Flushing question

I have 6 plants all in 1gal containers. Due to unstable tap water i now have a build up and would like to flush ASAP. The problem is im absolutey broke (like maybe 20 cents to my name) until friday. Is there any other way i can flush without using distilled water or r/o?? Like getting a whole bunch of tap water pH adjusted and then let it sit out for a day or two??? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.


- 42o -

 

Hey M4N!

I'm not sure what you mean by "unstable tap water", but it's not likely to cause a build-up unless you have some really, really, funky water. The most common problems with tap water are high chlorine levels or the ph isn't near neutral. Does your water glow in the dark or something? LOL I don't think you will need to flush with distilled water unless you are treating for something specific that I don't know about.
If you have been doseing your water and letting set for a day or two already, it should be OK - am I missing something? What's r/o?
Dosed tap water should be fine (and cheaper) to flush with, if flushing is really needed. You can speed up the chlorine "evaporation time" by frequent stirring or some kind of circulation pump to "move the water around". You can also use a pitcher or bucket to scoop water out and just pour it right back in, from fairly high up - the object is to entrain air bubbles into the water. An air pump and a big airstone will do the same thing - but it's not nearly as much fun.

 

Hey T.H.

Sorry for the confusion in the first post I was a we bit stoned But let me try to explain in a few more words this time. Actually my tap water is at 6.1 right out of the tap. Im using Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil. About day 14 or 15 of my grow, on one of my plants the 2nd set of "true leaves" had 1 or 2 brownish/goldish spots no bigger than the tip of a ball-point pen. Well around day 20 they went (the spots) to more of a flat tan and white and it was infecting the whole leaf set on the 2nd node. Well I watered twice with distilled water instead of my tap water. This seemed to help tremendously (being that i didn't have my pH meter at that time i had no idea what the tap water pH was) and it never spread any higher than the 2nd node. I've started using some nutes (Fox Farm Grow Big, I used 2tsp/1gal, then pH adjusted that) and it seemed fine. Well today (day 25) i noticed there was 1 spot, that looked similar to the others when they first appeared, on the same plant but on one of the 5th node leaves. All other plants are a really nice dark green except every plants 1st set of "true leaves" have turned this yellowish/whiteish color but every thing above the 1st set of true leaves looks great. So im not worried bout the others just this one thats getting 1 of those spots again...........so i figured id flush. Well now that im not as stoned it's not sounding as good of an idea..........i've looked at dang near every plant problem shooting guide i could find but none of them looked really like mine did?!?!?!?!?????? Don't really know what to do......im in a huge dispute with paypal about a digital camera that i paid for and never recieved but thats a whole other story. So i can't get pics but i tried to explain the situation and what it looks like the best i could. Ohh yea this might be helpful too.......temp stays between 65-80F(stupid cold nights), humidity is kinda low at inbetween 20-40%(horribly dry summer), plenty of fresh air and ventilation, pH adjusted water, nutrients (FF Grow Big, FF Tiger Bloom hasn't been used yet but i have it for flowering), the strain is Nirvana's Ice. Sorry for the long a$$ post but im out of ideas.....any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

- 42o -

 

They shouldn't really need flushing yet don't fall into the trap of overfertilising this can cause brown leaves as the excess nutes are actually burning the leaves.

 

I found Fox Farm's Ocean Forest soil to be a bit too ~hot~ for young plants!!!...yer water @ 6.1 outta the tap is waaaaaaay better than most, since 7.0pH is netural...however, look into what I mentioned about yer soil bein' to ~hot~ for young plants!!!!

Stay SAFE..
~Sportz~

 

I can see where this is really going - you just got ripped and started seeing spots! LMAO Are the spotted leaves deforming or are they developing normally? If it's just that one plant with the problem, I'd inspect it real good; under the leaves and along the stems - with a magnifying glass if you have one. Pests or even "regular" bugs could be causing the spots.

I have had occasional spots that I never was able to figure out. I reckon they're like moles or birthmarks - sometimes shit just happens!
Let me second the B'man's advice about nutes. Haven't used FF Ocean Forest myself, but I understand it is some pretty potent soil. You may not need any additional nutes for a while - let the plants tell you when they are hungry!!! Try this: don't add any nutes (in a regular potting soil you should just be starting to add nutes at about this time - but with Ocean Forest, all that good, organic, stuff is already in there feeding the plants) just water as usual. As long as the plants look happy, everything is cool!!! Think of it like throwing wood on the fire. If you add a log while the fire is going well, it will get too hot! If you wait 'till the flames die down some, it will transition more smoothly - nutes work the same way, avoid that "hot" overlap. You know your plants up close and personal, when they slow down or show signs of a deficiency you will notice it. That is when you start to add nutes!!! Slowly at first, maybe only 1/4 strength, next week try 1/2 strength. Keep adding a "little" extra each time untill you find the "burning point", then back it off a notch. As the plants get bigger they will tolerate more nutes, with more experience you will learn to keep the nute level well below the burning point. It's kind of a balancing act; as the plant grows you keep giving it more nutes. Once you get the hang of it, it's just second nature.
Over fertilising is a common mistake made by new growers. They think "The more the better". It's like a persons comsumption of food - a moderate amount of a well balanced diet will work best - too much or too little can cause problems.

 

I can't say what the problem is without a pic but it sounds pretty minor. Could you have mites or powderey mildew? Is overwatering a possible problem?

I use ocean forest for babies and everything now and it seems fine to me. Remember that if your water is 6.1 you don't want it getting any more acidic. Many ferts are highly acidic and require ph'ing after mixing. BOG

 

Hey Sportster!

You hadn't posted yet when I started answering this morning - but it sounds like we're saying about the same thing here. I was even going to add that 6.1 water ain't to shabby, but I got long winded as usual and let that part out!!! LMAO

 

Alright this is frustrating...........the problem started BEFORE I added any nutes (like day 14 or 15). The problem went away for awhile but is coming back AGAIN. I'm 100% its not overwatering or nute burn from adding the FF Grow Big (i've only fed them 1 time with the Grow Big) Like I said the problem started before I started using nutes. I am curious tho about the Ocean Forest plus my tap water, maybe those two mixed creates too much minerals and what not???? Watered today (got my hands on some distilled water) with only water no nutes, as this will be my feeding schedule anyway(water with nutes one week, water with no nutes next week, and so on) Now as i said in an earlier post when i mixed the nutes i added the nutes to the water first then pH adjusted to 6.5. I don't know......i appreciate all the help but i know i wont be able to get "true" help until i get pics up for you guys so you can see for yourselves. Wish i could post pics but like i said earlier im in a huge dispute with paypal about a digi cam i ordered and never recieved. And with my budget i can't really afford to go out and buy a digital cam while im waiting for the dispute with paypal to be over. All in all, i appreciate the help but i suppose i should be able to figure it out on my own. Just another night of reading and searching till 3AM.......

- 42o -

 

Oh yea and im also 100% absolutely positively sure its not a bug problem either....

- 42o -

 

Yes yes yes i know this i was saying i was surprised because i thought it was going to be alot worse. Being that the first two weeks and some odd days of my grow i didn't have a way to check the pH. Now i do.


- 42o -

 

Okay M4N!

Calm down, relax, take a deep breath! Better? We'll muddle through this! Like Sportster said the Ocean Forest is a little on the "hot" side, let's assume for a minute that was the cause of the first outbreak of spots (mild nute burn). Just about the time that the plants "grew out of it", and cleared up, you started to add nutes and the newer leaves broke out again - yeah? If I got it right that just sounds like too rich a mixture for the plants. If that's the case, I'd go back to just adding water untill everything clears up again. If normal watering with plain water clears up the spots again that would mean that too many nutes are being used. Someone who uses FF Ocean Forest and FF Grow Big together could give you a better idea of what works best and when to start the nutes!!
I don't think it's your water and the Ocean Forest combining to cause a mineral build-up, I think it's the Ocean Forest combining with the Grow Big to cause a nute burn.

 

Okay i see what your saying now........this could be. Ill keep an eye on em the next few days, and water with just plain water and no nutes. Hope this helps cause like i said i've been through so many plant problem shooting guides and have found nothing that looks like mine so.......we'll see how this goes. Thanks for clearin that up T.H.


- 42o -

 

oh yea........say it was on the "hot" side and i give it a few waterings with no nutes and the problem is still there or getting worse. How would i "cool" the soil down?? I did a search on organic soils being too rich but couldn't find any useful info on how to bring the "hotness" of the soil down.....

 

The amount of organic stuff in the Ocean Forest mix is already producing organic nutes - that's a good thing! Being too hot just means that it might have been "rich" enough to nute burn your babies a little. But they seemed to grow up and grow out of it ok. Then, when you started adding the Grow Big it made the combined nutes too hot (rich). I think leaving the soil alone and holding back on the Grow Big for a while should make the problem go away because they've already grown out of it once!!!

What if it doesn't work - or gets worse? That's a damn good question! Without the camera it's hard to tell with no photos. Let's just hope that it does work!!!
Is it still just the one plant with the spots? How does it look other than the spots?

 

hahahaha true well ill get a pic up as soon as i can, but hopefully it just grows out of it again

Well it's the worst on one plant(very noticeable) But you can see the spots on a few of the other plants, but the spots aren't growing like they did on the plant thats showing them dramatically.

Other than the leaves that are affected the plant looks really healthy.....nice dark green leaves with almost a slight purpelish tint(slight blueberry that i hear is in Ice in some of the later strains) The stems are like tanks and it's taking very well to the LST. So pretty healthy I just hate lookin at those sick leaves......makes it look very ugly. I suppose were not tryin to win a beauty contest aye?!?!?!??? Anyways its Day 27 and they are lookin OK....

- 42o -

 

Hey M4N!

Good to hear that every thing is coming along! Don't let a few spots get you down - shit happens!!! Like Bushy said "it sounds pretty minor" - he is a World Class expert, I'm just trying to help out. Yeah, it sounds like they're doing fine! Once they grow out a little more all of this will be in the past as long as all the new growth is pretty and green!!
There will still come a point when it is correct to add the Grow Big along with the Ocean Forest. I can give you some guidelines, but I really don't have first hand experience with using those two products together. I have heard claims that just the Ocean Forest by itself is strong enough to carry a plant all the way through the veg cycle - I just don't know (SOMEBODY HELP).
I think you said that you added the Grow Big at 2tspn./gal. of water, I don't know what the label says, is that like full strength - 1/2 strength - 1/4 strength or what? Remember tspn.=teaspoon and Tblspn=tablespoon, there's a big difference!!! I'm just trying to get an idea of how much nutes you were adding to the Ocean Forest.

 

Yep, it was 2teaspoons/gal of water and at full strength(i know not a good idea usually, but i've seen a grow where somebody used Ocean Forest and Grow Big for veg. They said they followed the Fox Farm feeding schedule to a T and they had excellent result. Can't remember the strain they were growin with but im thinking on Ice it may be a bit too much with the Grow Big at full strength. When I do start using the Grow Big again ill start at 1/2 strength and see what happens.)..........they are in 1gal. containers......i water them with 1cup of water every 4 days.(each plant gets 1cup of water)

- 42o -

 

Probably moving to 3gal. containers sometime this weekend or beginning of next week. Ill probably then water with about 2-2.5cups per plant every 3-4 days.


- 42o -

 

Hey M4N!

Remember that FoxFarm is in the business of selling nutes - the more the better! My advice to you is more conservative - based on the safer the better!
More advanced growers can get away with more advanced techniques, no doubt about it! But only because they really understand the basics very well and are able to use their experience and the 5 (or 6) "Limiting Factors" to their advantage. It is often said that one should learn how to walk before they run - it just makes good sense!!!
There is a technique called "pushing"; the object is to give the plant the maximum amount of nutes is can handle at all times - just keeping it under the nute burn level. It takes a lot of experience to keep a plant growing on the razor's edge like that - you ain't there yet! The safer approach is to learn how to grow happy, healthy plants. Being as how it's time to repot; it's probably time to start adding some of that Grow Big at the same time. I outlined a plan for starting to add your nutes back in post #6; if you want to start off at 1/2 strength I would wait untill the growth slows down or else deficiencies show up.
One cup of water every four days. I'm sorry, that just cracks me up!!! I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with that at all - it's just my own experiences with growing outdoors in pots in a hot and dry environement. I could hardly pour the water in fast enough!!! LMAO Anyway, it's a good Idea to know what your saturation point is (how much water the soil will hold before any leaks out of the pot). Every once in a while try this: After you water the plant, wait about an hour, then keep adding a "little bit" more every few minutes; just untill it starts to leak out of the bottom - that's your saturation point!