@PhatPat Gotcha. I gotta say that I was hoping it was the other way because this means that since OB1’s numbers at runoff last Friday were 1148EC, 570PPM, and 7.02 pH, being hungry isn’t the problem, so why is she sick?
I’m just checking this out now. At a soil pH of 7.02 you could be simply not getting quite enough of some nutrients to uptake through the root system. Each micro and macro nutrient has a slightly different pH that it uptakes better at within the range of 6.0-7.0 pH. From where you’re at right now, I would assume that the majority of the 570ish ppm result of your slurry test that most of those remaining nutrients are P and K from the end of flowering your previous grow.
I personally would use a large amount of distilled water and flush your soil till the pH of your runoff water is around 6.5+/- .2 then lightly feed with a fresh nutrient mix at 300-400ppm with a pH range somewhere in the 6.3-6.8 pH.
Re using soil can be a very cost effective way to continue growing but when using containers (especially smaller ones) like a 5 gallon pot you should adequately flush the soil down to as low of ppm possible with either distilled or RO water then re amend your soil with some form of nutrients to help support the next grow from the start. Also removing as much of the previous rootball as possible or using something that helps break that rootball down and essentially composting it into a bioavailable food source for your next plant.
No nutes just pH adjusted water with GH RapidStart at 1/2 recommended dose and Hydroguard at recommended dose.
In the meantime…this is where you should always start a support conversation. Too many variables
Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so; Or post
NA (non applicable)
-What strain, Seed bank, or bag seed (photo or auto)
-Age of plant
-Method: Soil w/salt, Organic soil, Hydroponics, Aquaponics, KNF
-Vessels: Type and capacity of container (fabric, plastic, etc)
-PH and TDS of Water, Solution, runoff (if Applicable)
-PPM/TDS or EC of nutrient solution if applicable
-Method used to measure PH and TDS
-Indoor or Outdoor if indoor, size of grow space
-Light system List brand and wattage/spectrum
-Actual wattage draw of lights
-Current Light Schedule
-Temps; Day, Night
-Humidity; Day, Night
-Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size
-AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier,
-Co2; Yes, No
If growing Hydro some additional questions:
-DWC? RDWC? Autopots? Ebb and Flow? Other?
-Distance of liquid below net pot (DWC)
-Temperature of reservoir
-TDS of nutrient solution
-Amount of air to solution
Always try to upload a clear picture in white light of any issues you may have to allow the community to assist you.
@LateNightGardner In my defense, I did try to answer the questions at the top of my threads maybe just not all of them. Like I rarely if ever use my filter yet there it sets ready. I prefer to open the tent doors and let them suck up my cigarette smoke. Lol! But I truly thought that I gave up most of the answers at the top of this post. I shall look and if not I will take care of that.
@Jake3 I too feel like has a lot to do with that soil and the nutes that were in it, EXCEPT… they are all in it and the other 6 are doing way better than that 1. Oh, and I spent untold hours sitting in my utility room literally sifting through all that dirt. 2 big bins full of it and then some. Lol! I would have to rest my hands every couple of days because of the pain it caused. It was horrible.
I was reading up on the brand of nutes I’m chose to use this time and GH does say to shoot for a ph of
O wasn’t done. Ooops! 5.5-6.5 so I’ma shoot for 6 now. Maybe what I used before said 6.5-7.5, and that’s what I went by last year. I found a lot of new info on their site and honestly I thought I had combed the site clean a couple of months before I started this grow. Guess not. But that’s why it is still high. I never thought of flushing the soil prior to reuse and nobody mentioned it til you just now, so what I did was to slurry each bag before transplanting and idk anything about EC/TDS/PPM until this week, Soo I was ignorant on that whole deal.
I’m not making excuses for myself just saying basically that I wasn’t as prepared going in as I thought I was. Now it’s time to catch up. See? What else can I do?
I guess that’s all for now. I have the dirt and water in the cups to do the slurry on the OB1 & 2 that I feed shortly thereafter.
Then I will look for those answers. In the meantime, here’s a shot of what I have equipment wise.
