About to give up on this, had enough! Underfeeding?

Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
Hey Guys,

This such a great forum and I've had a lot of great help, I've built what I thought was a great system but looks like I'm having nutrient issues. I'm running drain to waste and I know 100% that my pH is perfectly dialed in (between 5.8-6.2) I know my room temp, RH / VPD, C02 and lights are all dialed in.

The issue is I grow in a country where getting caught is no joke, my room is an hours drive from my house. I have set up everything to run remotely and if I can get the feeding setup perfectly then I'll be happy. But to be honest at the moment I'm sick of driving there and back to see issues. I know it's a mindset, but to be honest, I have no idea why I'm doing this anymore. It started as a small project and went crazy. To be honest I'm about to burn the hole thing, give it up and maybe grow a cactus or something.

I'm growing in big mama rock wool cubes, drain to waste, one minute of top feed twice a day (lights on and before lights off)

I use RO water and before last week I'd only been taking the EC to 0.4 with cal-mag and saw issues last week, so worked out the exact amount of liquid in my containers and added the recommended 5ml/gallon, which took the EC to 0.5 - so I know I have been under dosing my cal-mag...

Now I'm wondering now if I'm under dosing my nutes? As I've only been adding 0.2 EC of hesi grow nutes. Does this issue look like a deficiency? and should I increase the EC to 0.9? (0.5 calmg + 0.4 nutes) and see how they do?

From my remote camera they looked to be thriving (https://www.rollitup.org/p/14549540/) but when I visited today I was surprised to see this.

It's so depressing when sh*t like this happens. I know it's a learning process, but man, 2 hours driving a day is killing me.

Thanks,
J.
 

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Kipn

Kipn

Well-Known Member
stop then if its pointless or you dont smoke
someone had the same problem on here the other day and they said it was defective rock wool cubes
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
I guess I need to do some more reading and studying growing in rockwool drain-to-waste.

I guess I first need to collect the run off after a watering and check the pH and EC and go from there?
 
Mullumbimby

Mullumbimby

Well-Known Member
Just a thought. You say you're watering 2x per day - do you know that they need this frequency?
If that rockwool never empties out, there may be problems from that.
'Less is more' can be a hard lesson to learn (ask me how I know).
Good luck, and remember all those corny memes about success after a squillion failures etc...
 
Kipn

Kipn

Well-Known Member
Justin Freidman said:
Thanks for the positive support and encouragement.

Defective rock wool cubes? LOL.
Click to expand...
i said the same thing forgot the answer as it seamed dumb to me so stopped reading the post.

i dont know enough about plants to say whats wrong but i will make this suggestion and question

you say i know 100% that my pH is perfectly dialed in. id like to ask how do you know that and when did you calibrate it last

in one of my past grows my plants started looking like that because my ph meter was off and the real reading was 5.2 after calibrating.but that was in coca now im doing dwc still a new with it
id like to say them plant look starving but maybe just getting lockout
apparently not adding enough cal mag to your ro water will make unstable ph also adding calmag 1st as we all know

no need to give up on something you enjoy unless its bringing constant disappointment and overly risky. maybe scrap the lot and go do a micro grow under your kitchen sink or some small addict
 
klx

klx

Well-Known Member
Check out Miami Mango on Instagram. He knows how to run a rockwool drain to waste room.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
Justin Freidman said:
Hey Guys,

This such a great forum and I've had a lot of great help, I've built what I thought was a great system but looks like I'm having nutrient issues. I'm running drain to waste and I know 100% that my pH is perfectly dialed in (between 5.8-6.2) I know my room temp, RH / VPD, C02 and lights are all dialed in.

The issue is I grow in a country where getting caught is no joke, my room is an hours drive from my house. I have set up everything to run remotely and if I can get the feeding setup perfectly then I'll be happy. But to be honest at the moment I'm sick of driving there and back to see issues. I know it's a mindset, but to be honest, I have no idea why I'm doing this anymore. It started as a small project and went crazy. To be honest I'm about to burn the hole thing, give it up and maybe grow a cactus or something.

I'm growing in big mama rock wool cubes, drain to waste, one minute of top feed twice a day (lights on and before lights off)

I use RO water and before last week I'd only been taking the EC to 0.4 with cal-mag and saw issues last week, so worked out the exact amount of liquid in my containers and added the recommended 5ml/gallon, which took the EC to 0.5 - so I know I have been under dosing my cal-mag...

Now I'm wondering now if I'm under dosing my nutes? As I've only been adding 0.2 EC of hesi grow nutes. Does this issue look like a deficiency? and should I increase the EC to 0.9? (0.5 calmg + 0.4 nutes) and see how they do?

