My first grow and my watering of my plant has been to not try and get flow through as I do not have a catch tray and have to mop up otherwise. I have been reading and learning and now I am wondering if this could lead to a buildup of salts ii the soil. She is in her 6th week of flower and the buds are still rather light and fluffy. She is an unknown CBD strain and sprouted on August 6 2016. Started out with CFL lights (4 X 23W) and switched to an air cooled 600W HPS in mid September in a 4 X 4 X 7 ft tent. 20 CFM vent fan for circulation.
Hi Rongo! IMHO there is nothing wrong with your method, but it is always better to have tray so you can alternate dry and wet periods properly. This is healthy and promotes growth of roots. Seems like obvious but it really makes a difference.
Salt buildup depends on dosage and type of fertilizer. You can alternate watering with fertilizer and watering with pH adjusted water. You can have some salt build up when using mineral fertilizers but not with organic fertilizers (e.g Biobizz). Personally I like organic fertilizers a lot, they are mild and due to their nature should be stored in cold place, but final product tastes much better.
Also I haven’t got any problems when salt crystalized on covers or walls of my bubblers, it may probably change your pH little bit.
In one round of flowering salt won’t probably build up to do any harm, I’d be more afraid of it when using it to feed mums (we want to keep them for years).
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Check the temperature at the plants. High temps will cause airy or fluffy buds. The next cause can be stale air inside the tent. A tip to move air is that a 90 deg turn in vent pipe will stop a light leak.
Another tip is to to focus on the area the plants are growing in the tent 4 ft x 4 ft x 4 ft. The more fresh air the better.
The way you water is ok. The best reason to start doing a run off is to check the PH of the water that comes out of the bottom of your pots. Then adjust the PH of the nutes so that the run off is 6.5
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Thank you. My temp is 78 -80F. I have the 20 CFM fan blowing fresh air into the tent for ventilation and always have a window open for fresh air. The tip on PH is most welcome as I only have a liquid test kit and have only been testing tap water, which is 7.5 - 8
You may want to search positive/negitive pressure air flow and see whats best for your tent. In the grow world we call it air exchange.
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Usually it is better to actively suck air out of tent (and use passive intake) than to push it in. Don’t underestimate effect of fresh air on plant (and bud) growth.
I turned a whole house passive by venting a room outside. I thought it was a great idea until I figured out I reversed the air flow in the vent to the hot water heater. We thought we had a gas leak lol.
i water every second day. the most important bugs live in the top few inches. when i was running bottles i had the same problem. i wouldnt let run off happen because i couldnt have water going everywhere. water them when you pick up the pot and it isnt heavy. or go to notill and not need to transplant, lift pots, or worry about run off:)