Veg plants growing extremely slow

[massivecalyx]

I have a couple of clones that are pushing 1-1.5months old now. They have no new growth but a healthy root system filling up to the bottom of a party cup. They have had an established root system for almost a month now.

I have a few others that have grown a small amount, but not much more. They are currently being fed lucas formula under a 400watt mh.

The leaves are all a nice green color with very little yellowing if any at all

This is my 4th or 5th time with a set of clones and always in the past I've had amazing success. I'm just stuck in a rut here it seems! any suggestions?

I don't post pictures, sorry.

 

[supermanlives]

1.5 months in a party cup sounds like a problem unless your root pruning.

 

[RobMarley420]

A plant can only get so big in a cup that small.

Transfer them to bigger pots.

 

[massivecalyx]

I've grown >3ft plants in party cups before so I don't think that is the problem. My seedlings grew one set of real leaves then stopped. One of them withered and died and the others are just chilling with their 1 set of leaves after 2+ weeks. The clones have no new growth at all but are nice and green. I have since repotted all the well rooted plants into bigger pots

However, I think I may have found the problem.

I was playing around in my veg room last night and noticed my 400watt MH bulb was damaged. While it was on and running, on the top half of the bulb near the reflector there was a... bulge/bubble in the glass and some slight cracks going through the glass. Just bought a replacement bulb (I over used that one anyway, year+ of 24/0 or 18/6). Could that have caused the extremely slow/almost no growth?

 

[Kikeritz]

I don't think so. If your lamp is seriously damaged, it just stops working. Note, every strain is different and differently respond to same conditions. It could be nitrogen deficiency in early stage, but i can't tell this without pictures.
Bye

 

[spunion]

I don't think so. If your lamp is seriously damaged, it just stops working. Note, every strain is different and differently respond to same conditions. It could be nitrogen deficiency in early stage, but i can't tell this without pictures.
Bye

Pretty much this, chances are the type of yellowing might be able to tell you what is wrong.

By the way I had a slight light malfunction with this T5 HO I just got, one of the included bulbs wasn't working out of the box, so I adjusted it without turning it off first and one end started burning inside the lamp for a minute before I took it out, yikes! That was a couple days after I plugged it in too, imagine if it started burning off the bat and I didn't notice it.

 

[Neo 420]

I've grown >3ft plants in party cups before so I don't think that is the problem. My seedlings grew one set of real leaves then stopped. One of them withered and died and the others are just chilling with their 1 set of leaves after 2+ weeks. The clones have no new growth at all but are nice and green. I have since repotted all the well rooted plants into bigger pots

Starting of in the party cups and limiting the water is a great way to get big roots in soil. You should be repotting into the proper sizes (example party cup>>1 gal>>3gal>> 5gal etc...) to get a solid root foundation down. There a saying. The bigger the root, the bigger (and better) the fruit.

I think you will see improvement not because of the light, but because you repotted.

BTW if the roots are filled to the bottom of the cup, that's called root bound...

Good luck!!!

 

[Lone Wolf]

get them out of the party cups.... then be awed...

 

[massivecalyx]

I think I have a ph issue. I'm reusing peat moss and forgot to amend the last batch of soil with some lime. So maybe I'm getting nuke lockout?

What would be the best way to correct this in peat moss? Mix some lime into the water and feed, or perhaps top dress the pots with lime? Any suggestions?

edit:
I have one of those cheapo meters from HD that test moisture, ph and light intensity. The soil reads at over a ph of 8, but if anything shouldn't the ph of the peat moss be more acidic than base?

 

[GOT DANK]

can't help if you won't take pics. and ur answering ur own ques. do you really need us? lol

 

[PrivateAero]

those ph meters are useless imo, just throwing it out there I had the same problem and just realized I have Root Aphids

 

[massivecalyx]

Yes I need your help haha, this is driving me crazy. I don't think its root aphids but I will check when I get home. I'm looking for little white things around the roots right? I just did a quick google search on em

Things arent getting any better. No new growth since I started this thread. Lost another critical mass seedling and 3 clones died after transplant (they weren't doing too hot before hand).

I top dressed all the plants with lime and watered them with a lime + molasses mix. My shining star CM seedling is starting to yellow and turn a light shade of green. Same with my rocklock, she's on her way to an early death too.

Heat is in check, humidity is in the 50-60% range. Light is about 1 foot away from seedlings/clones. This is driving me crazy, my flower room is going to be clear in a week or two and I'm not going to be able to refill it. Normally with 2 months of veg time I would have 2ft healthy bushes, not 5in tall lanky clones

 

[Mr Eckted]

Have you changed anything in the room? Done any construction?

Maybe something is off gassing into your room.

 

[massivecalyx]

No changes, I don't think anythings off gassing.

The two biggest changes recently were the changing of my bulb and the addition of an oscillating fan, but I was having issues prior to both of those changing. The only thing I can think of is that it has to do with the soil mix I'm using. It is roughly 80% peat moss and 20% perlite on its 3rd use. I also compacted the soil a bit too much in a few of the pots but I have no idea on how to fix that without damaging the plants.

For the soil reuse, once the plants are done in flower i take out the root ball and as much rootmass as possible, fill a 5 gal bucket with soil and then 'wash' it under a running faucet for 30min-1hr to get rid of any built up salts. This last batch though I didn't add amend it with anything but it did sit for a few weeks before use. I'm thinking either the acidity of the peat moss came back and is causing nute lockout or the medium just has no nutes in it at all after a 1-2wk flush during flower and then the wash and the plants are just starving... Tonight im going to hit them with full strength lucas formula and hope for the best. (the clones not the seedlings)