Help with white widows??

[Cuddy420]

Hey guys I got 2 white widow clones from sr71 co op that are growing outdoors they are about 2 1/2 months old and are 6-7 ft tall in big containers that i have to soak every day because they just suck down the water, the leaves are all light green and a lot of them are yellowing curled up on the sides overall these plants look pretty healthy just not as green as Id like them Ive been feeding them all purpose miracle grow oh every 2 weeks at first full dose and then worked down to about half cuz I was worried about overdoing it They are done vegging for the most part but I still havent seen signs of flower I was planning on using MG just for vegging then switch to tiger bloom. the plants are in fox farm soil The MG just doesnt seem to be greening them up am I giving them too much? or not enough? I tested the soil ph with the rapid test soil sample the ph seemed fine although I dont know how accurate it was. What should I do?
THANKS

 

[relief]

Lack of oxygen can cause the entire plant to turn pale. Just because it doesn't wilt doesn't mean it's not being over watered. Usually in over watering (lack of O2 at the roots), the veins will turn yellow first followed by the remainder of the leaf, the exact opposite of an iron deficiency. Lack of O2 at the roots prohibit the uptake of certain micro nutrients such as sulfur, iron and many others.

I would cut back on the watering and watch them very closely.

 

[Cuddy420]

theres no way I loaded the soil with perlite also I wait until the container is dry before watering again which takes about a day like I said these gals are sucking down water

 

[relief]

theres no way I loaded the soil with perlite also I wait until the container is dry before watering again which takes about a day like I said these gals are sucking down water

Did the fading (turning pale) start after you began to water them more often? How do you check to tell if they're dry?

 

[Cuddy420]

I know because the container is light as a feather and if I dont water them every day they wilt! so i know thats not the problem thanks for your input

 

[relief]

I know because the container is light as a feather and if I dont water them every day they wilt! so i know thats not the problem thanks for your input

Rootbound. Time to transplant.

 

[r13f]

you gotta feed em more than that, should be every other watering at least unless they start getting the leaf ends burnt or curling or canoeing
try half strength every other watering or full strength once or twice

 

[Cuddy420]

some of the leaf tips look burned but mostly the leaves are just conoeing and turning yellow on the tips does this sound like not enough or too much?

 

[Cuddy420]

Anyone???

 

[Cuddy420]

well I just flushed them this morning just in case there was too much nutes how long after the flush should I notice any change? If I wait a week and dont see much improvment than should i hit it with some more MG to try and green them up or just start using Tiger bloom for flowering? Can someone with experience chime in Thanks

 

[Maj.PotHead]

1st MG ferts are ok in a pinch but they are missing micro and macro nutrients add them and the fert is compleate

you purchased {I got 2 white widow clones from sr71 co op } didnt they tell you WW isnt for a novice grower she can be quite finicky.


{ growing outdoors they are about 2 1/2 months old and are 6-7 ft tall in big containers that i have to soak every day }

{Ive been feeding them all purpose miracle grow oh every 2 weeks at first full dose and then worked down to about half cuz I was worried about overdoing it }

plants been in container 2months+ you started out feeding full strenght every 2 wks then dropped to half dose, thats 1 problem. plants have been in same soil for long time there isnt any nutrients in the soil except what you add during feedings. watering everyday will flush the nutrients from soil much faster then every other day or every few days. i understand the roots have fully colinized the soil and being outside they'll use more moisture then indoors

honestly try half dossage twice a wk the plants should be abel to handel full strength at 6ft tall.

which brings me to another possible future problem

6-7ft plant now is gonna stretch 1st 2-3 wks of flowering and WW is a stretcher.

now i suggest if you have some extra money approx 20$ drop the MG and get some pure blend pro grow for veg and bloom for flower 36-40$ total for both. tiger bloom is ok but isnt fully organic it's organic based i used ff ferts in the past but highly consider Pure blend pro grow and bloom much better ferts

 

[Cuddy420]

1st MG ferts are ok in a pinch but they are missing micro and macro nutrients add them and the fert is compleate

you purchased {I got 2 white widow clones from sr71 co op } didnt they tell you WW isnt for a novice grower she can be quite finicky.


{ growing outdoors they are about 2 1/2 months old and are 6-7 ft tall in big containers that i have to soak every day }

{Ive been feeding them all purpose miracle grow oh every 2 weeks at first full dose and then worked down to about half cuz I was worried about overdoing it }

plants been in container 2months+ you started out feeding full strenght every 2 wks then dropped to half dose, thats 1 problem. plants have been in same soil for long time there isnt any nutrients in the soil except what you add during feedings. watering everyday will flush the nutrients from soil much faster then every other day or every few days. i understand the roots have fully colinized the soil and being outside they'll use more moisture then indoors

honestly try half dossage twice a wk the plants should be abel to handel full strength at 6ft tall.

which brings me to another possible future problem

6-7ft plant now is gonna stretch 1st 2-3 wks of flowering and WW is a stretcher.

now i suggest if you have some extra money approx 20$ drop the MG and get some pure blend pro grow for veg and bloom for flower 36-40$ total for both. tiger bloom is ok but isnt fully organic it's organic based i used ff ferts in the past but highly consider Pure blend pro grow and bloom much better ferts

Thank you for the feedback I really appreciate it. Im also growing dj shorts blueberry from seed and its been pretty picky as well but Ive managed. So I just flushed the widows this morning meaning theres probably no nutrients left in the soil should I fertilize first thing in the morning with full dose?

