New to Coco, sick plants

[Hovz]

I got sick plants and its makes me very sad and i think i will just start all over with a soiless mix like i did before if i can't get this figured out. I will post a pic and tell you some of the specifics.

You cant see it as well under the 600w hps, but many of the top leaves are yellow and sickly looking. The new growth is somewhat green. I tested the runoff of my last watering and the ph was 7.1 and 1700 ppm. I think my tap water is slightly acidic, but to get R/0 water i have to jug it from the store.
I dont have any PH down except some phdown for like spas, which i read was bad. Anyway i dont know what to do. I also read your supposed to flush the coco before using it, because it might be high in salts. I only used R/O water to expand the coco brick, i didnt flush it. The brand was BeatsPeat coco fiber, Anyway so far, it has showed good growth, but right now it doesnt beat peat.

 

[southpaw]

Hey man!

Yeah, a PH over 7 in coco isn't a good thing. You could be seeing any one of a whole bunch of nutrient deficiencies, with Ca and Mg being the most likely.

What are you using to feed them, how often are you watering, what size containers are you using, and how tall/ old are the plants?

 

[cheesey]

how often are you flushing plants with plan ph water ? salt build up maybe ?

 

[Hovz]

Hello southpaw, to feed i was using GH 3 part flora series, using the lucas formula 6ml micro 9 ml bloom per gallon of water. Recently i also picked up some flora nova bloom and sub culture-b and subculture-m and also a carbohydrate called sweet berry. Anyway i have been switching back and forth between them, and i have stopped with the other additives so i can try to figure this out.
I water every 3-4 days. Pot size is 5 gallons, and the plants are about two months old.

 

[Hovz]

Gettin R/O water is a pain for me, i have back problems, hence the medical card. Driving to the store and hauling 5 gallon containers of water isnt ideal. Maybe i should invest in some ph down.

 

[whodi]

water daily or every other day at most. ph to 6.0 or so. 6/9 formula is all you need until you become more 'pro' with adding different additives to your coco. You shouldn't need to adjust your pH with 6/9 ... at least i don't..

 

[Hovz]

here is a pic of the containers, the plants are about 2 and 1/2 tall from the top of container, but the strain is very bushy.

 

[Hovz]

Maybe letting my tap water sit and bubble would make the ph go down a bit?

 

[Hovz]

water daily or every other day at most. ph to 6.0 or so. 6/9 formula is all you need until you become more 'pro' with adding different additives to your coco. You shouldn't need to adjust your pH with 6/9 ... at least i don't..

How much water should i give each plant daily in the 5 gallon containers , should i feed with nuts every time? I read flush with ph'd plain water on sundays and that will keep the salts at bay.

 

[cheesey]

water untill u get 25 to 30 % run off myself i would flush them with plain ph 5.9 water first .
and then water every day or two with feed

 

[southpaw]

Hello southpaw, to feed i was using GH 3 part flora series, using the lucas formula 6ml micro 9 ml bloom per gallon of water. Recently i also picked up some flora nova bloom and sub culture-b and subculture-m and also a carbohydrate called sweet berry. Anyway i have been switching back and forth between them, and i have stopped with the other additives so i can try to figure this out.
I water every 3-4 days. Pot size is 5 gallons, and the plants are about two months old.

Hmm... I actually ran into what looked like a sulfur problem a few months back because fresh from the tap, the GH Nutes were dropping my PH too low. Got some PH Up and fixed the problem that way, but mixing the nutes and letting them sit over night does the trick also. They balance out at 6.0 -6.2.

It looks like you cut the coco with some perlite... that's always a good idea IMO.

Why such big containers? I hesitate to say this is the cause of your problem, but it probably is making watering a little more tricky than it has to be. You could probably happily grow a ten foot plant in 5 gallons of coco. I can see why with that size of container you are going for watering every 3-4 days, but that's definitely going to lead to problems in coco. It's all about keeping an even level of moisture in this stuff, not a "wet dry" cycle.

 

[Hovz]

well i just recently transplanted them because they were in 3 gallon, and the bottoms of the containers which were recycled pots started to grow fungus so i thought that couldnt be good for them, and also i thought they may be sick because they were rootbound.

 

[Hovz]

Hmm... I actually ran into what looked like a sulfur problem a few months back because fresh from the tap, the GH Nutes were dropping my PH too low. Got some PH Up and fixed the problem that way, but mixing the nutes and letting them sit over night does the trick also. They balance out at 6.0 -6.2.

It looks like you cut the coco with some perlite... that's always a good idea IMO.

