3 days usually)
-Room temp during the day stays about 75F and 68F at night
-Humidity fluctuates between 40% and 60%

Veg nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-8-10ml PBP grow
-1/2 tsp Epsom salts (every other water or so)
-pH usually around 5.7

Flower nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-10ml PBP bloom
-5ml sweet
-epsom salts every other water
-pH ~5.7

Runoff is coming out with pH ~5.7 and ppm >1000.

So what’s the problem? Not enough light? Not watering enough? Are my ratios off? I feel like I’ve done my homework but I’m definitely coming up short on yield, and I’m sure the purple stems aren’t helping.

I have attached pics of one of my current Lemon Hazes that I did LST/HST training on. She’s ready to flip size-wise (see pic next to toilet for reference) but I want to set her up for success.

Thanks in advance!
 

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B

Blitz35

Well-Known Member
Plants looks quite nice, hard to believe you're only pulling 2 zips from plants that size. Are your 2 led's actually drawing 300 watts from the wall, or just labelled as 300 watters? Seeing as how they look perfectly fine, all i can think is that it's not enough light. Purple streaks will come from usually phosphorus being low and/or sulfur. If magnesium is low, it can lead to phosphorus being low and results in purple streaks, but the plant leaves don't show any hints of a problem. Otherwise, if your temps get too cool, that also affects the uptake of P and will lead to purpling.
 
R

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
mpaw said:
Hey guys,

I wanted to seek some help as I am about to flip my third round of ladies into flower and seemed to get the same problem with the first two grows.

First two rounds were Honey Cream (first from seed, second from clones), and this third round will be Honey Cream and Lemon Shining Silver Haze. They’re seeds I got from Amsterdam.

My stems are purple, consistently. Plant growth is rapid and steady, but the damn stems - and it’s definitely not genetics. The larger they get the harder I feel like it is to correct, and I have no doubt it has hurt my yields. My first grow i barely got 2 oz after a 4 month veg in a 5 gal smart pot doing LST/HST, and the second grow may have been even worse. I really want to correct the problem this time around.

Current setup:
-Two 300w LEDs (I realize this could be a factor; I have another 450w on the way) in a 4x4 tent for flower
-One 300w LED in a 2x4 for veg
-Exhaust fan/carbon filter going through both
-3 gallon smart pots
-Growing in coco/perlite mix
-was using R/O water for a long time, but have started using tap after letting sit for at least 24 hrs and have not noticed a difference
-Watering as needed when the medium starts to dry out (every 3 days usually)
-Room temp during the day stays about 75F and 68F at night
-Humidity fluctuates between 40% and 60%

Veg nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-8-10ml PBP grow
-1/2 tsp Epsom salts (every other water or so)
-pH usually around 5.7

Flower nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-10ml PBP bloom
-5ml sweet
-epsom salts every other water
-pH ~5.7

Runoff is coming out with pH ~5.7 and ppm >1000.

So what’s the problem? Not enough light? Not watering enough? Are my ratios off? I feel like I’ve done my homework but I’m definitely coming up short on yield, and I’m sure the purple stems aren’t helping.

I have attached pics of one of my current Lemon Hazes that I did LST/HST training on. She’s ready to flip size-wise (see pic next to toilet for reference) but I want to set her up for success.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
What's the real watts for those led? With shitty blurple led you need at least 700 real watts for a 4x4. If your last run was only a couple hu
mpaw said:
Hey guys,

I wanted to seek some help as I am about to flip my third round of ladies into flower and seemed to get the same problem with the first two grows.

First two rounds were Honey Cream (first from seed, second from clones), and this third round will be Honey Cream and Lemon Shining Silver Haze. They’re seeds I got from Amsterdam.

My stems are purple, consistently. Plant growth is rapid and steady, but the damn stems - and it’s definitely not genetics. The larger they get the harder I feel like it is to correct, and I have no doubt it has hurt my yields. My first grow i barely got 2 oz after a 4 month veg in a 5 gal smart pot doing LST/HST, and the second grow may have been even worse. I really want to correct the problem this time around.

