Ask Lucas

[plantbuilder]

gisisi why not run 3-2-1 and see if problems correct?
peace.
pb

[gisisi]

High, PB.

I assume you mean during veg. I have two weeks left in flower.
They were definitely drowning in the beginning, but I cut back such that sometimes they need water 2x daily.

There is probably something to your idea, though, as one of my best runs ever was bio buckets with 15-10-5 in veg, no dump, than top off with Lucas formula during flower.

gisisi

[Lucas]

> 15-10-5 in veg, no dump, than top off with Lucas formula during flower.

overwatering would still be a problem with that plan

its a good plan though

I recently heard of a test where the gardener used FloraNovaGrow to veg for a week in a bubbler under HPS, then no dump, just top with FloraNovaBloom during flower.. yield was 1.75lbs per 1k from 12 plants

yellow leaves from the bottom up, is dead roots...



Lucas

[plantbuilder]

Quote:

1/3 strength Lucas formula each watering

Quote:

My runoff measured to spec.

peace.
plantbuilder

[Indica Sativa]

As I stated earlier, I was overwatering. Now that I stopped, the problems are gone. If the problems persist, you need to adjust your pH according to whatever the pH of the medium is.

<<Does that mean, if I have rotting roots causing a low pH I should add more DO to the res to bring the pH back up?
Or is it too late by then because of the rotting material in the rez?
At which time I would add an enzyme and more DO.>>

To answer my own question..... yes, adding DO will stabalize a rez who's pH is dropping due to rotting roots. It took between 4-6 days. No rez change and no addatives needed.

k.

[Lucas]

watering with 1/3 strength every irrigation produces full strength in the root zone, which is why I did not think he needed more Nitrogen... see?

yellow leaves can be due to lack of N, certainly, but, it can also be caused by overwatering.

In fact, overwatering can also cause leaf down curl, root rot, low pH, and anaerobic conditions that lead to pythium, algae, gnats, and all sorts of nasties, Just from overwatering



its hard to diagnose by text online, it takes some luck to "feel" the posters problem

and kisanth
Im glad you were able to stop the downward spiral of decay by increasing oxygen levels. I hope the roots and time remaining allow you to salvage some fraction of a healthy yield before you start a new cycle. This one will be substandard due to time lost recovering from root rot, but Im glad it was not a total loss.

now about humidity
I like 40-60%
I dont like 70% or more

the more humid the air, the less transpiration.
the less transpiration, the less metabolism
the less metabolism, the less yield

at the other end of the spectrum
the more transpiration, the more nutrients being taken up, so for high transpiration rates, you may find that lower TDS numbers, closer to 1000 than to 1400, work well

a plant in 80% humidity air, wont drink much, so they will tolerate higher nutes levels, up to 1800TDS, cause they arent really drinking much

better to feed a little light, but often, than to feed strong, but seldom

so, lets see if people can begin to generate a knowledge base of humidity values, and their relationship to TDS tolerance

hth
Lucas

Show off..


GG

[plantbuilder]

gisisi where'd ya go?

Would sure be suggested. This isnt the Jungle.

Nothing wrong with a hearty discussion however.....

[Lucas]

> Show off..

sorry

let me add, everthing I said about humidity I learned from GrowGreen

I was just jealous that his SOG thread has more hits than this thread :-)

Lucas Dismounting from his High Horse

Quote:

Lucas Dismounting from his High Horse

You have the Guru credit for sure

Its easier for a journal, actulized often, reach a higher hits rating.

Backing to the thread's questions, i think best humidity level is strongly dependent of temperature and IR content of the light used. Water Pressure Deficit, wich rules the transp

[Lollie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucas

I dont think nutes can improve taste. Imvho, taste is genetic.. We can fail to produce a healthy plant, and reduce the natural taste, but we cant add blueberries, and get that taste into the plant..

it is also possible to use too much N and P, both of which affect taste and smokeability, but you dont have to go organic to get good taste, you just need not to overfeed.

I've been thinking about this for a while-the part about producing a healthy plant. I'm glad to see some one else has also. I've been dying to discuss this with someone.

I know you made this statement regarding over feeding plants but I seem to have come to it from the other side. Everyone where I normally post strongly recommends that a plant should be flushed at the end. From what I've seen, this causes unhealthy plants by starving them to death-which isn't what I want to grow. It seems the longer I can keep the plant healthy, the nicer the nugs are when I'm finished.
Have you ever tried to see how long you can keep a plant healthy? That's what I'm playing with now and having fun with it-most of the time. So far, I let a plant go 13 weeks, but she did not end up healthy. I

[mace]

Quote:

What is IR? How is it measured?

IR= infrared rays, also called radiant heat, every body emitts it, the hotter the body, the more heat is emitted.
To measure it you need a laser thermometer that measures the surface temp of a body (like a leaf).