Why such big containers? I hesitate to say this is the cause of your problem, but it probably is making watering a little more tricky than it has to be. You could probably happily grow a ten foot plant in 5 gallons of coco. I can see why with that size of container you are going for watering every 3-4 days, but that's definitely going to lead to problems in coco. It's all about keeping an even level of moisture in this stuff, not a "wet dry" cycle.

Do you think i can save them? maybe i should throw them into veg and fix the problem, go get some R/O water, test the ph and flush them and then test the runoff and keep flushing and testing runoff until its low again?

 

[southpaw]

well i just recently transplanted them because they were in 3 gallon, and the bottoms of the containers which were recycled pots started to grow fungus so i thought that couldnt be good for them, and also i thought they may be sick because they were rootbound.

I see... and you're right they do look bushy.

Keep them on the 6/9 schedule, water to runoff as soon as you see the top inch or so of medium dry out, and see if mixing the nutes and letting them sit overnight brings down your PH. You want it to be about 5.8 to 6.0. 6.2 seems to work also. Remember to add the Bloom second. Definitely leave the additives alone for right now.

Coco is a little tricky at first, but it's really an easy medium to work with once you figure out the best way in your own individual set up to work around the Ca/ Mg issue.

 

[Hovz]

I see... and you're right they do look bushy.

Keep them on the 6/9 schedule, water to runoff as soon as you see the top inch or so of medium dry out, and see if mixing the nutes and letting them sit overnight brings down your PH. You want it to be about 5.8 to 6.0. 6.2 seems to work also. Remember to add the Bloom second. Definitely leave the additives alone for right now.

Coco is a little tricky at first, but it's really an easy medium to work with once you figure out the best way in your own individual set up to work around the Ca/ Mg issue.

Alright thanks for all your replys, im gonna do my best to get them on track and then flower them. So i should treat it more like hydro from what i've learned and try to keep them moist all the time. But at the same time keeping the salts from building up.

 

[whodi]

once plants are that big and roots have established the whole pot.. you can water every single day with nutes.. and you don't even need runoff with the 6/9 formula but i will recommend you have a bit of runoff every watering so you can sleep better at night. You don't need to flush with water once a week either, but you can if you prefer. However, I recommend flushing with 1/4 strength when you do, not plain water. Your call though.

Keep it 6/9 with a lil bit of runoff everyday and you'll be fine. (don't let plants sit in runoff water.. you only need about 10% runoff anyways)

I usually water 5 gallon containers with at least half gallon every time i water. A gallon should be plenty.

my tap comes out at 7 pH and less than 30 ppm.. and when i add 6/9 my pH is right at 6.

And next run, flush your coco well if it's being re-used or you buy it in brick.

 

[mzee_da_elder]

Whodi thats interestig you say that...I have ben following your no runoff thread and it seems to be the best method for me, however on one pheno of two (clones) of my c99 the bottom leaves are starting to yellow slightly...I do have some gnats that came when i brought my soil plants into the garden, also i haven't used any cal-mag since they were younger at maybe 2-3 weeks and i remember head saying his 6/9 formula makes it so you don't need it, i guess my question is should i flush my plants..i always water with no runoff to avoid the gnats becoming serious but do you think maybe a salt buildup is causing the bottom leaves to yellow oh and by the way newgrowth is awesome lush and green allover the plant except 1-2 leaves and this is only one pheno of the c99...please advise..mzee

 

[Hovz]

I watered them with the 6/9 lucas formula last night and i must say they are starting to look better this morning, I took about 30 clones last night so it will be intresting to see how many take, I made a little bubble cloner out of a see thru storage container painted so no air comes thru, and 2 air pumps bubbling in it. I see roots sometimes in 7 days. The ph of the nute solution was 6.4 when i watered. I will try letting it sit overnight and see if it balances to about 6
I hope i get coco dialed in, then i can just reuse it every time. I might also experiment with organics though, but thats after i get coco dialed in.

 

[whodi]

Whodi thats interestig you say that...I have ben following your no runoff thread and it seems to be the best method for me, however on one pheno of two (clones) of my c99 the bottom leaves are starting to yellow slightly...I do have some gnats that came when i brought my soil plants into the garden, also i haven't used any cal-mag since they were younger at maybe 2-3 weeks and i remember head saying his 6/9 formula makes it so you don't need it, i guess my question is should i flush my plants..i always water with no runoff to avoid the gnats becoming serious but do you think maybe a salt buildup is causing the bottom leaves to yellow oh and by the way newgrowth is awesome lush and green allover the plant except 1-2 leaves and this is only one pheno of the c99...please advise..mzee

From my experience yellow on bottom leaves is normal in flower, especially if you've reduced or eliminated the micro or nitrogen. Even in veg they can start yellowing at bottom due to lack of light and all. You should be fine though running with no run-off still.. keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse , like spreading from bottom to middle.