[Autoflower] Is this a Calcium deficiency?

kbone123 said:

Hey thanks for that. I've never heard the term "cation exchange capacity", but it has lead me to a whole new branch of research to explore. Thank you

I'll see if I can muster the courage to let them go without anything more for a week and see how things go.

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No problem mate.

It'll be fine man. As long as you keep a keen eye on things.
A week, at this stage sounds about right.
It'll only be a matter of weeks before you're feeding everyday. Dont worry.
If theres one piece of advise i can give you for later on, its to make sure you have an ec metre and read your waste.
Dont worry so much about your feed ec. Only make sure the ph is between 5.8 - 6.5.
But the one thing you must do is judge your feed by your waste ec and ph. ALWAYS.
Once feed, and watering picks up. Run 15 - 30% waste each feeding, and make sure whats coming out is very close to whats going in. Both ec and ph.

A great article about coir, is "growing on Coco busting the myth" by CANNA. You'll find it on google. If you cant find it bug me. I have it bookmarked. I can paste it for you.

Welcome to the coco club.
Have fun. I love the stuff.

Classic case of over loving is all. Like everyone said, slow down she's a baby. Also when they're small like this don't water the base/stem, I have better luck watering the rim so the roots spread out to find it.

kbone123 said:

Legitimate question: How does a DWC plant react if left without water for a day or so?

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It'll likely die but not always.

When I say to let the pot dry out I don't mean to the point of the plant drooping from lack of water. Just until the pot feels quite light compared to when it's fully watered.

This allows fresh air to be drawn in to supply needed oxygen to the roots. I only use RO or distilled water for my plants and aerate it with an aquarium air pump and stone for at least an hour before using to make sure it has as much oxygen as possible before using. Even thinking of experimenting with boiling water to remove gasses then allowing to cool in a sealed container then aerate with pure oxygen. A couple of identical clones grown side by side should show pretty quick whether it makes any difference. Want to try watering one with my home-made colloidal silver too and see how that works.

I want to make sure I update this in case anyone comes by looking at this thread down the line. I find it frustrating myself to see threads like this with no response and no conclusion. There are far too many.

This was taken this morning:


She looks like she is recovering nicely. She isn't quite as far along as the others, but I have confidence that she will grow past this issue. In terms of node/leaf progress, she is mostly equal to the GSC. She just obviously isn't as big or strong.

My guess in the end was that it was likely either too many of the other nutes causing an imbalance that required more Calcium, or that the pH was a little bit too high for her to take in the Calcium properly. The initial positive response came from feeding her the 4-3-1-6, but everything after including lowering the pH, reducing to half-strength, and adding Silica did not have any negative effects.

I plan on continuing the half-strength feed and also adding in a root additive (Fox Farm Kangaroots), but am waiting until the pot is likely empty as others have recommended.