"Just add water soil" problem

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EvilJ

Well-Known Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
So i got the soil from a hydro store but its from a kinda local farm from groton ny called rabbit creek farm. Its a peat base " easy grow just add water" soil. The guy at the store said they get it local and its "surprisingly good, it has everything you will need, just hit it with recharge once a week and even though thats a simple grow, it will work"

Well im clearly a beginner and i have a 3x3 ac infinity tent and fan setup. I also have the ac infinity cloth pot trays ( its a self watering wick system) Long story short i have a simple set up and im a beginner at best. Idk what to do when something happens like a plant deficiency or something. That being said i think the soil might be running out of plant food. The leaves are geting to be a lighter color on top like a lime green i toped them a week ago about and just sis some LST yesterday. I wanted to switch to flowering bc the plants are geting to big as it is and now i think the soil is running low maybe?

Id like to grow "organic" the only thing ive used with the soil is recharge once a week, some black strap molasses, general hydro ph up and down and thats it. Everything was going great till the other day.

So is there a product that i dont know about thats made for this purpose ( for when the just add water nutrients run out and your still growing) maybe Gaia green?


Also it might be worth mentioning that the self watering cloth pot trays feed the bottom 3rd of the plant, could this have something to do with it?

I added some pics if anyone can please help me id greatly appreciate it....tks id advance for any help
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Next time try ocean forest, great ease of use. I’m a seasoned grower and still use it to this day.
 
H

Hydro Hippie

Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
Ppm? Idk what that is, i obviously know ph i have been ph my water to 6.0-6.3, a grower on YouTube said that was a good place to keep the ph "between 6 and 6.4. I figured thats about in the middle of the 5.5 to 6.5.

Im not sure what ppm is, idk if i should be embarrassed by that or not lol I guess you can let me know

Also how long does gaia green take to work?
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No need to be embarrassed, we all here to learn. Ppm stands for parts per million. It is a unit of measurement for all the dissolved solids (nutrients) in the water. When you look at fertilizer feeding schedule it is generally given in ppm.

You will probably want to get a decent ppm/pH/temperature sensor. Here is a picture of a decent middle of the line unit for $200. You can get a pH/ppm pen for a lot less if you don't want to spend that much.

This will give you a lot better handle on what you are adding to your soil. You will also be able to test the water that runs through your pot (run off). This gives you a much better understanding of what's going on in your soil.
 
J

Jimi O'Connor

Active Member
Hydro Hippie said:
No need to be embarrassed, we all here to learn. Ppm stands for parts per million. It is a unit of measurement for all the dissolved solids (nutrients) in the water. When you look at fertilizer feeding schedule it is generally given in ppm.

You will probably want to get a decent ppm/pH/temperature sensor. Here is a picture of a decent middle of the line unit for $200. You can get a pH/ppm pen for a lot less if you don't want to spend that much.

This will give you a lot better handle on what you are adding to your soil. You will also be able to test the water that runs through your pot (run off). This gives you a much better understanding of what's going on in your soil.
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I have a good ph meter this ppm thing only come with a ph meter, im kinda broke right now. I don't wanna buy another thing i don't need

Im going to check the runoff tomorrow afternoon, whats the best ph to set my water to? I was keeping it between 6.0-6.4, but mostly at 6.2,6.4 consistently.
 
H

Hydro Hippie

Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
I have a good ph meter this ppm thing only come with a ph meter, im kinda broke right now. I don't wanna buy another thing i don't need

Im going to check the runoff tomorrow afternoon, whats the best ph to set my water to? I was keeping it between 6.0-6.4, but mostly at 6.2,6.4 consistently.
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You can get a cheap ppm pen just like your pH pen. Generally I run my pH in soil from 5.5 to 6.5. When I test my run off and the pH is starting to climb I use 5.5. If it's starting to decend I use 6.5. If it's staying the same I'll do 6. I've found it's best to cover a range.

I'm anal about pH; others would tell you my approach is over kill for soil. Since soil has a pretty amazing ability to buffer the pH they are probably right.
 
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youraveragehorticulturist

Well-Known Member
In this picture your plants don't look hungry, it just looks like your tallest plant is being melted by the light. Look at those tall, green branches under the edges of your light. They look OK. Then look at the middle of your plant, just under the Hot Spot in the middle of your light, all yellowish and jacked up.
 
J

Jimi O'Connor

Active Member
youraveragehorticulturist said:
In this picture your plants don't look hungry, it just looks like your tallest plant is being melted by the light. Look at those tall, green branches under the edges of your light. They look OK. Then look at the middle of your plant, just under the Hot Spot in the middle of your light, all yellowish and jacked up.
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So you think i should move the light up, and the ph and the soil n what not that everyone else saying is not right? B/c im about to measure the "run off" right now
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
So you think i should move the light up, and the ph and the soil n what not that everyone else saying is not right? B/c im about to measure the "run off" right now
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Do 1 thing at a time. Measuring runoff does very little in knowing what you're dealing with anyways. It's better to know what your input parameters are.
 
