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looks dry but is not?

A6D9

Member
i think so...all this advice is so good...but only accessable when I"m at work.

But i will certainly look very closely for gnats...anyway to get rid of them should i have them? cannot i not spray them with neem oil? or something?
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
You've got a couple of things to consider.

Your basement may be too damp, slowing transpiration to a crawl. If you can get your hands on a hygrometer, get a humidity reading to know what you're dealing with. High humidity ain't that bad for veg but you'll be pulling your hair out in flower if it's too high.

Your medium may not be porous enough, and or your pots may have insufficient drainage.

Your air flow may be insufficient. Fresh air not only refreshes C02 levels, the circulation of fresh air also helps transpiration.

coz if i waited till it dried on it;'s own....I'd never water it...

Then so be it. Obviously, never having to water is an indication something is wrong so we need to fix it.:) The above may be a good place to start.

For the time being take Stress' words to heart, "let it dry" before repeating. If the medium isn't drying out like it should, more water won't help, it'll only hurt.
 

A6D9

Member
that's the plan....I'm goign to get it to dry and see what that does..the dehumidiafier is on now 24x7 it should dry it out allot...and I"ll put way more fans down there to move that air around...gona see what that does to start off...gona also get me a meter of soem sort to test the soil wetness and also humidity levles in the room...and hope for the best..will keep you all in the loop...

again thanx for all the info and help..it is greatly appreciated. you all have no idea. :)
 

A6D9

Member
ok so i finaly got soem pics...sorry they not the greatest done on my iphone.

this one is my little veg clone....
p1.jpg


this is an example of my flower room where the crack is in the paper..as you can see it is far from air tight..this is the fan i am using to "exhaust" the air out...
p2.jpg

this is the rack and the plant itself...you can see in the background the last plant i had that is all dried up...never did get to the bottom of that one left it there as it's tangled into the rack and I"m too lazy to remove it now.
p3.jpg


and here is a close up of the one in flower that is lookign allot better since i started to dry the soil out.

p4.jpg



again thanx for all the help and i think I'm going to treat it for fungus knatts just to be on the safe side and dry the soil out allot more.
 
B

Butte_Creek

don't spray your plants foliage if they're not drinking, it will inhibit plants from up-taking water in the root zone since it will prevent them from transpiring and drying out.

that's the logic in keeping cuttings humid and moist, when the humidity is high and or the foliage is moist they don't transpire, which prevents the root-less cutting from drying out and wilting.

get some fresh air in there too. fresh air and lower humidity, let the plants breath and transpire, let the pots dry out.
 

dgr

Member
A6D9,

Another rabbit hole. If you have gnats, you would know it and you failed to make any mention of gnats. DO NOT treat for fungus gnats unless 1)You see copious fungus gnats and 2)You use a non-drench method. You still have a moisture problem and the only legitimate cure for gnats involves drenching the soil.

I think you should reread Stress test's first post again. Lots of good info in there.

I didn't see a response to my question on up-potting. What size container did you transplant from into your five gallon buckets? Although the answer is obvious if you have a wet pot after weeks of not watering.

Looking at the photo, I think the plant is too small for the pot if you don't have loose airy soil and/or you are heavy handed with the water.

I also don't know the out gassing that might occur from tar paper. I do know it stinks. Also, the bottom board on your enclosure looks like it has a water line on it. You growing in a basement or a cavern?
 

Stress_test

I'm always here when I'm not someplace else
Veteran
Oh shit.

That's scary. Looks like a grave yard.

Seriously... Save this picture and enter it into the Pic of the month contest for October. If you can get a Jack o lantern in there and a black cat I guarantee it'll win.

A basement graveyard dude. Scary shit.

p3.jpg
 
Last edited:

mmmoil

Member
didnt read the whole thread but...

Id say its an infestation.. you just need to figure out if its bacterial or bugs, root aphids in particular since you dont mention seeing bugs...
 

Stress_test

I'm always here when I'm not someplace else
Veteran
The bottom line is: and the OP said it himself, he's lazy.

That isn't a Grow Op... It's a cemetery. Anything that goes it it will probably die until steps are taken to correct the problems.

Clean it out and CLEAN IT OUT. Gut it and clean it with a bleach solution. Get ventilation in there to dry it and keep it dry with fresh circulating air. Not just over night either. Set it up as a permanent installation to support life.

Until then everything you do will be a band-aid and reactionary to the underlying problems.
 

A6D9

Member
you are all right...thanx a million for the advice. I'll pull the dead one out tonight...and clean the room...yes it is in my basement that is unfinished and every spring gets water in it :(

so i fight humidity all the time.

as for the transplant i went form a 3 gallon to 5.

but sicne i open the "tent" and i sue that term very loosely...ewvery night and have those 2 fans blowing air around...also during the evening i open the door that is about 10 feet away and blow direct fresh air into the basement for 30-45 min..it has perkded up allot and appears to be coming back....

i think it deff was too wet...and still is a bit.

as for gnatts..i never see any bugs...but didn;t know..every tiem i transplant or when the last 2 plants died..i went into the soil and looked for any form of bugs..never found any.

so I"ll hold off on treatign them for a bit.

thanx again for all the wealth of info. I'm beggining to think...I might just grow in veg in my basement and set up a better room in the atic for flower..with proper ventalation, and proper partitions.
 

dgr

Member
A6D9,
My turn for a tangent. Your basement doesn't have a sump? If not, and you are capable, it should have one and they aren't expensive to put in. Water in a basement isn't just bad for your mmj grow. It's bad for the foundation and the entire house. The reason for the water should be found and rectified.

