help w/diagnosis?

[milkmann]

ALSO POSTED IN THE NEWBIE SECTION but can never have too many responses!:

Hi all, need help! plants 21 days old now. Main concern is this plant which is almost hugging herself she looks so sad. Is this over/underwatering? In coco with a small amount of perlite mixed in. Started in 15L autopots, which I'm going to turn on soon probably, as heard many bad things about transplanting autos and had a bad experience with it last grow.. would this also explain the slower growth (the large pot/small plant)?

Environment is not ideal, running temps 26-29c ambient and 30-32c under the LED as experienced by the plants. Humidity is 35-45%. Small space (60x60x140) and trying to run 2 LEDs for 3 plants. (1x 240W and 1x 190W)

Had this problem for a couple of weeks now and I can't tell what it is, had lots of advice on here which I'm grateful for, but the problem still persists! I don't want to risk giving her a lot of water and worsening the problem. It's interesting to note that her growth has kept up with the other two in terms of leaf development and height, it's just the plant looks so damn unhappy...anybody got any ideas as to why?

After taking this picture I did give her 100ml or so of water and a small bottom-feed and will note if she looks any different in a few hours or in the morning. Still, would be great to get some opinions.

Cheers

 

[Duggy]

Have you fed her yet mate..

 

[milkmann]

Yes I've fed her and watered her lol she's three weeks old! Would be dead by now without any water surely! Just wondering if I was giving her too much or too little water really, started at 100ml ish when she was a baby, now onto about 250ml now

 

[Duggy]

Give her 1L of feed if the pot is light.
The Autopots are normally ready for bottom feeding at this stage.
Are you keeping your pH around 5.8?

 

[din5]

ive just gone through this issue myself as I also am using autopots 15ltr with led. I found that you need you ec around 0.6 at that age. and add plant magic cal/mag at 1ml a ltr. if your still watering from top water round the outside of the pot. not around the plant.
also this will help you knowing what they are using in feed. since I followed this info things have become a lot easier. also when you do PH the res to 5.8, tbh I normally ph to 5.6 then let it swing upto 6.2 before I lower the res ph again, also dont fill your rez right up your aiming for enough water in your rez to last from sunday to sunday. then clean your rez with some bleach and swill out all bleach before refilling, if your using canna nutes ill put enough a+b to get it to my desired ec. heres the info to find out what ec you need for the plants.

An important factor to manage with the AutoPot system is the nutrient strength. Keeping a close eye on the EC in the reservoir and the pot will lead to a healthy and successful crop.

An easy way to check the nutrient strength in the pot is to shut off the supply of nutrient solution and allow the tray to become empty. Once the tray is dry, take a jug of nutrient solution from your reservoir, note the pH and EC, and slowly pour through the top of the pot until the tray is � full with run-off solution. Take a sample of the run-off from the tray with a syringe and measure the pH and EC. You should expect the EC to be slightly higher (EC 0.2-0.4 CF units) and the pH to be between 5.5 and 6.5.

If the nutrient strength is too high for your plant, you have a few options. You can refill the reservoir with a weak nutrient solution (EC 0.5-1.0/CF 5-10) and continue using the Aquavalves. Or, or if your plants are showing signs of over fertilisation (burnt and curled leaf tips), keep the Aquavalves turned off and top feed your plants for a few days with the weak nutrient solution. Avoid flushing using water only as large swings in nutrient strength around the root zone can cause further stress to your plant. Your aim is to slowly reduce the nutrient strength back to your desired acceptable level, not flush out all the nutrients.

If after testing the nutrient strength you find that it is lower in the pot than in your reservoir, then you should increase the nutrient strength. Remember, only increase your EC by 0.2 units (CF 2) every 1-2 days as a large change in nutrient strength may negatively affect your plants.

If you use a filter with your AutoPot system, it is very important that you check and clean the filter regularly. If it is a sponge filter that is positioned inside your tank, then it is advisable that you clean the sponge every time you refill the reservoir. If you use an inline filter it should be cleaned every 2 weeks. A poorly maintained filter can result in disrupted nutrient solution supply and even block the Aquavalves.

