Mephisto Genetics Raoul-Duke turns Meph Head - New Artisinals

[lunarman]

Coco didn't give you issues with pH. Flying fungus gnats is your problem. Until you are 100% bug free, you will have issues. Fungus gnats will cause all kinds of issues, including Plants looking like pH problem. I noticed you use a pH probe for Coco? Useless information that will make your problems worse by trying to compensate for numbers that are inaccurate. Worry more about your pH going in, Remo runs higher pH 6.4 in Coco

Slow I love a great online 'debate' so lets do this!!!!! Just kidding bro. But its worth replying to your post to stir the pot a bit.

My probe is expensive shit man and it isn't going to give a misleading reading. Its not one of them $5 old lady gardener probes. It's accurate according to @Waira and she knows her stuff. I'm going with the notion that that probe will tell me the PH at the roots in coco. And to me that is better than run off PH testing. Besides, runoff testing is a pain for me with the autopots in their trays. Very messy. So I"m all in on the probe being a useful tool for me.

I believe I had a PH problem (along with the gnats, but the gnats was probably the real problem as you say) because when I started this last grow of 6 plants I was using the Gen Hydro PH liquid PH tester to measure my res feed. Now I have a HM Digital pen tester which is way more accurate and now I know what PH 5.8 really is. Using the color dye tester was not my best decision especially when dealing with coco and COB lights and synth nutes.

So unless you have some published scientific papers that says otherwise, I think using the probe to test the root PH (which seems to start low and then go up to and hold at 6.6ish for me) and then using my pen to PH down my feed to 5.8 or 5.9 or 6.0 to bring down the PH of the coco is a solid plan. So I for now disagree that compensating is wrong. I think compensating is the right thing to do. I need to play around with this more though before I feel 100% confident in it. I may eat crow down the road. You have 20 years experience, I have 6 months.

Also I phoned Remo last week and he uses coco with roughly 20% HP mix added in. And he PH's his nute feed to 6, not 6.4.

As for the gnats. I think the larvae really f'd me up like you said. I think I got rid of them now. But there might be root mass damage that I'll not be able to do anything about now. I have 2 Critical 2.0's about 3 weeks from chop that prob have root problems from larvae. Or one for sure does. And then I have 2 sweetseeds red poison that just started to flower and I suspect one of them has (now dead I hope) larvae in the roots. And I have 2 sweetseeds Creme Mandarin that are 3 weeks old that I think were munched on by adult gnats and possibly have larvae root issues too.

I'm going to finish all 6 of them off though. It will be good experience to learn from. Besides my MG black friday beans are still in transit. Once I'm done these 6 and start some MG plants I will hopefully have a better grow program/plan figured out.

 

[islandgrower]

I have seen people using Promix with root aphids. Check your medium for bugs. Not saying that's what's wrong, but My solution...ditch the Promix next grow. Go buy some Char Coir Coco and thank me later.

I have had root aphids in my garden . Do my best to avoid them now . But if a plant shows to have them by wilting my method is wash out entire root ball in a container then hose off the root ball and transplant into fresh soil. Hopefully she survives.

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[Raoul Duke]

Day 25
Little update to show their progress. CDLC is picking up nicely, 4AM has a little growth, and cosmic queen looks like she wants to throw out some side branching.

Cheers

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[islandgrower]

Day 25
Little update to show their progress. CDLC is picking up nicely, 4AM has a little growth, and cosmic queen looks like she wants to throw out some side branching.

Cheers

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

Ponytail to encourage sideshoots . Looking good

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[slowandeasy]

Slow I love a great online 'debate' so lets do this!!!!! Just kidding bro. But its worth replying to your post to stir the pot a bit.

My probe is expensive shit man and it isn't going to give a misleading reading. Its not one of them $5 old lady gardener probes. It's accurate according to @Waira and she knows her stuff. I'm going with the notion that that probe will tell me the PH at the roots in coco. And to me that is better than run off PH testing. Besides, runoff testing is a pain for me with the autopots in their trays. Very messy. So I"m all in on the probe being a useful tool for me.

I believe I had a PH problem (along with the gnats, but the gnats was probably the real problem as you say) because when I started this last grow of 6 plants I was using the Gen Hydro PH liquid PH tester to measure my res feed. Now I have a HM Digital pen tester which is way more accurate and now I know what PH 5.8 really is. Using the color dye tester was not my best decision especially when dealing with coco and COB lights and synth nutes.

So unless you have some published scientific papers that says otherwise, I think using the probe to test the root PH (which seems to start low and then go up to and hold at 6.6ish for me) and then using my pen to PH down my feed to 5.8 or 5.9 or 6.0 to bring down the PH of the coco is a solid plan. So I for now disagree that compensating is wrong. I think compensating is the right thing to do. I need to play around with this more though before I feel 100% confident in it. I may eat crow down the road. You have 20 years experience, I have 6 months.

Also I phoned Remo last week and he uses coco with roughly 20% HP mix added in. And he PH's his nute feed to 6, not 6.4.

As for the gnats. I think the larvae really f'd me up like you said. I think I got rid of them now. But there might be root mass damage that I'll not be able to do anything about now. I have 2 Critical 2.0's about 3 weeks from chop that prob have root problems from larvae. Or one for sure does. And then I have 2 sweetseeds red poison that just started to flower and I suspect one of them has (now dead I hope) larvae in the roots. And I have 2 sweetseeds Creme Mandarin that are 3 weeks old that I think were munched on by adult gnats and possibly have larvae root issues too.

I'm going to finish all 6 of them off though. It will be good experience to learn from. Besides my MG black friday beans are still in transit. Once I'm done these 6 and start some MG plants I will hopefully have a better grow program/plan figured out.

