Grow Mediums HELP! D39. My 5th growth in row is failing. (1st with autopots) Yellowing TOP leaves. PH, zinc,iron, something else?

[BipolarBear91]

Hi! Skip the first paragraphs if you dont wish to read my sorrow story I would appreciate any input....

The hobby I hoped would be a stress reliever has been a stress generator and I am probably giving up after next grow.

I have tried EVERYTHING and honestly, at this point, I could be convinced that we live in a simulation and someone up there is laughing at my failures lol. Because 15/16 dead/impotent plants during last 12 months just seems ridiculous, when I have tried different soils, nutes, phs, ppms, and even different watering techniques and DLI schedules.I wont go too deep into details but my last 4 grows (each 4 plants) were failures (From 16 plants only 1 produced below average product). All had the same characteristics - deficiencies from day 20 that led to most fan leaves falling off by day 40 .. Flushing didnt help. Some plants finished, but the smoke was very very weak.


But - THAT IS THE PAST. I BOUGHT AN AUTOPOT and maybe this time the grow be be good? WRONG

Yellowing from TOP leaves and weird yellow patches on top leaves.

Setup:
47litr reservoir,1 plant, 15litre plastic pot, 100 % coco, no airdome, no airbase.
1 autoflower - SODK (mephisto) - 39 days old from seed
Mars ts 1000 + kingbrite 240w = total 390 watts
Tent: 5x5x7
Temps:25-27
Humidity: About 60%
DLI : 35-37 (was lower for seedlings and early veg)


FEEDING: Canna coco (a,b, cannazym,calmag) Tap water (300ppm) + RO water. 80% RO and 20% tapwater, making it 50ppm or 0.1 ec. Then I add 150 ppm CALMAG to get to 0.4ec of 200 ppm.

First 23 days handwater with 6ph and CANNA COCO "light nude schedule" (meant for autoflowers)
Day 23: 12 LITRES of 500 ppm 5.65ph reservoir fill
Day 23-day 30: Reservoir never went above 5.95ph and TRAY never weent above 6.1ph
day 30-day 37: 15 litres of 700 pm 5.7 ph water (Got LIGHT nute burn in tips)
day 37 - day xxx: 15 litres of 700 ppm (1.4ec) 5.7 water. Didnt increae EC due to nute burn last time.

Photos are from today - day 39. I noticed first yellowing/patches on day 35. It has gotten much worse since then. There were 4 patchy/yellow top leaves 4 days ago, now almost all of top canopy has weird discoloration.
My theory.

1. Micronutrient deficiency (problems start from TOP) - zinc or iron.
   why? Maybe because not enough zinc or iron in my 50 ppm solution. (80% ro + 20% tap) I dont think Canna coco has zinc or iron in their nutes.

If this is true, then why the WEIRD yellow patches? Zin/iron is not the only thing going on.
2) PH LOCKOUT
But why and how? If ph never went above 6.1 in tray
CONCLUSION: I will refill the reservoir tomorrow. I dont know what do do.
Any help appreciated.

 

[Rasterman]

I'm thinking maybe not enough drainage. This season of the Buildasoil 10x10 grow they tested an autopot using living soil that was well-drained and it stayed a bit too wet throughout the grow (according to me) but the grow still went very well.

I did a quick web search and it seems you need 30% perlite mixed in for drainage - dumb question but how's your drainage?

 

[BipolarBear91]

What do you mean by drainage? Its bottom fed, is there any?

Iam a relative noob and may have made a mistake. Some knowledgeable members of autopot reddit recommend 100% coco due to wicking potential. HOWEVER, I have now found out, that what they gain in wicking, they lose by missing perlite/root aeration... and some have had problems without perlite... so now I am confused about the efficiency of 100% coco grow and why its still around if its not that great for rot aeration..

However this grow goes (Ill just probably flush tomorrow) next time Ill use 60/40 or 70/30 coco/prlit

 

[Rasterman]

What do you mean by drainage? Its bottom fed, is there any?

Iam a relative noob and may have made a mistake. Some knowledgeable members of autopot reddit recommend 100% coco due to wicking potential. HOWEVER, I have now found out, that what they gain in wicking, they lose by missing perlite/root aeration... and some have had problems without perlite... so now I am confused about the efficiency of 100% coco grow and why its still around if its not that great for rot aeration..

However this grow goes (Ill just probably flush tomorrow) next time Ill use 60/40 or 70/30 coco/prlit

I don't know because I'm not a coco grower. It's been my understanding that it already has great drainage. But when it's being constantly fed it would get oversaturated, I would think.

 

[BipolarBear91]

I don't know because I'm not a coco grower. It's been my understanding that it already has great drainage. But when it's being constantly fed it would get oversaturated, I would think.

