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a question for experienced growers!

L

Lupin

Member
Hello everyone,

I have a major problem which is flowering problem, and I hoped some of you could help me. I start by giving you some background info. I consider myself quite experienced. For many years I grew successfully in soil and then a few years ago changed to hydro and ever since have been growing in DWC or Aeroflo by GH, and I have read thousands of pages on the subject from Mel Frank and Ed to Krusty and Lucas. Hydro growing is great and I love it. I have no problem at all with clones or during veg phase. Actually plants grow very very well. They are bushy and green
and have a thick stem. But my problems start with
some strains after three weeks in flowering. They flower very slowly and I end up with much much less than I expected. Sometimes they dont even form proper colas. What make this situation very painfull for me is that the plants are looking great, they are healthy and there is no light leak. Last time I grew 25 chronics under 3 x 600w hps
and the total harvest was 500 g. Then I gave a few cuttings to my friend and he grew them in soil with great success. So I really dont know what the problem is. I have had great success with Skunk, Super Haze and Amsterdam Flame but other strains I have tried have come up very disapointing.

One thing I discovered recently is that I have been giving them quite a low solution. Usually I start with 0.8 EC and in flowering phase I have kept EC between 1.2 - 1.5. Do you guys think that this is tha cause of my poor harvests? Also I did not flush between nute change, now I flush every week and start with fresh solution, but so far I have not noticed any difference.

I appreciate any advise.
 
H

Haps

stone fool
Veteran
How long since you changed your light bulbs? Some bulbs loose quite a bit after 6 months, some do not, but it can cause what you are describing. Nutes can also be a factor, how is your leaf in bloom?
H
 
C

cheapstar

New member
I think you may be underfeeding. Many sative dominant strains like a lower EC but in my experience most strains will do well with an EC closer to 2.0. I think you'll double your yeilds if you increase your nutes.
 
L

Lupin

Member
Hi Haps and cheapstar

The bulbs are okey, I change them every year or so. The leaves sometimes get rusty spots in bloom and sometimes get goldy in color and dry and will eventually drop. These symptoms indicate Cal and phosphor deficiency. The problem is that where I live
( Scandinavia), we don't have access to Cal-Mag by Botanicare which is widely used with GH flora. Sometimes I have to add epsom salt to overcome Mag deficiency which can in turn lock Cal. Do you guys think that a deficiency like that can prevent plants from flowering fully?
 
M

mode[2]

New member
tbh, i never go above 1.5 with my EC as well in flower (i grow in coco).

the danger of having nute burn issues by overfeeding and building up salt in your medium (and hence reduced yields) are not to be neglected either.

i seriously doubt that by adding more nutes you will doubble your colas, only a nutrient manufacturer would say something like that :wave:

But my problems start with some strains after three weeks in flowering. They flower very slowly and I end up with much much less than I expected. Sometimes they dont even form proper colas. What make this situation very painfull for me is that the plants are looking great, they are healthy and there is no light leak.
Click to expand...

the only viable answer i can come up with regarding your poor results is that you got some bad genetics, if you grown other strains with success (yield wise).

you sure your buddies results were so good with the cuttings from the plants that sucked when you grew them?

peace out

ps: i wouldn't flush that often, specially when you have no nute brun/salt problems..
 
Last edited:
H

Haps

stone fool
Veteran
In most bulbs you have yield loss before 1 year, but with hps it is not too bad, with mh, loss can be higher in shorter time. Find someone in your country to help you solve the nute issues. Good luck.
H
 
Blunt_69

Blunt_69

the keeper of the creeper
Veteran
huh, well you got me stumped..Im not to sure what to think on this, as you have kinda given us a clear picture, however i still woudnt mind actually seeing your plants? Can you post photos or no?
 
C

Classyathome

3 x 600's in what size area, and how far from plants.

You don't mention stretch...

Temps of rez? 18 - 20 celsius is optimal.

Too much N, combined with Mag/Cal lockout?

Just reaching, I know, but dwc is my thing - somethings to consider...
 
L

Lupin

Member
Hi everyone

This was my first post here and I wasn't sure if I am going to get any replies, so thank you all for helping me. I just woke up and now try to answer the questions.

1. you sure your buddies results were so good with the cuttings from the plants that sucked when you grew them?

Yes I am absolutely sure. They hade huge colas and side branches were very heavy as well. I guesse he is going to pull out 800 grams from 6 plants.

2.however i still woudnt mind actually seeing your plants? Can you post photos or no?

