Sick plants in Promix. 400watt.

[LivingKoan]

These plants were looking much healthier two weeks ago. They were under watered a couple of times, and they should probably be repotted soon. I think I might be pHing the water too low but I'm not sure. I have been mixing it to 6.0 and that seems to have brought out these deficiency symptoms so now I'm going to slowly increase it closer to neutral. Last watering was 6.5 pH. I'm hoping repotting with some organic nutrients and upping the pH will bring them out of this.

I really need these to produce, so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

How long has this problem been going on? Leaf curling from seed, deficiencies since 1.5 weeks ago.
What STRAIN are you growing? C99xDeepChunk, PPP, Hashberry, and Bagseed.
What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?) Seed
What is the age of your plants? 3-4 Weeks
How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now? 2.5 Weeks
How Tall are the plants? 8-10" Avg
What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in? Vegetative
What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc) I pinched the tops, and plant to LST when I repot into 3 gal containers.
What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot) 1 per/1Gal container
What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?) Pro-mixBX
What Nutrient's are you using? Espoma Plant-tone, mixed two handfuls into 17 gal soil. FloraNova Grow
How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful* Less than 1/4 tbl.spoon/Gal
How often are you feeding? Only fed once 1.5weeks ago.
What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used? PH 6.1-6.3
What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"? 6.2
What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen? pH pen
How often are you watering? Every other day now. 3-4 days before, and I think they may have dried out too much once or twice.
When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding? 1.5 weeks ago
What size bulb are you using? 400w
What is the distance to the canopy? 2 ft now. Was lower, I thought maybe they were getting light stressed.
What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity) 20%-55%
What is the canopy temperature? 75 deg F - 82 deg F
What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range) Lowest temp measured 60 deg F
What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.) Canfan 4" HO on lowest setting with fan speed controller
Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running? Coolsun vented reflector. Ventilation runs constantly.
Is the fan blowing directly at plants? No I need to buy a circulatory fan.
Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist? No
Is your water HARD or SOFT? I think its hard, but I don't know.
What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water? Tap
Are you using water from a water softener? I don't think so.
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched? Yes
Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when? No
Are plant's infected with pest's? No, I do not believe so.

 

[o.sparkles]

Right off, keeping your soil "always moist" is not right at all. Let it dry completely out between waterings. Then drench it and let it run off. You are having a serious overwatering issue in my opinion. Get that light (slowly) closer, get the fans going and get those girls drying out and growing fast.

 

[Admiral Canna]

Those plants look over watered to me as well......n gettin a lil hungry too.

Let em dry out a bit, but not til they wilt, then give em a nice feeding ph'd correctly

 

[Nicedreamz]

i concur

 

[LivingKoan]

I have been letting them dry out. I think they have been under watered. I had one wilt completely from dehydration so I pulled it. I will let them dry out good before I water them again.

Any other ideas?

 

[LivingKoan]

Heres the one that I decided to pull from under the light. I let it soak up some run off water and it seems to have perked up a bit. Just to show you that I have really been letting them dry out.

What pH should I be adjusting my water to? I am using organic nutrients in my soil but FloraNova calls for ph between 5.5-6.5.. I let my water sit out over night in a gallon size plastic jug, is that good enough or should I aerate it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Snype]

Alright lets get started. First off get rid of the Flora Nova grow and get the Bloom instead. There's plenty of N in the bloom for you.

1. Fill up how every many gallons of water that you are going to use.

2. Add 1/2 Tablespoon of FloraNova Bloom.

3. pH your solution to 6.9 (I only say this because your run-off is low). (your other option is to just use plain pH'd water at 6.8 and you want to put in 6 gallons of water / 3 gallon container to get your run off up but only use this step if using only water with no nutes)

 

[LivingKoan]

Ok thank you for you consideration! I really need someone that knows what they're talking about.

I do have the Bloom and will use it. The bottle says to pH nutrient solution from 5.0-6.5. Should I pH 6.5 for nutes and then 6.7 for plain water?

I plan to repot later this evening. I have some really good ammendments/nutrients lying around that I could use. Kelp Meal, Plant-tone (really good mix of stuff), Bat guano, and dolomitic lime. Should I add those?

 

[Snype]

Don't confuse yourself right now with all that other stuff. We'll get to that later. You have many lock outs because of your pH being too low. I like how you know not to nute every watering like some other people.

Let me give you a little secret for the future that most people don't seem to know. The way that you know if your plants need to be watered is by lifting the pot and hand weighing it. When it needs to be watered it should be about the same weight as it was when you first transplanted it into the container before you added water. This does not apply when you need to add your nutes though. When you need to nute, make sure that the container is not bone dry. If it is then you have to add a little water for a few hours first.

 

[LivingKoan]

Ok well I have to get offline soon, but I will take the advice you leave me and post later today.

Edit: So if I pH my nutrient solution to 6.9 do I want to flush a lot of it through, or just do a saturation of the soil?

