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Hempy Bucket - run off PH 5.5 and EC 2.8!!!

B

budrot

Member
Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on the above.

I'm feeding GH Flora Series Lucas formula. Ph 6.2.

When I test my run off, PH is 5.5 but my EC is 2.6 - 2.8.

Plants are quite late in life, i've only had the meters for a few weeks now so I haven't been monitoring it the whole grow.

the plant has been healthy enough, but recently it has started to get some rusty spots and its kinda bugging me.

Is it normal for run-off EC ina hempy to build up like that, or will I be suffering over feed problems, mainly in taste?
usually with Lucas formula you don't flush
 
stonedar

stonedar

Macro-aggressor
Veteran
if your hempy is coco then your runoffs EC is always suspect
search around on here for coco runoff

how far along into flower are you?
 
lokes

lokes

~Pollinator~
Veteran
Runoff is tricky. If your plants look good dont' stress. Also, when checking run off, use a neutral PH of 7, then check run off. That prevents from swaying the PH of the run off.

Also, if using coco I'd say 6.2ph might be pushing it. (not a pro coco guy)
I think you want 56-6.0 range.
 
B

budrot

Member
hey guys,

I'm in week 7, going to end of week 9 hopefully.

Its not Coco, Its Fytocell. Inert media, same as perlite but better for growth.

They are 2 plants, each one in a 27 Litre Cargo crate, I vegged them for 7.5 weeks from seed. both sharing a 1.2 x 1,.2 scrog tent.

They've been really healthy, but now they have rust spots that look like cold root symptoms, but I know its not that.
I had the same thing on my last grow at about the same time, week 5-6, that was a Perlite/verm 10L hempy (I had no EC meter then though).
Its not really really rusty and horrid, just a few fan leaves dotted about, and they are not dying leaves, they still stay rigid and tough and the green that is there seems to stay and do a process of sort.

I'm pretty sure my feed is right, but I'm just worried about the build up.
Lucas should run at FS for the whole grow.

I thought my run-off may be high if say the plant was taking up more water than nutes, but I didn't think it would rise above what I originally feed. I thought it would constantly flush with the run-off and everything should stay sweet.
I run off and drain to waste 20% minimum.

I know late in flower its late to worry too much but its just bugging me and obviously not helping me max out my grow. I don't want funny stuff going on as I'm packing out a scrog in a tent so budrot is a major concern, having manky leaves worries me a bit in that regard.
 
lokes

lokes

~Pollinator~
Veteran
I hate when everyone says, Cal/Mg all the time, but I'm gonna have to go on on limited info and join the ill refuted!
 
B

budrot

Member
My starting PPM is 250. Ph 7.2. there should be plenty of cal/mag in there.

I use hardwater nutes as the softwater nutes have to much cal mag and GH say use hardwater for anything over 100 PPM.

Its GH Flora series.
 
Andyo

Andyo

Active member
Veteran
allways had ec rising

allways had ec rising

used perlite for 30 years always had ph rising , still grow mothers in it .
unlike hempy i let my pots dry between feedings .
What i do is feed lower ec every so often .
EC o.8 for a while and the ec goes down i run at ph run off 5.0 to 5.5 because it climbs in the pot.
 
B

booghy

Member
Pretty sure GH says over 200ppm, not 100. Obviously your still over but have you done a water analysis?? Do you know exact Cal ppm. If it's under 70 you want the regular.
 
B

budrot

Member
Yeah the water quality report measured the hardness in - ''mgl CaCO3 (ppm) - Calcium carbonate, the compound which is the main cause of hardness'' over 290 actually. I Just had another look at the report
 
highonmt

highonmt

Active member
Veteran
budrot said:
Yeah the water quality report measured the hardness in - ''mgl CaCO3 (ppm) - Calcium carbonate, the compound which is the main cause of hardness'' over 290 actually. I Just had another look at the report
Click to expand...

The problem is that no matter how much you have if your ph is off the mg or calcium will not be taken up efficiently by the plant. This is a table that shows nutrient availability at different ph's
phnutrcombo1.gif


5.3-5.5 is what I use for my 18gal perlite/verm hempy pots at work...We flush all our pots every 4th watering. To flush we just add water ph 5.5 till run off.
HM
 
lokes

lokes

~Pollinator~
Veteran
My water here is 430ppm and I still need to use Cal/Mg. I just hooked up an RO though as 430ppm is crazy and it seems to be adversely effecting my plants over time.
So hopefully the RO will fix these issues.
 
