Foliar spraying really should only be done in lights on, with plenty of time for leaves to dry before lights-off. Wet leaves in cool, dark conditions invites mould- powdery mildew, botyritis etc.Agreed 100%. I wouldn't spray anything past within 3 -4 weeks of harvest. I like to follow up with a few foliar sprays of just water just before lights out "after the smoke has cleared and the rubble has been swept away." - Tenacious D
Try not to panic when applying miticides etc. Use the recommended dosage rate. Once you see any symptom of damage to the plants, it's usually permanent. Some 'organic' and 'natural' insecticides use oils to suffocate bugs, which breathe through pores in their bodies. Problem is, leaves work the same way. Plug leaf stomata & you will kill the leaf.Everything was going so smoothly with my grow, then a week ago I noticed the dreaded little white spots on one plant. I turned over the leaves and found only two adult black mites and a few eggs. I haven't had fucking mites in over a year! I ran to the hydro shop and bought azamax, as I've used it with great success in the past. I think I went a little overboard with the dosage, and now my girls don't look as happy: a little leaf curling almost like nute burn. I only found two affected plants out of about a hundred, so I guess I panicked. I sprayed every plant heavily and even sprayed the top of the perlite in all my pots. Absolutely no sign of mites now, do you think rinsing some of the Azamax off by spraying with plain water would help? At low dosages, my girls used to love azamax looking shiny and healthy. Oh well, live and learn I guess...
well...Does anyone have the forumla to calculate how much H2O2 is needed if 50% strength cant be found. Say maybe 18% or 35%...I cant seem to calculate it, math must be rusty
For 30%, it's 50/30= 1.666 (1.7) ml/L.If I recall 1.7 ml/L is the rate for 35% and 1.0 ml/L for 50% per Al's recommendation but I would wait to hear back from him personally. I Garn'tee he knows the math behind it lol.
Yep, that's how she goes.If 1ml of 50% is recommended thats .5ml of h2o2. So take .5 and divide it by any percentage to get the ml.
So if its 18% it would be .5 divided by .18 to get 2.7ml
25% is .5 divided by .25 = 2ml
30% is .5 divided by .30 = 1.7ml
35% is .5 divided by .35 = 1.4ml
50% is .5 divided by .5 = 1ml
90% is .5 divided by .9 =.55ml
*blush* OKA few questions for the great Al,
Sounds like your res is the right size for the number of plants it's supplying.My ppm stays the same throught a week and my res just loses water
If your nute concentration is staying constant as the water level drops, there's no real need to top up between 2 week renewal intervals.When you top up with plain tapwater, does it effect the ppm levels at all? and if so, do you add back nutes to keep the desired ppm until your 2 week tank flush?
It would, and that's why you don't really need to top up. Just let the level fall until it's time to mix up a new tank of sauce. As long as there's enough sauce in the res to fill the tray to the overfill, there's no need to top up.Ive heard too addback plain water with no nutes, but wouldn't this dilute your solution if its already at the correct ppm?
It's most likely that the pH will rise rather than drop. pH should stay steady unless you top up with plain tapwater (usually 7.5-8 due to chlorination) or if there's a high pathogen (pythium, fusarium) load in the system. If you're dosing your tanks with H2O2 every 3-4 days, you shouldn't have any pathogen problems. However, if your pH does jump up by more than .2, do adjust it down to 5.8. If you're not topping up & don't have pathogen issues, your pH shouldn't wander much.When my ph drops or raises by a point (5.9,5.7) should I adjust immedietly back to the suggested 5.8?
There's apparently a high enough pathogen load in your system that the usual periodic dosage isn't enough to keep your pathogens in check. The H2O2 you're getting may not be the strength that it says on the bottle (long term storage of H2O2 can reduce the concentration). Do a once-off shock treatment of 50% grade H2O2 at 10ml/L & then return to 1ml/L 3-4 days later. See if that doesn't sort it out.Ive left the lid off my res and been adding h202 at the reccomended doses, but I still seam to get white bubble slime floating and sticking to pumps by the end of week 1.
