Teal Smith

LOL Thanks gents ;)

Whatsup guys. Looking for some advice here. Deficiency charts are a little unclear on this. The 1st 2 pics are AK x Critical Mass, and the last pic is GSC (which looks just fine to me). About 6 days since they sprouted. They all in Atami HP Coco, no nutes have been added yet, just PH balanced water @ 6.1. (started @ 6.4 erroneously, and am bringing it down but didn't want to make the jump from 6.4 straight down to 5.8 all in one go. The leaves are a little too "textured" and are a more light green than the other strains which are all looking fine... Some of the cotyledons on the AK x CM have light blotches (as can be seen in pic # 2). The other strains I have are looking more normal. (as per the GSC, in the last pic below). Temp and humidity have been pretty stable and constant @ 22- 26 (It got a little too hot one day) and between 63 - 75% humidity. Been battling with loadshedding but my inverter arrives today. Been watering every other day Looking at this chart (https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-symptoms-pictures), it doesn't really seem to be any of these things.... closest it looks like is the N deficiency but they less than 1 week old so not so sure about that... The Atami soil does have additives so it's unlikely. Maybe PH, then? I'm a little stumped, what you guys think?

@afternoon blazer that's pretty stealth. Most would never guess what's inside. Nice inside-the-box thinking ;)

@PsyCLown Yes bud, I'm aware, 24V = 2 x 12V batteries. Capacity will not be doubled but apparently the efficiency is a little better than just 12V. Nice one. Since I was last online, an amazing thing has happened.... About 2 years ago I loaned my brother some money and today of all days he has decided to pay me back. Since he runs an electrical wholesaler, he paid me back with an awesome Kodak 5KW PSW inverter + 4 Lithium Ion batteries! Will be taking delivery Fri morn. I can now run EVERYTHING on this rig - lights, fans, A/C, dehumidifier, humidifier etc. I can't believe my luck and timing! Another massive positive is that I've learned so much from you guys & online, now have a much better understanding of how UPS inverters and batteries work, which I probably wouldn't have learned if it wasn't for this challenge. An awesome day, which was much needed!

Thanks bud. Great info re the caps and I have an electronics guy down the road who will be able to change them for me if necessary. Why not, shouldn't be overly expensive to do so... Yes, I saw that web page, thanks. Still not sure whether silver calcium are listed as AGM though... doesn't really matter I guess, as long as the inverter has the means to charge the batteries. In the interim, looks like I've found a 3KW 24V PSW inverter for about R2000 less than on TakeAlot. The brand is Synapse. The same supplier has Gel batteries which you can hammer down all the way down to 90% discharge. 6000 full cycles and warranty is 10 years. R2700 each. If they can overnight the order to me, I'll take them and the inverter. I'll have to deal with loadshedding for a day or 2 more, but I reckon I'll make a plan in venting humidity and keeping temp to a decent level. It's coooooold here in the Cape right now....

Makes alot of sense what you're saying... How can you possibly flush your garden?! good point. I'll test a flushed and non-flushed plant from the same strain and see for myself. Re the nutes - cool, thanks. I'll likely just stick to the GHE products so they're all the same manufacturer. cheers bud

@PsyCLown Thanks for clearing that up... So silver calcium batteries are Absorbed Glass Mat? or are AGM the standard type of Deep Cycle Lead Acid? The PSW inverter I found today and plan on buying tomorrow is an older unit, 7 years, unused and still in original packaging. It seems the build quality is better than the more recent models and it's more cost-effective than the ones I can find in town around here too.... Can find on the web but time is of the essence here and can't wait as tomorrow is stage 2 loadshat. The owner of an auto-spares shop bought this inverter but never ended up using it so was sitting in it's original box in his office... BUT now I'm thinking that it won't charge the silver calcium batteries properly as I'm not sure those were around 7 years ago... Hope they have the correct charger sold separately, or just the plain old Lead Acid Deep Cycle Batteries for the old model inverter.... otherwise we are back to square one again (facepalm)