So, @Jake3 I see now. And being new and not really asking for help until lately, idk a lot of the lingo
It just hit me, you’re trying to say that, yes, she is very hungry because the high pH is causing her to block the nutrients? Yeah?!
So what then? Do the flush as best as I can with what I have and then what? Like immediately after I flush, what’s the next step?
Slurry Numbers:
OB1 @ 71.7°F. pH=7. 48. EC=0772. TDSPPM=0385.
OB2 @ 71.2°F. pH=7.52. EC=0384 TDSPPM=0177.
Run Off Numbers from 1 wk ago:
OB1 @ 72°F. pH=7.02. EC=1148. TDSPPM=0570.
OB2 @ 68.9°F. pH=7.09. EC=1234. TDSPPM= 0613.
And that’s that. That’s 2 of my 3 worse, but only the 1 OB1 looks like total death.
I’m so sorry to be such a pain in ass over one plant, but that’s who I am. Lol! As far as the flush goes, I have 1 gallon of Distilled Water and a flat tire so I cant go get any more. Could I use several gallon of pH water from my stores and then finish it off with that gallon?
I’m honestly not the best person to ask in general on this forum as I only have 2 indoor grows with soil. I’ve since moved over to coco coir as my grow medium. I do re use my coco for 2-3 grows though.
The recommendation on the bottle for the gh nutes says those pH ranges because that’s where they’re most effective. You are growing in soil so it’s generally not recommended to drop pH below 6.0 or above 7.0. Around the 6.5 mark is where your plants in soil are able to uptake the nutrients so you should stick to 6.5pH pretty closely.
Your slurry tests show that all of your posts are to high of pH. You may not see a problem right now but if they stay that high then a problem is likely to arise in the near future. PH and nutrient problems in soil take a few days to show in the plants and take a few days to see improvement once they’re fixed.
I personally would focus on getting all your soil pH levels down to that 6.5 range and look for improvement to show in the new growth. Anything that’s currently “damaged or unhealthy “ looking right now will not show the improvement and can be removed later once the plants are healthier and larger.
You could absolutely use pH’d 6.0-6.5 tap water just check the ppm of the tap water and make a note of it. Once you’re getting the runoff pH down to the desired range you can stop flushing.
On a side note: if you’re on a town or city water system then ideally you want to dechlorinate your water by leaving it out overnight to off gas the chlorine. If you’re on well water then that shouldn’t be a concern. Lots of ppl succeed growing without dechlorinating their water it’s just better for the plant to use water without any chlorine in it.
ILGM - ORANGE BUD, AGENT ORANGE, SUPER LEMON HAZE. Photos.
Germinated 11/10/23.
Potting Mix, Top Soil, Perlite. General Hydroponics-FloraMicro, floragro, florabloom, Floralicious, calmag, and koolbloom, pH Up and Down.
Standard Pillow Cases in Milk Crates.
I use a, well see attached photos.
I have my crates setting to where they all are getting 500 whatevers as per the light meter, except 1 is getting less so I rotate then daily.
As needed, ac, humidifier, dehumidifier, 2 portable heaters, 2 oscillating fans, charcoal filter, exhaust fan, VS4000 full spectrum, radio and I have gallons of my tap water that are no less 2wks drawn before used. No CO2.
Idk we had to this on every thread we start. I thought when I had to do it on my account page that was it, but have pit what I felt to be pertinent on any of my posts and have covered it all. I won’t do this again.
K?
I agree. That is what i was mostly concerned with through all of this and why i mentioned your pH always reading above 7.0. Get your pH to 6.5 with runoff and youre golden. 
lots of excellent advice from our fellow growmies. Best of luck Karen!!!
@PhatPat Well, it sure took me about a week for it to dawn on me. Smh. I guess I’ma try and flush them with maybe a low pH water and finish the OB1 off with the gallon of Distilled I do have. I’ve tried to get a ride to no avail. I wish I could just turn the shower on it. Lol! Thanks for all your help. Yes, a lot of great info and schooling has been given this week.