From my remote camera they looked to be thriving (https://www.rollitup.org/p/14549540/) but when I visited today I was surprised to see this.

It's so depressing when sh*t like this happens. I know it's a learning process, but man, 2 hours driving a day is killing me.

Thanks,
J.
Click to expand...
Judging by your pics you provided, I'd say majority of the plants are showing mag deficient and with no info provided on lighting or temps -I'll guess you are growing under LED lights? I dont believe them to be nute deficient which is evident by the burnt leaf tips. Looking at the newest growth my suspicion would be leaning towards pH with the light yellow hue of the new foliage and thinner preflowers. If your pH is off, your plants wont take up certain nutrients...even if they are present and available. At 5 ml per gal, i'd say cal/mag is readily available even in RO water. I know you said your ph is dialed but Im just going by what the plant is showing. There have been good suggestions offered up like calibrating your pH meter and reducing watering times or how many times. Rockwool really does hold the water. Maybe try only feeding once during lights on. Maybe make that feed time about an hour or two after the light comes on so the plants are fully awake and hungry instead of right when the lights come on.
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
QUOTE="polishpollack, post: 14554989, member: 903214"]0.9.[/QUOTE]

Is this a clue? I'm guessing you're saying go for 0.9? Well I did, so will suck it and see and pray....

Mullumbimby said:
Just a thought. You say you're watering 2x per day - do you know that they need this frequency?
If that rockwool never empties out, there may be problems from that.
'Less is more' can be a hard lesson to learn (ask me how I know).
Good luck, and remember all those corny memes about success after a squillion failures etc...
Click to expand...
To be honest, no I don't. They're huge big mama cubes. I assumed that if they drain well and being watered from the top, then any excess salt build-up is flushed out of the cubes and away. I guess the only real way to check would be to weigh the cubes between watering to see how much liquid has been consumed? Any other ideas on how to work this out? From looking at different pictures on the web, they don't look over-watered. Plus if you look at my time lapse video, they seem to be growing very well at twice a day.


Kipn said:
i said the same thing forgot the answer as it seamed dumb to me so stopped reading the post.

i dont know enough about plants to say whats wrong but i will make this suggestion and question you say i know 100% that my pH is perfectly dialed in. id like to ask how do you know that and when did you calibrate it last.
in one of my past grows my plants started looking like that because my ph meter was off and the real reading was 5.2 after calibrating.but that was in coca now im doing dwc still a new with it
id like to say them plant look starving but maybe just getting lockout
apparently not adding enough cal mag to your ro water will make unstable ph also adding calmag 1st as we all know
no need to give up on something you enjoy unless its bringing constant disappointment and overly risky. maybe scrap the lot and go do a micro grow under your kitchen sink or some small addict
Click to expand...
I calibrated them 3-4 days ago. 3 meters in the same 1000L nutrient drum - all calibrated, all showing slight different readings, but well within 5.8-6.2

ph.jpg

I hear you man, this is why I calibrate them each month - I messed up a couple of months ago when the pH meter was out... :(

I'm adding 5ml/gallon to my RO, which should be plenty, I'm just wondering if it's not enough out nutes. 0.5 calmag and 0.2 other. I've upped the EC to 0.9 now so will hope and pray... I'll also check run-off next time I go there.

I did enjoy building the entire room and set up, it's just a pain having to travel there each time something goes wrong. I also recently found dream market, so can pretty much get anything I need very easily...
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
Judging by your pics you provided, I'd say majority of the plants are showing mag deficient and with no info provided on lighting or temps -I'll guess you are growing under LED lights? I dont believe them to be nute deficient which is evident by the burnt leaf tips. Looking at the newest growth my suspicion would be leaning towards pH with the light yellow hue of the new foliage and thinner preflowers. If your pH is off, your plants wont take up certain nutrients...even if they are present and available. At 5 ml per gal, i'd say cal/mag is readily available even in RO water. I know you said your ph is dialed but Im just going by what the plant is showing. There has been good suggestions offered up like calibrating your pH meter and reducing watering times or how many times. Rockwool really does hold the water. Maybe try only feeding once during lights on. Maybe make that feed time about an hour or two after the light comes on so the plants are fully awake and hungry instead of right when the lights come on.
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm running C02 at 1000ppm and 70%RH at 26 degrees C. The plants are under 2 x HLG550 V2 and with a PAR meter the reading is around 400.