Thanks for engaging with me!
It seems it is very very difficult to give proper diagnosis online, many experienced people tried, I gave the most detailed info I could and there were SO many different diagnosis.

I guess its better this time that I grow in coco not soil. I will just flush

 

[BII]

"Drainage" as was used essentially refers to inherent aeration (oxygenation) properties of the coco/medium. With perlite holding/adding air and also resulting in faster drainage, less saturation.

You rely an aweful lot on your meters. Have you calibrated them, particularly pH; and do you store/maintain the meters properly? If not, if off, that could be the source or all of your problems.

Pure coco with an AutoPot could well cause problems, be too saturated with water, with insufficient air/O2 for the roots. Maybe pure coco works better if using the AutoPot AirDome aeration devices. [With your pure coco plant problems, I'd likely take the pot off its reservoir base and manually top feed, making sure not to allow the coco to get too saturated and heavy - treat it like a normal pot].

As a new grower, consider sticking with fully proven, mainstream, manufacturer-recommended, etc. growing practices vs. something you get from a few "knowledgeable(?) members" of a known(?) more problematic and non-auto-oriented group such as Reddit.

 

[BipolarBear91]

"Drainage" as was used essentially refers to inherent aeration (oxygenation) properties of the coco/medium. With perlite holding/adding air and also resulting in faster drainage, less saturation.

You rely an aweful lot on your meters. Have you calibrated them, particularly pH; and do you store/maintain the meters properly? If not, if off, that could be the source or all of your problems.

Pure coco with an AutoPot could well cause problems, be too saturated with water, with insufficient air/O2 for the roots. Maybe pure coco works better if using the AutoPot AirDome aeration devices. [With your pure coco plant problems, I'd likely take the pot off its reservoir base and manually top feed, making sure not to allow the coco to get too saturated and heavy - treat it like a normal pot].

As a new grower, consider sticking with fully proven, mainstream, manufacturer-recommended, etc. growing practices vs. something you get from a few "knowledgeable(?) members" of a known(?) more problematic and non-auto-oriented group such as Reddit.

Thanks you!

I am definitely an overthinker. My ph meter is apera, calibrated once 2 weeks. Kept in ph4 solution and plan to exchange the probe occasionally.


I did semi organic with biobizz light mix and nutes.No matter how I fed, how much I fed or how often I fed, all started failing from day 20ish up until day 40 when they had only some leaves left.

After the first 4 plants died like this, I started writing everything down and trying different approaches (watering techniue, ppm, PH, different substrate/nute line (but being consistent - 1 approach per plant for its whole lifecycle, I DIDNT jump from one method to another mid grow) - NOTHING changed.
Added RO water - nothing changed. 10 more plants "harvested", but product was almost impotent. Technically , 2 were harvested and the rest I just cut down as they seemed to have zero chance to develop decent flowers

Autopots was for me "Ok, its clearly my fault, but autopots feed automatically, I cant mess this up"
It turns out, I can. Just not on day 20, this time I made it do day 39
Fk this - I honestly start to think Solipsism is true, you are all NPCs, and when I go to sleep, the world stops. I am the main character in sitcom about a failed cannabis grower


P.S. I iwill most likely flush. What do to after that is the question, I could top feed, but then the 100% coco might bite me in the ass? I can continue bottom feed...

 

[Rasterman]

Thanks you!

I am definitely an overthinker. My ph meter is apera, calibrated once 2 weeks. Kept in ph4 solution and plan to exchange the probe occasionally.


I did semi organic with biobizz light mix and nutes.No matter how I fed, how much I fed or how often I fed, all started failing from day 20ish up until day 40 when they had only some leaves left.

After the first 4 plants died like this, I started writing everything down and trying different approaches (watering techniue, ppm, PH, different substrate/nute line (but being consistent - 1 approach per plant for its whole lifecycle, I DIDNT jump from one method to another mid grow) - NOTHING changed.
Added RO water - nothing changed. 10 more plants "harvested", but product was almost impotent. Technically , 2 were harvested and the rest I just cut down as they seemed to have zero chance to develop decent flowers

Autopots was for me "Ok, its clearly my fault, but autopots feed automatically, I cant mess this up"
It turns out, I can. Just not on day 20, this time I made it do day 39
Fk this - I honestly start to think Solipsism is true, you are all NPCs, and when I go to sleep, the world stops. I am the main character in sitcom about a failed cannabis grower


P.S. I iwill most likely flush. What do to after that is the question, I could top feed, but then the 100% coco might bite me in the ass? I can continue bottom feed...

If you take it off the reservoir, it'll dry out enough to make a big difference in a couple of days. I'm with BLL in that you should start treating it like a regular pot, at least until the next run when you're using perlite. I watched the Buildasoil series I was telling you about (I've never used these pots), and they did really well when set up with arable soil.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

@BipolarBear91 Welcome to AFNSounds like you found us in the nick of time. I see some issues but it is best to see the whole picture before making recommendations.