This is the norm. Welcome to the Forum.
I’ve definitely used my shower to flush plants in a pinch. Sometimes you have to use what’s at your disposal instead of going out to get what’s wanted. Any effects from slightly chlorinated tap water will be minimal since you’re only using it to flush once and it’s not your normal feeding/watering routine.
@Jake3 Dude, now my pH meter is all messed up and won’t calibrate. Went to check the 1 gallon of Distilled and it read like 6.55. Now I have it in the 4.0 calibration solution and it’s reading 0.37. Put it into tap water and it goes straight to zero. I have a new one coming but who knows when it will get here. All I have now are some pool strips and I wouldn’t even begin to know what to do with them. I give up. I been on this for days and it just keeps getting worse. My house is dirty and needs cleaned. So ima do that for now and wait on this meter, I guess. I just dk if they will still be salvageable at that point. You know, as far as just good human beings I think you’re the most regular and down to earth dude I’ve met in any of thesee forums. Thanks for that. Later-Karen
What is the tds of the water that comes out of your shower?
If it’s less then 200ppm (thats 0.4 EC) then you can absolutely flush with it.
You do not have to have distilled or 0ppm water.
But before we do that.
The plant looks like it is hungry as stared.
That can happen from lack of nutrients or even if nutrients is in the medium, ph can mess with nutrient uptake, root issues can also mess with uptake.
When something is messing with nutrient uptake no matter what it is, its referred to “lockout”. Sometimes you’ll hear people say “nutrient lock” or “ph lockout” or whatever.
Now, things like overwatering can also lead to lockout by messing with medium ph or oxygen levels in the medium causing the roots to die off and without healthy roots the plant experience lockout.
When you do add something in the top no matter the ph.
Does it come out the bottom close to what it goes it at? Or is what comes out the bottom way different then what you put in the top?
As I understand it, distilled water will not give a reliable pH reading. It has to do with the fact that all impurities have been removed. Try again with the 7.0 calibration solution, calibrate, clean with distilled water, and then repeat with 4.0 calibration solution and calibrate.
@1HappyPappy Idk what the PPM of my shower is. I do know that the pH of my kitchen sink which is on the same wall as my shower, is about 820 because I have to use the pH down for a not feeding turn. Remember happy 1, y’all just taught me some about EC and PPM and such last week when all of this became apparent that there is a problem…
I totally agree that it is nutrient lockout. However, I haven’t stopped studying about everything since this all started, trying to figure it out. I haven’t slept probably 15-20hrs in the past week and a half. AND I been neglecting everything else. Heck, I even put MyLittleDotofthaBay on vacation the other day, and that’s where my cash comes from. So rn I am taking a break from the plants and cleaning my floors. This is no small job and pretty physical for an overweight old chick, lol, so it feels kinda good “sweating it out”.
I’m way off track, huh?
I would love to feed those 2 OB’s, but what good would it do if they aren’t taking what I give them. Sad part is that I haven’t even fed those ones yet, other than spraying their under leaves with Floralicious.
If I did flush them in the shower, I can test the EC and TDSPPM, but not the pH, so how would I be able to feed them after if it’s not pH balanced? Just put 2 or 3 drops of the pH Up in it like I needed with the others?
When the Nutes are mixed, the pH was like 6.86 and I’ve been trying to lower that to 6.50 before feeding the others. Takes about 3 drops.
And yes, I would have to go to last weeks thread to be sure, but I’m fairly positive that with all the others the pH I was putting in is the same as what came out in that first runoff I tested of each. I recall the girl saying that was a good thing. I haven’t yet had a chance to feed them other than to water since then. This week started yesterday was to be their feed week.
Gawd I’m a windy old broad. Lmbo! Ooops! I think that covers everything you brought forth. So what say you Happy Pap?
Ya know we may be getting way ahead of our selves and makeing it way hard then it nreds to be.
They look fairly young so if they are in soil then they shouldn’t need feeding and if you haven’t feed them any fertilizer then I see no reason to need a flush.
If im wrong correct me, but they are in soil and you haven’t feed them yet?