Possible Nitrogen build up Drop Grow and Micro for a cycle and use Bloom? to stop flower loss

JesterJoker · Nov 22, 2011

I was told drop Grow and the Micro, for my 3 part, Micro/Grow/Bloom Nutrients.
Let the nitrogen leach out ( I suspect there is a build up )

(I'm having massive flower drop, and everything I can get my hands on says high nitrogen probably causing it.)

but what PPM should I be running my Bloom

I'm running 3 gallons of water in my buckets and its DWC

spongey600 · Nov 22, 2011

I would say 450 for ppm. I am having a sulfur issue so when I get back from vacation I am doing a nuts swap and just using 1/2tsp/gal till they get back into the swing of things

JesterJoker · Nov 22, 2011

what is your sulfur issue causing? flower drop or other>?

spongey600 · Nov 22, 2011

My new growth is yellow, veins and all!

JesterJoker · Nov 23, 2011

update!!! I'm so excited.

I Have almost every flower on a few of my plants opened right up and I have only seen 2 fall off.

I did everything:

- checked for better lighting
- checked for temperature issues
- added mylar reflective material to walls.
- put additional medium in the pots to sturdy them up
- watched pH like a hawk.
- downed nutrient level to half as much bringing them down to 450 ppm or so.

THE ONE THING THAT LOOKS LIKE FIXED MY FLOWER DROPPING.

- High nitrogen, or stored nitrogen.

I did a experiment my pepper is fully flowering( went through about 2 sets all fell off

)

my mix consisted of.

- 3 gallons of water
- 5ml of calmag+ liquid per gallon so 15ml total
- 25ml bloom (single part of the flora series Micro/Grow/Bloom)

I might also look into some bloom booster or liquid karma, as have been recommended to me.

It looks like the magic combination for what I needed.
After 24 hours I only lost a few leaves that were in the process of dying, and my plants flowers are stronger then ever and there is a TON!! of pollen.

I'm off with the electric toothbrush to start buzzing some stems

To this point I had not been able to get superhots to set fruit correctly, even using a equal part formula of the GH flora series.
If anyone has the same issues, of the complete flower drop, test 1 plant and see, it seemed to work like a charm for me.

I'm sure I could find the formula this has made, but I really don't care. It snowed like 8 inches today and its cold, but I'm making heat in the basement.

Edgie · Dec 5, 2011

Mark,

Have these guy set any fruit yet?

Edward

JesterJoker · Dec 5, 2011

just last night I saw 2 pods setting on my Butch T. I was posting pictures in a little bit..

I think stressing and cutting nitrogen way down made them set... I was still getting lots of flower dropping.
I also added a dual 48" T8 with 4100K bulbs last night, to go along with my 6500k bulbs there.

I couldnt find 2700k T8 I found some online though..

JesterJoker · Dec 6, 2011

Only seems to be setting pods at the top of the canopy.. still under 48" fluorescents but 4 bulbs now instead of 2.

Edgie · Dec 6, 2011

I have a similar problem. I'm really not seeing massive flower loss, but I can't get any fruit to set. Temps are good, PH hangs around 5.8 - 6.1, good lights (600 watt MH, I've lowered the PPM to 500 - 600, and I even started manually pollinating with a paint brush. I'm going to get a small fan and see if that helps.

JesterJoker · Dec 6, 2011

I will be getting my HPS in a few weeks probably.. Ill justify it with xmas money from family... LOL>

shouldn't you be running HPS not MH for your light? do you have another bulb on yours?

I think shocking mine and lowering out allmost all nitrogen has helped... i might get back on the feeding schedule I was on.

I used about twice the bloom on my sweet peppers and they are getting bigger.... so I guess it didn't hurt...

Edgie · Dec 6, 2011

JesterJoker said:
I will be getting my HPS in a few weeks probably.. Ill justify it with xmas money from family... LOL>

shouldn't you be running HPS not MH for your light? do you have another bulb on yours?

I think shocking mine and lowering out allmost all nitrogen has helped... i might get back on the feeding schedule I was on.

I used about twice the bloom on my sweet peppers and they are getting bigger.... so I guess it didn't hurt...

I've seen a couple threads on here that say pepper plants can go all the way to harvest on MH. Did I misread them?

Costeve · Dec 6, 2011

I'm glad to see that your flower drop problem is a thing of the past, looking forward to posted pictures of your peppers.

LGHT · Dec 6, 2011

Edgie said:
I've seen a couple threads on here that say pepper plants can go all the way to harvest on MH. Did I misread them?

Wow you need to head over to the tech area and read the sticky on lights. I'm sure a plant will produce "some" fruit with MH only, but it may be the difference between yielding 10 fruit instead of 100 for a season.

Edgie · Dec 6, 2011

LGHT said:
Wow you need to head over to the tech area and read the sticky on lights. I'm sure a plant will produce "some" fruit with MH only, but it may be the difference between yielding 10 fruit instead of 100 for a season.

Are you sure about that? Here are a few quotes from other growers. Some of these guys are pretty hardcore pepper producers.

willard3 said:
Chiles are day neutral and photoperiod has no effect on fruiting/flowering.

Jack Kerouac said:
Willard is right. Also, if you can mix both spectrums and hand pollinate, it will be best for the chilis indoors. Spectrum is a weed growing myth.

AlphaHydroponics said:
You can stick with the Metal Halide for the duration of your pepper grow.

Jack Kerouac said:
I use MH all grow. I like short compact internodes. With HPS, the plant gets lanky unless I use paclobutrazol and the lower branches don't get proper light, even with training or a trellis.

PIC 1 said:
I use 400MH 18/6 for the final run thru April, I also have 600 HPS but I don't even bother with them anymore. The local grow shop has 1000w HPS in their front window area along with other types of lighting. They're growing tomato plants under it. If they were to use 1000w MH that would be to bright through their tinted windows. I think the tomato plants look stretched out and leggy due to the low color temps of the HPS.
If they were able to use the MH lighting instead their plants would be shorter and stockier, and be flowering to boot...

Greg

I apologize for jacking this thread, but lighting is one of the OPs concerns.

Edward

LGHT · Dec 6, 2011

Edgie said:
Are you sure about that? Here are a few quotes from other growers. Some of these guys are pretty hardcore pepper producers.

I apologize for jacking this thread, but lighting is one of the OPs concerns.
Edward

Feel free to use whatever you want, I prefer to base my growing techniques on scientific studies not random quotes, but I'm one of the few that enjoys a scientific approach and have done my research opposed to blindly following the actions of others.

Edgie · Dec 6, 2011

LGHT said:
Feel free to use whatever you want, I prefer to base my growing techniques on scientific studies not random quotes, but I'm one of the few that enjoys a scientific approach and have done my research opposed to blindly following the actions of others.

Thanks for your input. You have opened my eyes and I would like to do more research. Please post some links to these studies.

This is my first year growing. I wasn't blindly following the actions of others, but taking the advice of experienced growers. I figure people like willard3, PIC 1, Jack Kerouac, and AlphaHydroponics know what they are talking about. I could have misunderstood their posts, but they seem pretty clear. Thanks again.

Edward