Four crops in a row failed. What is wrong ?

[tomtom]

I have been growing for about 8 years. All of a sudden i started to get problems with yellowing leaves from the bottom up and stunted growth (mainly yellowing leaves). Eventually the leaves that were not yellow started to turn a light green until they turned yellow too and of course the plants died. I had some pretty good crops up to about 2 years ago and i am growing the same way. I don't know what is screwing up. I have tried everything.

The worst part is i am a medical marijuana user (for depression) and now i got no medicine. Pot works extremely well on my depression. I function perfectly when i have it. Marijuana makes the difference between a very high quality of life for me and a very very low quality so right now things are really fucked for me and i have just been having a ton of bad luck. Lost my job. My wife died a year ago. It's fucking got me really down but i was able to manage as long as i had my pot once a day in the evening.

Is there some really easy way to grow pot that is almost foolproof because i have tried everything trying to grow using the soiless method.

This is how i was growing.

Soiless mix made up of 75% peat and 25% perlite with 3 tablespoons of lime added for each gallon of mix. Light source was a 250 watt HPS in an air cooled hood. The exhaust blower cools the lamp and exhausts the closet so the temps are about 78 degrees. I grew Nirvana white widow. I watered with rain water i collect. I adjusted the pH to about 6 to 6.5 using General Hydroponics pH down. I used General Hydroponics pH test drops to adjust the nutrient solution. I adjusted till the color in the test vial was yellow. I used Miracle Grow ferts. All purpose ferts for veg phase and bloom ferts for flower phase. I have read everything i can find and i can't figure out what i am doing wrong.

Should i give up on the soiless way of growing and try soil. I've heard that is an easier way to grow but i have never grown in soil so i don't know.

If anybody can tell me what is wrong or can tell me about a real simple way to grow i sure would appreciate it. If you need more info on how i grew just ask but i think i covered it fairly well. Why do people say this is an easy plant to grow ? I have been having nothing but trouble no matter what i do

 

[Sleepy]

are you reusing the soil-less mix?

you may need to get some new inert mix and start over with that, or get some new soil-less mix and combine what you have with the new...if you are reusing your mix, it may be too 'hot' from reuse.

 

[Pseudo]

throw the miracle grow in the garbage, your plants are suffering from deficencies, most likely N and MG, its worth it to spend some money on some nutes, in your situaton floranova comes to mind just for ease of use, dont give up, theres plenty people here glad to help, sorry bout your wife and welcome aboard

 

[Pseudo]

after reading sleepy the deficencies could be from nute lockout do to over fert, either way, toss the soil, buy some nutes, start fresh

 

[Sleepy]

i agree...

 

[ganjapool]

my mix is equal parts coco-coir, perlite and cow manure.

Peat moss is very acidic, the lime will buffer it. You need to use dolomite lime, not hydrated lime.

I'm not sure how long it acts as a buffer though.

You should switch to ferts meant for growing herb, don't use miracle grow.

When you adjusted the pH, was it before or after you added the MG fertilizers to the water?

 

[K.J]

Go to the Organics For Beginners sticky and study up. Then use LC's mix with fert recipe #1 (kelp, blood/bone meal, greensand, EWC, perlite, etc.). I've used it for 4 grows now, with ZERO issues. Swear by it.

 

[Fraggle Rock]

I have been growing for about 8 years. All of a sudden i started to get problems with yellowing leaves from the bottom up and stunted growth (mainly yellowing leaves). Eventually the leaves that were not yellow started to turn a light green until they turned yellow too and of course the plants died. I had some pretty good crops up to about 2 years ago and i am growing the same way. I don't know what is screwing up. I have tried everything.

The worst part is i am a medical marijuana user (for depression) and now i got no medicine. Pot works extremely well on my depression. I function perfectly when i have it. Marijuana makes the difference between a very high quality of life for me and a very very low quality so right now things are really fucked for me and i have just been having a ton of bad luck. Lost my job. My wife died a year ago. It's fucking got me really down but i was able to manage as long as i had my pot once a day in the evening.

Is there some really easy way to grow pot that is almost foolproof because i have tried everything trying to grow using the soiless method.

This is how i was growing.

Soiless mix made up of 75% peat and 25% perlite with 3 tablespoons of lime added for each gallon of mix. Light source was a 250 watt HPS in an air cooled hood. The exhaust blower cools the lamp and exhausts the closet so the temps are about 78 degrees. I grew Nirvana white widow. I watered with rain water i collect. I adjusted the pH to about 6 to 6.5 using General Hydroponics pH down. I used General Hydroponics pH test drops to adjust the nutrient solution. I adjusted till the color in the test vial was yellow. I used Miracle Grow ferts. All purpose ferts for veg phase and bloom ferts for flower phase. I have read everything i can find and i can't figure out what i am doing wrong.

