Organic Hydroponics/Ph Swings/CaMg Deficiencies

Here is my situation.

Grow Medium: Hydroton
System: Waterfarm Buckets
Nutrients: Humboldt Natural Grow and Bloom
Water: Tap (190 ppm)
Lights: 1000 watt dual arc, 1000 watt daylight (Large A Wings with super spreaders)
Temp/Humidity: 65/76, 20-35%
Strains: 3 Affgoo and 3 Skunk #1

So here are my questions:

I am having Calcium, Mag, Zinc and Iron deficiencies. Been using GH CAMG for two days. Also have added to the res and foliar sprayed with humic acid. When should I begin to see a turnaround and how far along is to far along? What would happen if they stayed deficient in these areas for too long?

Question #2

I went with the humboldt natural based on a friends results but have come to find out that it is generally used to soil. Up until the aforementioned deficiencies things looked great. The question being. Would it be acceptable to do a complete flush and switch to general hydroponics. I am 2 weeks into veg.

Question #3

Do you use humboldt grow in conjunction with the bloom during veg or the grow during veg and bloom during flowering.

Question #4

Is my humidity an issue. 20% during day and 35% during night.

Question #4

I have ridiculous ph fluctuations 5.5 to 6.5 overnight. I took all buckets off the reservoir so I can tend each one individually, i.e. each bucket is its own reservoir. Are these ph fluctuations going to cause me problems? Currently I put all the water back into one central reservoir, bring the ph back down and hand water them. Kind of a pain in the ass but I love my ladies and don't mind tending them individually.

Question #5

Should the drip ring run all day or intermittently. The more it runs the greater the ph fluctuation.

Question #6

My central questions are. Should I scrap the humboldt natural midway through or stick it out. Are my plants going to have ph lockout with the constant adjusting of the ph? Could switching nutrients shock my plants and screw up the chemistry? Am I going to start seeing a lot of other deficiencies in the future due to the above mentioned issues? Currently my plants are about a foot tall. Two started from seed and four rooted clones. Do they sound like they are on the right path?

Question #7

When adding the CAMG can you go overboard. In other words does the 1/4 strength theory apply to CAMG and humic acid?

Question #8

Is there a point when too much ph down is going to screw things up?

Question #9

Why do my plants droop an hour or two before lights out? Perky as can be throughout the rest of the day. What would happen if I was doing 24 hours instead of 18. Would they droop for a few hours and perk back up like they do on the 18 hour schedule?

So these things considered, do you think my plants are going to produce good results? Am I on the right track to repairing my problems? Any other suggestions? Would pulling them out of the hydroton and switching to soil put a long ways behind? How far along are the deficiencies actually once they begin to show up?

Anyway, my apologies for the long-winded and redundant post. I have been searching for answers all over the place and everyone seems to have different opinions on my situation. Thanks for the help.

These are some of the reasons I went to the GH line of nutes..

I was running fox farm organic, and now that Im nearing the end my ph is all over the place..

I'm staying with the chem ferts for now on.

They worked the best in the olden days, and there continuing to work the same way today.

Now my ph is stable, and my vegging plants are looking at their prime.

The more stuff you put in your medium/rez, the more problems you'll have.

Im sticking with the lucas method.

Micro and bloom, and thats it.

I dont know anything about your brand of nutes, ..

I think you should think things over, and maybe go for something else.

Your loading your poor girls with everything under the sun.

I see a major train wreck up ahead.

Wish I could help ya out.

Good luck to you.

CLOSETGROWTH said:

These are some of the reasons I went to the GH line of nutes..

I was running fox farm organic, and now that Im nearing the end my ph is all over the place..

I'm staying with the chem ferts for now on.

They worked the best in the olden days, and there continuing to work the same way today.

Now my ph is stable, and my vegging plants are looking at their prime.

The more stuff you put in your medium/rez, the more problems you'll have.

Im sticking with the lucas method.

Micro and bloom, and thats it.

I dont know anything about your brand of nutes, ..

I think you should think things over, and maybe go for something else.

Your loading your poor girls with everything under the sun.

I see a major train wreck up ahead.

Wish I could help ya out.

Good luck to you.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply man. So do you think it would be acceptable to do a complete flush and switch to GH?

MtPatient420 said:

Thanks for the reply man. So do you think it would be acceptable to do a complete flush and switch to GH?

Click to expand...

If it was my situation,

I probably would.

8 ml per gallon of flora micro, and 16ml of bloom..

Cheap ferts, but really work

Ph will be incredibly dead on...

Alot of that other stuff is just hype.

A healthy plant is a high yielding one.

Dont get dragged into the "snake oil".

Iam a somewhat experienced grower, been at it for over 10 years, and the manufacturers love dipping into your wallet.

The best plants I have ever had were grown from a bag of Peters chemical fert.

They were huge!!!!!!!!!!


Best of luck, and keep in touch and let me know if you actually went to the gh line of nutes.

I wanna read the success stories.

Here, check out these links>> http://www.cannabis-world.org/cw/showthread.php?t=892

http://www.lucasformula.com/

http://www.weedbay.net/overgrow-thebook/Hydroponics/Art4.htm