 

[Maj.PotHead]

try half dose at 1st then after day or 2 bump to 3/4 dose see how they react if they like it after day or 2 try full dose. just remember to alternate fert feedings you just flushed your soil so tomarrow hit them with half dose next watering plain water then half dose plain water 3/4 dose plain water so on so forth. alternating fert feedings in container of soil helps to prevent salts from ferts building up.

one other thing i didnt see you mention what your waters PH is ???

proper PH in the water prevents alot of problems water not PH'd starts alot of problems that begin to show as nute lockout. if prolonged it will be nutrient lockout in the rootzone.

i allways adjust my waters PH to 6.5 with and w/out ferts

plain water i adjust the water to PH 6.5
feedn time i add desired doses of ferts then adjust my waters PH to 6.5 a good digital PH meter is worth it's weight. personally i dont use a mater anymore havent in 2 yrs now only because i understand my citys water and what the dossages of ferts i use do to the water and what i need to do to bring water to range of PH 6.5.

anothet thing also because your in a container if you use city tap water, dose your city use cloriene to sanitize your drinking water??.
if so allow water to sit in open jugs for min 12-24 hrs before use reason cloriene in the water will kill the good bacteria and fungi in the rootzone hence causing problems also.

when it comes to alternating fert feedings less is best untill you learn how your plants react because your not feeding every 2 wks but every other watering

 

[Cuddy420]

I guess my water could be an issue? Where do you buy a digital PH meter and can you use it to test the soil as well?

 

[Maj.PotHead]

I guess my water could be an issue? Where do you buy a digital PH meter and can you use it to test the soil as well?

i purchased my 1st digital PH meter 55$ from a local hydroponic supply shop i had a basic Hanna non water proof PH meter {it only read water PH}. it worked like a charm and duder at shop would calibrate the meter free every month for me. a properly calibrated PH meter never gets more then 001-002 off in a month.

as for checking soils PH if you catch some runoff pour it into a shot glass you can get a good idea of the soils PH by its runoff value. FFOF soil comes PH ballanced 5.5-6.5 if your runoff value is below 5.5. i would suggest some crushed dolimite lime on top of soil then water in 1tsp per gal soil should do fine. after a few waterings your runoff should be approx 7.0-7.2 PH. the dolimite lime acts as a buffer and nutralizes the PH of water being fed to plant.

now heres a question i should have allready asked

what size of containers are plants in ??
how long have they been in the current container??
how much water do they currently drink ??

do you water to achieve runoff i do 15-20% runoff

now when you say you flushed the soil in the container how much water was used??

good rule of thumb when flushing the soil to rid of problems use 3-5 times water for soil. 1 gal bag would require 3-5 gals water for proper flush to rid of problems, last gal i would put half dose ferts in the water.

now preharvest flush is no more then watering as normal No ferts added
for chem ferts 21 days 3wks plain PH'd water should do before planned chop
for organic ferts 10-14 days before planned chop
heres what i do when i think plant has been flushed enough i'll remove a large fan leaf and chew the stem. if it's bitter still needs to be flushed more, if it's sweet like water ready for salad then chop.

 

[Cuddy420]

There in 15 gallon containers and ya 15 to 20 percent runoff sounds about what Im getting when I water them with the hose and Im guessing they drink about 2-3 gallons a day They have been in the containers since the start I really want to take pictures to see what you think but I cant find my digital camera also kinda worried about posting online although this is a medical grow so its legal

 

[Maj.PotHead]

There in 15 gallon containers
15 to 20 percent runoff sounds about what Im getting
I water them with the hose and Im guessing they drink about 2-3 gallons a day
They have been in the containers since the start

ok 15 gal containers they grew up in them for last 2.5 months most likely safe to say soils PH has droped through floor by now. the crushed dolimite lime can be purchased at any local nursery for few bucks a box it will help to stabilize your soils PH for while hopefully whole flowering session.

plants outside planted in ground can be watered with garden hose n/p because of the nutrients in the sorounding soil. but in containers its really best to fill jugs and let sit open for 12-24 hrs before use if your water is sanitized with cloriene or clorimane it'll kill the micro herd {good bacteria and fungi} in the rootzone

you dont have soft water from water softener do you and if so they outside spicket you use isnt connected to the system is it. some homes with water softeners have 1 outside spicket that isnt soft water the salt from soft water isnt good for the plants either.

 

[Cuddy420]

The water is not coming from a softener. I tested the ph about two weeks ago using the rapidtest with the capsules that you have to mix with a soil sample and the ph all seemed to be around 7 it wasnt precise though and I dont know how accurate this method is for ph testing but it seemed close enough to me. Im worried about using this lime your talking about I have no experience with it and I dont even no if my soil really needs it. jeez this is getting complicated I guess im just gonna give them more MG in the morning and see what they do wish me luck and thanks again for your help I hope I get a decent harvest this year.
Ill report back

Cuddy

 

[r13f]

mg (ferts) will make it more acidic = lower ph
fert lockout happens as the soil gets more acidic, so you want to use the lime to raise the ph = make it more alkiline so that the plants can use the fertilizer you are giving them.
if your soil & water is too acidic, all you will be doing is wasting fertilizer.
ebay for ph meter - $30 for a lower end one.
good luck, and listen to the maj = he is a mentor cuz he knows his s**t

 

[Cuddy420]

mg (ferts) will make it more acidic = lower ph
fert lockout happens as the soil gets more acidic, so you want to use the lime to raise the ph = make it more alkiline so that the plants can use the fertilizer you are giving them.
if your soil & water is too acidic, all you will be doing is wasting fertilizer.
ebay for ph meter - $30 for a lower end one.
good luck, and listen to the maj = he is a mentor cuz he knows his s**t

essentially when I flush my soil it should raise the ph and remove the salts right?