Should i give up on the soiless way of growing and try soil. I've heard that is an easier way to grow but i have never grown in soil so i don't know.

If anybody can tell me what is wrong or can tell me about a real simple way to grow i sure would appreciate it. If you need more info on how i grew just ask but i think i covered it fairly well. Why do people say this is an easy plant to grow ? I have been having nothing but trouble no matter what i do

Assuming you are reusing your soiless mixture then you should start over fresh each time.....If you're starting fresh each grow, then you could have nute lockout due to the Miracle Grow. I would check the organics for beginners thread. If possible to buy soil, then the easiest way to grow is using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil and some Floranova 1 part grow and bloom formula....The Ocean Forest soil is pretty hot out of the bag, you could use plain water for the first 2-3 weeks, then slowly add the floranova. Just hang in there, you need to grow through the ups and the downs to master it all. Herb is awesome and I am glad it makes you feel better. Just keep your head up and be as positive as you can to stay strong for your self. Good luck! Peace!

 

[tomtom]

Wow you guys have given me so many good ideas already. Just reading your posts have made me feel so much better. I have to go over to my sisters house for a bit so i can't write much right now. I'll get back to you guys later but i think you guys might really have hit on the problem. Thank you so much. I'm really feeling like there is hope for me now. What a relief.

 

[bombadil.360]

coco + soil/compost is a very good medium, it does not get acidic and drains well.

peat sucks imo.

as for nutes, you can always find a nute that is liquid worm-humus for veg, and then something low on N and high on P and K for flowering/bloom.

good luck man!

peace

 

[tomtom]

Originally posted by Sleepy
are you reusing the soil-less mix?

you may need to get some new inert mix and start over with that, or get some new soil-less mix and combine what you have with the new...if you are reusing your mix, it may be too 'hot' from reuse.



Yes i reused my mix Sleepy. And now that i think about it i did get better results when i used fresh mix that i had just bought. Some of the old miracle grow ferts are probably left over in the old so that makes it hot or i am getting a salt build up. Then when i add new ferts i'm just making it worse by essentially over ferting or the salt build up is locking out the nutes. Thank you for your help.

 

[tomtom]

throw the miracle grow in the garbage, your plants are suffering from deficencies, most likely N and MG, its worth it to spend some money on some nutes, in your situaton floranova comes to mind just for ease of use, dont give up, theres plenty people here glad to help, sorry bout your wife and welcome aboard

You know i have read various posts that say miracle grow is not always great for marijuana plants so thats another thing i am gonna do. Dump the MG and get some quality ferts. Problem is i am not in California where there are tons of hydro shops. I have to drive 50 miles to the nearest hydro shop to get a fert that is made for marijuana but i am gonna make that drive. It's worth the trip. Thank you for your help.

 

[tomtom]

my mix is equal parts coco-coir, perlite and cow manure.

Peat moss is very acidic, the lime will buffer it. You need to use dolomite lime, not hydrated lime.

I'm not sure how long it acts as a buffer though.

You should switch to ferts meant for growing herb, don't use miracle grow.

When you adjusted the pH, was it before or after you added the MG fertilizers to the water?

Yes ganjapool I am going to switch to ferts meant for herb. I am on a bit of a tight budget after losing my job but i think that the ferts are critical after this experience. I always mixed the ferts into the water then adjusted the pH. I've done a lot of reading when i was lurking here and if i remember correctly they always said mix ferts into the water then adjust for pH.

Gotta buy new seeds too but maybe i learned an important lesson here so in the long run it will be turn out to be cheap. Thank you for your help.

 

[tomtom]

Go to the Organics For Beginners sticky and study up. Then use LC's mix with fert recipe #1 (kelp, blood/bone meal, greensand, EWC, perlite, etc.). I've used it for 4 grows now, with ZERO issues. Swear by it.

I think Sleepy, Pseudo and ganjapool have hit on some bad mistakes that i have been making so i am going to do what they advise and give the soiless method one more try. If that doesn't work i will go the organic route as you suggest. Thank you for your help.

 

[ReelBusy1]

I have been growing for about 8 years. All of a sudden i started to get problems with yellowing leaves from the bottom up and stunted growth (mainly yellowing leaves). Eventually the leaves that were not yellow started to turn a light green until they turned yellow too and of course the plants died. I had some pretty good crops up to about 2 years ago and i am growing the same way. I don't know what is screwing up. I have tried everything.

The worst part is i am a medical marijuana user (for depression) and now i got no medicine. Pot works extremely well on my depression. I function perfectly when i have it. Marijuana makes the difference between a very high quality of life for me and a very very low quality so right now things are really fucked for me and i have just been having a ton of bad luck. Lost my job. My wife died a year ago. It's fucking got me really down but i was able to manage as long as i had my pot once a day in the evening.