I try to get some pictures today from my current grow. I have 3 plants ( chronic from Serious) in bubbler and 6 plants ( skunk from Dutch Passion ) in Aeroflo. The chronics are the same genetics as last time and they are into flowering day 30. The reason I wanted to grow this strain again was the result my friend had with it. They were very healthy when I turned the light to 12 but now they have some rusty spots which I get with some strains. Is this Cal deficiency? The skunks were just put into flowering three days ago and they too have some rusty spots, but I think I solved that problem by giving them more nute. The EC for both are 2, but this is the first time I keep my EC around two. So the skunks are not getting more spots but the chronics are. I will get you some pics.

3. 3 x 600's in what size area, and how far from plants.

You don't mention stretch...

Temps of rez? 18 - 20 celsius is optimal.

Too much N, combined with Mag/Cal lockout?

Just reaching, I know, but dwc is my thing - somethings to consider...

I don't exactly know the size of my garden, but I am sure my garden gets more light than many gardens I have seen. I keep the lights 50 or 60 centimetres above the plants. Stretch has been just normal. Usually they grow a lot after the light cycle has
been changed. Yes, the tem of water is 18-20. I have a chiller for keeping the temp
down. About nutes, I have been using GH flora according to what the bottle says. I have kept the ratio as next: in grow 3:2:1, first two weeks of flowering 2:2:2 and in bloom 1:2:3. Classyathome, do you think I should change the ratio to give them less
N? As about additives I am not a huge fan of additives. What I would like to use is CalMag by Botanicare which they dont sell here in Europe and I just recently found a hydro store in US which sends their products to Europe as well, and I have ordered some of CalMag. Now I am using Atami booster and bloom stimulator which I think are great additives. I definitely have CalMag problems with GH flora, but I still think they are the best fertilizers.

4. how long are they in veg for?
Do you top or lst?
what are your watts per square foot.?

Usually 2 to 3 weeks. Yes I usually top the plants but not always, and I don't know what you mean by Ist. I don't exactly know
about how much watts per square foot, but last time I had 2.5 x 1 metre area under 3
600 wat hps.

I seriously think that the problem has something to do with nutes, I will send some pictures soon. And also can someone tell me how I can reply to your posts by getting those blue boxes which are quotes from you?
 
L

Lupin

Member
The pictures above are from my chronics. They are in bloom day 31. The leaves are getting more of those rusty spots, is this Cal deficiency? Also I think there is a P deficiency, am I right?
 
L

Lupin

Member
The pictures here are from another room in which I have 6 skunks and 3 chronics in soil. The skunks are only 16 days old and this is the third day of 12/12. They are eating a lot of nute. At the moment EC is 2.1 and it is still dropping. They really took off fast, they too have these rusty spots.



















 
S

Surfnfisher

Member
If I was you I would go to soil or soiless medium. Its not worth the loss if your water quality is poor and its taking a toll on your yeild. Soil/soiless is pretty nice. You dont get the super fast growth but you get great results. And easily. Mabey the water where you live is funky and is lacking something you need or for that matter has too much of something you dont need. Chronic is a great strain. Most Serious strains are easy to grow/
Sorry I couldnt be more of a help. Good luck
 
L

Lupin

Member
Surfnfisher thanks for dropping in here. The water here is soft, the EC of plain water is 0.1. Do you think that lacks Cal? I will soon get Cal-Mag by Botanicare and see if that helps. Actually I was thinking to grow in soil for a while. You are right about chronic, it produces very fat duds, but unfortunately not for me. My skunks are looking very nice though.

Have you ever tried bcseedking's strains? I have their WW, Northern Lights, Ak and Big Bud. I also have Critical Mass from Mr. Nice. Which ones do you prefer?
 
S

Surfnfisher

Member
Personally I am a basic grower. I had only three strains from 1992 till 2004. Big Bud the cat pee and jedi all were clone only strains. Then I was a hydro guy. Bubblers and ebb flow. I switched to soil and soiless becuase it was so easy and forgiving. If a pump went out or there was a nute or def problem the effects were subtle. In hydro the effects are fast acting and one day with a broken pump can ruin a harvey. My current mix gets watered every three days. Lately I have done some hazes and blueberry hdf and ak-47, chronic, and pot of gold oh and Ice and PPP. I m just looking for 2 killer phenos that I can grow foe the long run. Changing strains often makes it really hard to get that strain dialed in. That sounds like the problem your having. I am on my third flower of the HDF and I still get MAG deficiencies and my water is 400ppm. If I cant figure it out its not worth keeping in my opinion.
Good luck and have fun.
 
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