Skywalker auto
Imdooors
All Fox Farms per their feeding booklet and schedule
So this is my third auto and I am looking for some answers about Ph if anyone can help. After feeding per the Fox Farms booklet in the amounts they list (except for the dry neuts never have used them in the amounts they list) my plant is showing signs of lockout.
I have a Ph meter for liquid and one of those meters you get from a garden store for the soil.
My questions are when I put the soil meter in and push it down the Ph starts higher near the top of the soil and gets less and less as I get to the bottom where it’s damper. Starting around 7 and getting as low as 3-4 at the bottom.
So I set the Ph of my water before I feed and then check the Ph of the runoff and I can set the Ph high at 7.5 and the runoff will come out around 5.25. This just confuses me as I can’t figure out where I need to be to get the soil between 6-6.5? Is it normal for the readings to be this way? Am I doing something wrong or is this just normal?
I also read when flushing that the water needed to come out clear. I put in three gallons of straight water and I am still getting high salt readings and low Ph readings and the water is still yellow gold colored coming out.
It has come way down on the salt readings and EC readings but the Ph stays around 5.25 in the runoff. Is there a place to get some info on this or can someone help me out?
I know I am not going to get the yield I could have from this grow because of the lockout but I’d like to know for the next one.
Am sure others will have various answers but I don’t use those cheapo soil meters, they are useless.
Presuming you are in soil you want to concentrate on making sure your input solution is around pH6.5 give or take. This will ensure you don’t get lockouts.
Then it’s just a case of increasing the feed strength slowly until you start seeing leaf tip burn. This is when the plants are at the limit of what they can take, so dial it back a touch and you have found your nute strength.
I don’t look at runoff at all unless there is something weird going on that I cannot figure out.
Also I use organics so flushing is not an issue for me, I just let them run til finish.
Lastly, autos are super stress sensitive, and all the fucking about with solutions and flushing will do more harm than good.
The less you can interfere, the better the end result imo. Another reason I swtiched from liquid nutes to dry amendments.
I personally use Fox Farms Cultivation nation - Tiger bloom , cal-mag , grow and micro.
I do full strength but not all at once. I feed , water , feed , water…and space the amount over 3 feedings and have no problems with leaf burn and she not having problems. I do have to add some additional magnesium but just 1/2 tsp twice a week. I also use 6 stage R/O water for everything so it’s a constant 6.2 from the start and lacking what’s normally in water plus whatever the city/county puts in it.
You may not need to depending on your medium and plant needs.
The only reason I look at the runoff is to see if there’s anything left in the tray. I use fabric pots and it gets absorbed back into the soil and helps tell when to water.
So the water from my tap usually comes out at 7.25 or so Ph and 350 or so salt but as I mentioned when I check Ph in the runoff it’s down around 5.25 or so Ph and right now after running 5 Gal of pure water through it without correcting the Ph I get those same 5.25 Ph numbers and the salt has dropped from 3000 range to in the 900 range so I kinda know it’s over neuted just by the amount of salts and the leaves.
Do you have any idea why water going in is 7.25Ph and coming out its in the 5.25Ph range? I figured that putting in high Ph would cause the Ph level to raise but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I can already see a difference (I believe anyway) in the leaves turning greener. They were very pale green with dark green veins before I flushed it out.
I do have a three stage RO system I use most of the time but I do use water from the tap occasionally when doing neuts. BTW I’ve not been flushing with RO just plain tap water, but the salt and Ph levels are reasonably close from the non RO water. We have a lot of iron in our water in this area but we do have county water and it’s fairly clean compared to what we get from wells.
To be completely honest…I couldn’t tell you the measurements of my runoff , I never test it.
I just keep a close eye on them and inspect daily to see any changes that might have started to show. If I can’t figure it out myself I always ask here because someone has an answer.
I’m mainly focusing on getting better harvest . I’m only on my second plant and first auto so I’m still learning as well…but the PH difference could be left in your soil.
If your plant looks healthy , doing good and your getting consistent results I’d call that a win.
I did check Ph in the soil but someone said the meter I was using wasn’t reliable. The Ph in the soil goes from high at the top where dryer soil is too low at the bottom in the damp soil.
I read somewhere to check runoff after you water and it’s running two numbers lower than the water I pour in. 7.5 going in and 5.25 in the run off. I put the 7.5 water in thinking it would raise the numbers in the runoff but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.
This is what some of the leaves are looking like and from everything I read it points to lockout. Am I wrong about this?
As to the mineral or organic question it’s a liquid and dry also. I am using their schedule and it calls for both but I never use the dry at their recommended amounts. They call for Tbs per gallon of soil per week and I think that would be way too much. I started using 1/4 ratio of the liquids but at around week 4 I upped it to full strength. I think I should have stayed at 1/4 strength.
I think I know already what’s the issue. But before I say something. Can you send us more photos from the yellow leaves, plants and grow room? Where started this issues with leaves? From the top or bottom of the plant?
She’s the only one. It’s a 27”x27” tent. So I took a
Reading with my meter and straight from the faucet it’s
Ph 7.44
uS/CM 6.35 Is this EC?
PPM 317
Salt 317
Salt% 0.03
This is the RO water faucet.
What else would you want to see? I can let me know what you need.
The yellowing started as rusty looking spots mostly near the upper branches. It really got bad after the last two feedings that’s when the leaves starts yellowing and the tips started browning and dying but the light green color and dark green veins have been going on for a month or so. She is 46 days in.
Also I only feed once every week.
One parameter? Why you have 317ppm? This is not normal. 400ppm is ok and the minimum. I measured last time 1100ppm at a crazy party in small room and closed door especially. A normal airflow with fresh air from outside gives you 500 - 550ppm - depending on your location
What does air flow have to do with Ph readings? And I asked why my Ph goes from 7.44 when I add water to 5.25 in my runoff? And how do I get it where it needs to be? I have Ph +/- but it doesn’t seem to raise the Ph in the runoff water.
So you said above you “thought you already knew the issue”. What do you think it is?
I shut up now and I just hope that other real experts start with their recommandations. I just immagined small trees in my dreams and they formed in my way what I immagined
I have a Vivosun oscillating fan in the tent and as small as the tent is shouldn’t it be working OK? The ventilation fan that came with the tent is on 100% when the lights are on. It is warm in the tent tho sometimes up in the mid 80’s. I didn’t think that was too high from what I’ve read tho?
I also leave the tent flap open at least 1/4 of the way always.
@Outlaw
Im not sure about the PH / leaf issue but , the way your leaf tips are curling down could be to much water and part of the problem. Also instead of just feeding once a week divide up the total amount of nutrients for the week to where your not doing a massive dose at once and they have access to them on a continuous basis and it’s easier to see and adjust faster…for me at least.
do you have an intake and exhaust fan in your setup? Just an oscillating fan is not enough.
The heat could be an issue , not enough/to much humidity could also be a cause…there’s a lot that can contribute to plant issues. It could have nothing at all to do with PH , but it might .
It’s normal for soil pH to fluctuate depending on where youre probing. Salts from nutrient solution will drain down and collect towards the bottom of the pot over time which is a different pH value from the surface of the soil. Runoff pH is like an average of the different pH levels in the soil
When I do my grows I just look at my inputs. What is my soil pH before I add the plants and what is the pH of my nutrient solution
Looks like your feeding schedule was too hot for them with the burns starting from the tips and yellowing, what are you feeding them with? That straight from faucet water cant be fed as-is, its pH is too high and it could have things in it you dont want to give your plant
