White Widow auto
hydro DWC 5g buckets
15w+5d old
Looking for some input for anyone who has experience with white widow autos. This is my 3rd consecutive grow of this strain and she is finicky in late flower every time. The last 2 weeks (starting around 13-14 weeks) has been a relentless pursuit of diagnosing how much they want to eat. (The trichs are, just now, nicely coming to an amber level i like).
So here’s the cycle of what’s been happening:
STAGE 1:
- fresh nute change
- 24h later everything is still golden in the Big3 metics (pH/PPM/h2o level) Slight rise in pH but that’s normal for my water.
- 24h later there’s big changes: pH stays same...PPM slight increase ~>8%... big drop in h2o level (ie 4L in 24h)...which would indicate that they want lower concentration of nutes. This is easily resolved by topping up with plain pH’d water to restore the Big3 to the golden zone with lower PPM target.
-24h later everything crashes: pH drops to <5...PPM spikes up >40%... >4L h2o gone...it’s all gone to hell. They still signal that they want reduced PPM levels, so i mix fresh nutes at a lower concentration and start again.
STAGE 2:
-starting with the fresh change and lowered PPM to match what I believe they a signaling, I expected to see some stability in the Big3 for a few days. After all, these plants are going on in age and must be slowing down...right? (Hold that thought)
- 24h later everything is gone to hell again just as before, but skipping right to the “water-turns-to-battery-acid-levels” pH part of it...4.2pH 🤭 So, obviously, i thought I was way wrong on reading the signs and began to think they were maybe wanting MORE nutes. I mix fresh nutes but now with in increase in my PPM.
STAGE 3:
- now starting with increased PPM level with an aging plant that is getting very deep into flowering (just starting to show ambers @ ~5% and I’m looking for ~20%-30%)
- 24h later h2o and PPM are good, but the pH is dropping slightly from 6.3 to 6.0. This is unusual since my pH usually will bump up slightly with a fresh change. Since i was expecting in increase in pH by 0.2 but see a drop by 0.3 I’m genuinely confused since that is a 0.5 change from what should have happened.
- 24h later things are moving in the wrong direction. The pH drops some more to ~5.8-5.9...PPM increased slightly...less that 4L h2o consumed. It appears that they are eating and drinking as expected, but that pH dropping is worrisome.
- 24h later...gone to hell again...drop in pH <5...PPM spikes up...drinks >5L h2o
This strain doesn’t play well like the other strains I’ve grown. Each grow of WW results in the same struggle at the end of flower and I’m at my wits end trying to figure out how to push them across the finish line. No matter if i increase or decrease feed strength they seem to get their knickers in a bunch after only a day or two. I’m beginning to wonder if they just want a HUGE amount of only P or only K in their diet, and not a huge amount of both at the same time.
So if ya have any experiences like this, let me know what you found that worked for you.
This last garden is getting flushed starting tomorrow and harvested mid-week.
Cheers
YYC
hydro DWC 5g buckets
15w+5d old
Looking for some input for anyone who has experience with white widow autos. This is my 3rd consecutive grow of this strain and she is finicky in late flower every time. The last 2 weeks (starting around 13-14 weeks) has been a relentless pursuit of diagnosing how much they want to eat. (The trichs are, just now, nicely coming to an amber level i like).
So here’s the cycle of what’s been happening:
STAGE 1:
- fresh nute change
- 24h later everything is still golden in the Big3 metics (pH/PPM/h2o level) Slight rise in pH but that’s normal for my water.
- 24h later there’s big changes: pH stays same...PPM slight increase ~>8%... big drop in h2o level (ie 4L in 24h)...which would indicate that they want lower concentration of nutes. This is easily resolved by topping up with plain pH’d water to restore the Big3 to the golden zone with lower PPM target.
-24h later everything crashes: pH drops to <5...PPM spikes up >40%... >4L h2o gone...it’s all gone to hell. They still signal that they want reduced PPM levels, so i mix fresh nutes at a lower concentration and start again.
STAGE 2:
-starting with the fresh change and lowered PPM to match what I believe they a signaling, I expected to see some stability in the Big3 for a few days. After all, these plants are going on in age and must be slowing down...right? (Hold that thought)
- 24h later everything is gone to hell again just as before, but skipping right to the “water-turns-to-battery-acid-levels” pH part of it...4.2pH 🤭 So, obviously, i thought I was way wrong on reading the signs and began to think they were maybe wanting MORE nutes. I mix fresh nutes but now with in increase in my PPM.
STAGE 3:
- now starting with increased PPM level with an aging plant that is getting very deep into flowering (just starting to show ambers @ ~5% and I’m looking for ~20%-30%)
- 24h later h2o and PPM are good, but the pH is dropping slightly from 6.3 to 6.0. This is unusual since my pH usually will bump up slightly with a fresh change. Since i was expecting in increase in pH by 0.2 but see a drop by 0.3 I’m genuinely confused since that is a 0.5 change from what should have happened.
- 24h later things are moving in the wrong direction. The pH drops some more to ~5.8-5.9...PPM increased slightly...less that 4L h2o consumed. It appears that they are eating and drinking as expected, but that pH dropping is worrisome.
- 24h later...gone to hell again...drop in pH <5...PPM spikes up...drinks >5L h2o
This strain doesn’t play well like the other strains I’ve grown. Each grow of WW results in the same struggle at the end of flower and I’m at my wits end trying to figure out how to push them across the finish line. No matter if i increase or decrease feed strength they seem to get their knickers in a bunch after only a day or two. I’m beginning to wonder if they just want a HUGE amount of only P or only K in their diet, and not a huge amount of both at the same time.
So if ya have any experiences like this, let me know what you found that worked for you.
This last garden is getting flushed starting tomorrow and harvested mid-week.
Cheers
YYC
