Thread: Spots on pepper
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Old 05-22-2010, 08:00 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
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Question 1: In the attached pictures you can see that I have some spots on a few of my plants. 6 plants to be exact with is about 10% and the pictures are the worst 3. I don’t think that I have bugs so I am wondering could it be a consequence of tearing the roots or to I have some other problem?
I doubt that tearing the roots has anything to do with the spots, plants can normal take that sort of thing without any problems. If you do tear too much they just normally look wilted until they can grow enough roots back to uptake enough water to support the plant.

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Question 2: Can plants be too wet with nutrients? I have had the system on continuous since I started on Thursday night. I never kept the Perfect Starts that wet during the germination stage as they are like a sponge. I have a 15/15 timer. I think that a setting of 15 on and 45 off should be good to keep them nice and moist.
If I understand correctly the system has been running for continuously for around 36 hours straight, I don't think this would cause the spots but will become a problem if you don't cut it back. You have a 15 min timer, I would start it at 30 on 30 off at first. As the plants get a little bigger, or maybe in about a week try 15 on 45 off, and if you see any signs of wilting step it back up. Of coarse a lot depends on your local weather, if it's cold and/or damp 15 on and 45 off may be fine to start with, just check for signs of wilting.

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Question 3: Out of the 20 gallons of nutrients that I started with I am now down about what appears to be 3-5 gallons in just 2 days. Can I add 5 gallons of water and nutrient amount for 5 gallons?
Here is where I think your problem starts, If I understand correctly you have 62 plants feeding on the one 20 gallon reservoir, I don't know how much solution is left in the system when it is shut off. But the plants will drink up the water, small plants not nearly as much as larger plants but you have quite a lot of plants that are using it. As the plants drink up the water they take up the nutrients also, but only what they need and leave the rest. Then as the water level in the reservoir drops, the leftover nutrients become concentrated. Then you go from 20 gallons down to 3.5 gallons, that's like putting 20 gallons of nutrients into 3.5 gallons of water, it becomes a highly concentrated nutrient solution.

First off you are going to need a MUCH larger reservoir. Another member had asked about what size reservoir they should use for 40 pepper plants about a week ago in this thread: http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/for...-question.html, I recommended at least a 400-500 gallon reservoir, as well as a fresh water replenishment system. You plan 8 more plants than that. Each plant will use between 1-2 gallons of water daily, 2 gallons when they become full grown maybe even more if it is real hot. Doing the math that is 2x48= at least 96 gallons of water that needs to be replaced daily. Fluctuation in the nutrient concentration wont do your plants well, and likely have many plant problems.

Even with a water replenishment system in place to keep the water level consent you can have fluctuations in nutrient concentration of the individual elements in it. As I mentioned before the plants will take what nutrients they need and leave the rest, the nutrients they take up will become depleted, and the ones they leave behind will become concentrated over time and become imbalanced. So the larger the reservoir the more buffer water you have to guard agents fluctuation and imbalances, and help provide a consistent nutrient solution.
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