Hmm. Points to a too damp - low pH problem.......3 gallon pots and 8 cups of water a day is the problem point...
I am an everyday watering guy. In 3 Gal pots during veg.....depending on plant size and uptake.....I might reach 750ml at lights on (6 cups) for the day. At peak uptake in bloom, on my biggest plants in 7 gallon pots. I never reach 8 cups (2000 ml or 2 liters) per day!
IF I get a dry plant "droop", it's because I was delayed a cpl of hrs past 24 in watering. A bit of a droop is not "bad" and is far better then over watering!
In 5 gal pots with 5'-5.5' plants in full bloom. I use 1000ml (1 liter or 4 cups) of water on a 24 hr basis. Temps, RH and airflow are factors that can shift amounts used either up or down....
In veg that amount starts low and increases as the plant does.
The idea of daily watering is to have the soil dry out to almost the point of the plant "drooping" by lack of moisture to uptake! This provides more O2 to the roots and that is a GOOD thing! Same with the pH swing and it's relation to nutrient uptake. You also have the ability to adjust as needed, anything you need more/less of to make a "correction". The plant reacts faster to these changes too.
The use of synthetic daily feeding is is based on a low NPK value in the feed....When I did it. my NPK values were 2.8-2.2-3 in veg and at the flip it made a MINOR shift to 3.4-2.6-3.5 At week 4 I began adding a 0-7-5 PK boost with a 0-0-3 K kicker....The boost and the kicker were done every other day...till week 5-6 (strain dependent) and then every day for 2 weeks. Back to "normal" but for the booster being done every other again. I would drop the boost about a week before harvest
Thanks Dr. Who. I was going to ask about watering 6 cups a day during the short span they were drinking 8 cups every day.
Then I read a post you wrote to someone else Sunday that I think answered my question.
(Dr Who. Sunday Post : I find run off in soil plants as being counter productive! If you have to do a water to run off - your over feeding.)
I always tried to get them to run off some water because I was afraid of leaving dry pockets in the soil and because I read I should have 10% run off, not sure if I read it in books or on RIU. I'll have to absorb what I read in your post and I will experiment with my watering methods.
On a separate note. In the past I never flushed my soil near the end of the grow. It was probably on RIU that I read about flushing and did it for 3 grows. You played a large part in teaching me to not flush again. I think I noticed my flowers not finishing as well when I flushed, of course my plants not finishing well during those 3 grows could have been for other reasons also.
Buba, I think that you are having the same issues as i am. I figured out that it was never Ca deficiency in the first place, Ca deficiency begins in the younger upper leaves, but my issue begins on the bigger older fan leaves. The purple stems signify phosphorus deficiency, and the spots K deficiency. Hope this helps
Thanks. The pictures I took don't do a good job showing the location of the problem. The one fan leaf shown is pretty big and about mid level on the plant and is the lowest leaf with the problem in an early stage. The majority of the deficiency shown is at the upper section of the plant. Note the last picture showing the bottom fan leaves not affected.
What kind of air circulation do you have going? As in how are they getting fresh air? Are you exhausting the space and if so where to?
The reason i ask is because the problem may be as simple as the plant is being choked out from lack of fresh air...or rather the co2 in the air. That looks just the same as lockout from ph probs so rule that out first before chasing down ph problems....or you will be running around in circles.
And from what you described about your setup i would be willing to bet lack of fresh air is your problem.
Ask me how i know. Lol
Interesting. During the day I have four fans. One circulating, one on the ground near the door pushing lower air into the room. One inline fan hooked to two enclosed hoods, another inline hooked to a third hood. The two inline fans exit the room during the day.
Night could be a problem. At lights off I close the room and leave on two of the four fans, no air is vented out of the room at night. I run the circulating one and the inline hooked to the charcoal filter. 8 plants 4-5 foot tall that fill in most of a 5x5 grow area, the room itself is 10x10.
My night time humidity was the concern I had in the 1st post because I seal the room at night. I'm considering getting a de humidifier to bring down the humidity. If it will help my plants to instead vent the air out of my room at night it is definitely a mod I can do.
