1st Grow_10 Double Gum's_CFL's_450w_Rubbermaid

[sman]

Ive been sitting here for 6 and 1/2 hours reading and comparing pictures.

The closest thing I have found to what my plants started out like is this pic.

^said it's "ph spotting before nutrient lockout occurs"
My plants definitely looked like that the most before i noticed anything else.
But I don't understand how pH could be my problem when my pH tests were close to perfect, like in the above post.
I have been using a water filter(softener?) which i've just read is bad to do?

It's getting worse and worse by the hour and I'm in freak-out mode now and don't know what to do!

They have all perked up a bit since i watered 10 hrs ago.

-pics-

 

[Chomp]

Well I know that my water softener uses salts so maybe the ppm of your water going in is off the charts. My water is very hard and the pH is almost 8 so I either have to use distilled water or a crap load of pH down. Before I figured that out, I had some good grows and some bad...Some strains can take abuse and still produce ok and some are more sensitive to mistakes.

After you mentioned the softener, I would have to say that's your major problem. Do you have a water tap before the pipes get to the softener? If so test the pH and use that for your source if it's ok. Or you'll probably have to use distilled water...I would definitely avoid the filtered water though.

BTW I would up pot them too going by the pics of the roots

Chomp

 

[stihgnobevoli]

are you only ph' ing the water going in? you're supposed to ph the runoff so you can know if the soil is acidic or basic. such a dramatic change in a few hours i would water again with plain water and check the runoff.

 

[Chomp]

stihgnobevoli,

he's checked both and they are in a good range what's coming out is almost the same as what's going in. He listed the results at the top of the page.

Chomp

 

[stihgnobevoli]

i must say im stumped. i thought it was wet cold roots, or ph but you say both are ok. those last pics look like magnesium and or nitrogen def. start with mag then if they still yellowing add nitrogen.

 

[Chomp]

If the water softener is salt based then he most likely has nutrient lockout due to high levels of salt buildup in the soil....It would basically be like watering your plants with diluted sea water.

I would repot and get as much of the old mix out as possible without disturbing too much of the rootball and water with distilled water and a light dose of something like liquid karma, seaweed extract, or big bloom to help promote root growth into the new medium.

Don't start adding more salts to try and fix the problem!

Chomp

 

[sman]

If the water softener is salt based then he most likely has nutrient lockout due to high levels of salt buildup in the soil....It would basically be like watering your plants with diluted sea water.

I would repot and get as much of the old mix out as possible without disturbing too much of the rootball and water with distilled water and a light dose of something like liquid karma, seaweed extract, or big bloom to help promote root growth into the new medium.

Don't start adding more salts to try and fix the problem!

Chomp

Thanks everyone for trying to help figure out whats goin on.

and chomp, my tap water is pH8+ and i use 3 drops of pH down per cup of water to get pH 6.5. so yea ill start using distilled waters. and ill also flush and repot into 8'' pots i bought from depot along with light liquid karma.

i'm gunna get this straighten out asap!

btw, the plants are perked up again from the last water, just intense yellowing on the bottom, and i did a light big bloom foliage spray, i have a feeling that the nutes in the FFOF have been used and that is where my problem lies. after all, it has been 30+ days in the 6'' pots... so we'll find out when i do the re-pot.

wish me luck!

 

[Chomp]

Hey Good Luck sman

I think you're taking the right steps to fix the situation...keep us updated!

Chomp

 

[sman]

so i got some 10'' pots today. 2 and 1/2 -3 gal i think.

i also only had 1 gal of FFOF left over so i bought some of this to mix with it.

hope it's decent.

**also, since time is of the essence i'm not ordering anymore FFOF so does anyone have a recommendation of soil to buy from like, home depot ect.?

i mixed.
1 gal FFOF
1/2 gal of the cactus stuff
1/2 gal of perlite
1/2 gal of vermiculite

also bought some SUPERthrive

I though that would be enough to repot all the pups but apparently it was only enough for ONE!!! So, I was only able to repot 1 plant so far. tomorrow ill go buy more soil but like i said, any recommendations for something from waly world or depot would be helpfull otherwise im mixing cactus stuff with scotts premium top soil with perlite and vermiculite.

and....

I'm not sure if i did the cuttings right or not. they never got droopy at all, and they look more healthy then the mothers lol. the temp is also low, probably low 60's in the water they are sitting in.... i need these clones to flower so i can hurry to see the sex of the plants. The pots take up mucho roomo.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

my organic mix, im sure i borrowed most of the recipe from someone else here.
but it was 1 bag of compost, one bag of topsoil, 2 bags of perlite, and an equivalent amount to the perlite in sand.