While you are trying to dry your pot out without re-potting, there is nothing wrong with drilling that bucket so it looks like a cheese grater. It'll do your roots some good and speed drying of the media; especially with air flowing across the pot.

I don't grow in dirt anymore. But that plant looks to me like it could have flowered in the three gallon pot. Plants quit growing roots about halfway into flower -- about when the stretch ends.

BTW, props to you. Except for the apparent over watering, your plant looks like it is being fertilized well.
 

A6D9

Member
thanx for the kind words.

I can certainly add more holes in it anyways to help with the drying..altho this mornign it was just damp all thru the pot.

i really do hope i never lost this one and i manage to get soemthign out of it..if not all that i have learned.

hopefuly my plant will make it and my vegged plant has a better life when i put ehr into flower.
 

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
I've always gardened outdoors but indoor container growing wasn't second nature. Every house plant I tried to grow died for the same reason... not allowing the roots to absorb water before adding more.

There's an old addage at IC, "less is more". Obviously you want your plants to have everything they need to thrive. However, one or more overdone elements often under-perform when compared to plants that don't receive the added stress.

IMO, your grow space may have to be tweaked. It's already been mentioned, the water problem should be rectified whether you grow or not. I'm afraid the high humidity will need more efficient air exchange.

It would probably be better to use your circulation fan as an active intake as opposed to exhaust. The convection from the lamp works against the fan sucking air from the bottom.

If you'll turn the fan around to blow into the grow area, the convection of the lamp will help push the heated air out the top of the partition. IMO, you'll get better exchange until you can get the exhaust fan you need.
 

WPA

Member
Seems to me like it was a combo of the pot being too big and overwatering. I would say that you want your pot to be to small than to big. This is because if you transplant into too big of a container then the new "outside" soil will not dry out fast enough, and the "inside" soil is just getting smothered by all the wet soil around it.

I cant remember who posted it, but someone on icmag grew a HUGE outdoor plant in a TINY 3 gallon pot (or something like that).

Also growing good pot requires more than most people think, I believe. Light, water, temperature, humidity, and air flow are all things that are extremely important to growing, and if the area that you are growing in limits one of those fundamental aspects, then that space is prolly not a good grow spot.

For example: My buddy spend about $1000 in construction materials and hours and hours of our time sealing up this garage and making it grow worthy. It was one of the best rooms I have seen in person when we were done. Well one night it rained SUPER hard and the whole garage flooded through cracks in the concrete slab it was on. Now a car just sits in his garage that he put a 1000 bucks into (he rents the house so was a good investment for someone else lol) because it wasnt going to be worth the hassle of mopping the garage all night every time we have prolonged storms (and we live in seattle... go figure) or always having mold issues.

If your basement cannot be exhausted, refreshed, and dehumidified then it is prolly not a good spot to grow. But then again if your just growing one plant, and expecting decent pot then you might be able to make it work for you, just keep reading about the fundamental aspects of growing, keep it simple, and never give up!!

WPA
 

A6D9

Member
I'll never guive up as long as I"m legal. I'm only doing 1 plant now till i understand and get at least 1 harvest in...once i get that done..my plan is to have 1 mom, 4 clones cut, 4 clones allready rooted and vegg, and 4 in flower at all times.

but first i need to make sure i get thigns set up to be able to udnerstand what I"m doing wrong and what not. this has been an huge l;earning expirience for me.

Also update, the plant has perked right up since the air and since i open the "tent" every night when light is on. and the soil is almost dry and ready for a tiny bit of water in a few days. thanx to all your help.

so let me ask this then...if it should take approx 80-110 days for flower, if i was to cut clones on the day i harvest, and on the next day i harvest move them to vegg and then on next harvest move them to flower room...so have all stages swaped at the same time..how big would my plants be when they are ready fro harvest?

only reason why I'm asking is that if you all say the 5 gallon pot is too big...I'd like to know what size i should be using so i can try to avoide this problem in the future.

yes i may be lazy but let me tell you I"m sure glad i put this post up...as it has been soooooo helpful..thanx again for all your advice...

and as for the water...it is only there on the floor of the basement for 3 days of the year..the rest of the time it is dry..just the big spring melt does it..till i open the drain and start the dehumidiafyer.
 

A6D9

Member
ok great enws everybody..after it was good and dried out....the plant almost grew 3-4 inches in a 24 hr span....AND the flowerign has begun....I'm so excited to have it starting and what not....thank you asll for your help.

and now I'm way more aware of my wrong doings. :)
 

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