Are Sativas light feeders? (400W E&F Durban)

[spangles]

Hi everyone. After a move I tried some Durban Poison from seed. Before they died on me I was able to take clones. The clones are now entering the fifth week of flower. The ONES THAT DIED I was feeding at recommended doses (approx 1300 ppm, EC 2.6) in flower. These CLONES are eating only from 450-700 ppm. Although I mixed a slightly modified Lucas formula, I also added plenty of other supplements, eg Hygrozyme, Fulvic Acid, Koolbloom liquid, also Pyrosol (heated on stove then after the chemical reaction I added it to the res) also Floralicious Bloom.
When the first grow died, I saved all these nutes, so instead of tossing them they have been sitting for a month or two while I use them up...So far so good (NO PIX SORRY) Anyway the OTHER thing is that originally I had to add plenty of pH DOWN to the mix, well after lying around a long time it seems the pH is super low, I'm having trouble keeping it above 5...but the plants look fine. So I could use some feedback, in particular...

ARE sativas (or Durban Poisan) light eaters?

Nutes mixed weeks ahead of use...Are they OK to use?

Also does pH generally take a long time to settle down after adding pHdown (GH Powder)?

Thanks for your time to answer.

 

[Deft]

That EC seems high to me, I think 2.0 would be a better target based only on what I have read though.

I grew durban and it was a fast vigorous plant, not like a lot of sativas I have seen or grown. I'm going to grow it again it was a good racy trippy high.

Everything I have read says sativas are lighter feeders, so I'd drop the ec down to at most 2.0, but that's just me and I am only on my first hydro grow so take it with a grain.

What killed it ultimately??

 

[spangles]

Thanks for the fast response Deft. What I think killed them(there were 4, 2 females) was the too strong nutes. But this was all very new to me because of the move...new light (400 vs 250 in former grows), new water, newly constructed room within a room (using used lumber), new paint, and troublesome cats that may have pissed inside my DIY ventilation intake at floor level (light trap, built like a maze, the cats were getting inside and one may have even spent the 12 hrs of DARK inside, I don't recall exactly)

So I can't put my finger on THE cause, but judging by these light feedings, and by using the Hanna meter to see what they are eating ( usually varies very little at these weak numbers) I say I THINK it was overfeeding/nute lockout. They started with yellow, upturned edges from the bottom and worked up and over the whole crop, I was afraid it may have been root rot but at the autopsy the roots were only slightly brownish with plentuy of white

Be careful with the Durbans on yer next run and please report your atats for the rest of us.

By the way, I'm doing a SCROG, first time also< and I've got 4 clones longest tip (main colas) are about 30 inches long but horizontal under the screen, I'v trimmed some undergrowth but i figure to only remove lower fans when they yellow and die.

How was the TASTE and EFFECT and YIELD on your former Durban run?

 

[cocktail frank]

yes, sats feed less.
light N for the stretch, then no more afterwards

 

[Deft]

I grew it in soil, was a dutch passion durban and I was doing a ghetto CFL grow. Taste was spicy, very strange but nice kinda like licorice (I hate licorice but I still liked the taste/smell).

Yield was great for one plant under CFL even though it got hit with an unknown pathogen that plagued my soil grows inside ever since.

A good bong smoke IMO, a good rip would literally knock me over from the immediate rush. Very stimulant like, bordering on an aphrodisiac.

I actually just bought some nirvana durban even though I know its not pure, I really liked it for the trippy racy high.

One weird thing was it got a ribbonstem shown here in this pic.


This is how it ended up, decent sized buds for a floro grow.



Looking back I think the peyote I introduced around that time may have carried the unknown pathogen to my closet but its hard to know now.

 

[FreezerBoy]

The general answer is, yes.

However, you're asking the wrong people. Ask your meter. Not to match a chart that's never met you or your plants but, to speak with the plants directly. They know what they want and they won't lie.