Interesting. As an alternative to Ripen, I already have samples of Atami's Bloombastic. They were free and are enough to last me an entire grow, maybe more. Is that a better product than ripen IYO? or am I dealing with the same thing, just a different manufacturer? If possible I'd like to keep all nutes from the same manufacturer, that way I know they'll all mix well. I'd love to make my own medium in the future but since this was my 1st attempt at a proper indoor grow, I figured I'd go for ease and let Atami do all the additives for me. There were also so many things to research and implement, I opted for simplicity when i came to the medium Flushing - LOL... okay sounds like a debate very often debated... Will no doubt have a few questions about that closer to the time ;)

An update on the inverter part of this thread: So my grow is 6 days in. Load shedding came on for the 1st time today... I was standing by the fans when it happened. I noticed a big change in the sound they made... Like a humming/whining/droning noise.... Guess they made the same noise when I tested them on the UPS a while ago but I never compared it to the way they sounded on Eskom power... I tested, they worked, so thought I was golden... Nope! After speaking to a guy who builds inverters for a living (not mine), I found out that motorized Alternating Current fans don't work properly on "modified" or "square" sine wave. Only pure sine wave. I mean they worked but was told they would not have lasted long and would replacing soon. Yhe noise they made did not sound good at all... The old inverter works fine though, on electronics and has been powering my TV & entertainment system for 3 years with no problems. So I'm in the market for a PSW Inverter again... Found one, but it's about a grand more expensive than what I can find online. Oh well, this can't wait... Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and go buy one tomorrow as I cannot afford to let load shedding fuck up my grow. Too much humidity... @StickyD420 I thought I'd also mention what he told me: As long as the batteries are DEEP CYCLE, they will work on all pure sine wave inverters, irrespective of what they are made of. I told him you mentioned Silver Calcium batteries need their own specialized charger built into the inverter, but apparently that's not the case. He said that the newer technology deep cycle batteries just so happen to be Silver Calcium, and that voltage is voltage regardless of what the batteries are made of. Any opposing info or advice welcome, because I plan on buying a PSW Inverter tomorrow morning. It may sound like the kind of thing that I should wait and be patient for but I have to get one tomorrow as the grow is already in full swing and need the fans working ASAP

Thanks guys. Sorry, I should have been more clear when I said Calmag. I was referring to the blue chart above as they're right next to each other and have very similar uptake from a PH standpoint. As per whatever the deficiency may be at the time, I would check the deficiency chart, then add minerals separately, as per your suggestions. I was under the impression that my Atami grow medium and GHE nutes (Grow, Bloom and Ripen + flush at the end) had all the macro and micro nutes necessary for the entire grow... Good info though, on how to Cal & Mag. Cheers. @Prom thanks for the tip of adjusting N when using CalMag suppliment @CreXI believe Atami has already added buffers and other necessary minerals & additives to their medium beforehand... (I'm using Atami High Poroosity Coco). Regardless, that ship has sailed for this grow because the seeds have already sprouted.

You know guys, every time I ask a question, you are all so extremely helpful, and give me PROPER info that I can rely on. So glad I signed up at 420SA I just wanted to say thanks very much to everyone who took the time. Cheers

Very cool! Turned out quite well and the best part is that it only cost you R400. Amazing, well done

That is fantastic. Legendary. According to the blue chart, it seems like between 5.7 - 6.2 are the magic numbers, then. Will be bouncing it between the 2 levels say every other feeding so I can get my CalMag (no lower than 6.0) and Manganese (no higher than 5.8) absorbed. Will be making the necessary adjustments to my feeding schedule. Thanks!

