G13 Pineapple Express and UFO Skunk #1 from Attitude. First Time Hydroponics Grow

[Raylan]

Yeah I'm gonna go with the PH being off and my meter lying to me. I ordered a new one just a little while ago, should be here by Wednesday. I'm going to take the old PH meter back to the hydro store I bought it from and returnt it and buy a bottle of Flora Nova Bloom also, just to switch over to using that as Serapis/ScottyBalls have been doing and see if that helps at all. I originally ordered Flora Nova but they sent me the GH 3 Part series instead. Called and let them know, they shipped me another package and it had FloraDuo instead, called and they said it was better than FloraNova. I can't really say much for it, as I've never used any nutrients before, but I have seen the results of FloraNova Bloom only, and it seems to work beautifully. Will be giving that a shot in a few days I believe.

 

[Raylan]

And as for the plants talking, that would be awesome, as long as it didn't end up singing really cheesy songs and trying to eat me.

 

[Raylan]

Get home today, and she looks terrible. Everyday the problem gets worse, and worse, and worse. And on top of that problem, the newest growth at the very top of the plant looks to be suffering from nute burn I'd assume, as the tips of the leaves are very yellow.
Here she is, my normal plant.

 

[Raylan]

Also, I doubt it's worth noting, but for some reason the everything new that is growing out from the plant doesn't seem to be affected by the same problem that all the big leaves are effected by. I don't know if this is a nutrient problem, and the smaller leaves aren't affected as they have enough of what they need? And perhaps it's only effecting the larger leaves/growth as it needs more nutrients? I don't know, but it sure would be nice to get her healthy looking again. After a lot of reading it does seem to be a PH problem, causing MG deficiency. Really wish I'd got some PH strips today so I could rely on some sort of reading when I change the res in a little while. I was reading you could foliar-feed with a little Epsom salt to help it out, I may give this a try in a little while as well.

 

[Budluvin]

Hey Raylan,
I am also doing my first hydroponic grow. Been looking at your journal and apart from all the ups and downs you have been having your plant growth is looking pretty good. My plants are only on day 16 at the mo, they are on 3/4 strength nutes and looking healthy, just not as big as yours. I do not own a ppm meter and debating wither to get one. As far as scotty balls stated and a few other growers on here... less is more when it comes to nutes. If my plant takes to 3/4 strength al move up to full strength tomorrow.

I am going to be following your grow, like yours mine has had many views but no comments yet! Check it out if you like....
Subd, Keep it up! hope she gets healthier!

 

[Raylan]

Thanks for the reply man. As for the PPM meter, I don't see how you could make it without one, but I may just be anal about knowing the strength of my water. Thanks for the compliments as well. If she was 100% healthy looking she'd be a lot better, but for her to have a problem like she does the growth is still coming. I came home today from work and barely recognized her as some of the tiny new growth from the bottom had grown up and above the rest of the plant. Always fun to see it change so quickly, would be a lot more fun if I came home and she didn't look like some kind of STD was spreading across her lol. I'll hop over to your journal in a second, we're only about a week apart on grow time, so we can have a little side by side going, should be fun.
On a side note; checked the PPM after getting home from work and its up to 432...thats a 65ppm jump from last night after changing the res and adjusting it to 370ppm. I really wish I'd paid more attention to exactly where the fill tube was resting, so I'd know if she drank a lot of water which caused the ppm to increase. I'll add a few pictures in a little while.

 

[Raylan]

Lots of pictures, new growth. Tried to get a good shot of the stem/branching at the base, she's getting thick fast. Also, even with all the problems I've been plagued with, I can't get over the speed of growth. Makes me wonder what she would look like if I didn't have nute burn/deficiencies/other problems stunting her.

 

[Serapis]

regardless for the reason of the ppm increase, when that happens, just add water and let it be. Your plant will come around... As soon as you get your ppm and ph dialed in, she is going to explode. Just quit sweating her out. Relax. Let's get her on the single formula diet and KISS

Your plant looks awesome.

 

[Jacob Sparks]

All the Symptoms you have posted are because of Nitrogen Deficiency. Slow Growth, yellow-green color (chlorosis), "firing" of the tips and margins of leaves beginning with more mature leaves are all symptoms of Nitrogen Deficiency.

Also, make sure you PH the water before adding your nutrients. Adding nutrients before correcting the PH of the water can decrease your nutrient potency by 50%!!

I recommend a maintaining a steady PH of 5.8

Pinapple Express is my all time favorite strain! Good Luck!!

 

[Raylan]

That's all I did, Serapis. I topped her off with DI water and let her be. And as far as single diet formula, do you mean FloraNova Bloom only, or what?

 

[Jacob Sparks]

I do not recommend adding anything designed for the bloom stage. FloraNova bloom is going to be packed with Potash and Phosphates. You need something that delivers a high percentage of nitrogen and calcium. Something like FloraNova Grow! Trust me

 

[Raylan]

I'm using FloraDuo Part A and B. A being veg and B being bloom. The side of the bottle calls for 3 to 1 of A to B for strong grow blend, which I have been more or less following. I was asking Serapis about the FloraNova Bloom only, as he and ScottyBalls both have used ONLY Nova Bloom as liquid nutes and have/are receiving spectacular results. I may have been confusing what he meant with something else though.

