3-4 weeks into flower I get the same problems every time

I am using FFOF and have added little to no nutrients since they were rooted. The growth in veg is absolutely fabulous. Better than expected even. When I put them into flower, they explode. Crazy growth for 3-4 weeks and then these problems show up. The first set of pics are 8 weeks into flower, the second set of pics are 4 weeks into flower.

Temps can be kept almost anywhere and are currently running ~80 at day ~70 night. Fresh air used to cool and supply co2. Home brew CO2 added. 2 fans in a 7x8 room. Ph is near 6.

Do you guys think these are lacking something or is it heat stress? Id be shocked if it was heat stress but if many people think it is, i can raise the lights and reduce the temp. maybe I should try this anyhow....

Your problem is you need to add nutes. You should start adding nutes week 2. FFOF is only good for like a month tops with out nutes depending on your pot size.

well for starters as many people will say how long you veg, whats ph @ what kind of food you useing and how much you feeding it

for starters, DrFever, read the thread. damn dude. Vegged for 4-5 weeks. I'm not using anything but will add some organic, seaweed based fertilizer. I think the set that is close to done may be fucked off. I cant get pics of the whole thing till tomorrow, or late tonight. Ill post whole plant pics.

Its so funny to me to have issues inside. I have had soooooo much success outdoors. I kinda think its the FFOF. I never had anything like this outside using cheap ass soil.

That's because outside it can get nutrients from the environment. FFOF is meant to be used in conjunction with Fox Farms Grow Big, Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom. Indoors the only thing the plants get is what you give it.

well i suppose i could attempt to use the fox farms nutes..... I am going to start adding nutes to them as I think you are right. I think the flower period has gotten stretched out as well...THis is my first shot at an inside grow so im not all mad or anything. I knew I would have to learn but I surely didnt expect flowering to be so difficult since veg was a breeze

Ph is near 6.

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Thats not good enough. The plant starts in the soil mix at ph 6.5-7 and performs well, over time the ph is changing in the mix in turn blocking nutes such as P (like yours). Get a ph meter,some ph up and down and get the ph to 6.5 to avoid this continueing.

FFOF adds oyster shell flour for pH buffering and some Ca. The amount they use (not enough), seems to last ~6 weeks or so and then is depleted. Sound familiar? Enough for veg and the first part of flowering and then the shit hits the fan.

The very cheap (~$5) and easy solution is snagging a bag of dolomite or garden lime from Lowes or HD. ~$5 for a 40lb bag at Lowes. This will take care of pH and cal/mag issues before they happen.

2tbl/gallon of mix, or 1cup/cf of mix. Best if added to the mix before use, but can be top dressed if the plants are already in their final home.

If your soil pH is too low, and 6 is getting there, they won't be uptaking nutes from the low pH and FFOF being peat based, just gets more acidic as the peat breaks down.

Get the lime, use the lime and you'll be loving the FFOF. I've used peat based mixes for well over 30 years. With the lime, they're simple and good. Without, they can be a nightmare.

Wet

Thanks a lot I will be doing that.

What do you mean by top dressed?

blimey said:

What do you mean by top dressed?

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Sprinkled on the surface of the medium in the container. Works, but a bit slower than adding and mixing into the medium before use/planting.

Wet

I have done this already. I have top dressed what I have in final pots with ~2 tablespoons per 3.5 gal bucket. This was about a week ago. I think both of you are right. I think my ph is a bit low and that im lacking nutes.

Top dressing the lime would be to rake or work it into the top layer of soil so its not just on the top.

Its quite funny. I didn't want to add a ton of nutes because you hear that people growing indoors always add too much. I created the opposite.... oh well. I will post pics tonight of the whole plants, when the lights come on. I will also update pics in a couple weeks to show progress. Thank you all.

More like 7tbl for a 3.5 gal bucket, but see if what you added starts to help. I'll bet it will and help for those nutes to be absorbed.

Better under doing it and building up than too much and trying to deal with that.

It's easy to add more, a bitch to get it out.

Wet

So you can add too much?

wow that much?! well it has been about a week. Ill wait till my next watering, ~4 days, and add more before i water if need be. 7 tbl is almost a 1/2 cup. I think that sounds reasonable for 3.5 gals. I am getting ready for my next round of clones/transplants and already had planed on using the lime but not that much. I have 2 more hours before i can get in to take pics but i will....even though i dont want to show you how bad they look . I think whole plant pics will really show how bad it is.

Well, I add a healthy cup/cf of mix and a cf is ~7.5 gallons. 1/2 cup for 3.5 gallons isn't over much.

Remember lime is nothing more than ground up rock and you would really have to work at it to over apply. It is much easier to under apply and not have enough in there to properly buffer the pH.

I've grown stuff (not mj), in pure crushed limestone and that's about as concentrated as you can get. Drainage was the biggest problem, but there was no burn or anything like that. This was Oolitic limestone in SoFl and was crushed to about like very coarse sand.

Wet

I took the worst one out to take a pic and it sure doesnt look as bad when it is in daylight. The flowering bulbs really make it look a lot worse than it is. It is bad, dont get me wrong but heres the pics.

anyone else? comments?

I have almost the same problem. Ph issues without the lime with it stable at 6.5 top dressed about the same size containers as yours with 2 tbls per gallon seemed like a lot but has worked grate. i also have gone thru a couple grows with minimal feeding and my shit yellows and leaves dry up and fall off. They need fed the people that dont feed are using for example the supersoil recipe with added organic slow release amendments i tried to do ffof with just molasses and i just figured out they really do need fed. pot is a hungry ass plant and even tho ffof is hot from the start like people said after about a month its pretty depleted of nutes.