Measure everyday and record it in a journal. EC up, nutes too rich. EC down, nutes too weak. My Thunk was happiest around EC 1.1. My Destroyer was happier at around 1.7.

Start at 0-5-10 and see which way things go.

 

[spangles]

Thanks Deft I'm really looking forward to this DP, it's from Nirvana, says around 8 wks of flower to harvest. I like the euphoric high, a more sociable one than the headphone type. Your plants look real good, I hope mine do even better because of this SCROG attempt. I keep putting new growth at the tips UNDER the next wire to keep them all pushing auxins away from the tip. I'll let you know how it turns out. I can't take pics though, I'm an old man and I can't even use a cell phone (not a total Luddite though, I'm growing hydro)

I'll keep reading my meter FreezerBoy, I have you to thank for that...BTW, you must get tired of repeating it to all of us noobs and not so noobs, I appreciate your patience, you'd be a great teacher.

ONE question though... What does it mean if BOTH ppm and pH go down?? I seem to have that also. Say the ppm goes down from 670 to 665 or even 650, AND the pH goes down from 5.1 to 4.9... this is BEFORE any "add-back" to a 25 gal res when it uses 1/2 gal to a gallon each day? When I add the quantity that was used to top off, the pH barely moves of course, but the ppms of course go further down (after adding HIGHER pH to the solution.

I have been religiously checking both measurements every day, sometimes twice.

The tap water is around 7.0 and my RO (brabd new) brings it down to around 6.4
I've recalibrated the EUTECH meter ( the Hanna combo only works for ppm and EC, must need a new electrode for the pH meter).
Thanks to you both for your service to the community.

 

[Deft]

That's a very low ph! You know you want a ph of 5.0 to 6.0 generally right? 5.4 to 6.1 is a pretty safe range a lot of people use it well.


I'd love to hear how your nirvana durban grow goes because I have a pack for outside come spring. Would love to see some pics but if you can't manage so be it!

I'm wondering how scrog will make it react, I can't picture it in durban. Mine branched out so much and got thick stems and little round buds.

 

[one Q]

Some sativas will grow larger buds at lower ec. Ive grown clones that were fed at standard ec, 1.8+ that did ok. Did another batch of the same strain at lower ec and these out performed the higher ec grown plants.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I appreciate your patience

Hey, before I came here I measured colas against my thumb. Now I use my forearms. Why? Because the wonderful people here answered my questions. I need to feed my Karma.


EC and pH in the same direction? My guesses would be the sheer number of additives to the water (which tend towards acidity) and perhaps the substrate (you don't say what you're growing in.) I've been lucky. My one plant grow has followed the "rules" But, I've only got one 5" pot of Hydroton and a 3/4" rockwool cube in 12 gallons of water.

 

[spangles]

I'll do my best to post a picture, meanwhile One Q says he got better results from lower EC.... All I've heard so far tells me not to push it.

Meanwhile I have 4 in 6"hydroton with 3/4 RW or Peat cubes (I forget) anyway the EC is now stable or dropping slightly from 1.350 (675ppm) and the damn pH hovers around 5.0 But the girls look fine!!
Maybe I read somewhere that all that fulvic and Hygrozyme creates macromolecules which somehow eat the nutes and transport or convert them at a wider range of pH?? OR am I having another "false memory" from all the posts I've read.
By the way the SEARCH function sucks or else I can't find out how to do a Boolean Search. I've tried quotes, AND, + and maybe other combos but no luck. Thanks Cocktail Frank and all aforementioned enthusiasts.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Well, now you lost me. I found 3 part GH too complicated and threw out the green stuff ... Ten years later, it's the Lucas Formula .... who knew?

 

[doogleef]

The DP I am growing is from g-13 and she is a picky, light-feeding little bitch. The WhiteBerry (Paradise seeds - 75% Indica) I got going eats a LOT more. If I push above 2.0 EC DP gets tip burn in veg.

 

[marijuanamat]

I've got aload of durbans growing at the mo,there originally from african seeds but they are very light feeders.