Hi everyone,
I just wanted to post an update on my DWC hydro Jalapeno grow! This is my first ever hydro attempt and I think I'm getting the hang of it now. My plant is growing to be a beast! I had a couple of rounds of nutrient burn/lockout as I was learning, but overall the grow has been very successful and very easy actually. The guy at my local hydro store has also been hooking me up with all kinds of samples of various products. Since I had Fox Farm nutrients, I've been using that for main nutrients, but a couple of the samples I tried are most likely going to be added to my collection permanently. Mainly, Hydroguard, which does a great job of keeping my roots healthy, instead of always adding H2O2. Also, CalMag seems to be a great supplement, although I'm kind of experimenting now and seeing how Fox Farms alone does without the CalMag, since it does contain micronutrients.
I've been keeping my solution at about 450-550 ppm after burning the plant, and I noticed a couple other people saying that's the range they keep it at. In the last week or so, however, I have been slowly ramping up the solution, up to about 710 ppm now to see how the plant handles it. So far it looks good. Am I pushing it too much?
For a little while, I wasn't getting peppers, just dropping flowers a lot. I read a bit about it and tried a couple changes, mainly dropping the solution down since it was way too high at the time. I had a little bit of a temperature control issue for about a week as well after switching to a 400w HPS about a month ago I think. After making these adjustments, as well as taking a little acid brush and agitating every open flower I saw on a regular basis, the peppers started popping up everywhere! I will be harvesting my first pepper or two probably within the week, with many more to come soon after. Any good indicators of when to cut these babies?
I do have one issue currently that seems to be improving, but I would like to know what it is. Some of the leaves at the top of this bushy beast are kind of paling and losing their dark green color. My original thought was possibly nitrogen deficiency but I thought that occurs on lower, older leaves first. Also, it seems to yellow from the inside out (starting at the petiole). After doing some research, my only guess is maybe iron deficiency.
I've been straying from the Fox Farm feeding schedule for the last couple weeks (part of my attempt to stop flowers from dropping). The schedule calls for 2tsp/gal Grow Big (vegetative stage nutrients), 1tsp/gal Tiger Bloom (flowering stage nutrients), and 1tbl/gal Big Bloom (not sure exactly what the purpose of this one is to be quite honest, it just claims to help flowering plants, bigger yield, etc). This is what it says for week 12, which I've been sticking to, although it almost doesn't make sense, since it's calling for more vegetative nutrients than flowering, which is why I wondered if I was getting too much nitrogen. I tried ditching Grow Big altogether for a week or so and as of a few days ago I started doing it according to the schedule again (fractional amounts, but in the same ratio). Anyone else here have experience with these nutrients? Any recommendations? The numbers are:
Grow Big Hydro: 3-2-6
Tiger Bloom: 2-8-4
Big Bloom: 0.01-0.3-0.7
Anyway, I've been rambling on. Check out my pics, and throw any and all feedback this way! By the way, I cut the new growth on the plant a few nodes up, hence the crazy splitting and bushiness of it all.
Pics were taken about a week ago I think, but I'll add more soon:
http://picasaweb.google.com/loudawgucr/Jalapeno?authkey=WobydceiS1E
I just wanted to post an update on my DWC hydro Jalapeno grow! This is my first ever hydro attempt and I think I'm getting the hang of it now. My plant is growing to be a beast! I had a couple of rounds of nutrient burn/lockout as I was learning, but overall the grow has been very successful and very easy actually. The guy at my local hydro store has also been hooking me up with all kinds of samples of various products. Since I had Fox Farm nutrients, I've been using that for main nutrients, but a couple of the samples I tried are most likely going to be added to my collection permanently. Mainly, Hydroguard, which does a great job of keeping my roots healthy, instead of always adding H2O2. Also, CalMag seems to be a great supplement, although I'm kind of experimenting now and seeing how Fox Farms alone does without the CalMag, since it does contain micronutrients.
I've been keeping my solution at about 450-550 ppm after burning the plant, and I noticed a couple other people saying that's the range they keep it at. In the last week or so, however, I have been slowly ramping up the solution, up to about 710 ppm now to see how the plant handles it. So far it looks good. Am I pushing it too much?
For a little while, I wasn't getting peppers, just dropping flowers a lot. I read a bit about it and tried a couple changes, mainly dropping the solution down since it was way too high at the time. I had a little bit of a temperature control issue for about a week as well after switching to a 400w HPS about a month ago I think. After making these adjustments, as well as taking a little acid brush and agitating every open flower I saw on a regular basis, the peppers started popping up everywhere! I will be harvesting my first pepper or two probably within the week, with many more to come soon after. Any good indicators of when to cut these babies?
I do have one issue currently that seems to be improving, but I would like to know what it is. Some of the leaves at the top of this bushy beast are kind of paling and losing their dark green color. My original thought was possibly nitrogen deficiency but I thought that occurs on lower, older leaves first. Also, it seems to yellow from the inside out (starting at the petiole). After doing some research, my only guess is maybe iron deficiency.
I've been straying from the Fox Farm feeding schedule for the last couple weeks (part of my attempt to stop flowers from dropping). The schedule calls for 2tsp/gal Grow Big (vegetative stage nutrients), 1tsp/gal Tiger Bloom (flowering stage nutrients), and 1tbl/gal Big Bloom (not sure exactly what the purpose of this one is to be quite honest, it just claims to help flowering plants, bigger yield, etc). This is what it says for week 12, which I've been sticking to, although it almost doesn't make sense, since it's calling for more vegetative nutrients than flowering, which is why I wondered if I was getting too much nitrogen. I tried ditching Grow Big altogether for a week or so and as of a few days ago I started doing it according to the schedule again (fractional amounts, but in the same ratio). Anyone else here have experience with these nutrients? Any recommendations? The numbers are:
Grow Big Hydro: 3-2-6
Tiger Bloom: 2-8-4
Big Bloom: 0.01-0.3-0.7
Anyway, I've been rambling on. Check out my pics, and throw any and all feedback this way! By the way, I cut the new growth on the plant a few nodes up, hence the crazy splitting and bushiness of it all.
Pics were taken about a week ago I think, but I'll add more soon:
http://picasaweb.google.com/loudawgucr/Jalapeno?authkey=WobydceiS1E