Funny how we get different information from same source. I pmd Remo nutes months ago and was told he personally uses a higher pH in Coco...6.4 specifically. But seeing all of the less than stellar grows with Remo nutes, maybe they changed since then.

No offense but I see almost every new grower buy some expensive TOYS and think they are useful. Just because you spent a lot of money on a pH probe, doesn't mean it is useful. Measuing pH or ppm/EC is completely useless information in Coco, weather runoff or medium is checked. I don't need to justify myself or look up anything for anyone. CEC in Coco makes readings unreliable, do some research for yourself.

You never once told me you had bugs. You can ask Waria or anyone else you prefer to for advice. You have flying bugs. That is your problem. Period. The more you deny it and try to treat the wrong issue, the worse things will get. No debate Mate, fix your real problem or you will struggle every grow. Good luck brother

 

[slowandeasy]

And FWIW,
I see a lot of people saying "I had Root Aphids or gnats, but not anymore" 98% chance you probably still have them. You see a single flyer, you are actually infested. Bugs are harder to get rid of than you think. And if you have a bad bag of ANYTHING, Promix, Soil, or Coco...you will keep them around even longer.

Been doing this for a VERY long time. Some people with bugs never get rid of them and unless you do...they will ruin your grows. Some medium is known to give bugs for free. Why I only suggest Char Coir Coco for a Coco brand. Canna went downhill, and people started getting bugs. Fox farm anything is just bug ridden. Promix is giving Root And gnats. Point being, if you have or had bugs. You have to go Nuclear. Throw away your medium. Don't be cheap by keeping an open bag of medium if you know you have bugs. Anyone with root Aphids knowingly, you will have to go harder on them than gnats. Don't blame poor results on anything else, if you have or had bugs. Start there. Peace, slow

 

[lunarman]

And FWIW,
I see a lot of people saying "I had Root Aphids or gnats, but not anymore" 98% chance you probably still have them. You see a single flyer, you are actually infested. Bugs are harder to get rid of than you think. And if you have a bad bag of ANYTHING, Promix, Soil, or Coco...you will keep them around even longer.

Been doing this for a VERY long time. Some people with bugs never get rid of them and unless you do...they will ruin your grows. Some medium is known to give bugs for free. Why I only suggest Char Coir Coco for a Coco brand. Canna went downhill, and people started getting bugs. Fox farm anything is just bug ridden. Promix is giving Root And gnats. Point being, if you have or had bugs. You have to go Nuclear. Throw away your medium. Don't be cheap by keeping an open bag of medium if you know you have bugs. Anyone with root Aphids knowingly, you will have to go harder on them than gnats. Don't blame poor results on anything else, if you have or had bugs. Start there. Peace, slow

I am wondering if there are fiber optic cameras on the cheap that can be used to look for root rot. That would be an expensive but probably useful tool.

I'm going to put some potato wedges in my coco tonight and check tomorrow to see if there is any larvae attached. I did try to nuke them with crushed mosquito dunks watered in to each pot. Then I put sand on top of the coco. But I really have no idea what is going on underneath. Or up top because I don't watch the tent all the time.

Never seen Char Coir Coco. Going to look in to that. I used Canna for this last batch. Going to be starting new beans in a 3 weeks or so and want to start it on the right foot.

 

[slowandeasy]

I am wondering if there are fiber optic cameras on the cheap that can be used to look for root rot. That would be an expensive but probably useful tool.

I'm going to put some potato wedges in my coco tonight and check tomorrow to see if there is any larvae attached. I did try to nuke them with crushed mosquito dunks watered in to each pot. Then I put sand on top of the coco. But I really have no idea what is going on underneath. Or up top because I don't watch the tent all the time.

Never seen Char Coir Coco. Going to look in to that. I used Canna for this last batch. Going to be starting new beans in a 3 weeks or so and want to start it on the right foot.

Damage is done. Don't start new seeds til you know you are bug free. Preventative maintenance on New plants will definitely help. Good luck bro.

Btw, did you ever consider not using Autopots for a grow? You have multiple issues going on. Which a couple are definitely affecting your root growth if you have bugs. Plants sitting in nute water with impaired root systems just makes things worse. Especially if you have those black pads in the bottom of your Autopots. Try top feeding next grow, see if it helps. pH should not be an issue, but plants with bugs and bad root systems will only get worse by being bottom feed.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Found some interesting info on promix'swebsite for anyone interested.

From the website:
Product aging begins the day the growing media is manufactured. Most manufacturers print a manufacturing date on the package. If you use packaged growing media, check with the manufacturer for this date. If you mix your own, keep records for the day you mixed it. The best use of a typical packaged peat-based growing media is eight to nine months during the summer months and 10 to 12 months through colder, winter months. Growing media components that have been composted contain a high population of microorganisms that can also consume the wetting agent. Therefore, packaged growing media containing bark and compost have a shorter best-use date of four to six months.




I've had this bag of promix for a year. Not saying it could be an issue, but it's interesting info.

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[Raoul Duke]

If it is root aphids, I have been wanting to experiment with alternate methods of dealing with soil born pests. I have read that a Spinosad or NEEM drench will get them. No idea if it will work, but both kill gnats and aphids on contact and I don't expect it should change soil properties. I would think you would have damping off or wilting by now if you had aphids though. Root aphids leave a powdery honeydew build up that is visible above and throughout the soil.

edit: one that kills em for damn sure is parasitic nematodes. Beneficial bugs that eat pretty much any other bug under the soil. I knocked out much worse than bugs than aphids with it, peach tree borers.

Just ordered some neem oil. If I find out it is root aphids, I will be your guinea pig.

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