I just used sand from the beach, it was free. oh and a bag of espoma garden lime.

the compost and topsoil are those big 50lb bags should be like $3 each maybe the compost will be as much as $5. the perlite i used was miracle gro its like an 8lb bag i think.

mix the topsoil and the compost together, then add in the perlite and sand. should be nice and loose by this point. after that measure out however much lime it says on the bag. i think its 1 cup per cubic foot of soil, you should end up using like 2 or 3 cups. you can use it right away if you want. best results is to leave it in a warm dark place for 2 weeks and let the soil cook and the lime break down. if you use it right away know that your mag deficiencies will continue for a couple weeks. use epsom salt in your water in the meantime, or you can take some of the espoma like 1/4cup or a couple of teaspoons, dissolve in hot water till its mixed in the water and then use that with your water that you feed the plants with. some of it is slow release still but some of that muddy water you just made will help right away.

 

[sman]

Day 40 - veg day 26

Day 40 - veg day 26

Finally got more soil. Pretty much the same mixtures as posted earlier but with top-soil instead of the FFOF.

all in 10'' (3 GAL) circle pots, lifted 6'' off the bottom. (square would be better but couldnt find any good ones. so i had to MAKE them fit into the grow box.)

they all had pretty big roots when pulled from the 6'' pots, maybe they were rootbound?

also did not water the pots because the root mass with all the old soil was still pretty moist, that way the new stuff will soak the old stuff and the roots will go searching for water. Yellowing has stopped and new growth is looking good and moving fast again. I have been spraying an extreme light mix of grow big via foliage.

Got a couple T5's for the clone/mother box.

i guess that about sums it up.

-PICS-

and 15 gal's of distilled water lol

p.s. I hope the one that has 20 something bud sites is female!
p.s.s. I wonder if i'll see pre-flowers anytime soon?

 

[Chomp]

Yeah definitely rootbound in the smaller pots sman....

I'm surprised you haven't seen any signs of sex yet for as long as you've been growing them. I'm pretty sure all the strains I've grown (that started out healthy) had shown sex by now even in veg,

Looks like you've got it turned around good so keep it up

Chomp

 

[sman]

Day 43 - Veg Day 29

Day 43 - Veg Day 29

It's amazing what a little water and nutes can do lol. I've never seen them this perky. For the 1st time the cola leafs are extended and pretty looking =) =) =)

 

[Chomp]

Wow sman you got them girls (fingers crossed) looking purty and happy in their new shoes!

Nice job man!

Chomp

 

[gdbud]

Just found your grow thanks.
It looks like your plants are doing better now that you have transplanted them.

You commented about placing T-5s in your foliage like I did with the PL-Ls. I would not do that with the T-5s because the ballasts are inside the fixture and the balast is where most of the heat is generated at. The reason I'm able to place the PL-Lights inside the foliage is beacuse the balasts is able to be placed away from th plants.

 

[sman]

holy crap! the seeds i ordered like 4 or 5 months ago just showed up today lol!!!!

 

[sman]

Day 47 - Veg Day 33

Day 47 - Veg Day 33

Their aroma is sweet with a hint of coffee. Smells good and I had a friend over (one that knows) and confirmed the smell of sweet coffee lol.

Well one day I will get a decent camera but until then, here's my camera phone.

-PICS-

transplanted the clones.
Most of all the roots looked like this one. some less; some more

Main plnts

 

[Bueno Time]

Looking alot better now good job bringing them back!

 

[Purple Monster]

definitely looking 200% better. keep it up.

 

[sman]

Thanks guys. Here is a list of what I did just in case anyone else has similar occurrences with their plants.

1. Transplanted from 6'' to 10'' pots
2. Did not water for 2 days after transplanting. So that the new dirt might sponge the moisture from the old dirt and to encourage root growth.
3. On day 1 of transplant I sprayed with Epsom Salts.
4. On day 2 of transplant I Fed by foliage with a 1/4 nute solution of "grow big", "big bloom" and "superthrive"
5. On the 3rd day I watered with a 1/2 solution of nutes.

That's it. I haven't watered again yet but when I do I'll increase the nutes again.




P.S. I'm seriously thinking about Flowering at VEG day 45. What do you think? Then I'll have around a 50-60 day flowering period I think, according to my strain's website. Seems soooo far away. Not including the dry/cure time