Is there some really easy way to grow pot that is almost foolproof because i have tried everything trying to grow using the soiless method.

This is how i was growing.

Soiless mix made up of 75% peat and 25% perlite with 3 tablespoons of lime added for each gallon of mix. Light source was a 250 watt HPS in an air cooled hood. The exhaust blower cools the lamp and exhausts the closet so the temps are about 78 degrees. I grew Nirvana white widow. I watered with rain water i collect. I adjusted the pH to about 6 to 6.5 using General Hydroponics pH down. I used General Hydroponics pH test drops to adjust the nutrient solution. I adjusted till the color in the test vial was yellow. I used Miracle Grow ferts. All purpose ferts for veg phase and bloom ferts for flower phase. I have read everything i can find and i can't figure out what i am doing wrong.

Should i give up on the soiless way of growing and try soil. I've heard that is an easier way to grow but i have never grown in soil so i don't know.

If anybody can tell me what is wrong or can tell me about a real simple way to grow i sure would appreciate it. If you need more info on how i grew just ask but i think i covered it fairly well. Why do people say this is an easy plant to grow ? I have been having nothing but trouble no matter what i do

IMHO - there is a nute lockout issue with the Miracle grow and your medium and/or a Cal Mag issue.

 

[tomtom]

Assuming you are reusing your soiless mixture then you should start over fresh each time.....If you're starting fresh each grow, then you could have nute lockout due to the Miracle Grow. I would check the organics for beginners thread. If possible to buy soil, then the easiest way to grow is using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil and some Floranova 1 part grow and bloom formula....The Ocean Forest soil is pretty hot out of the bag, you could use plain water for the first 2-3 weeks, then slowly add the floranova. Just hang in there, you need to grow through the ups and the downs to master it all. Herb is awesome and I am glad it makes you feel better. Just keep your head up and be as positive as you can to stay strong for your self. Good luck! Peace!

As i was saying to K.J. Sleepy, Pseudo and ganjapool have hit on some bad mistakes that i have been making so i am going to do what they advise and give the soiless method one more try. If that doesn't work i will go the organic route as you suggest.

It is my opinion that herb is beyond awesome. I read a quote once from a very learned scholar that said herb was the only thing that ever lifted him above feelings of oppression (as opposed to depression). I understand they have discovered that there are actual cannabis receptors in the brain. To be truthful the first time i ever tried pot i knew it was perfect for me. As the great poet Gregory Corso said "cannabis was my friend and protector". I could not have said it better. Thank you very much for your help and your kind words.

 

[tomtom]

coco + soil/compost is a very good medium, it does not get acidic and drains well.

peat sucks imo.

as for nutes, you can always find a nute that is liquid worm-humus for veg, and then something low on N and high on P and K for flowering/bloom.

good luck man!

peace

Yes i have heard people say bad things about peat because it is acidic. It is very hard for me to get coco though cause the hydro shop is very far away and coco can be expensive i have been told. After losing my job money is a real big issue for me. Peat is available everywhere and very inexpensive. I am going to give it one more shot. Thank you for your help.

 

[tomtom]

IMHO - there is a nute lockout issue with the Miracle grow and your medium and/or a Cal Mag issue.

Yes I am dumping the fucking Miracle grow for sure. Will a quality fert made specifically for marijuana have the necessary Cal Mag in it or do i need to buy an additional supplement to make sure i am not having a deficiency of that too ? Thank you for your help.

 

[Fraggle Rock]

Yes I am dumping the fucking Miracle grow for sure. Will a quality fert made specifically for marijuana have the necessary Cal Mag in it or do i need to buy an additional supplement to make sure i am not having a deficiency of that too ? Thank you for your help.

If you check out the Earth Juice line of nutrients there is pretty much everything you would need for your girls in that line-up. There is EJ Grow, Bloom, Catalyst, Microblast and MetaK - Seems like a lot, but they are all around $10-12/Quart and by the size of your grow, they will last a few rounds. Soil is key in my opinion. If you can start with the highest quality soil first, then you can tune back your nutrients and make it easy to care for them with plain water and mild nutes....

 

[Fraggle Rock]

Another alternative tomtom, would be to check out Active/Aerated Compost Teas. There is some basic recipes in the Organics for beginners thread. A lot of the ingredients can be sourced from local garden supply. Once you have those purchased you can make 100's of gallons of teas to water your girls. There is some additional upfront expense, but it would be really low over the period of your harvests. You can make a basic brew in a 5 gallon bucket with an aquarium air pump and stone. I would buy the biggest air pump you can for the money, but I have made it work with just a $10 pump too. Good luck and keep us posted with updates!!