On 2/13 the deficiencies started worsening so on 2/14 I mixed new feed water 2.5ml calmag, 2.2 grams mega crop, 5.83 ph 755 ppm and watered to 100% runoff.
On 2/15 I decided to introduce the girls to a little bondage to begin preparing them for a good scrogging later on. The deficiency symptoms also began to worsen but the plants had a brief explosion in growth.
Sick plants aren't ideal so being a good steward I broke out the googling machine and started researching my problem. I eventually came to the conclusion that my problem is excess calcium (the problem became worse with added Cal-mag) and it's causing phosphorous deficiencies (purple stems, burnt leaf edges).
With this conclusion in mind, on 2/16 I recal'd my ph meter which hadn't been done in a few months, mixed 3.1gr MC / 1gal RO water, @ 5.78ph & 777 ppm then watered to 300% runoff. Runoff ppm was lower than going in but PH was ~6.1 coming out. After flush DB's PH dropped ~.2 points. Will continue for 1 week to gauge response.
On the plus side, DB is very hardy and hasn't been as susceptible to symptoms of deficiency. She's bushy with tight node spacing and has handled topping and LST very, very well.
2/17 increased RH to 60% day and 50% night
Light intensity increased to 75%
Mixed another gallon of feed water, 3.0 gr/gal MC, 5.78ph, 755 ppm
Why not just go right in to the 3gal pots?
I do and its very nice not to worry about transplant.
I'm even dialing in how much water to give each week pretty nicely
@MrHightimes, I grew 6 autos right before this grow and planted them straight into the 3 gallon buckets. Because they didn't take much water for the first month I ended up with a lot of salt build up that caused issues before I could identify and correct.
I figured, the solo cups would allow me to water to runoff and avoid the build up.
I'm about to try some Megacrop here soon.
My friends are growing some pretty plants with it
my 9 part GH does nice but its ALOT and the ppm is so high!
@MrHightimes, Megacrop is great but keep some extra calcium and Epsom salt on hand if you're using RO water.
If you haven't ordered yet, I would suggest getting the 2 part MC so you can reduce N levels and up PK during the later stages of flower.