Generally, if you keep clean and make sure your reservoir and AutoPot trays do not get contaminated with debris, your Aquavalve should work perfectly for the duration of your crop. If you are growing long term crops you should service your Aquavalves every 3 months.

 

[din5]

I mixed my coco 50/50 with perlite, and start using your auto pot system it only takes 14-21 days for the roots to get established for the system. ill show you what mine looked like and what there like right now.

they were 21 days old when small and the last pic is them at 8 weeks old I still got another 3-4 weeks left so total 11.5 weeks ish autoflower, and they are polar express I also lst then a lot .
as soon as you get your head around it all youll do fine tho try to lower the temps to around 27-28c if poss and in flower 22-26 c also keep the rh low as you can mine sits at 52%rh with 26c at canopy 22c at pot height I also keep the res at 20c with a fishtank heater and airstone on sometimes, seem to be working for me at the moment.
forgot to add that I was worried about overwatering but coco is fairly hard to overwater. just remember its not soil its fiber so if you've added perlite and a inch of pebbles in the bottom of the pot youll be struggling to over water. they just look hungry tbh. follow the info above to see what feed and ec you should be giving.

hope that helps,

 

[din5]

Give her 1L of feed if the pot is light.
The Autopots are normally ready for bottom feeding at this stage.
Are you keeping your pH around 5.8?

and do this asap as 100ml aint enough. put enough nute/water through it to fill the rez in the autopot to the right amount about half way up the aquavalve inlet pipe , put half a ltr through first and see how far it fills the pot. and if you need a bit more add it until the pot fill to the right level in the bottom. tho do it slow as it takes time to drain through.

 

[milkmann]

@din5 thanks for all the detailed information, it's really appreciated. I'll give them a proper watering later on today once the rental inspection is over! So even at their current sizes you would suggest turning the autopot on now, or very soon? Last time I used the autopot I turned it on around week 6 or 7 I think, which was waay too late! Hopefully I'll see better results this time round! When you say water around the pot, and not the plant - would you mind elaborating on why this is? I was under the impression to water in a small circle around young, smaller plants until they are growing vigourously. I did what you did re. letting the res PH swing last grow, and toning it back down once it gets around 6. And temps in the tent are 25-28c and around 30-32 canopy height. RH is 35-45% usually so lower than ideal but at least there's a reduced risk of mould and all that!

@Duggy yes Ph normally is around there!

 

[din5]

Hi bud
I found when I used half to 1ltr about a inch in from the edges of the pot all the coco got evenley moist . Also you see my small plant pics that's when I turned on the autopot system and hoped it was working and just forgot it for 2 days and when I went back to them they looked happy that's when I felt happy about the system . It's kinda hard to trust auto pots are working the first time with them but you just have to put faith in it my plants also improved when I started adding calmag at 1ml a litre I'm only using 0.5ml a litre now as ive been using tap water for the last 4 weeks.
Just test the runoff to keep thing in check and make sure you put enough water through to fill the pot res up. Follow the guide above for checking ec that is was gets you dialed in on what they need .you'll only need to do it once or twice as you'll be able to get it close and then watch the plant she will tell you if you give a bit too much . I'm at week 8 and im feeding 1.5ec 25ltrs in the res and that will just about last a week for 2 plants they drink a lot more in coco than soil. Just keep a eye on the leaf tips for nute burn if you notice it back off 0.2 ec

Sorry for the wall of text lol

Just trust the autopot system. There ready for it, just stick your finger in the coco make sure it damp it should feel like a sponge that's been squeezed out to the touch and that's fine.

Hope that's helped dude , gl

 

[milkmann]

Okay I'm setting up the autopot res today, gonna get oxygenating the water with a couple airstones before I add the nutes and ph, do you think it's a good idea to have an airline bubbling near the bottom of the tank (not airstone as it messes w/ ph apparently) just to keep the solution mixed? Might be especially useful once I introduce the molasses. I guess after that I'll just sit back and hopefully watch them take off! Thanks for all the info man, very thankful!