Day 51. I've kinda been taking a break from all social media, so...sorry about the lack of updates for a couple weeks.
I had a lockout situation across the board. I considered pulling the plug on the whole grow, but I'm glad I didn't. They're picking up nicely and I'm thinking of feeding next week. Once I see the runoff drop to acceptable levels, they'll get what they need.
They're still stacking up nicely, and starting to show some frost. So, yeah. I know where I fucked up. Next run will be spot on. This one- is what it is.
Day 53. Sorry in advance, but this might turn into a long comment for a GD comment. I feel much better. I just solved the mystery of my lockout issue.
The backstory goes like this. I’m in a super soil, similar to FFOF, different brand tho. At about 5 weeks, I fed lightly and they burned. So I was naturally hesitant with the next feeding. Now for 2.5 weeks since then, they’ve been getting just water. And (sadly) they’re showing heavy signs of deficiency (P mostly, but also N and Mag).
So in week 6, I measured my runoff. It was over 1100ppm. “Fuck,” I thought. But they were still growing and stacking, some even showing the first signs of sugar. So I decided, ok… it *MUST* be a lockout. That would explain why my runoff is so hot, and why they’re not uptaking properly. So I forced myself to give just water for one more week.
Today I’m seeing severe signs of deficiency. Everywhere. Clearly P, Mag, and N (though I’m less concerned with the N). These necrotic spots literally make me sick. They turn my stomach.
So today, I water only again. And test my runoff. 1400ppm.
WHAT. IN. THE. PAST. PRESENT. AND. CONCURRENT. FUTURE. FUCK. IS. REALLY. GOING. ON?
So. I decided that I just don’t accept that. I looked at my situation critically. Fabric pots, in individual, small (almost form fitting) runoff trays. To measure runoff, I jab my EC meter in a corner of one of those trays.
Like I said, I refused to accept that. I suspected that these trays were somehow contaminating my readings. But then it dawns on me…ppm isn't dependent on volume. So I snatch a half cup of soil and mix it 50/50 with water (tap@~80ppm, known). PPM reading should’ve been off the charts, around 1400.
It read 128ppm. My eyes nearly dropped out of my head. I’m watching my girls waste away… as a result of a design flaw in my grow, not because I’m a terrible gardener and I should just give up.
So I mixed a ¾ strength batch of flower nutes and fed on top of the watering. I had to mop up some runoff, but my dehum is set to 50% and they’ll dry out tomorrow night at latest.
Long story short… mystery solved, or at least I’m betting the farm on my hunch. So I’ll either see some improvements in the coming days/week or everything will die, including my hopes and dreams.
Day 55. Tangie is a beautiful mix of frost, density, and weight. The citrus smell is incredible. I'll definitely be growing this strain again. Looking up since feeding too. I top dressed some worm castings. My bloom nutes don't have any N, and my grow nutes have P & K. Rather than risk burn or lockout, I thought a top dress would be safe.
@Avital, I don't think you could hurt then with this technique unless you're brutal or leave it in too long. But mine grew so much despite the ponytail that it would've come out anyway after 1.5 days.
It's really low stress. Try it out! :)
@Avital, thanks for checking out my diary and asking!
Ponytailing is a *very* temporary technique. There's more about it on AFN, but basically the idea is to tie the top couple of fans *and* apical meristem which in turn exposes the lower nodes.
You can't really leave the ponytail in tho...because the top growth will force it's way out of the tie *or* you'll wind up inadvertently topping. Don't get scared of it tho. It really is less stress than bending and tying down. You just have to re-tie it daily until your satisfied with the under-nodes' growth.
Pruning fans would have a similar effect (exposure downstairs), but I'm not ready to prune.
@Fast_Buds, happy to oblige! The first Gorilla Glue was a complete dud, but the second took. Fingers crossed that it looks as nice as the Tangie'matic!