 

[Snype]

Sounds good and be very careful who you listen to in the future. I'm not saying that anyone in here told you anything wrong but I refuse to read what they have said. I've been up for 24 hours or more so send me a message later so I can get back to you for more details but you have the important steps now to get you through until then.

 

[o.sparkles]

Sounds good and be very careful who you listen to in the future. I'm not saying that anyone in here told you anything wrong but I refuse to listen to what they have said. I've been up for 24 hours or more so send me a message later so I can get back to you for more details but you have the important steps now to get you through until then.

Wow, you're so smart.

 

[Nicedreamz]

I dont know if snype will agree but......... it looks to me like that plant has had some heat stress also....i read you moved your light farther away recently.....how close was it before you moved it?

 

[etinarcadiaego]

I see a lot of people offering you ways to get nutrients to your plants in spite of any issues you may have, not one has mentioned a solution for the "root" of your problem.

DONT FLUSH THE SOIL!

Transplant into bigger pots using your same mix as before but add 1-3 Tablespoons of finely crushed dolomite lime per gallon of medium. This is KEY in soil grows, once you start adding lime pH becomes WAY less important and your plant can feed on nutrients even when the solution it outside the optimal range.

So, transplant and add lime to your new mix. In the meantime, or right now, water with an earthworm castings slurry. This will help add some humates and Nitrogen and perhaps stabilize your pH for a little bit, as it looks like your problems were caused by overwatering, which damages the microherd especially in soil grows.

For an earthworm castings slurry, just add 1-2 handfuls of earthworm castins per gallon of water, shake it up good and keep it shook for as long as you have to wait until you water next, 1 minute - 48 hours is fine. You can even add some pulverized dolomite lime to the slurry at a rate of about 1TB of lime /gallon of water. Lime isn't water soluble, but it can't hurt.

It looks like overwatering led to some pH issues, but a few of those pics looked to have what is POSSIBLY a fungal infection. I don't have a ton of experience with those, I do have some, and I can tell you this, if the spots have an orange or white border around them, it MAY be an issue. pH spotting can also manifest that way, as well as other issues and deficiencies, but be sure your pH is stable by feeding with an Earthworm Castings Slurry (adding some lime is optional) or transplant into the same mix with some EWC and lime added.

Just thought I'd try to offer you a more permanent solution. My experience has proven liming my mix to be invaluable.

Good luck!

 

[IWanaGetHiSoHi]

I grow in Pro Mix BX. It doesn't need Lime ... In fact ... I don't amend it at all. It is Not soil. Period. Letting it dry out completely is a mistake. 1/2 Tablespoon per gallon is too strong for young plants. That sounds more like what I give them Mid Flower. I also use FNG and B ... I start seedlings and just rooted clones at 1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon per gallon and I step it up a little every time I feed (which is every third day). If you want a complete run down of what I use and how I roll PM me.

 

[etinarcadiaego]

I grow in Pro Mix BX. It doesn't need Lime ... In fact ... I don't amend it at all. It is Not soil. Period. Letting it dry out completely is a mistake. 1/2 Tablespoon per gallon is too strong for young plants. That sounds more like what I give them Mid Flower. I start seedlings and just rooted clones at 1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon per gallon and I step it up a little every time I feed (which is every third day). If you want a complete run down of what I use and how I roll PM me.

Many even most mixes don't need lime, but every mix can benefit from dolomite lime. It's a great addition to any soil(less) mix out there, providing pH buffering, Ca, Mg, and trace elements.



Hope this helps.

 

[IWanaGetHiSoHi]

Have you used or read into ProMix BX? It has been pH corrected (read Lime Added), it has a starter charge of nutrients and a wetting agent (peat initially repels water due to an oil on its surface). FloraNova has adequate amounts of Ca and Mg and until I add a Bloom Enhancer I don't use CalMag. It's a balance ... tossing in some Not Needed Lime will throw this balance off.

 

[LivingKoan]

To those of you saying its overwatering, please read before you post from now on. I understand it does look like over watering but I had been letting them get bone dry so there is no chance of it. If anything it is the opposite. They seem to have perked up a lot in the last couple of days because I have watered with pH 6.5.

Now I have time to work on the girls. I'm going to take Snype's advice because he read my post thoroughly before responding. Thanks to everyone who commented. I'll update this thread soon.

 

[IWanaGetHiSoHi]

I read your post and I successfully grow the way you want to. Snype has already helped Some but you aren't quite on the right path Yet IMHO. You're going to get differing responses which might lead to arguments ... This is why I asked you to PM me. Do these look like unhealthy plants that you would not smoke the bud from? I grow big plants compared to their pot size and my method is Simple. Are you sure you don't want my help?

 

[LivingKoan]

Sure I want help. I will listen to your ideas definitely. I am however unnable to PM because of having only 9 posts.

Also I think Snype meant tsp not tbsp. So I have mixed a small amount of Bloom into gallon jugs and pH'd to 6.8-6.9. Lights come on in 30 minutes or so, and they should be ready for some water.