[Parallax]

Originally Posted by jonhova

Lime is not water soluble.

Hmmm I see that explains all the white lime particles on the soil surface, I tried to mix it into the top soil a bit.

Another thing I realised is that I have recently been watering with tapwater that ran through a screw-on filter on the tap - maybe that filter removed some calcium.

Anyway I just applied an epsom foilar spray at 1/4tsp per gallon. I also checked the run off again this morning, I added pH6.1 water and runoff was 6.7.

[Parallax]

Okay well this sucks. Must have accidentally pushed some wrong buttons on the timer so she's been on a 20/4 on/off schedule for the past week or so! Maybe that's why she's turning yellow and she doesn't smell so much anymore. What should I do? Need your help please!

[n_d_ledz]

Timer issues wont cause the others. Somehow you are developing a -K issue it sounds like and that is hard to do with trying to or having a ph issue.

Lots of things cause ph issues tho, soil composition, soil stability and nutrient solution. One is out of wack.

Do you have the ability to do a soil flush? If so flush the soil a few times then water in well with water at ph6.5 and let it set. The next day, water heavily (lots of runoff) with half strength nutrients and water at 6.5ph. Dont touch until it needs more water then resume set feeding schedule.

[Parallax]

n_d_ledz - thanks for your help - why do you think it's a K issue?
In the last week of veg (3 weeks ago) I gave her a top dress of bone meal (3tbsp), kelp meal and crab meal - soil volume is about 1.5 gallons. That amount of bone meal should be enough K to get her through flowering right?

Maybe I should give her a light N feed. If that doesn't help I'll do a flush like you said!

[Parallax]

Correction > added bone meal as a P source. Will increase K by adding kelp meal today and see how she likes it.

[n_d_ledz]

Originally Posted by Parallax

n_d_ledz - thanks for your help - why do you think it's a K issue?
In the last week of veg (3 weeks ago) I gave her a top dress of bone meal (3tbsp), kelp meal and crab meal - soil volume is about 1.5 gallons. That amount of bone meal should be enough K to get her through flowering right?

Maybe I should give her a light N feed. If that doesn't help I'll do a flush like you said!

-K was due to the rust showing on the lower fans.

See this chart to know why I say, for there to be a -K, something is way off. Its one of the most PH available nutrients in the soil, 5.5 on up... So to be low or lacking means your soil Ph is below 5.5 or there is something amiss in the rootzone...

[Parallax]

Thanks for the explanation and chart ndledz

[Parallax]

Okay so after weeks of wondering why she was so struggling I finally found the culprit - it was the bloody gnats! It was literally crawling with tiny maggots on the surface even though the number of flies was fairly small cause I crushed them every time I saw them.

Anyway, I added a layer of sand on top of the soil, let the soil dry out and just watered with hydrogen peroxide to kill all those little basterds. Also placed little containers with vinegar to catch the flies, works pretty well!

Good lesson: next time I'll wrap a pantyhose around the bottom/top to prevent those flies laying eggs. And I should get a little fan to make it harder for them to land.

She's 6 weeks into flowering now (although that number is not very exact cause I messed up the 12/12 schedule a bit) but overall she's looking not too bad. Small leaves are still green, about 10 colas give or take, small buds though, hope they'll grow a bit more. But won't feed anymore, just plain water.

[Parallax]

Okay well I finally got around to removing those domes (used a hacksaw to saw off the plastic dome just above the metal part... it took about 5 minuted per bulb.), and yes, it does make a lot of difference!

Should have done it much earlier of course but well, she still has one month to go -so I hope it'll increase the yield somewhat. She's entering week 4 now (I started counting now from first white pistil signs).

Also removed the lower leaves and tiny buds below the screen.

Temps in the cab have been rather high lately (80-85F) so I'm thinking to change the light period to 9pm-9am when it's cooler. Would it be okay to just leave the lights off for 24 hours before I start the first 9pm>9am cycle, ie. switch off tonight at 9pm and switch on at 9pm tomorrow?

Here's how she looks now..

[blynx]

If it was me, I wouldn't flip the light schedule 4 weeks into flower. I'd finish this round and change the light cycle on the next one.