Is it too early to trim all the water leaves off except for top 4? The large water leaves are effectively blocking light.
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I would defol the bottom of the plant. Clean that up and it’ll make some space between the soil and the leaves. Make it easier to water too.
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@Growdoc plants are doing well for the most part. Last Sunday I noticed they were getting light green. I realized I was not giving the correct amounts of big bloom. I refilled the reservoir with I gallon for week 4 of the fox farm feeding schedule ppm 1100 ph 6.8. I started noticing some things and wanted your opinion on what it might be.
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What soil is that in and do you have any real life runoff numbers?
That is fox farm ocean breeze. Self watering it has not dried out. The bottom 2 inches of the pot is damp. The girls are drinking a gallon of water every 4-5 days. I wash the basins and fill with water and week 5 of the fox farm feeding schedule. I was shorting the plants the first 2 feedings. By 50% of the big bloom. Sunday Morning I gave the correct amounts ppm 1100 ph to 6.8. I have not top fed these plants in weeks. How should I proceed with getting runoff using the self watering system? Using these pots has taught me that I was grossly underwatering in my prior grows. To be truthful I don’t understand watering to run off. Is it 1gallon of water ph to 7? Pour in pot till you get about a cup of runoff to get real readings? I’m getting very frustrated.
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Runoff numbers consist of watering to the point that some water drains thru the bottom of pot, catch that and test for ppm and ph. Self watering bases don’t typically have any runoff.
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Nice looking grow you got going @tangman I agree, they do look hungry, which you’ve already identified and increased the ppm’s. I’m not sure when you last fed them, it can take a few days to see improvements. Look to the new growth.
When I watered to run-off with Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil, my run-off pH runs high. I have different parameters than you and all effect the final pH of the soil. I would try to keep the pH in your bases as close to 6.5 as you can. PH above 7.0 can start to lock out nutrients. I’m seeing what could be a little Ca deficiency happening maybe, not sure. And are you pHing before or after mixing your nutes, cause you want to do it after. 
Here’s a pH guide. I have a better one somewhere but this is all I could find at the moment.
Here’s another:
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Thanks I will make that adjustment. Plant #1 will most likely be empty by time I get home from work. The remaining plants have only used half the water of #1. Next watering I will fill reservoir ph 6.5 and yes I do the PH after nutes are mixed. #1 is bottom left.
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You probably already had a pH chart beings how this isn’t your first rodeo. I was just cautioning from my own experience. My run-off pH kept running high so I was putting in low (a couple points lower than the low end of the range) in an effort to drive the soil pH down. Not only did it not work in my case, I introduced other problems as a result. After investigation, I found the actual soil pH was not as high as the run-off pH and I was chasing a problem that didn’t exist.
So this is the first time using self watering bases, huh? How are you liking them so far?
It taught me that I wasn’t watering them enough. For that alone I love them. They drink what they need and so far I don’t have to let them dry out. They get a fresh solution every 4-5 days. I read somewhere that I should add some hydrogen peroxide to the reservoir. I’ll try to post pics each week. I plan to give them a good trimming to expose the bud sites underneath the water leaves. The interior of the plant is too dark.
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Day 40 from seed. Washed out pots 1,4 and 7. #7 had roots growing into the reservoir. Refilled with week 5 FF nutes 1200ppm ph 6.6. Should I be concerned about algae growing on side of pot? How does flushing work with a self watering system. @Growdoc @Lostgirl
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You don’t generally flush bottom fed plants except in emergencies. Algae is no big deal, I got it on mine now. Only the tan bags though, black don’t have it. You may want to throttle back on your ppm, 1200 is on the high side in auto waterers, it tends to run a bit higher than input, and so does ph, I have to mix mine at 5.5 to get 5.9-6.1 at the pots. You may need to adjust for that if your running a res, or are you filling each pot by hand?
I fill each reservoir separately. I found my probe and went from top of pot to middle and found what you talked about. The ph was just over 7. #3 and #8 will be ready for a clean refill. Will PH as recommended
. I plan to turn to flower in a couple weeks. They are as tall now as they were my last grow. I am considering going full hydroponic. Looking forward to recommendations to prep for flower.
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