Hi, This is only my third grow and it is Roberts Gold Leaf. I have three starting in my grow box while the super skunk and OG are maturing. The big one seems strong and vibrant and the other two are scrawny and wilting, I will send pictures. I use GH flora 3 part at half the recommended dose and add flora shield and a little cal/mag. The temp is 72 and humidity is 46%. The ph. is 6.0 and ppm is 700. I had the ppm at around 900 for a couple of days but changed the water because I thought it was too high. Should I flush the plants and change the nutrient reservoir again? Have there been any trouble with the new strain or is the problem me? I also wonder if the lights in the grow box are not strong enough but why would one be doing great and the other 2 not? I could switch them to my closet with the 700 watt LED but I wanted to wait another 2 weeks until they are ready to go 12/12. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I will also send pictures of the skunk and OG, all Roberts seeds. Thanks 620 smitty
It is very hard to say why the two are not doing as well considering nothing stands out as being out of a safe range. The only thing I can think of is maybe how the air stones are arranged under the plants’ roots. Maybe the two that aren’t doing as well aren’t getting enough dissolved oxygen at their roots.
The red in the leaf stems and general droopiness kinda backs this idea up as that is what overwatering symptoms looks like when the roots are kinda drowning. Try adding more air, maybe more air stones or rearrange the airstones so the other two get more air bubbles under their roots. You might also want to think about adding more magnesium in you nutrient mix. Maybe add a 1/4 tsp. of Epsom salts per gallon of water.
I have to agree with MacG…Looks like root issues of some sort. I will back up the airstone or oxygen thoughts. Whenever the airstones get clogged, or the pump turned of; I have seen this look in regards to the leaves.
It is hard for me to make out a lot of detail in your piks, but do I see 3 plants in 1 reservoir?
Look at your roots. Judge the small plants against the thriving plant. Are the roots slimy? Does the larger plant have nicer white roots?
I noticed that on the main stem it looks like it is rotted half way up the stalk on both plants. I do have all three plants in a 5 gallon reservoir and the roots all look good. Is it bad to have multiple plants in one reservoir? I will try and add Epsom salt and if it doesn’t work I will pull the plants. I had this happen to one of the three OG Kush’s that I have in the closet and had to pull it because I was afraid it would damage the others.
Sounds like too much water is getting above the reservoir lid and maybe getting the stems too wet to make them look rotten like that. Having more than one plant in the same reservoir will usually not cause a problem as long as the reservoir’s dissolved oxygen ratio stays high enough to support all the plants. Temperature can be a factor as water will not hold as much oxygen, as you might need, much above 78F. Two ways to increase the dissolved oxygen ratios, add more or maybe better finer bubble airstones and/or add more air volume per minute, a more powerful air pump or maybe just an extra air pump will increase the D.O. levels. Or add a aquarium chiller to keep your reservoir’s temperature well below 78f, a lot of people like to run the temps as low as 68F but in my opinion that might be too low, anywhere between 70-75F is usually ideal. Oh, also another way to keep you reservoir’s temps low and it is usually cheaper than adding an aquarium chiller is to just be sure the air temp around the reservoir is 78F or below and the reservoir will usually be a couple of degrees below the air temp for that ideal 75f or slightly below.
BTW, be careful with adding the extra magnesium, higher levels can increase the root’s water tolerances and help correct water logged symptoms but it will raise you EC/PPM, you may have to adjust your nutrient mixture to compensate and keep from burning your plants. As Latewood likes to remind us, many high quality hydroponic nutrients have already bumped up the magnesium levels to higher levels as the roots will be a lot wetter.
Something else to think about…
How are the plants suspended above the water? If they are coco fiber or peat moss or another “wicking” material, this could be bringing too much moisture to the stems/trunks of the plant and contributing to that type of rot. This can also contribute to the water logged problems in some hydro reservoirs. Another thing to think about is maybe your water level is too high, again allowing parts of the “bark” on the stems/trunks to get too wet. The rough kinda “bark” like surface on the stem above ground are susceptible to too much moisture allowing bad pathogens, molds/fungi and bacteria to kinda rot the trunk.
Thank you for the info. The plants are in rapid routers and 2 inch baskets and the water is just below the baskets. The rapid routers are wrapped with pipe wrap to stabilize them while they root. Should I go to bigger baskets? Maybe 3in baskets with clay pebbles as support and once the roots are establishes should I keep the water level a couple of inches below the basket? I just thought the water should be close to the bottom of the basket when the roots are just starting to grow. I just don’t know and all I have read, nothing tells you about water level after the roots have established. Thanks, smitty
The clay pebbles are a good idea as the rapid rooters may be wicking too much moister up and the clay pebbles won’t wick up moister as much, they are non wicking media as compared to peat moss or coco fiber that some rooting plugs can be made out of. The water level at the bottom of the basket is ok, but yes you can consider lowering it after roots are well established if it seems like too much water is getting above to the sensitive parts of the trunks/stems.
I am growing the gold leaf also in dirt,and mine are only two weeks old and all 5 are beautiful like your good one,the smell is fantastic,so I don’t think its the seed!!! that’s why I went with dirt and not hydro !!! I am a first time grower !!!