Current setup:
-Two 300w LEDs (I realize this could be a factor; I have another 450w on the way) in a 4x4 tent for flower
-One 300w LED in a 2x4 for veg
-Exhaust fan/carbon filter going through both
-3 gallon smart pots
-Growing in coco/perlite mix
-was using R/O water for a long time, but have started using tap after letting sit for at least 24 hrs and have not noticed a difference
-Watering as needed when the medium starts to dry out (every 3 days usually)
-Room temp during the day stays about 75F and 68F at night
-Humidity fluctuates between 40% and 60%

Veg nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-8-10ml PBP grow
-1/2 tsp Epsom salts (every other water or so)
-pH usually around 5.7

Flower nutes (Botanicare)
-5ml Cal Mag
-5ml Silica Blast
-5-8ml Liquid Karma
-10ml PBP bloom
-5ml sweet
-epsom salts every other water
-pH ~5.7

Runoff is coming out with pH ~5.7 and ppm >1000.

So what’s the problem? Not enough light? Not watering enough? Are my ratios off? I feel like I’ve done my homework but I’m definitely coming up short on yield, and I’m sure the purple stems aren’t helping.

I have attached pics of one of my current Lemon Hazes that I did LST/HST training on. She’s ready to flip size-wise (see pic next to toilet for reference) but I want to set her up for success.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
As stated above not enough light is your biggest problem. You also probably harvested way too early that last week can be like half the weight.
 
M

mpaw

Member
Blitz35 said:
Plants looks quite nice, hard to believe you're only pulling 2 zips from plants that size. Are your 2 led's actually drawing 300 watts from the wall, or just labelled as 300 watters? Seeing as how they look perfectly fine, all i can think is that it's not enough light. Purple streaks will come from usually phosphorus being low and/or sulfur. If magnesium is low, it can lead to phosphorus being low and results in purple streaks, but the plant leaves don't show any hints of a problem. Otherwise, if your temps get too cool, that also affects the uptake of P and will lead to purpling.
Click to expand...
The 300w are actually pulling about half that from the wall. I went with LEDs because of power consumption concern as well as their ability to keep the temp low. I can’t be home during the day to keep an eye on them so for those reasons they work out, but yeah I definitely see how they could be the problem.
 
M

mpaw

Member
Ryante55 said:
What's the real watts for those led? With shitty blurple led you need at least 700 real watts for a 4x4. If your last run was only a couple hu

As stated above not enough light is your biggest problem. You also probably harvested way too early that last week can be like half the weight.
Click to expand...
I kept an eye on my trichomes all throughout flower using a magnifying loop and they were about 70/30% cloudy/amber when I chopped. Honey Cream is also advertised as a fast flowering 6-7 week flower time and I gave it 8 and a few days, so I think it was ready to go down. But the real watts for the LED’s only pull about 150w from the wall. They’re great for veg - I grew 4 plants using only one light, but I see how they may not be ideal for flower. Thanks
 
boilingoil

boilingoil

Well-Known Member
mpaw said:
Actually just bought some. I must have missed it when I was buying my nutes, but it will definitely be incorporated into this round.
Click to expand...
You could also cut your nute strength in half with running those LED's. With the insufficient lighting they don't need much nute's
 
R

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
mpaw said:
I kept an eye on my trichomes all throughout flower using a magnifying loop and they were about 70/30% cloudy/amber when I chopped. Honey Cream is also advertised as a fast flowering 6-7 week flower time and I gave it 8 and a few days, so I think it was ready to go down. But the real watts for the LED’s only pull about 150w from the wall. They’re great for veg - I grew 4 plants using only one light, but I see how they may not be ideal for flower. Thanks
Click to expand...
Ok sounds like you harvested at the right time with 300 real led watts of blurple you should be able to get like a half lb. My next guess would be that your lights are too far away. For decent flowering growth you need at least 600ppfd of light at the top of the canopy 800-1000 would be better. I would suggest you at least double the amount of light you have
 
R

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
mpaw said:
Haha the lights came straight from Amazon so good call out. They’re great for veg but do you think I should invest in an HPS setup for flower?
Click to expand...
Bummer you already wasted the money on those led any chance you could sell them?
 
M

mpaw

Member
Ryante55 said:
Bummer you already wasted the money on those led any chance you could sell them?
Click to expand...
I could return the one I just bought, but I doubt I could return the other ones as I’ve had them for a few months now. I suppose I could keep those for Veg and buy a HPS for flower. Maybe get a 600w HPS and use the LED’s as supplemental lighting?
 
M

mpaw

Member
blake9999 said:
You better off selling those LED's to some fool and sticking with HPS. If you want to go with LED read the LED section and do it right.
Click to expand...
Noted, thank you. Thinking I may return the 450w LED I just bought and get a 600w HPS instead.
 
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