*** Ask Dr. VonDankenstine ***

[MrHowardMarks]

The yellowing from the bottom means they're hungry, and the wrinkled new growth suggests a pH problem or overwatering.

I'd give them a feeding, and measure the ppm and pH of the runoff... That will give you some ideas.

What goes in should come out, if there's any fluctuation in pH or ppm, then you'll know what's up.


For the fluorescent light... If it's a tube type (not CFL) I'm pretty sure the problem is the ballast fuse... They're like 50 cents...

Anyway, if you look inside the hood, there will be a rectangular box with wires coming out of it, that's the ballast...

On it (in it) will be the fuse. It's either gray or white most of the time... It'll look like the bottom of a "C" battery...

Give it a half turn counterclockwise and it should pop right out...

There will be two terminals on the top, and the fuse is housed inside...

It's probably just a faulty connection, so you might want to dust it off and re-try it before you go buy a new one... Or you could just get a whole new shop light for 10 bucks if this sounds too hard.

 

[DR. VonDankenstine]

Hey doc

I have a female plant In a grow box wraped with aluminum foil ( first grow will upgrade after more experience) . I was lucky and it was a female , I had it outside for a couple weeks until I saw the white hairs come up It was also a very cold December so I brought it inside and put under the aerogarden lights and 1 cfl 27000 lumens under 12/12 ..
The plant itself is about 2 feet tall with lots of foliage and many nodes which have many white hairs in many places.. I have only been giving it miracle grow (the tomato one) every 2-3 weeks but lots of water seems to be doing fine and still growing..
So my questions to u Doc are...
I want to use a 150 watt hps instead of what I have or with it.. Will it drain a lot of power raising my bill by alot??
I want to get better nutes but know where to go don't really trust online... And I don't know which ones or what NPK percentage to get ( budget of like 50$ or so)
Or am I ok with jus adding the miracle grow...
Thanx any help is appreciated

Your bill will go up about 5 dollars a month-----Get a bloom/flowering nute----there are alot under 50.00 dollars-----You don't have to go online---go to your local nursary or hydroponics store-----At least get ALASKIN bloom version.

One more thing I didn't add is it's on it's 3 week of flowering .. It's a soil grow..

very nice

DOC I have the worst problem Ive encountered yet.

*DAY 55*

Just finished watering with 1/4 dosage of Ionic nutrients (10.5ml Grow & 7.5ml Humic acid for a total of 6 Litres of water) & PH at 6.0 just to see how it reacts to PH at 6.0.

Firstly there were problems with the lighting, for some reason the lights were switching on & off randomly for 2 days at first I though it was the fluro bulbs but it wasnt so then I checked the timer but that was ok too so then I checked the wiring with a current detector which was also working correctly I still have no idea what the problem is but yesterday I began to worry that the plant my go into flowering mode if the lights carry on playing up so Ive switched the timer to lights "permenantly on" in other words 24/0, thought it would be a good idea to give you all the info but the main problem begins in the next paragraph.

Many of the fan leaves are crinkly, dry, shrivelled up, yellow & brown. Even the other leaves I think they are called bud sites (the leaves under the fan leaves , sorry I dont know the correct term) have become deformed due to the weight & pressure of the larger fan leaves pressing down on top of them overall she has become bushy but weak.

I posted pics of all the dying fan leaves & the deformed & wilting little leaves & the brown spotted new leaves at the very top, basically all the leaves which show ill health.

I should tell you at this point that about 2 weeks ago I watered with full strength Ionic nutes instead of easing it in . After that silly incident Ive only been feeding plain tap water left out 24hrs (PH at 6.5). By the way its in 40% perlite & 60% soil.

Is there a solution to this?

Yes----You seem to have corrected your lighting issue---Now what I need to know to help you out is the run-off ph and ppms----I will need this for both your soil and tap water-----feed your plant with the 6.5 tap water you told me about and collect run-off. Then I can help you further.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Buddster-----

There are a bunch of things you could do... But already being 3 weeks into flower, you might want to start thinking about the next grow...

