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Diz218 said:

i got a question about my veg cycle. I am on 20/4 now and i was wondering if it needs to be completely dark during off time and if its not completely dark what are the negative effects.

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No expert, but I don't think it does when in Veg Cycle. I ran mine 24/7 during veg with 2 18" aquarium florescent bulbs. Worked Great!

Has anyone seen this before View attachment 1430012 View attachment 1430013

The stems have joined together. Do you think it will produce a massive bud

in that case if the lights alternated on and off every hour for 12 hours equalling in 6 total hours of dark would this do anything different to the plant? bad or good?

Diz218 said:

in that case if the lights alternated on and off every hour for 12 hours equalling in 6 total hours of dark would this do anything different to the plant? bad or good?

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NO. You don't want to alternate the lights as that doesn't occur in nature.

I PH my nutes at 5.5-6.0 and im using FFOF, when I check the PH of the water that comes out from the bottom of the pot it comes out to 6.6-6.7 is this bad? shoudl i PH my water lower? I got some yellowing on the tips and i use botanicare nutes

normajean123 said:

I PH my nutes at 5.5-6.0 and im using FFOF, when I check the PH of the water that comes out from the bottom of the pot it comes out to 6.6-6.7 is this bad? shoudl i PH my water lower? I got some yellowing on the tips and i use botanicare nutes

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What are you growing in?

You should always feed/water at the appropriate level. In general this is usually 5.8 for Hydroponics and 6.5 for Soil.

If you are in soil, use a 6.5 solution all the time. If you are concerned about the pH you can use several gallons of a 6.5pH solution to flush the soil and balance the pH in that way.

If you are in Coco, or Peat, then you should be using a 5.8 solution. The run off of coco is usually pretty high due to the buffer of the media. To get a more accurate representation of the pH of your media you can take a scoop of the soil from a few inches down. Make a slurry with some filtered water and test the slurry.

Otherwise all you really need to do is get a lot of run off and keep your pH right where it needs to be. Some plants will like it higher during some periods, lower during others, so listen to the plants and keep a good journal.

2nd grow. 1st went swimmingly under T5's, later HID Sodium 400W for flowering. These newer 6 began well with great promise, but have begun to slow down, bottom most leaves quickly turning brown and dropping. Lower middle to uppermost leaves in good condition with new growth and small buds. 18 inch tall plants currently in week 2 under HID, but began leaf dropping very slightly even under T5s. Receiving good Ventilation with filters, fan circulation, humidity pretty consistent at 50-60%. Temp consistent at 65-75 degrees with 400 w Sodium mounted approx 9 inches above plant canopy. Doesn't seem to be excess heat at top of plants...quite comfy for them I think. Removing damaged leaves when they are completely dried, but lower foliage still quickly drying out. Receives RO water every 3 days with nutes 1 x weekly. Higher in Phosphoroous. Lower in Nitrogen. Growing in organic FoxFarm Soil.

Any thoughts?

Could be a pH issue SuperBudMomma. If you can post some pictures I might be able to help more.

When leaves start going brown and crispy it is usually a result of some kind of issue with the media, be it toxicity or pH issues. If the issue was just a yellowing of the leaves until they wilted off then it'd be different.

A generalized solution for most problems when the issue is unknown is to flush the media with pH balanced water.

When you feed make sure you are measuring the pH and balancing to 6.5. Always get 25% run off when you water/feed and remove the run off to keep the plant from sucking those salts back up. A little dolomite lime with also help stabilize the pH buffer. You can top dress with 1Tbsp. per gallon of soil and water through it. Do that every 6 weeks or so and that could help keep the problem from returning.

So my ph question is do I adjust my ph before I add my nutrient or after. I think I'm going to start at my ph at 6.7 and work up or down just wanted to know if it needs to be that way before or after. Thx

You add your nutrients first and then adjust the ph if you need to. Allow for 1 hour to pass and check the pH again as it may need time to balance out.

Snow Crash said:

You add your nutrients first and then adjust the ph if you need to. Allow for 1 hour to pass and check the pH again as it may need time to balance out.

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sorry to jump in on this are u saying all those times i watered and fed with nutes or no nutes that i should have waited and hour after adjusting ph to 6.5 for soil ...so that everything can balance out ...hhhmmmmmmm.....