I've definitely calibrated the pH meters, did this a few days ago (see post above)

I'll change the feed time as you've suggested and I guess also check the run off pH and EC. Thanks again!
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
I also watched your video. They look great with an 18/6 schedule, but you can see they look exhausted and droopy by lights out. This is kinda confirming the "overwatered" theory.
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
With DTW, its the runoff that counts for measuring.
Click to expand...
HydroRed said:
I also watched your video. They look great with an 18/6 schedule, but you can see they look exhausted and droopy by lights out. This is kinda confirming the "overwatered" theory.
Click to expand...
Thanks Man! I'll measure the run-off tomorrow and water once a day at 8am (2 hours after lights on)

Shit. I put the EC up to 0.9 earlier today - I'm guess that was a mistake now!?.. Shall I rush over there tonight and add my RO + Calmag water to bring it back down to 0.7?
 
Kipn

Kipn

Well-Known Member
Justin Freidman said:
QUOTE="polishpollack, post: 14554989, member: 903214"]0.9.
Click to expand...
Is this a clue? I'm guessing you're saying go for 0.9? Well I did, so will suck it and see and pray....



To be honest, no I don't. They're huge big mama cubes. I assumed that if they drain well and being watered from the top, then any excess salt build-up is flushed out of the cubes and away. I guess the only real way to check would be to weigh the cubes between watering to see how much liquid has been consumed? Any other ideas on how to work this out? From looking at different pictures on the web, they don't look over-watered. Plus if you look at my time lapse video, they seem to be growing very well at twice a day.




I calibrated them 3-4 days ago. 3 meters in the same 1000L nutrient drum - all calibrated, all showing slight different readings, but well within 5.8-6.2

View attachment 4223711

I hear you man, this is why I calibrate them each month - I messed up a couple of months ago when the pH meter was out... :(

I'm adding 5ml/gallon to my RO, which should be plenty, I'm just wondering if it's not enough out nutes. 0.5 calmag and 0.2 other. I've upped the EC to 0.9 now so will hope and pray... I'll also check run-off next time I go there.

I did enjoy building the entire room and set up, it's just a pain having to travel there each time something goes wrong. I also recently found dream market, so can pretty much get anything I need very easily...[/QUOTE]

i dont use ec yet im a ppm user i normally keep my ppm around 550. i calibrate weekly when i change my res out
is their a light leak in your tent i see some red looking light when lights turn off
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
It looks like a Cal/Mag issue. It could just be from running it in Hydro. The roots probably aren’t big enough yet, or you need more oxygen and Cal/Mag, N, P, and a little K.
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
Kipn said:
i dont use ec yet im a ppm user i normally keep my ppm around 550. i calibrate weekly when i change my res out
is their a light leak in your tent i see some red looking light when lights turn off
Click to expand...
I find it's best to measure things in EC because there are two measurements for ppm (500 and 700)

No light leak, the red light is just the led from the power supply switch, I doubt it will affect the plants but might as well cover them with black tape tomorrow. :)
 
Kipn

Kipn

Well-Known Member
Justin Freidman said:
I find it's best to measure things in EC because there are two measurements for ppm (500 and 700)

No light leak, the red light is just the led from the power supply switch, I doubt it will affect the plants but might as well cover them with black tape tomorrow. :)
Click to expand...
much agree i will be investing in ec soon but i use the 700 scale. id cover it ive seen power strip lights affect one of my grows. with mylar the smallest amount of light spreads through the hole tents from reflection
i must say your set up looks good and id be pissed as all hell if my plant started growing shit with that set up
defiantly don't quit on that. id imagine once you dial in your grow you wont need to visit that room for a few weeks at a time depending on how often you need to fill your res and you could automate that and use a float valve then never need to visit until harvest
maybe just try give them some epsom salt. i personally don't like using that but it does help for that quick magnesium boost
 
Justin Freidman

Justin Freidman

Well-Known Member
Kipn said:
much agree i will be investing in ec soon but i use the 700 scale. id cover it ive seen power strip lights affect one of my grows. with mylar the smallest amount of light spreads through the hole tents from reflection
i must say your set up looks good and id be pissed as all hell if my plant started growing shit with that set up
defiantly don't quit on that. id imagine once you dial in your grow you wont need to visit that room for a few weeks at a time depending on how often you need to fill your res and you could automate that and use a float valve then never need to visit until harvest
maybe just try give them some epsom salt. i personally don't like using that but it does help for that quick magnesium boost
Click to expand...
Thanks man, I'm very happy with the setup, just needs to work out my nutes and learn more about deficiencies, etc. The room is kitted out with twin air cons, dehumidifiers, 3 x 1000L drums, C02, RO Filtration system, automatic online watering system, online camera system, etc. Would be a shame to give up on it now.
 
C

CannaCountry

Well-Known Member
Lots of good advice here...

Based on your pics, your girls look short on Mg. If it were me, I'd add this via Epsom Salt, not via CalMag...no need to add Cal if they aren't asking for it.
 
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