First, I'd get rid of the foil, it'll create hotspots and reflects heat along with the light... And can refract the light and burn the leaves... Plain white paint works better.

Second, I'm not sure you're understanding the differance between lumens and Kelvin...

-A lumen is the equilevant of the light from one candle...

-Kelvin is an energy measurement that describes the color of light.

2700K is a warm red light for blooming... Soft light in CFL terms...

Daylight bulbs have a higher Kelvin rating 7500 K and a blueish color better for veg.

Also, a 150W ballast will be nothing on an energy bill... A 1000W light will cost you less than 50 bucks a month... Like 30-40 bucks where I'm at...


Lastly, ditch the Miracle Grow and get some better nutes. Fox Farm is affordable and super easy... You could mostly likely afford to go buy a bottle of Tiger Bloom right now and get a lot better harvest.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Hey Doc, I didn't know you were in, so they just got a double éntänt of info, go to know we always agree

 

[DR. VonDankenstine]

Hey Doc, I didn't know you were in, so they just got a double éntänt of info, go to know we always agree

You always explain in a lot more detail which is better and since you know your stuff it helps a lot of people including myself--THANKS----Your plants are looking yummmmy----I have a question for you----where is your soil going to go when your done with this grow?

 

[xXMaslanXx]

After flowering how long does it take till your able to harvest?

and

How long can seeds last in a bag that have already started sprouting ?

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Hey Doc, I flush my soil with a cleaning agent, like Clearex of Final Phase, and run plenty of water through to rinse out salt buildup... Until the ppms stay the same... About 2 gallons of water per gallon of dirt... I do this in the bucket, with the roots and everything still intact...

Then, I tip the bucket over and break it all up and let it dry out a bit before I reuse it...

I've reused my mix up to 4 times with no problems.

After that it gets tilled into the garden outside.




Maslan-

It depends on the strain, if it's a pure indica or indica dominant 45-50 days of 12/12...

If it's pure sativa or sativa dominant 55-70 days.

You know the difference, sativa- thin leaves, stretchy... Indica- broad leaves, squatty.



After a bean sprouts it only has a day or two to be planted... The white thing coming out is the taproot, it's a root, not a stem. The seed holds the stem and cotyledons, it will pop up out of the soil wearing the seed like a helmet.

 

[stumps]

ok so these gals have about 3 weeks left. why are the buds so small? this has happend the last two grows. I'm guessing nutes, lack of light. I used mg liquid 8-7-6 for veg. Expert bloom busrt 10-51-10 for flower plus superthrive and molasses. this grow vegged under cfl's 85w 6400k and 3-42w 2700k flowered under 400w hps and left the 3 42w temps run high at 80 and the low got around 64 when it was so cold. avrg. 74-78 and 68-70
any help would be great.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

My guess is light penetration, but they're looking good... The last three weeks is when they really start to chunk up...

 

[stumps]

I have hopes they will be beter this time. I just put another 42w under the canopy. This is where the last grow stopped and finished off.

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Cut back on the nutes... you might have buildup... that happens to a lot of growers near the end of flowering...

check your runoff

because you start with fresh soil, adding too much at the begining doesn't matter as much, but as time goes on, salts build up, and too many nutes (or overwatering and drowning the roots) will make them stop growing before they're done...

 

[buddster420]

Buddster-----
There are a bunch of things you could do... But already being 3 weeks into flower, you might want to start thinking about the next grow...
First, I'd get rid of the foil, it'll create hotspots and reflects heat along with the light... And can refract the light and burn the leaves... Plain white paint works better.
Second, I'm not sure you're understanding the differance between lumens and Kelvin...
-A lumen is the equilevant of the light from one candle...
-Kelvin is an energy measurement that describes the color of light.
2700K is a warm red light for blooming... Soft light in CFL terms...
Daylight bulbs have a higher Kelvin rating 7500 K and a blueish color better for veg.
Also, a 150W ballast will be nothing on an energy bill... A 1000W light will cost you less than 50 bucks a month... Like 30-40 bucks where I'm at...



