Last ditch effort…please help. Newbie is very out of his element

Okay. So I have two Banana Sundae Fem seeds going, and they’re beyond sad right now. I’m doing a DWC and just really am lost for what to do. I just changed my res, because they weren’t taking in any nutrients while in the previous one (after about 4-5 days of continuous leeching) That was only after one feed. and Only drinking a little bit of water a day. I tried adding a bit of cal mag as I figured it was a deficiency, and honestly, it seemed to get worse. I Cleaned, sanitized and put them back into the Rez, PHd at 5.8 with no nutrients added.

Previous feed was : EC / 900 PH

Is this nutrient lockout? Nute burn? Is it starving for nutrients? Or is it doomed? I tried letting it just feed on some regular PHd water for a day and it seemed to get even worse but without any flux in the EC and a huge climb in PH ( 5.8 to around 6.6 in 6 hours).

The leaves on the bottom of the main stem are basically completely browned and non brittle, and light spots throughout the big one and brown throughout the small.

  • 600 w LED about a foot 1/2 away

  • 13 gal res

  • EC currently is 360

  • PH dialed back to 5.8

  • day temp 77

  • night temp 72

  • Using fox farm nutrients (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom)

  • Used sledgehammer to clean reservoir

  • used fox farm cal mag as added nutrient.

I knew I was stepping into a challenge, but I’m truly looking for some sort of helping hand or guidance.
Thank you…


1 Like

Might try increasing humidity. They have very few roots now and take water in through humidity. Fine mist them and a clear plastic solo cup over them with PH balanced water (last part is critical). Got to keep them moist until the roots grow…

3 Likes

Did you add Calmag before other nutrients or after?

1 Like

They were added after first feeding

I may be wrong but I think you should add cal mag to water first then add other nutrients.

2 Likes

I don’t like the FF Trio for hydro. It’s a disappointment cuz I really wanted to like them. The labels are fun. The actual nute formulas are next to useless on their own, they’re either way too little or way too much. But that said, I’m not ready to point fingers at your nutes just because I have a personal vendetta against them.

What’s the water temp in the res (lights on and lights off)?

Air stones? If so, how many?

How far below pot is the water level?

For what it’s worth the leaves look okay - you may just be overly critical because it’s your plant. :wink:

3 Likes

Oh, also tell me about this light. Brand? Is 600w actual watts or wattage equivalent?

1 Like

Res temp currently is 69 day, around 67-68 night.

  • Two 3 inch cylinder shaped air stones in a 13 gal res
    -Water is about 1/2 inch below pot level.

Light just says 600w and is a bloomgrow kit.

1 Like


this look like it?

Are your roots reaching the water already? If so, I’d let the water level drop another 1” or so naturally and when you top off your res, just leave it around 1 1/2 to 2 inches below the bottom of the pot. This will allow some air roots to form and aid in oxygen absorption.

Ps: sorry, I’m all out of likes :heart:

3 Likes

I attached a picture of it Below, and a few better pictures of the sad parts of the plants , where it’s real bad.

And yes, I have a decent amount on the bigger one, and 2/3 good ones on the smaller. The smaller ones main is probably a good 5 inches , the bigger is kinda a root ball lol.

And that’s okay on the likes, I’m just grateful for the responses ! :+1:t4:



Lol they only get uglier the bigger they get.

I see. Okay so first off the “600watt” appears to refer to the “par value” which my understanding is that’s a weird marketing gimmick that translates into the light is not good. @NeoGroR can tell you all about the woes of Blurple lighting. @dbrn32 can help us out with lighting recommendations and more over, they’ll both be able to help us figure out whether the light is exacerbating your problem.

As far as the leaves, yeah they sure do look sad way down there. I’d try to top with as much hydroton as you can squeeze in around the plant before you get to the lowest leaves. I agree about the cal/mag issue. Just gotta give it time to see if they uptake the increased dose.

2 Likes

I would also like to know if you are using an air stone?

When you change the res how do you do it?
Add water then nutes then ph?

During the time it was feeding were you topping the water levels off and checking / maintaining PH?

1 Like

@Graysin Are those ice cubes?

Unfortunately I couldn’t afford a very top notch lighting but do regret not trying to shell out for a bit better of tent/lighting.

And i will add some more to the pot tomorrow and get rinsed and soaked tonight.

Will the cal mag be a help to the leeching issue?

Not if the problem is a lockout issue.

2 Likes

Yes they sure are. I’m not sure how I haven’t murdered that plant yet. I’ve got 3 DWC’s in that tent with no connection to my chiller - in fact there’s no real connection between the containers, the one in the photo is entirely illusory. It keeps my res from being overfull but serves no recirculatory function. :rofl:

2 Likes

I have two 3 inch air stones in a 12-13 gal res. I change it water , nutes then PH.
And yes I check it every night as I’m already nervous about my first dwc lol

1 Like

Any info on how to nip that issue in the bud?

Im gonna go a VERY short distance out on a limb here and way that is a 600w (equivalent) LED so it actually uses less wattage if you just wanna see this threw… you can do it with that but be warned the max yield potential of that light will likely be in the tens of grams (Couple Quarters) but CAN be tasty bud if you take good care if it

2 Likes

I mean if I can keep it alive, I’d like to see it through no matter what! It’s all learning for the next time and what I need to do better or different