B

budrot

Member
yeah, I'm starting to think it may just be a general water quality issue.

I've had it on all my grows now, soil and hydro, its a lot worse on the soil grows.
My water quality report has loads of nasty stuff that I don't like the sound of and would never willingly ingest myself, let alone my precious plants!

I might have to go down the RO route myself.
I might just try using soft water micro instead first, or maybe a combo of both with hardwater just to strike off the cal/mag issue.
I would be surprised if it is a mg issue though, the waters in my surrounding area are quite famous for their magnesium salt mineral contents.

Although if canna likes a lot of Mg then maybe I would be better off using soft water nutes with a hardwater source, for extra cal/mag.
 
dansbuds

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I just went through the exact same thing recently .... my water was loaded with calcium 380PPM . it was causing a lockout of other nutes like P & K . i started with the RO water & every thing has been great here . if you want to check out my thread on it its here ......
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=207889

good luck man ... you'll get it figured out . luckily yours isn't as bad as mine was .
 
Bonavendura

Bonavendura

Member
Not a coco expert and newb to Hempy's too.

I have strong Hydro backup so i measure almost everything wirh those Hempy's . I am using perlite/vermiculite and i will try fytocell soon.

On perlite/vermiculite i mesure imediate runoff , one day later runoff (tilt the bucket) and two days later runoff , third day buckets is empty and i am watering again.

-In the vegging stage (1 month) and 2-3 maybe 4 weeks in flowering

With enough runoff the solution inside the Hempy's res is reseting to what i am feeding.
Lets say i am feeding ec 1,4 ph 5,3
One day after feeding tilting the bucket ec 1,0 ph 5,8
Two days after feeding tilting the bucket ec 0,7 ph 6,5

Late in flowering the medium builds up salts and while i am
feeding 1,5 ec 5,5 ph i am taking runoff's of 2,0 - 2,2 and ph of 5,3-5,6

There i was giving them 2 waterings with 0,7 ec 5,3 ph
and after that i boom them again with 1,6 ec .


Generaly my conclusion that i share with you is that i feed
light 0,7 - 1,5 ec cause the media build's up salts and @ low
ph values cause ph rising inside the res 5,3-5,5 ph.


but on week 7 on a 9 week strain ...
no worries about anything you start flushing in a few days and give them a good flushing cause 2,6 ec is way too strong .
 
B

budrot

Member
Bonavendura said:
Not a coco expert and newb to Hempy's too.

I have strong Hydro backup so i measure almost everything wirh those Hempy's . I am using perlite/vermiculite and i will try fytocell soon.

On perlite/vermiculite i mesure imediate runoff , one day later runoff (tilt the bucket) and two days later runoff , third day buckets is empty and i am watering again.

-In the vegging stage (1 month) and 2-3 maybe 4 weeks in flowering

With enough runoff the solution inside the Hempy's res is reseting to what i am feeding.
Lets say i am feeding ec 1,4 ph 5,3
One day after feeding tilting the bucket ec 1,0 ph 5,8
Two days after feeding tilting the bucket ec 0,7 ph 6,5

Late in flowering the medium builds up salts and while i am
feeding 1,5 ec 5,5 ph i am taking runoff's of 2,0 - 2,2 and ph of 5,3-5,6

There i was giving them 2 waterings with 0,7 ec 5,3 ph
and after that i boom them again with 1,6 ec .


Generaly my conclusion that i share with you is that i feed
light 0,7 - 1,5 ec cause the media build's up salts and @ low
ph values cause ph rising inside the res 5,3-5,5 ph.


but on week 7 on a 9 week strain ...
no worries about anything you start flushing in a few days and give them a good flushing cause 2,6 ec is way too strong .
Click to expand...


Cheers dude that info is really helpful.

So this is a phenomenon that is normal with hempies.

I pondered last night weather this build up maybe something to do with Cation exchange, where the plant stores nutes in the media close to the roots.

The thing is, your not supposed to change the Lucas formula for teh whole grow. Your not even supposed to flush. I guess Lucas intenmded huis formula to be used in a F&D type system rather than Passive Hydro but my sensei used it full strength for the whole grow with no probs,

Cheers guys, all of you. I very much appreciate your help.

I may stick around on this website, i usually reside on UK420. My name is Budzilla there.

Nice to meet you all and thanks again!


Budrot (AKA: Budzilla)
 
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