Subtract the TDS of the tapwater and that added by the Epsom salts from the final figure post adding your nutes. TDS readings unfortunately only give you an indication of the total conductivity of the solution; doesn't tell you specifically how much N, P & K is in the solution. Mg & Ca won't contribute to nute burn. So, if you have 200ppm indicated in plan tapwater and the MgSO4 adds another 100ppm, subtract 300ppm from the figure you see from the solution with nutes mixed in.The 200ppm tap I am running contains high traces of calcium, and adding 1/4 tspn epsom seems to help with the purpleing of stems. Is it safe to add epsom at that rate before I add nutes to the desired strength? And do I sutract the starting ppm after I add epsom or before?
Thanks Al. Yeah, the ladies are looking better now, especially the new growth, and buds are forming nicely. Azamax directions say that in can be used in the rez and plants will safely take it up through the roots to be bug-free, but I don't know if it's compatible with h202 and I can't find the info anywhere. What do you think, Al? I know that azamax is a concentrated neem-oil derivative. On an unrelated topic, why do the ladies smell so strong immediately after lights off?Try not to panic when applying miticides etc. Use the recommended dosage rate. Once you see any symptom of damage to the plants, it's usually permanent. Some 'organic' and 'natural' insecticides use oils to suffocate bugs, which breathe through pores in their bodies. Problem is, leaves work the same way. Plug leaf stomata & you will kill the leaf.
H2O2 tends to react with organic matter, not necessarily plant oils like neem. H2O2 will instantly oxidise things like enzymes (which are proteins, organic matter) and predatory or competitive bacteria. Should be OK with just neem oil.Thanks Al. Yeah, the ladies are looking better now, especially the new growth, and buds are forming nicely. Azamax directions say that in can be used in the rez and plants will safely take it up through the roots to be bug-free, but I don't know if it's compatible with h202 and I can't find the info anywhere. What do you think, Al? I know that azamax is a concentrated neem-oil derivative. On an unrelated topic, why do the ladies smell so strong immediately after lights off?
Soil is far too much work. Messy, heavy, low production compared to even flood & drain hydroponics.christ this is too much for my stoned tired brain right now, ill check back later, even though im all soil, i like to know all the options, and how to correctly execute them
To each their own really.... But with a well formulated soil mix its quite simple, just add water With the right strains I can knock down 16-18 zips in a 4 x 4 space per month. SOMEDAY I will use your method, which I very much look forward to, I just don't have the time to maintain 4 reservoirs compared to a just add water approach with a soil mix. Or at least the change scares the hell out of me lol. I REALLY want to get a small tray running this winter if time permits to get my feet wet with your method, probably start with a small tray with 5 or 6 1 liter pots and see if I can't dial it in.Soil is far too much work. Messy, heavy, low production compared to even flood & drain hydroponics.
Unfortunately, this is not a 'to each their own' sort of judgment call. Hydroponics, even very simple systems like flood & drain, will always outperform soil, mainly due to increased oxygenation to the roots. Wick hydro systems (aka 'smart pots') perform similarly to soil due to similar levels of root oxygenation. Further, use of sterile media with each crop eliminates the chance of soilborne root disorders. Even freshly mixed potting soil will contain a certain amount of fungi & other pathogens.To each their own really.... But with a well formulated soil mix its quite simple, just add water With the right strains I can knock down 16-18 zips in a 4 x 4 space per month. SOMEDAY I will use your method, which I very much look forward to, I just don't have the time to maintain 4 reservoirs compared to a just add water approach with a soil mix. Or at least the change scares the hell out of me lol. I REALLY want to get a small tray running this winter if time permits to get my feet wet with your method, probably start with a small tray with 5 or 6 1 liter pots and see if I can't dial it in.
I honestly adopted some of your method to set up my perpetual though, 4 plants roughly 8 week strains, every 2 weeks one plant comes out and another one goes in averaging about 4 zips per plant.