First Time Growing Anything - OG Kush

Introduction - Week 07 Summary - So I guess 920 PPMs is a bit too high during early stages of growth? Yep.. This week... I nutrient burned her. Well, pretty much the day after last week's reservoir change (9/14/20), I started seeing stunted growth and burnt tips but thought it was light stress. I also noticed a bit of foam, but that wasn't a big deal. It wasn't light stress, so I diluted the solution a bit by replacing about a third with distilled water. This sort of helped, but she was already pretty burnt by then. Ended up doing another reservoir change midway through the week to reset back to week 1 strength. But again, the damage was already done. I think the issue was that I was going with week 2 nutrient strength, but I should have kept it at the week 1 strength for another week or so. I was going by the time she's been alive rather than her overall growth mass. I guess the instructions are assuming ideal growth environment/development. So I now know that it's better to go by the growth instead of time. Supplemental note: This week I also got a refund for the missing bottle of Nirvana. I also ordered and received the replacement bottle as well. Nice! During the end of week reservoir change, I lowered the PPMs even more and increased the CalMag-to-base nutrient ratio. Please recover! [START OF WEEK 07] Day 01 - Monday - 09/14/20 - Total Days: 043 ----------------------------------- - [0930]: Getting a bit taller! --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.2 --- PPMs were at 856 --- The solution has quite a bit of foam, but no slime! Not worrying because it's normal to see some foam when using Advanced Nutrients in a DWC system. The base nutrient along with a few secondary nutrients contain wetting agents. These can cause foam to develop in water that is oxygenated using air stones. --- The new leaves have edges that look a bit yellow but the PPMs have been steadily dropping. So just going to leave everything alone for now. If the yellowing gets worse, then I'll have to dilute the PPMs down. --- The yellowing edges could also be more light burn so I placed the piece of cardboard back on the shade screen to help block out more light again. --- Also raised the fan a bit off the ground so the air is now oscillating just above the top of the leaves. - [2200]: Okay so think she may be a bit stunted by the increased nutrients. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.4 --- PPMs were at 857 --- So prepped a bit of enzyme/beneficial bacteria water to flush the top root zone. --- Filled a cup with 500ml of distilled water. --- Added 8 drops of CaliMagic --- Added 1mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 1mL of Sensizym --- On a side note, received a refund for the missing bottle of Nirvana. Nice! - [2245]: Top fed 60mL of the solution. --- Dumped the rest into the bucket. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.2 --- PPMs were at 916! - [2315]: Removed 1gal of the nutrient solution. --- Added 1gal of straight distilled water. --- Checked the bucket solution again. --- PH was at 6.3 --- PPMs were at 524 --- Great! A bit low, but going to leave it at this level and hopefully she recovers and starts growing again. --- If things don't improve by tomorrow night, thinking of just dumping the entire bucket and going back to last week's nutrient ratio with a bit of Rhino Skin. Day 02 - Tuesday - 09/15/20 - Total Days: 044 ----------------------------------- - [0830]: Looking better I think. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.4 --- PPMs were at 540 --- PH'd down to 5.7 --- New PPMs were at 582 --- New grow looks better so going to let it ride. --- Bottom leaves are starting to dry. Could this be a nutrient deficiency? May add some CaliMagic later. - [2230]: Aye looking a bit better! --- Also received the replacement bottle of Nirvana. Great! --- Although her first set of leaves are really drying up. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.0 --- PPMs were at 563 --- Decided to add a bit of CalMag. --- Added 15 drops of CaliMagic --- Checked the bucket solution again. --- New PH was at 6.1 --- New PPMs were at 660 --- Top fed 10mL of the new solution. --- The bottom leaves are drying up even more now and it's kind of freaking me out. --- Should I just trim them off? --- It's probably too early for any kind of defoliation. --- Going to leave alone for now. Day 03 - Wednesday - 09/16/20 - Total Days: 045 ----------------------------------- - [0945]: Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.2 --- PPMs were at 665 --- Did not adjust anything. --- Please feel better. --- Deciding on just dumping the entire solution and just starting over. - [2215]: Not much change. Although a bit taller I think. --- Those bottom leaves are continuing to dry up. --- Checked the bucket solution again. --- PH was at 6.3 --- PPMs were at 665 --- PH'd down to 5.5 --- New PPMs were at 689 --- No top feed. --- Even with the reduced levels, I'm pretty sure she's still suffering from nutrient burn. Day 04 - Thursday - 09/17/20 - Total Days: 046 ----------------------------------- - [0915]: Not looking really any different. Not worse, not better. --- Okay freaking out about the drying leaves. Resetting the reservoir! --- Emptied the bucket. No rinse, no scrub. --- I guess it has only been a few days, but without the chiller, the water already seems cleaner. --- Going to basically use the same brew as last week with a bit of Rhino Skin for a silica boost. --- Filled with 3gal of straight distilled water. --- Added 12mL of Sensi Grow A --- Added 12mL of Sensi Grow B --- Added 12mL of B-52 --- Added 12mL of Rhino Skin --- Added 23mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 23mL of Sensizym --- Added 6mL of Hydroguard --- Added 5mL of CaliMagic --- Checked the PPMs and they were at 590. --- PH was not adjusted at 5.7 --- Top fed about 10mL of the new solution. Day 05 - Friday - 09/18/20 - Total Days: 047 ----------------------------------- - [0930]: Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.1 --- PPMs were at 603 --- PH'd down to 5.5 --- New PPMs were at 668 --- No top feed. - [2230]: Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 6.1 --- PPMs were at 668 --- PH'd down to 5.5 --- New PPMs were at 693 --- Top fed 10mL Day 06 - Saturday - 09/19/20 - Total Days: 048 ----------------------------------- - [0945]: New growth is looking okay. Still a bit wilted though. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.7 --- PPMs were at 643 --- PH'd down to 5.5 --- New PPMs were at 721 --- No top feed. - [1615]: New growth is looking a lot better now! Bottom is still wilted though. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PH was at 5.8 --- PPMs were at 670 --- Removed 2 cups of solution --- Added 1mL of Voodoo Juice --- Added 1mL of Sensizym --- Added 2mL of Hydroguard --- New PPMs were at 672 --- PH stayed the same at 5.8 --- No top feed. Going to leave alone. Day 07 - Sunday - 09/20/20 - Total Days: 049 ----------------------------------- - [0830]: Okay time for a reservoir change! --- Decided to drop the PPMs more, but increase the CalMag-to-base nutrient ratio. --- After researching online for a bit, I think I've been underfeeding CalMag. So decided to change the way I mix my brews. Going to start with a base of CalMag first, then go from there (around 200 PPMs should be a solid starting point). --- Also, to better understand PPMs and which nutrients affect it the most, I'll be checking the solution as I add to the brew and will be mixing in order of importance. I probably should have been doing this from the beginning, but hey, I'm learning as I go. --- I'm dropping the overall PPMs a bit and going for a final solution strength of 500-530 PPM (CalMag + base nutes) - [0845]: Drained the bucket and gave it a quick scrub and rinse with distilled water. --- Placed her in a new bucket and flushed the net pot a bit with some straight distilled water (about a quarter gallon). - [0900]: Filled the bucket with fresh distilled water. Going to ignore PH for now, but will monitor PPMs closely. --- Filled bucket with 3gal of distilled water (18 PPMs) --- Added 6mL of CaliMagic (221 PPMs) --- Added 8mL of Sensi Grow A --- Added 8mL of Sensi Grow B (415 PPMs) --- Added 15mL of B-52 (501 PPMs) --- Added 24mL of Voodoo Juice (502 PPMs) --- Added 24mL of Sensizym (523 PPMs) --- Added 6mL of Hydroguard (524 PPMs) --- Added 8mL of Rhino Skin (526 PPMs) --- Checked the PH and it was at a perfect 5.5 so did not adjust. - [0930]: Top fed about 10mL of the solution. To reduce nutrient runoff mixing into the new solution, I top fed her in the same empty bucket she was flushed in earlier. --- I then shooked off any excess runoff and placed her back into the nutrient filled bucket. --- Sleep well little one. --- Not sure if I should be worrying about this but wanted to mention that I did notice a fishy algae smell from the bucket which contained the flushed water (and a bit of the top feed solution). --- Could this have stunted her as well? --- May have to do a more thorough flushing from now on. --- Maybe with some peroxide or H2O2? --- I'm not sure if the runoff from a peroxide flush to the roots would kill off the beneficial bacteria in the bucket so going to have to research this a bit more. --- Maybe a Hydroguard/Voodoo Juice/Sensizym flush or something similar? --- Going to leave this alone for now but will probably do another net basket flushing in a day or so. --- Anyways... Smoke a bowl Ensign. One problem at a time. - [1000]: Oh I did learn a lot about PPM concentration. --- CaliMagic, Grow A&B, and B-52 seem to affect PPMs the most (makes sense). --- While the rest seemed to not affect PPMs at all. --- Voodoo Juice and Hydroguard barely affected PPMs at all. Voodoo Juice which was mixed at 24mL and the PPMs only went up by 1. --- So based on PPMs, the solution's concentration is mainly comprised of about 200 PPMs each of CaliMagic and Sensi Grow A&B along with about 80 PPMs of B-52 (483 PPMs total). --- At a total of 526 PPMs, 25 PPMs is for all the enzymes/beneficial bacteria and silica (18 PPMs were already in the water to start). --- Fascinating. --- So CaliMagic, Sensi Grow A&B, and B-52 add up to about 37mL for a 3gal brew. --- The rest (Voodoo Juice, Sensizym, Hydroguard, and Rhino Skin) add up to 62mL --- So the main nutrients are about equal parts CalMag to base nutrients. Okay this makes sense. --- But the main nutrients comprise about a third of the total concentrated solution (37ml of 99mL total). --- The enzymes/beneficial bacteria/silica take up about 2/3 of the concentrated solution, but barely any PPMs (25 of 526 PPMs total). --- Still not entirely too sure what all this means but just going to let it ride. Probably will check again after the night cycle. Sleep well girl. - [1645]: Okay! Looking better! --- Still difficult to tell right now, but I'm liking the lowered PPMs along with the higher CalMag concentration. --- Checked the bucket solution. --- PPMs were at 515 --- PH was at 6.0 --- I top fed again outside the bucket (about 10mL) before placing her back. --- Not going to use a top drip ring after this run. --- I think that bad bacteria is building up in the drip ring and could be infecting the solution it sits in. --- I've noticed that on occasion, just after lifting the basket out of the bucket, a brown slugged would trickle out of the tube. Could be nutrient solution, but looks too brown. --- Roots also look a bit brown, but her one root has thicken up a bit and looks healthier than before the reservoir change. Still no real root development yet, but I guess this is expected due to the heavy nutrient burn I gave her at the beginning of this week. [END OF WEEK 07]