Thanks for that great info!!

So when you notice a sharp decrease in your nutes PPM concentration, do you add more nutes to bring the PPM back to what it once was, or just observe it to be able to tell what your plants are doing??

I actually noticed something odd I was trying to figure out, my nutes shot up from around 760 to 830 or so, and I then noticed the tips of my leaves are just barely starting to yellow and dry up a bit.

What's happening here?

I know I'm struggling with the heat/oxygen thing in my setup, but why the increase in nutes PPM overnight?

I actually added more RO water to bring the PPM down a bit again, thinking maybe evaporation happened or something, but maybe you have a better explanation so I can know what's going on a bit better and how to read things better.

Thanks!

When the plant is stretching does it need more nitrogen?

Yes, but.

When stretch starts the plant is maxing out every system it has in an effort to grow as big and strong as possible and set as many flowers as possible to insure it's ability to produce seeds and propagate itself.

As such it needs more of everything and some things more than others, like bloom nutes.

Bloom nutes are low in nitrogen. You think those sativas that triple in size need more nitrogen during stretch phase?

Are you topping up with just water before you check your ppm or pH?

Always top up before testing or adding anything. Then run the system for at least 15 min or more before testing.

Unless you are consistent in your methodology you will have no idea what's really going on.

Not saying that you don't.

Mix your nutes in a balanced way with everything and add more of the bloom.

I'll reduce N and pour on the Big Bud after the stretch.

I'll spell out for you how I do my nutes for DWC using AN 3-part for a base. The numbers will be in this order in respective ratios.

Micro,Grow,Bloom

In veg, 1-1-0.5. Stretch, 1-1-1.5. Rest of flowering at 1-1-2.

When bumping up the ppm I use smaller amounts at the same ratio.

Various amendments are used throughout but we've already jacked this thread enough I think.

Labby, could the stretching be due to low light levels ?

I'm pretty sure light levels would have something to do with it Doobie but the quality of the light may be more pertinent.

I used to switch from the EYE to HPS when I flipped to 12/12 and would have really stretchy plants. One grow my HPS bulb blew so I just kept running the EYE and the stretch was noticeably less pronounced with the same strain. I thought at first that there was something wrong, then noticed that the inter-nodal spacing seemed a lot tighter and the plants had a stockier appearance.

The finished colas seemed to be denser and trimming was a lot easier as there weren't as many leaves in the buds.

Along with the trichs being more plentiful and plumper looking I found it to be a very favorable change from my usual procedure.

Depending on how much I'm doing I'll use the 400W EYE with one or two tubs all during veg then add a 400W HPS with two tubs but just supplement the EYE with a 150W HPS if only one tub.

Probably more light than they can really use but I'd rather have too much than too little to keep the colas nice and tight.

I'm topping up with water that is 26ppm straight outta the RO filter water supply.

I found that the pH of that alkaline water has evened out the really low pH of the nutes solution, so adding the water seems to level things out.

The weird thing is that after adding the water and letting it circulate for about 8 hours and checking it, today the nutes are back up around 815 or so, when last night it was around 730.

What's going on here??

Nutes temp is up around 23 degrees (It's SO hot here right now!!) and the ambient air temp is around 27 or so.

So back to trimming, it's getting REALLY thick in there again, after the last removal of the fan leaves everything grew back with a vengeance!

So, should I remove all the large top fan leaves again to let the light get to the lower branches that are starting to stretch upwards?

See the pics, what do you think?

Thanks!!








Isn't that a preeeetttyyy setup? LOL

Whoo Hoo! They're lookin' fine! Nice job.

I put the pics on my comp so I could blow them up good. You're getting some nice tips going there already so I'd plan on flowering soon.

Don't take any fans off as yet. They are the solar panels that are fueling all the growth.

As the plants stretch the tops will rise above the fans and you still haven't found the boys yet so once they show and are removed there will be more room.

As to the weird ppm. After the 8 hours did you top up with fresh water before you took the reading? You have to for it to mean anything.

I'd flip those babies pretty soon if it were my grow.

That last pic looks like my whole house! lol