 

[Jacob Sparks]

I have not personally used FloraDuo. Based on what they advertise the FlorDuo "Grow" product alone with an N-P-K of 5-0-6, should provide enough nitrogen for your plant. It sounds like you are not adjusting the PH properly. Don’t buy the strips, they will not give you an exact read and you will still be left with the "What If" scenario. Bite the bullet and invest in a reliable PH meter. Than at least you can put the possibility of a PH problem to rest. Remember, I cannot stress this to you enough. Always adjust the PH of the water before you add the nutrients. The purity of your nutrients will immediately decrease if the PH of the water is not properly adjusted.

Don’t give up on her. I can tell you from experience that the Pineapple Express strain is a little stress sensitive but when grown in the right environment she produces awesome product with the most amazing pineapple smell and big yields!

 

[Raylan]

Yeah man...I agree. I even stated I felt like it was the PH being off causing nute lockouts. Ordered a new PH meter 2 days ago, should be here today. And just to be clear, you want me to PH down my water before nuting? I've received/read several different opinions on this matter, but I will give your way a try. Thanks for the tip. As far as the FloraDuo goes, it strongly suggests mixing different ratios of A to B for different phases of the grow. IE:
The first number in the series is Part A, the second is Part B. The bottle suggests these ratios by the tsp.
Mild General Purpose - 1 to 1
Normal General Purpose - 2 to 2
Strong Grow Blend - 3 to 1
Transitional Blend from Grow to Bloom - 1.5 to 2.5
Mild Bloom Blend - 1 to 2
Strong Bloom Blend - 1 to 3
So I'd assume this means that you aren't supposed two ONLY use Part A?

 

[PUKKA BUD]

i dont think adjustin your ph before nutes will work mate as your nutes will raise or lower your ph so you will end up off an have to re-adjust
Plants seems to be growin great tho mate hope the probs clear up for you

also mate that could be your prob your usin the 3-1 ratio id try the 2-2 an see how you go mite be more balanced

peace

 

[Raylan]

Hmm...see, always two different opinions, never know which is the proper one haha. Ah well, seeing what does and doesn't work firsthand is helpful I guess.
And I did switch it up a little...I noticed that the amount of water soluble MG in Part A is .1 %...so I added just a little more B than normal, as it contains 1.5% MG hoping that if it was a MG deficiency that it would help her out a little. The PH meter should correct 99% of my problems as I'll be able to rely on it's readings. I'm not too worried at this point, I was shooting for a one month veg cycle for her, but that's obviously not going to be enough as I'm about 25 days in...unless she explodes over the next week haha. So I'm just going to let her go until shes big enough for my needs, then go from there.

 

[Jacob Sparks]

If your PH changes after adding the nutrients, there is no harm in re-adjusting it again.

Yes, the FloraDuo Grow and Bloom were designed to be used at the same time. I wouldn’t change up the ratios right now. Address the PH problems first and the reassess the situation after. At this point, I feel confident you solved your problem!

Also, check out these nutrient labels on a Twitter page I just came across. They have a product called Plump Juice, Hilarious!! Search for “Gro High Cal”

 

[Raylan]

Day 26
Temp: 81
Humidity: 39%
PPM - 400
Lots of pictures. Tried to get some good shots of the damaged leaves, and a few of the new growth that is growing up into the larger leaves/damaged ones. Is it okay to remove the dying/dead leaves from the plant? And if so whats the best way to do so/where to cut? I'm also noticing that some of the new growth is coming in and some of it looks unsymmetrical. IE: Some of the leaves coming off the tips of the newest growth are 4 bladed and some are 5...Is this abnormal?

 

[Kenji Kohan]

I have no idea how I made it without a ppm tester, but it worked. I just concentrated on nutes, temp and RH. I adjusted my water, added nutes and then checked the ph again for fine tuning. I had leaves that kind of curled up like that at one point. I read that when the leaves look like their praying it means their praying for magnesium. I started adding Technaflora Mag-cal and it made a big difference. if you go overboard with it though it will then mess up your manganese. Oh.. and I used Flora Nova Grow in Veg and Flora Nova Bloom in flower stage. Worked well, but if you use GH products I highly recommend getting one of their feeding schedules at the hydro store and use all the nutes in the formula. I use the Keep It Simple program, plus the Mag-cal and Botanicare sweetner. It works! My current successful formula:

Flora Nova Grow and Bloom
Flora Blend
Floralicious Plus
Liquid Bloom

Plus a Mag-cal, sweetner and maybe some Thrive B-1(green Veg and Red Flower).

By the way. What's a ppm? Kidding

 

[Serapis]

the nutes will change the PH, so adj ph AFTER bringing ppms to desired point. You should know this

Hmm...see, always two different opinions, never know which is the proper one haha. Ah well, seeing what does and doesn't work firsthand is helpful I guess.
And I did switch it up a little...I noticed that the amount of water soluble MG in Part A is .1 %...so I added just a little more B than normal, as it contains 1.5% MG hoping that if it was a MG deficiency that it would help her out a little. The PH meter should correct 99% of my problems as I'll be able to rely on it's readings. I'm not too worried at this point, I was shooting for a one month veg cycle for her, but that's obviously not going to be enough as I'm about 25 days in...unless she explodes over the next week haha. So I'm just going to let her go until shes big enough for my needs, then go from there.