Spotty Flos

[RubbaDub]

Hello,

I started my second grow about two weeks ago. I'm already running into trouble and am hoping I can get some assistance.

I have 5 Flos that are 15 days old. At day 14 they looked normal, but the next day 3 of them had large discolored spots. The leaf shapes are a bit weird, but I think that's normal with Flo.

Here's the 411:

They're in Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil, with a bit of extra perlite mixed in.
Been using plain tap water with no nutes. Sorry, but I don't know the PH. I will check that tonight.

I hadn't been running the fan and only sporadically running the vortex to circulate air. I know. Lame. I hang my head in shame. I turned both on yesteday and will remain that way for the rest of the grow.

Temperature has been in the high 60s, low 70s. Humidity very low, doesn't even register on the hygrometer.

Lights were 4 30 Watt CFLs, about 6-8 inches above the plants.

And now for pics of two of them:





I did check MyNameisStitch's guide, but didn't see anything that matches what I'm seeing.

What would your diagnosis and cure be?

 

[stinkyattic]

FFOF is a bit 'hot' for seedlings.
Your temps are low.
Your air flow is poo.
Your tap water is an unknown quantity... I'd check it... that wrinkly symptom to me equates with high pH troules. Even for an oddly-shaped-leafy strain, you're not supposed to get twisty wrinkles.
Give a good heavy watering and get your temps up to 78. If you are having a hard time with that, add an incandescent bulb to your seedling chamber for warmth.
And get ventilating!

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

FFOF is a bit 'hot' for seedlings.
Your temps are low.
Your air flow is poo.
Your tap water is an unknown quantity... I'd check it... that wrinkly symptom to me equates with high pH troules. Even for an oddly-shaped-leafy strain, you're not supposed to get twisty wrinkles.
Give a good heavy watering and get your temps up to 78. If you are having a hard time with that, add an incandescent bulb to your seedling chamber for warmth.
And get ventilating!

have you germ'd seeds in ffof before???
ive done it 100's of times. itsw fine. the problem is that tap water with the high ph its giving the plants a nute-lock. you need distilled/ro water and some cal/mag substitue. untill you get that worked out, try a foliar with ro/distilled and a teaspoon of epsom salts.(1/2-1 l) then dump the extra in the plant. thats a mag def, itll be other defs soo too though.

 

[RubbaDub]

High and thanks for the replies so far.

I corrected the air flow problem last night. There's a 16" fan blowing air through the room and the vortex has been on constantly as well. I pulled the CFLs and turned on the 400 watt MH so that there'd be more heat in the room.

I measured the ph of the water by itself and runoff. Both are right around 6.8, so I gotta bring that down.

Digitalhippy, I germed all of my seeds in FFOF for my last grow and none of them seemed to mind. I think the ph of my tapwater has gone up a bit since then, because I don't recall it been this high. I do have epsom salts and distilled water, so I'll switch to that for now.

 

[The Conundrum]

I'm very interested in seeing how this turns out. I say try a seed starter mix for a side by side even though the time frame is different. Unless you try something different you'll never really know for sure if your Flo is or isn't tolerant of such a rich soil at its most tender times. And ... First hand experience is a great learning tool and you know you can trust what you see better than what someone on the internet told you. OF is a bit hot for seedlings and Yes I have, dh, before you ask. I cut mine with coco to get better results. Even Fox Farms says OF is not ideal for starting seeds. I don't have the time to hook you up proper, sorry, but this is straight from their feeding schedule "Use FFOF Potting Soil when transplanting seedlings into larger containers". If it were meant for starting seedlings FF would say so. They cover their bases pretty well.

 

[RubbaDub]

Hi Conundrum,

Thanks for your input on FFOF. I checked the catalog from the shop where I bought it and they actually recommend it for seedlings. I then checked Fox Farm's website. They recommend their Light Warrior mix for seedlings. I will give that a try. If necessary, mix in some perlite and/or coco as you mentioned.

As far as trying the flos side by side with new ones in another mix, I'm not sure my seedlings are gonna pull through. A couple of them look pretty crispy. Definitely nute overload.

Honestly, I didn't know (until now) that seedlings should be started in a different mix than mature plants. I'll chalk this up as a learning experience.

 

[stinkyattic]

1/2 L of distilled water with a teaspoon of epsom salts IN the seedling pots when you're done with the foliar?

I just weighed out a teaspoon of MgSO4. 5.5 grams.
ppm measurements are in Mg/L so let's convert.
5,500 mg/0.5 L, or 500g.
11,000 mg/L, or 1,000g.
11,000 ppm.
I wouldn't give seedlings any solution over about 400. But that's just me. Your individual results apparently vary.

No, I've never germed seeds in FFOF, but I've watched enough growers fail at it not to want to try. Some strains can take it. Some can't. At a hundred a pack, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Your need in the last couple days [digitalhippy] to follow me around and contradict everything I say, and some stuff you've just ASSUMED I said based on mis-reading posts, is getting tiresome and I'd appreciate seeing an end to it. Thank you.

Rubbadub, try out some non-fertilized soils or soilless mixes for seedlings. To date, I've been happiest with my results using 'Fafards Seedling Starting Mix' which is a very fine peat/lilme/perlite/vermiculite combo. ProMix also works. I've had mixed results with the sort of seedling mixes you find at box stores; they often DO have a bit much fert in them and some strains love them, while others look scorchy before eventually growing out of it.

I'm having a hard time seeing classic plain Mg def there btw. The characteristic stripes are absent. Instead, the irregular blotches and stunting screams nute lock to me.

 

[pHaroaH]

It is well known that DJ Shorts strains are light feeders. Therefore they will be much more sensitive to hot soil. For sick plant advice, MynameStitch and stinkyattic are definitely among the folks whose advice I would listen to.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

It is well known that DJ Shorts strains are light feeders. Therefore they will be much more sensitive to hot soil. For sick plant advice, MynameStitch and stinkyattic are definitely among the folks whose advice I would listen to.

ive done 100's of seeds in ffof and got DJS OTM and BB in it right now use RO water with a sensical / calmag suppliment, there mag whoes and light feeders. as u said. DJS strains are also mutant prone, so it should be disfigurement.

 

[The Conundrum]

Rubba how about an Update ? I'm lookin at old Polaroids and 1 of my fried Apollos did survive the OF. I hope something pulls through for ya

 

[RubbaDub]

Hi,

I had a 20 hour workday yesterday, so I'm only catching up with the rest of the world this evening.

I think that the epsom salts (1/2 tsp/qt) solution seems to have helped. Even the crispiest of the flos is showing new (and green) growth. Thank you for the suggestion, stinkyattic!

I'm going to the garden shop tomorrow to get some stuff for seedling and cutting friendly grow media. I'll start a few more seeds to see how they fare.

Any thoughts on how this stress will affect the flos on a long term basis? I'd rather pull them now if they're gonna hermie on me down the road.

Rubba how about an Update ? I'm lookin at old Polaroids and 1 of my fried Apollos did survive the OF. I hope something pulls through for ya