As the water sits there it is going to continue to balance out and if you run an air stone it can change even more.

I find that with phosphoric acid pH down, like that from General Hydroponic, the pH will raise as much as 0.6 in a 12 hour period. By allowing the solution to rest and balance you get the maximum effect of the chemistry when you use it.

Nitric Acid pH down, TechnaFlora, holds a much truer and more consistent pH level over a 12 hour period and as a result you will use less of it.

Remember that each of these products adds more elemental salts to the solution. I've used as much as 35ppm (about 3ml per gallon) of phosphoric acid before to get it to stay at 5.8.

Something I have read recently is that with A+B style nutrients you want to mix them in 1/2 the water at twice the strength.

So if you had a 10 gallon reservoir, you would use 5 gallons of water, and 10 gallons worth of A+B. The decrease in volume of water allows the combination of the two products to complete quickly. In a larger reservoir when using maybe 3ml of A and B it is "hard for the parts of the two to find each other." This problem is compounded when products like Cal-Mag or other fertilizers are used right afterwards.

Mix up the first two nutrients in half the water. Let it rest for 1/2 an hour. Then add the rest of the water, the rest of the nutrients, and let it rest another half hour. Come back, pH a balance, and let rest one more hour. Balance again. The solution is fine to use now.

Always check your pH before using any solution. Don't depend on it to stay perfect. You need to stay vigilant.

if i put my plant in a bigger pot, does a plants growth in budding stage increase alot? and how long does it usually take to see results from fim/toping?

Planter size doesn't need to be larger than 1 gallon of media for every month of growth. Flower size is not determined by the planter size.

With a larger planter you can vegetate the plant for longer. This will develop more sites where flowers can grow on. Still, it takes time.

It takes about 4 days to start seeing the two lower nodes fully establish themselves as the new top nodes and to begin growing. Figure about 1 week before the lower nodes catch up to where the top of the plant was before topping. Some plants will respond better than others. I had a lemon skunk that didn't miss a beat when topped.

Does anyone have any pictures of early showing flowers on plants still in veg. I would take a picture but my camera sucks and can not get the resolution necessary to show y'all.

Snow Crash said:

What are you growing in?

You should always feed/water at the appropriate level. In general this is usually 5.8 for Hydroponics and 6.5 for Soil.

If you are in soil, use a 6.5 solution all the time. If you are concerned about the pH you can use several gallons of a 6.5pH solution to flush the soil and balance the pH in that way.

If you are in Coco, or Peat, then you should be using a 5.8 solution. The run off of coco is usually pretty high due to the buffer of the media. To get a more accurate representation of the pH of your media you can take a scoop of the soil from a few inches down. Make a slurry with some filtered water and test the slurry.

Otherwise all you really need to do is get a lot of run off and keep your pH right where it needs to be. Some plants will like it higher during some periods, lower during others, so listen to the plants and keep a good journal.

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I have a sunshine soil-less mix that uses a lot of peat, and just ph'd at 6.0 so hope that will help my probs. I was at 6.6 with problems (possibly ph related) Great info Snow!

i am in week 5 of flower and i left the room light on... not the HID but the regular room light witch is a 60 watt bulb. i caught it about 7 hours into the dark period. How much will this affect my babies? Ive read a few things about this, and some ppl said to give them 12 hours of dark and make that your new schedule. and other say to just continue with the regular light schedule. witch is the better option?

I'd stay on your regular schedule. That little hiccup could really cost you. A terrible time to have a light schedule interruption of this magnitude.

Whats the best way to get rid of an aphid problem, I have washed the plants on two different occasions about a week to two weeks apart and they keep coming back.....arghhh!

I am starting up my room which is 10X10 with the Ebb & Grow system running 12 pots. I am planning on using MH for veg and HPS for flower with 1000watts. I have a Raptor hood and an XtraSun ballast.

I am wondering if anyone has ever used an XtraSun ballast and if they work good or are a piece of junk? I havent been able to find any review on this ballast yet.

I am also wondering if I have to vent the room or will the fan in the room be enough?

Also any info on vegging plants under MH?

Thanks!!!!