ebb & gro with Advanced Nutrients...PLEASE HELP!!

I am using a CAP ebb & gro system with Advanced Nutrients, 25 gallons of water and 24 buckets. I have had a bad several weeks and am still having issues.

First, I was not aware that Advanced Nutrients changed their product line. I am currently using Sensi A&B, VooDoo Juice, and B-52 - based on their NEW calculator. I also called Advanced to verify what I should be doing and they informed me that since I am using a recirculating system to divide my PPM's by 5. Where I would have been using 1000 before, I am now using 200. During this time, it seemed clear that I was killing my plants by overfeeding. I should add that their 1/5 reccommendation is not consistent with other emails I have seen that indicate 1/6.

Last week, I ran pure water for 24 hours and then PH-adjusted and re-mixed my nutrients at the new PPM level. The plants started to perk up again and get back to green. NOW, I have the issues exhibited below. I am 6 weeks into veg, my PH is at 5.8, my total PPM's are at 640 and the water I am using has a 150 PPM base. When Advanced says that my PPM's should be divided by 5, is that my TOTAL PPM's, or is that my PPM's not counting my water base PPM? Also, what is the suggested watering frequency per day? I am curently feeding 4 times a day equally divided between the 18 hour light cycle beginning 1/2 hour after lights come on and ending 1 hour before they go off. This is not my first grow using this system with Advanced, but this time around things are just FK'ed up!!! At this point, I am not even sure what my problem is anymore. Can anyone please help??

Thanks in advance...

Looks like magnesium deficiency. The sensi products from advanced are great but with r/o water you're sure to develop mag def. Are you adding a cal mag or something?

They look more underfed than overfed. Usually the first signs of nute burn before you start seeing burnt tips is that the overall appearance of the leaves will become much darker. Your's look nitrogen deficient among other things.

I was previously using one but I switched over to the exact nutrients listed on the new Advanced nutrient calculator which only includes Sensi A&B, VooDoo Juice, and B-52. I had been suspecting a Mag deficiency. My only concern is the amount that I need to put in since it is a recirculating system. Do I put in the recommended amount per gallon or do I divide it by 5 as Advanced said? They do have the Sensi Cal Mg Mix. I thought I understood their products until they told me to divide by 5.

How much are you adding per gallon? I run the sensi 2 part at 10 - 14 ml per gallon of each depending on stage of growth. I also use botanicare calmag..in addition to a lot of other things. Are you using r/o water?

i thought mag def started browning from the inside of the leaf first? its definatly in the right area. because it starts from the bottom, your safe to say its a macro nute def. if your going to add some mag, you might want to add a little more base because the mag will encourage the plant to ask for more base nutes.
I had two grows with that system and i remember it being a little tricky to maintain constant ph and ppms.

agree very true

Thanks everyone...

@Banditt - I am now starting to believe that this is true, it is underfeeding or a mag deficiency.

@JealousGreen - I was adding 4 ml per gallon which is what Advanced Nutrients told me to do - dividing the total suggested amount by 5. Are you using a recirculating system? Have you ever heard of this working for anyone else? My local hydro store rep told me that I'm crazy if I divide by 5 like they said. He said he runs all of his Advanced in a recirculating system divided by 2. He is suggesting 8 ml per gallon. I am currently in Veg. I am not using r/o, I am using tap which has a base of 180 PPM. Advanced said anything under 200 would work.

@cvbud - I am doing an application of Cal Mag today to start, and I am doing a pure water/H2O2 flush to clean the roots to eliminate the possibility of root rot. The roots are white for the most part, but there is some softness where I had my grodan - I have since removed all of my grodan also.

Any other suggestions on feeding schedules for this system are appreciated. I think I am going to go with the 8 ml per gallon rate to start off.

your stagnant water that sits in the bottom inch of the buckets will be found by the roots very quickly. so you dont need to water very often. When i veg i was watering 5 times a day for two weeks. because i knew the roots where still very high in the bucket. after 2 weeks veg, i throw them into flower only feeding them three times a day. i flushed every two weeks with pure water for 24 hours. than fresh nutes. it worked great. and then i flushed for two weeks. changing the res out every three days. it was some of the best bud i have ever had. I went back to soil though. my schedule was not flexible enough to manage a system like that. and it kept flooding on me. to many hours spent cleaning up after faulty switches, floats and pumps. dont get discouraged though. its a great system. what wasnt right for me, might be perfect for you.

JealousGreen said:

Looks like magnesium deficiency. The sensi products from advanced are great but with r/o water you're sure to develop mag def. Are you adding a cal mag or something?

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Good call Jealous Green.

Add some magnesium and things should be straight. I'm not sure what's going on with this one. Never had troubles when I've run Advanced Nutrients at a lower rate. Well, I've f*&ked up the grow, but not with the nutes. LOL

Sounds like solid advice here.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the input.

As a follow-up, here are some pics of the crop now. I lost a couple more plants before turning it around, and had to stay in veg for a total of 6 weeks, but it was worth it. I did the pure water/H2O2 flush to make sure it wasn't root rot, applied magnesium daily until the leaves started to green-up again, and I went back to 2ml/L of A&B (contrary to what Advanced told me to do) and 1ml/L of macro-nutrients.