I'm using autos at the mo so won't be working with cuttings. I chose auto because they're easier to maintain during load shedding as the UPS system I need is going to cost, so will have to save towards that for future. My grow is by no means a warehouse (as awesome as that would be!), but it makes sense NOT to go through the trouble of fine-tuning each strain's PH level for barely noticeable results. Keep all my levels, feedings and settings in the "Goldilocks zone", and I'll be good

Thanks so much Evan. This is helpful. Just checking (referring to the blue hydro chart).... So it shows which minerals are NOT absorbed when the PH goes out of the zone of 5.5 - 6.5? For example, my plant will lack Phosphorus if I keep my PH higher than 6.3... And minerals like Nitrogen and Potassium will be absorbed no matter what the PH (within reason). Magnesium will not be absorbed if PH is lower than 5.8. Basically, if I keep the PH between 5.8 and 6, all the necessary minerals will be absorbed, and I'll be just fine.... Do I understand correctly?

That makes a lot of sense and will save time too. Cheers

Thanks Crex. Nice tip. I have a few deficiency charts but they not so great. Would you care to share the one you use? So should I abandon the idea that different strains prefer slightly different PHs and just stick to a one-does-all type of approach in the vicinity of 5.6 -6?

Nice one. I'm also using GHE nutes. This is the type of answer I was looking for. Cheers

So most online literature states that generally, PH should be kept between 6 & 6.5. Generally. I know various strains are more particular, though. At the moment, I have these AUTO strains, and this being week # 1, I have been feeding them PH balanced water only (@ between 6.3 & 6.4). They are in Atami's "High Porosity Coco" growing medium. Girl Scout Cookies AK x Critical Mass UK Cheese Pineapple Express LSD I realize keeping it between 6 & 6.5 would function and be acceptable, but I'd like to dial it in a little better for each particular strain. Anyone with experience on these strains have any info on what their IDEAL PH's should be? The internet is a minefield full of opposing opinions of hundreds of dudes who may or may not know what they're talking about! :D TIA

@afternoon blazer Thanks bro. Ya bud, the inverter I have is too small for the light, unfortunately, and isn't PSW either so I'd be skeptical about running my QB's through it regardless. Will send through some pics when I can. Have a lekka weekend man

Whats happening Evan :) great suggestion on the silica. Would this stuff work in a coco substrate? Just add to the other nutes? I'm using Atami's High Porosity Coco and fabric pots. Your grow is looking so goooooooooood man... Those thick stems!!!!

Blazer my man, thank you for your message ;). This thread has become long but in there somewhere it's been decided that I'll definitely go with a pure sine wave inverter, and the correct batteries to suit. I'm running autos, so for now the lighting won't be that much of an issue. The main thing tripping me up from the beginning was that I never knew autos could handle many hours of darkness multiple times a day. I was worried about them becoming hermies but I've found out that won't be the case. I'll keep the whole system running 24/7 during load shedding, and use each load-shed as my dark cycle/s. In the meantime, I'll be using my smaller inverter, that I already own for my TV and entertainment system, to run the fans only during power cuts. This is to avoid PM as I live by the coast. I'm also going with SOG so ventilation shouldn't give problems when there's no light. We'll be saving up for a bigger, more suitable PSW inverter for the near future. So we're good to go! Cheers man, will keep you chaps posted with pics when I can! Enjoy the weekend everyone

Nice one Prom. Sounds great and makes me feel more at ease for sure. Ya I was a bit concerned about PM as I do live by the coast... I was wanting to go with SOG so airflow shouldn't be too much of an issue but I prefer to be cautious, so I'll just hijack my TV's small inverter and batteries, then run the fans only, no lights, when Eskom takes a load shit. Glad to know you're the "auto guy" ;) I might ask you for a little advice in the future, hope that's cool

@Prom I was thinking of running mine on 20/4 (or as close to that as I can get with being load shat). And there was no noticeable signs of stress at all with 24/0? I've heard of dudes doing that but many said it's not recommended... With load shedding that won't be a problem though ;) Maybe then I should just leave the lights and fans on permanently, using Eskom's load-shedding as the dark cycle/s every day.... What you think of that?

@StickyD420 This is the type of info I was looking for all along. Cheers and thanks for reading my comments carefully, I think a few guys here missed the point. So that changes things somewhat... I'll then get started with my auto seeds, and work towards getting a pure sine wave inverter + correct batteries to match. I can smell the dank already