J

Jimi O'Connor

Active Member
Hydro Hippie said:
You can get a cheap ppm pen just like your pH pen. Generally I run my pH in soil from 5.5 to 6.5. When I test my run off and the pH is starting to climb I use 5.5. If it's starting to decend I use 6.5. If it's staying the same I'll do 6. I've found it's best to cover a range.

I'm anal about pH; others would tell you my approach is over kill for soil. Since soil has a pretty amazing ability to buffer the pH they are probably right.
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So i tested the run off i ph the water to 6.0 like you said and the runoff was 6.6... is that good ? Also i only have done one of the tall plants that im having problems with, should i do the other or will it be about the same? Its the same water, same ph, same everything really

Also as you can see my 3rd plant looks to be growing just fine


Another member of the forum suggested that it could be that the lights are to close, any theory on that guys?
 

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Hydro Hippie

Member
Yes 6.6 for a pH is great. Another member it's best know your input parameters. This means it would be better to focus your efforts on measuring the ppm (amount of nutrients) in the water you are feeding them vs. checking the runoff. I like to know what's going in and what's coming out.
 
H

Hydro Hippie

Member
In regards to are the lights too close? Hard to say. I use a micro mole sensor and measure the amount of lights that's available to the plants. Otherwise it adjust them and see how they react. You want the light close enough so the plants don't stretch to get more. You also don't want it so close it is cause stress.
 
Fallguy111

Fallguy111

Well-Known Member
Hydro Hippie said:
Yes 6.6 for a pH is great. Another member it's best know your input parameters. This means it would be better to focus your efforts on measuring the ppm (amount of nutrients) in the water you are feeding them vs. checking the runoff. I like to know what's going in and what's coming out.
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How much experience do yoyou have with soil? Can you teach me how to measure ppm of top dresses nutrient/ compost teas?
 
J

Jimi O'Connor

Active Member
Hydro Hippie said:
You are correct, the Fox Farm Big Bloom is an organic fertilizer that is available to the plant immediately. When you look at the label on a fertilizer there will be three numbers telling you the ratios of macro nutrients Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (N-P-K) In this case they are (0-.5-.7)
This means that it contains 0% Nitrogen, .5% Phosphorus and .7% Potassium.

Since this is an organic fertilizers the amount of actual NPK by volume is very low. You are pretty much paying for water. If we look at a powdered salt like Jack's RO which the base ferilizer I use; the numbers are 12-4-16. I would suggest you find a salt fertilizers similar ratios and use that.

If your plants were in front of me this is how I would proceed. First, flush the soil with water with a pH of 6 using a volume of water until you get a good about of run off. Then I would test the pH and nutrient content of the run off. This will tell us how much nutrition is left in the soil and alert us of a pH issues if one exists.

If the pH is normal and the ppm of nutrients in the runoff is not excessive I would then feed with a full stretch of a salt fertilizer of your choice. Generally this process will produce visual results in 24 hrs
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Hydro Hippie said:
Yes 6.6 for a pH is great. Another member it's best know your input parameters. This means it would be better to focus your efforts on measuring the ppm (amount of nutrients) in the water you are feeding them vs. checking the runoff. I like to know what's going in and what's coming out.
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So if the run off 6.6 ph is good then whats wrong just no food?

Also this might be a dumb question but do i need to do it to the other plant in question? I put the water in from the same jug even just wondering....also wondering if i should just so there both the same amount of water in the soil....idk if you get what i mean idk if i said that right
 
PadawanWarrior

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
So if the run off 6.6 ph is good then whats wrong just no food?

Also this might be a dumb question but do i need to do it to the other plant in question? I put the water in from the same jug even just wondering....also wondering if i should just so there both the same amount of water in the soil....idk if you get what i mean idk if i said that right
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Why are you testing soil runoff?

And I couldn't understand the rest of whatever you were trying to say.
 
Fallguy111

Fallguy111

Well-Known Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
So if the run off 6.6 ph is good then whats wrong just no food?

Also this might be a dumb question but do i need to do it to the other plant in question? I put the water in from the same jug even just wondering....also wondering if i should just so there both the same amount of water in the soil....idk if you get what i mean idk if i said that right
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Be careful following advice from random hippies on the internet.
 
H

Hydro Hippie

Member
Jimi O'Connor said:
So if the run off 6.6 ph is good then whats wrong just no food?

Also this might be a dumb question but do i need to do it to the other plant in question? I put the water in from the same jug even just wondering....also wondering if i should just so there both the same amount of water in the soil....idk if you get what i mean idk if i said that right
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You don't need to do it to the other plants unless you want to.
 
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