We need to start with your tap water. If I read your post right it is 300PPM before adding anything?

So we can be on the same page when we talk lets make sure we are using the same Hanna 500 scale on the EC meter. Here is a conversion chart:

Then so we have a basic understanding of salt fertilizers study my primer on balanced nutrients. Then we will see if we can get you on the road to some better harvest and a much better vibe

Tutorial - A word on Nutrients

The proper use of “salt” based fertilizer to grow Auto Flowering Cannabis. Salts: Natural and man made any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation. Learning how to use salt based...

www.autoflower.org

Fill this out the best you can I know that some of this is redundant but it helps me to have it all in one place. Be sure to take pictures in daylight 5000K with the grow lights turned off. The colors I see are important.

Please fill in this form: (copy and paste part is below, this first one tell what specifically to include)

-Problem: (brief description)
-Medium/grow method: soil; soilless-- coco, or peat based like Promix, etc. (please provide the actual product name); DWC, NFT, etc.
-Feed and supplements used: include brand, dosage/strength, frequency of feeding and watering (alone); method-- by hand, drippers, rercirc' or drain-to-waste,... N-P-K #'s too if you can!
-Water source: RO/DI; tap- dechlorinated-?..... EC or TDS reading; pH (don't bother with this on RO/DI, do bother with TDS/EC though to confirm it's working well enough)
-Strain and age
-Climate: night and day ambient T and RH%; res' temperatures; any extremes in T/RH% exposure
- Light used: HID, LED, COB, combo of,... wattage; light cycle hours (20/4, 18/6 , etc.); distance to tops....
-Additional info: PH in the root zone. How long have the plants been affected?...How fast did symptoms appear?... Anything else you think might be relevant..

--Pictures including WHOLE PLANT PICS, and troubled leaves.. use normal light or flash as other light sources ruin color rendering, critical for diagnostics! Turn off the grow lights.

✂ - - - - - - - - - - -
(copy and paste)-->

Problem:

Medium/grow method:

Feed: and supplements used:

water source:

PH in the root zone:

Strain/age:

light used:

Climate:

Additional info:

Then when you post a response be sure to tag me in by putting the at-mark in front of my name like I did for you.
@Mañ'O'Green

 

[BipolarBear91]

@BipolarBear91 Welcome to AFNSounds like you found us in the nick of time. I see some issues but it is best to see the whole picture before making recommendations.

We need to start with your tap water. If I read your post right it is 300PPM before adding anything?

So we can be on the same page when we talk lets make sure we are using the same Hanna 500 scale on the EC meter. Here is a conversion chart:

View attachment 1567111

Then so we have a basic understanding of salt fertilizers study my primer on balanced nutrients. Then we will see if we can get you on the road to some better harvest and a much better vibe

Tutorial - A word on Nutrients

The proper use of “salt” based fertilizer to grow Auto Flowering Cannabis. Salts: Natural and man made any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation. Learning how to use salt based...

www.autoflower.org

Fill this out the best you can I know that some of this is redundant but it helps me to have it all in one place. Be sure to take pictures in daylight 5000K with the grow lights turned off. The colors I see are important.

Please fill in this form: (copy and paste part is below, this first one tell what specifically to include)

-Problem: (brief description)
-Medium/grow method: soil; soilless-- coco, or peat based like Promix, etc. (please provide the actual product name); DWC, NFT, etc.
-Feed and supplements used: include brand, dosage/strength, frequency of feeding and watering (alone); method-- by hand, drippers, rercirc' or drain-to-waste,... N-P-K #'s too if you can!
-Water source: RO/DI; tap- dechlorinated-?..... EC or TDS reading; pH (don't bother with this on RO/DI, do bother with TDS/EC though to confirm it's working well enough)
-Strain and age
-Climate: night and day ambient T and RH%; res' temperatures; any extremes in T/RH% exposure
- Light used: HID, LED, COB, combo of,... wattage; light cycle hours (20/4, 18/6 , etc.); distance to tops....
-Additional info: PH in the root zone. How long have the plants been affected?...How fast did symptoms appear?... Anything else you think might be relevant..

--Pictures including WHOLE PLANT PICS, and troubled leaves.. use normal light or flash as other light sources ruin color rendering, critical for diagnostics! Turn off the grow lights.

✂ - - - - - - - - - - -
(copy and paste)-->

Problem:

Medium/grow method:

Feed: and supplements used:

water source:

PH in the root zone:

Strain/age:

light used:

Climate:

Additional info:

Then when you post a response be sure to tag me in by putting the at-mark in front of my name like I did for you.
@Mañ'O'Green

Thank you!

I am going to sleep, but tomorrow after work I will try to fulfill those requirements as best as I can!!