IR is highest close to the bulbs, meaning that the parts of the plant closer to the bulb will be hotter than the lower leafes, so even if your standard thermometer says that the temp is ok, you might be missing the fact that some parts of your plant are way hotter than they should be.

gl,

mace

Thermometers are a good tool for growers. The back of your hand is even better for an indoor grower. If your hand is held at the plant face for a minute it should be comfortable. Otherwise.. you need to either move the light or the plants .. or both.

So Lucas....for those of us who do not have a TDS or EC meter, is there a way to calculate the addback formula with the variables we do have i.e. res size and light wattage?

[Carpet Muncher]

1/3 of 0-8-16 is? (don't make me break out the calculator.. )

that's based on about a 600 over a 3x3 table.. don't quote me, i'm sure the info is here someplace.. figure it out from there...

peace.. CM

My own personal experience has shown that to do hydro effieciently you must have the meters for ppm as well as pH and a reservoir thermometer or your just begging for problems. So much can happen overnight that checking the solution daily is essential. If something has gone wrong, Murphy's Law will get ya, you can catch it early. They are only twenty dollars on Ebay! Cheap compared to all the headaches you can encounter without them.

[Lucas]

> for those of us who do not have a TDS or EC meter

to do hydro indoors, where we spend big money on equipment and tons of time and effort to produce quality medicine, it makes no sense to fly blind

having no TDS and pH meters, is like trying to guess how much oil is in your car, without using a dipstick, and how much water is in the radiator, without looking under the hood

I suppose it can be done, flying blind without instruments, probably by dumping the res every week and mixing up new nutes... so you would be flying by VFR (Visual Flight Rules).

to really fly, especially at night, in the fog, and where there is low visibility, you need to become qualified to fly IFR (Instrument Flight Rules)

> 1/3 of 0-8-16 is?

easiest to do by knowing the gallons.. for example, for 15 gallons, times 8ml micro = 120ml.. divide That number by 3.. use 40ml of micro <g>

or, use a calculator, enter 8/3*15 it will also equal 40ml of micro.. then double it for the bloom..

Well I have a PH pen, just no EC or TDS meter yet. I hope to get one soon but I just lost my job friday so the money will be tight for just a little while longer. Here's my setup:

400W HPS, 60-70gallon reservoir. Would your 1/3 addback work for that?? I got somewhere in the neighborhood of an 11% addback. I'm still confused a little on how to do it without a TDS meter. I always used to dump after a week but I really don't want to do that with this huge immobile res. Thanks for any and all help LUCAS.

Hi, I humbly profess I use a $20 TDS meter from ebay, calibration solution, and a reagent ph test kit. I never bought a ph meter, because the reagent worked fine. 2 years ago I bought a qt bottle of reagent, and its still 2/3 full.

I havenet had problem 1 using lucas formula with ro water with those tools.

I have quit doing rez changes as well. I follow the tds found below, as per the plants stage in life.

Indica's
Seedlings and clones 300-400ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 500-600ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 600-800ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1300ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1400-1600ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph

sativa's
seedlings and clones 250-350ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 300-500ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 500-700ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 700-900ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1100-1300ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph

I simply keep my ph in range and watch my TDS.


Irie

BTW, I got the tables from this thread.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26343&page=1

I'll definitely have to go to EBay then and find one. Thanks for the tip!

agent smith... take a look at my sig block.... ~$30 delivered....

[mace]

Quote:

Indica's
Seedlings and clones 300-400ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 500-600ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 600-800ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1300ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1400-1600ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph

sativa's
seedlings and clones 250-350ppm 5.3-5.5 ph
early vegg 300-500ppm 5.3-5.6 ph
middle vegg 500-700ppm 5.4-5.6 ph
late vegg 700-900ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
early flower 1000-1100ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
middle flower 1100-1300ppm 5.5-5.8 ph
late flower 800-1000ppm 5.5-5.7 ph
ripening 300-500ppm 5.4-5.6 ph

I simply keep my ph in range and watch my TDS.

Hello I_and_I,

don't take it personally

i've seen this list before (OG) and back then i thought to myself: Thats nonsense, you cannot have a pH of 5.3-5.5 with only 250-350ppm, you would need lots of pH down(which is toxic) to reach that, thats not what makes plants happy.

I still stand on this point of view, this list is nothing but fake, written by someone to have a famous OG FAQ entry, sorry.

peace,

mace

Hi mace, no offense taken........

As i stated above, I maintain my ph within a window, and dont hold it in the small range given in the table. Rather, I test my solution with a reagent kit and hold the ph in a 5-6 window. I use the table mostly as a guideline for maintaining tds, which I can accurately measure with a TDS meter.

You make a very good point about adjusting ph of low tds solutions. It should also be stated, the obvious, that adjusting ph of a low tds solution raises the TDS.

I dont view this list as a definitive guide, but rather a rough outline for solution management.

irie