Day 33 - how are they? + sick El Nino

[Rougarou]

Here's the girls. I just fed them a 600 ppm, 6.7 solution feeding of Grow Big. They tolerated the 540 ppm solution just fine so I gave them a little bump. Is it normal for excess runoff to skew the ph readings? Reason why I ask is that when i fed the Bubblelicious and Afghan Skunk there was more than enough for the probe tip but pH was very low, 5.5. On the El Nino and Nemesis, I had to really try to get the probe into the water. Just barely a few drops. pH was 6.3.

They look droopy because I took the picture before I fed them that way you guys can't say i'm overwatering again

I think the El Nino is sick. New growth seen at the top is very green, but the leaves themselves are getting yellower. runoff ph today was 6.3. The Afghan Skunk is the same way except that it's just the damaged leaves at the bottom that are getting yellower. I'm not really worried about it. The El Nino, however, worries the @#&% out of me. Out of all of these I had the highest hopes for this one.

I think it's the Jiffy Pots that are doing it. I have been fighting pH since I transplanted the girls into those damned things. Next time my soil is dry i'm planting into my 2 gallon buckets. Plus, I already have roots poking out.

Seriously guys, what's your opinions? Do i have a genuine problem or am I just freaking out because i'm a noob? Oh yeah. I've got my 400w cooltube about 14" from the plant tops and the temp seems to be fine. Is it cool to lower it or should I just leave it where it's at for now?

 

[trem0lo]

They still look overwatered. Classic signs: leaves drooping/curling from the middle and tips; they also get twisted and leathery. Slow growth, general unhappiness, and they use less water being sick so that just compounds the problem when you add more. The root system is suffocating so that locks out other nutes as well, hence the deficiencies. In my experience it takes a week or two of ZERO water to recover, or repot into dryer soil (don't water it!) and you will lose some of the twisted growth as it doesn't really recover.

Stop watering them!

 

[Rougarou]

Roger. When I transplant I won't water them. That soil Is extremely easy to work with out of the bag. I was under the assumption that when the leaves laid down they were signaling for water.

That'll make it all the more easy to peel away the jiffy pots. Thanks for correcting me. What signs should i look for after this dry-out period that they really need water?

 

[Phychotron]

if you have shitty soil, especially miracle grow, or similar you'll often get very poor drainage and the soil soaks up as much water as possible (for house plants, so you don't have to water every 2 days). If that's the case either get better soil or add a bunch of perlite to your soil before you transplant in order to lighten it. Some soil is too hard on the plants and can stunt their growth big time.

first thing i thought when i saw the photo was over watered. I water by the weight of the pot. When it's getting low on water you can definitely tell just by picking it up or tipping the pot a little if it's large. It will be extremely light right before it wilts and dies. I suggest you also check out the super roots air cell, 1L airpot that's good for young plants if your planning on doing any veg time. They are great for getting plants ready to transplant; easy to use, easy to clean.

http://www.roguehydro.com/superoots-air-pots/

that's the cheapest I've found them online. a few bucks well spent if you ask me. You might even consider the larger one's to flower in.


also if your using soil you usually won't need to feed them too much in the very beginning, that's what the soil is for. at day 30 you might have feed them once, watered them a total of 2-3 times, depending on pot size, but even small one's wont take too much water in the beginning. The leaves will usually stay a nice rich green, and start to lighten up when they need their first feeding. Once you figure out the plant you can start feeding before that point, but it's good to see how much the soil is contributing at first.

i like the way you wrote BEAN with the plants. if you've been feeding them for awhile i would cut it back to just water for awhile. the E plant is not looking so good, kinda like a Nitrogen problem, but gauging by the spots developing on the side ruffles of the leaves you've been giving them too much food.

 

[trem0lo]

Yep, I'd recommend repotting. Then the excess moisture will wick into the new soil. Thing about cannabis that I've found is that they prefer dry soil, and in small pots there is less margin for error. After the root system develops more it's more difficult to overwater.

When they droop from the stems (not the leaves) that's when they need water. You'll know it, it looks totally different.

 

[Rougarou]

The soil is Ferti-Lome Ultimate Potting Mix. I am using Hammerhead's method, upon his advice. Feed weak but feed with every watering. So far they've been fed twice under that schedule. I have been waiting til the pots were very light to water but apparently from what I read here that's not the case.

I'm gonna take tremolo's advice and let them dry out for a week. They'll be repotted into the final 2g buckets within the next few days. The soil has just now started to separate from the side of the jiffy pots.

I've got another 4 inches of grow room before I have to start seriously considering tying the Afghan down. I have 36" of vertical room in the cabinet and I'm using 3x as a limit for flowering. I don't think they'll get much bigger than that in 2 gallon pots, though.

The bean thing was intentional.

 

[trem0lo]

Cool, let us know how it works out.

I am a chronic overwaterer so I know how frustrating it is. When I transplanted my last overwatered plants, the side of the pot was dry but the middle (where most of the root mass was) was definitely too wet. I think the water just sits there without being used, that's when the problems start.

 

[Rougarou]

Bad advice on the week-long drying out period. When i checked the cab 14 hours ago, the girls looked horrible. The el nino looked great but the other girls were drooping so hard the afghan and nemesis were nearly folded in half. I pulled em out of the jiffy pots and transplanted into the 2 gallon buckets along with some water. They looked better this morning but they had clearly been through alot. I'll take pix tonight.

Im kinda wishing i'd gone hydro at this point.

 

[Guest 243982]

Try reading through the material at http://lucasformula.com/ and then water with nutes, then two plain waterings before nutes again. As for time between waterings, stick your half your finger in the dirt, if its dry down there... water. Also combine that technique with watching the plants leaves.. as they droop you know when to water. Checkout my grow, I used the lucas formula but in Hydro, so you can see it as proof it works.

It's not like its the only solution... it's just simple, cheap and effective. All about personal preference.