Lastly, ditch the Miracle Grow and get some better nutes. Fox Farm is affordable and super easy... You could mostly likely afford to go buy a bottle of Tiger Bloom right now and get a lot better harvest.

ok sounds good and yeah I was a little confused about it but thanx I understand better now
Yeah I need to get rid of them but did not know what to get.... umm where could I get Tiger Bloom went to couple of home depot couldn't find anything with flowering or blooming products ..
Also my friend gave me some bio bloom from holland and he says it's good what u think .. And I also have shultz plant food 10-15-10.. Better than miracle grow right ...

 

[buddster420]

Thanx DOC for the advise

One more thing before I switch nutes should I flush or jus water a couple days and then add new nutes

 

[iloveit]

Your bill will go up about 5 dollars a month-----Get a bloom/flowering nute----there are alot under 50.00 dollars-----You don't have to go online---go to your local nursary or hydroponics store-----At least get ALASKIN bloom version.

very nice

Yes----You seem to have corrected your lighting issue---Now what I need to know to help you out is the run-off ph and ppms----I will need this for both your soil and tap water-----feed your plant with the 6.5 tap water you told me about and collect run-off. Then I can help you further.

I shall do that first thing tomorrow morning as the soil is still moist from the watering 2 days ago. Im thinking I can test the run off, feed water & transplant all at once, would that be ok or should I transplant first before doing anything?

 

[MrHowardMarks]

I'd still flush then transplant...



Buddster- Do a search http://www.google.com type in "Hydroponics (your city)" and see if there are any real garden stores in your area...

And yeah, I don't know much about the Bio Bloom, but I almost certain it's not a stand alone fertilizer, i think it's just an additive...

Fox Farm is cheap and easy...

Home Depot won't have the good nutes you want, you have to go to a speciality garden supply store.

 

[buddster420]

Ok sounds good thanx for the help I will do it as soon as possible gotta get better nutes ... Also my top fan leaves grew to big and kinda burned lots of them it already out grew some of it but the burned leaves are still there should pluck them out...

 

[MrHowardMarks]

Once it's burnt it won't heal itself, so go ahead and remove it...

A liter of Tiger Bloom should cost less than 20 bucks, if you have the cash get a jar of Beastie Bloomz too, it's 22 bucks.

 

[TRICKKY]

Buddster,

I use Bio Grow and Bio bloom from Bio Bizz, and have done since I started growing. They are affordable good quality and most importantly (for me) they are organic, oh and they are really easy to use too. I used to usually use their Top Max as an additive to the bio bloom but have used Bio Bloom on its own also.

Anyway tap Bio Bizz into google and check them out, they are a well known company my side of the pond, and have been going for years.

Mr Von and Mr Marks, I promise never to give out advice on your thread again, I just love my Bio Bizz products and had to share.

 

[DR. VonDankenstine]

Buddster,

I use Bio Grow and Bio bloom from Bio Bizz, and have done since I started growing. They are affordable good quality and most importantly (for me) they are organic, oh and they are really easy to use too. I used to usually use their Top Max as an additive to the bio bloom but have used Bio Bloom on its own also.

Anyway tap Bio Bizz into google and check them out, they are a well known company my side of the pond, and have been going for years.

Mr Von and Mr Marks, I promise never to give out advice on your thread again, I just love my Bio Bizz products and had to share.

No problems brother----sharing info is gooooooooooooooooooood.

 

[stumps]

time line on grow is messed up,I think.
I was thinking this grow should finish around Jan 21. Just went back and looked at dates. 12/12 started dec,8 as of today that puts them at 33 days. Is the avg.flower time around 63 days?? I did a 3 to 1 flush today, and have only gave them molasses the last 3 waterings. Should I go back to nutes for another week or so and flush again??
On one plant all the large fan leafs are turning yellow and falling off thought that was ok. but now I'm thinking not so ok with around 30 days left.