pH out of control. No idea why its climbing so hi so fast.

[Mike20132]

Snipping aside, I have a rather unexpected update... The plant I thought was dead is apparently very much alive, though I doubt she will produce much, if anything at all. Remember how yellow the right plant was? Have a look now.

Those leaves were as yellow as a banana peel just a few days ago. Let's hope they flower soon.

As for flowers, here's the cola closest to the light. There are a few others that look similar, but most are still looking like popcorn.

These are some tough ladies... Here's to still hoping for a happy new year!

 

[Mike20132]

No problems. It will not cause problems. You can cut as much as you like. I suggest defoliation at late flower as a tactic as well. The thicker the foliage the more moisture it holds in the canopy, and with the proper bad day you can get mold in the buds. Removing lower branches and defoliating will help prevent that with good air flow. Sometimes the lowers stretch enough to develop buds, sometimes they don't get enough light are underdeveloped and small. Cut those out first, and the cut all the smaller branches. I typically prune out the smallest, then start pruning up the main branches. I like to see bare stalks for the bottom 25% or so of the plant.I also tend to take ALL interior leaves out up the middle canopy area of the main stalk. They get far less light and just block air.

like this:
View attachment 840426

Sounds like you and I are kindred. I have the same issues. So since I presume you like more information rather than less....

Lollipopping: The act of removing all vegetative growth under the light canopy. Used in conjunction with SCROG net growing. Claimed to increase top bud growth and deter molds. A more extreme pruning technique.

The lollipopping technique sounds interesting. I don't think I want to do that on this grow mainly because of all the plants have been through so far. I have looked into scrog, and I will probably do that and just grow one plant next time. A yield of 75 grams should last me between harvests. The res I have is way too small to accommodate two. The roots now are ~50% of the volume of the vessel, which was not very large to begin with. I would get a taller tent (mine is current 5 foot) but I really can't afford it, and don't have the room (or the power capacity) to maintain two tents anyway. I get the feeling that scrog (or at least some somewhat aggressive LST) will help with the limited head space, since the main cola wont have unrestricted vertical growth. I could be wrong, though. Once the stretch starts I just hope it leaves SOME room under the lights. As it is now, the main cola (which is only about 5 inches higher than most of the others) is just under 2 feet from the 600 "watt" LED. No trichomes yet, so I think its probably going to eventually reach the light before its done growing. Guess we'll see what happens.

Thanks again for all of your wonderful advice.

 

[Mike20132]

@Mike20132, snip when you need to my friend, when I'm out and growing, I try to add 1 more plant to the tent, a sacrificial lady...taking the small fluffy undercarriage nugs, (in theory) allows the plant to put energy to the tops. Use your best judgment!

I get the feeling they contain no (or next to none) THC at this point. No visible trichomes. Would sure hate to snip off a potential big bud just to gag on nutrients with no positive result They sure do smell nice, though

 

[Mike20132]

Quick update..

The lesson learned from this adventure is..... never give up.

Here is the largest cola, with two more of similar size also there. Still a few weeks before harvest, but this is most definitely encouraging.

 

[Rev. Green Genes]

Hey Mike. Glad you got your happy ending.... No I meant about the plants!

I am still having issues myself, I called Green Planet for support and we determined that the issue was indeed organics sediment. In my case, a bacterial colony is changing the forms of phosphorous in the tank, immobilizing it, and there is an associated up spike in pH as H+ ions are released. It took a lot of questions and discussion to nail it down.

As to fixing the problem, it is indeed originally caused by mixing in organic nutes (foxfarm) and not cleaning it out well enough during a rez change. It is mostly harmless, and I am going to ride it out as the plants are not suffering anymore. I just have to be very attentive to pH for the remainder of the grow. Sometimes a stunting at the right time can increase vigor too.

 

[Mike20132]

Hey Mike. Glad you got your happy ending.... No I meant about the plants!

I am still having issues myself, I called Green Planet for support and we determined that the issue was indeed organics sediment. In my case, a bacterial colony is changing the forms of phosphorous in the tank, immobilizing it, and there is an associated up spike in pH as H+ ions are released. It took a lot of questions and discussion to nail it down.

As to fixing the problem, it is indeed originally caused by mixing in organic nutes (foxfarm) and not cleaning it out well enough during a rez change. It is mostly harmless, and I am going to ride it out as the plants are not suffering anymore. I just have to be very attentive to pH for the remainder of the grow. Sometimes a stunting at the right time can increase vigor too.

Glad to hear you have your grow under control as well.

When mine was starting to go south, it took me much longer than it should have to realize what the problem was. The damage to the plants was pretty devastating in appearance. I was convinced I would be spending the next week or so watching them die. Soon after starting this thread, I was quickly educated on what to look for - and sure enough a thorough res change showed this dark orange precipitate suspended in the water. Unsure if this is the same thing you experienced, but I imagine it looked similar.

This all happened after I started adding a CalMag mixture from "Organic Hydroponics". Every other nute and additive I am using is AN, which I believe is 100% synthetic.

What was truly amazing to me was that after correcting this, the turnaround was nothing short of shocking. Even the larger plant, which had sustained the majority of the damage (3 large branches completely died, and the rest of the leaves were starting to brown or were yellow, including all new growth), is now a vibrant green and has picked up where it left off. Doubt it will flower much before it runs out of time, but still an impressive example of how robust these plants are. The smaller plant is also fully recovered, and the colas are starting to get frosty. I am sure the yield will be impacted by what happened, but by the looks of it i'll be curing much more than I thought I would be.

Once I've harvested, I'll finish this thread with the list of lessons learned, and will be starting a new grow (with a substantially modified/improved setup) and a journal shortly thereafter.

I wish I had found this forum earlier. You and the others here have been tremendously helpful. I honestly think the grow would have been lost without you all.

Thanks again, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Unfortunately, this is not my plant: