Misadventures of the White Widow - (Ready to Top?)

Day 33 - Just set up the water chiller. Couldn’t wait for the hose clamp.

Will make cuts in the reservoir on the next grow to have the hoses sit flushed and wires management once I find a good spot in the room.






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Installing my chiller on Thursday. Any reason to slowly chill the water or just set to 65 and let it go?

Should I wait to top, do it now to give her a day to recover, or do it all at once?

Thanks for the great pics and support. Makes me much more confident!

I just set mine to 65. Depending on the climate you are in, the hoses may be affected with condensation.

As for topping, you should have 4-6 nodes before topping. I was going to top mine l, but since some nodes got some nite burns, I’m holding off incase I lose more nodes.

I don’t have any input whether to wait or do it all at once. This is my first grow, so I am learning as I go.

The trickest part of setting up the water chiller was priming the pump. What I ended up doing was sucking the inlet hose going into the cooler, bending the tip to hold suction, then installing the hose to the chiller with the inlet hose filled with water. The pump was able to pump water instead of air after that.

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Just set it and forget it. Until the drain and fill. Make sure you have at very least 3 nodes. I recently had an out door seedling get nibbled on by something and topped it on one node here’s her now

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@Stephen or anyone else. Looks like nute burns are spreading to new nodes now? What is the recommended course of action? I want to top and clear the sites below, but can’t do much if nodes keep getting nute burn :expressionless:

Today (Day 35)

Day 33

Day 30

Today (Day 35)

Day 33

Day 30

Today (Day 35)

Day 30

Rest of the her today (Day 35)



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I’m inclined to think this a pH imbalance. The crispy leaf aside the newer growth colour shade looks off. My best guess nutrient lockout due to pH being off opposed to nutrient burn.

Is there any particular bottle that has been consumed more then others or possibly a bottle not dispensing at all?

Send a support ticket in. Personally I would calibrate pH probe and do a drain & fill again.

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I’ve a pH meter, but its one of those cheap ones. Calibration solution coming in 2 days. @stephen has been in the loop for the pass 2 weeks.

What I dont like about the pH meter is the need for calibration each time you are testing to get an accurate reading. Would a pH test kit work just was well for spot checks with less hassle?

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Test-Kit-1-Ounce/dp/B000BT32UA/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ph+balance+testing+solution&qid=1564690145&s=gateway&sr=8-3#customerReviews

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You might want to consider investing a little more into your grows. Long term you will appreciate that you did as Osage stated. Much more accurate readings.

Bluelab

Storage Solution

Inexpensive large quantity calibration fluid 4.01/7

Also I think it was you @GuerrillaFartz or @LtcTerps who responded to a PM about my water chiller/pump. I couldn’t find the PM, but thanks! Everything worked out :muscle:

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Don’t think it was I, checked pms. I would definitely go with bluelabs ph meter if u can. I have a cheapo pen but it’s actually pretty accurate so far. Tested with strips and confirmed with Stephen while back when going over how my unit was doing. Customer service :ok_hand::call_me_hand:

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Since I have been having issues and thought it was due to nute burns, and at the suggestion from @Azuri about pH imbalance, I decided to re-calibrated the pH probe.

What I found black gunk on the pH probe on day 38 of my grow. Is this normal? The app recommends a cleaning every 4 months? I guess the next time I see there are issues, I will check the pH probe.

The pH meter I had gave a reading for the 4 solution at 4.17 and 7 solution at 7.20. So tested it in the reservoir and it was reading at 5.1.

I will cut off the dead leaves and the bottom sites when it looks like she is recovering. Hopefully, this will clear up the issues that I have been having. Its been a good learning experience for this being my first grow. I want to thank the community for all the support.

My girl today (Day 38):

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The gunk in the probe happens, glad you got it sorted out as you found out a pH reading that far off reacts on the plant negatively. Your new growth looks great you’re safe to cut off the crispy leaves now. :+1:

The root cause of a majority of problems is pH imbalances in my experience. I clean and calibrate my Grobo pH probe each grow.

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Also to piggyback off what Azuri said, ph pens are an integral part of the grow as you have experienced. I would further caution, the use of a cheap ph pen will confuse you more than help you. Always choose the highest quality you can afford when it comes to ph and ppm/ec meters. I recommend nothing less than blue labs!! Never had a problem, and can sleep well at night knowing they gave me accurate readings :+1::v:

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I bit the bullet and got a blue labs kit :dizzy_face:

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She has been improving dramatic for the the week, until I notice some drooping and some browning on the tips at on Aug, 7th, 2019 (day 40). During my water change, I notice the EC probe was a little dirty (black gunk removed) so it was cleaned. Tested the EC of the water and it read a .3.





Just curious if EC meters usually get dirty on a day 40 grow and requires cleaning. Is this a common issue?

Just glad I got quality meters now to pin point issues. Just wished there was a dashboard giving us readings.

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That rh needs to go waaay up. You need to be looking at like 70-80% at least. I think that will help a great deal. Plants “pores” need to be open to breathe and consume nutes. Keep her that low and ec keeps climbing you’ll experience nute lockout super fast. :+1::v::joy:

And man are there a lot of nutes used from every bottle, with such a small plant??? Somethings definitely up

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I forgot about monitoring humidity since its been in the 50%, but it has gotten cooler here recently. Time to purchase another piece tool for the “automated grow box” :speak_no_evil:

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@Osage Do you still recommend this model for the grobo?
https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Humidifiers-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-Operation/dp/B07S59MHJ9/ref=gp_aw_ybh_a_8?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=WWN5AB4J5Q8YA7F49B7R&th=1

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Going to keep the humidity under 60 and above 40 and adjust mist level as needed.



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Yes that’s the one I have but in black