I'm attempting my first hydro grow indoors with an Early Jalapeno that I sprouted in a 1" rockwool cube. My system is a 5-gallon DWC with a big air pump and big ring air stone. Lights are currently (4) 26W CFL cool whites for the vegetative stage, hanging about 2" above the plant on an 18/6 cycle (I have 45W warm whites for the flowering stage). I'm using RO water and Fox Farm nutrients (Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom).
I'm in the 4th week (maybe closer to 5 or so if you count the sprouting time and all that before I actually put the plant into the DWC bucket). The plants are exhibiting some problems on the leaves, which I think is probably nutrient burn, but I'd like some opinions. The leaves are showing some spotting. Some just have slightly yellow spots, while others are showing dead spots. One has small black spots along the edge of the leaf toward the tip. Part of the stem has turned purple (leading me to believe this could be a phosphorous deficiency at first). I tried following the Fox Farm feeding schedule but I think it may be too strong for this plant. This week, I had the solution up to 1600 ppm, which is toward the top of the range for this week according to the schedule. I adjust the pH to 5.8. I've been searching a lot for a concentration suitable for Jalapenos but haven't found anything specific, except for maybe one chart that gave a value for capsicums. After seeing that yesterday (it said something like 900 - 1250 ppm), I was worried that I'm actually burning this plant, so yesterday I diluted it down to about 1240. This evening, it seemed to look a little better. Leaves aren't quite as droopy (although some are showing the "claw" still, which is also what makes me think I'm giving it too much nitrogen). I decided a little bit ago to drop it even more to be safe, and now it's down to 1080 ppm, pH 5.8.
What do you all think the problem here is? Check out the pics attached. You'll notice also that I cut the new growth in the middle like 4 or 5 days ago to try that technique and see if I can get it to branch out more and stay relatively small.
Does anyone else here have experience growing Jalapeno hydroponically? What is the proper PPM and pH range for this plant? Any tips? Opinions on lighting schedule or anything else? I should probably switch things over to flowering pretty soon since according to the seed package, it's a fast harvest time (I think 75 days?), but I wanted to let it grow a little bigger, get stabilized, and give the topped part of the plant a chance to heal and start growing out more. I plan on putting those 45W warm white bulbs in place of the currents ones on a 12/12 cycle.
Oh, and the roots are looking fantastic and have exploded in the last week. The longest and oldest one is discolored toward the bottom (somewhat brown) though, but it's been submerged and I think it might just be stained from the nutrient solution.
Thanks for any advice!
I'm in the 4th week (maybe closer to 5 or so if you count the sprouting time and all that before I actually put the plant into the DWC bucket). The plants are exhibiting some problems on the leaves, which I think is probably nutrient burn, but I'd like some opinions. The leaves are showing some spotting. Some just have slightly yellow spots, while others are showing dead spots. One has small black spots along the edge of the leaf toward the tip. Part of the stem has turned purple (leading me to believe this could be a phosphorous deficiency at first). I tried following the Fox Farm feeding schedule but I think it may be too strong for this plant. This week, I had the solution up to 1600 ppm, which is toward the top of the range for this week according to the schedule. I adjust the pH to 5.8. I've been searching a lot for a concentration suitable for Jalapenos but haven't found anything specific, except for maybe one chart that gave a value for capsicums. After seeing that yesterday (it said something like 900 - 1250 ppm), I was worried that I'm actually burning this plant, so yesterday I diluted it down to about 1240. This evening, it seemed to look a little better. Leaves aren't quite as droopy (although some are showing the "claw" still, which is also what makes me think I'm giving it too much nitrogen). I decided a little bit ago to drop it even more to be safe, and now it's down to 1080 ppm, pH 5.8.
What do you all think the problem here is? Check out the pics attached. You'll notice also that I cut the new growth in the middle like 4 or 5 days ago to try that technique and see if I can get it to branch out more and stay relatively small.
Does anyone else here have experience growing Jalapeno hydroponically? What is the proper PPM and pH range for this plant? Any tips? Opinions on lighting schedule or anything else? I should probably switch things over to flowering pretty soon since according to the seed package, it's a fast harvest time (I think 75 days?), but I wanted to let it grow a little bigger, get stabilized, and give the topped part of the plant a chance to heal and start growing out more. I plan on putting those 45W warm white bulbs in place of the currents ones on a 12/12 cycle.
Oh, and the roots are looking fantastic and have exploded in the last week. The longest and oldest one is discolored toward the bottom (somewhat brown) though, but it's been submerged and I think it might just be stained from the nutrient solution.
Thanks for any advice!
