Dr. Mantis Toboggan's Perpetual Tent of Wonder, Dreams, Highs, Lows, Enemies, Friends, and Maybe - Just Maybe - Even You

[Bona Fortuna]

I'll get some flak for saying this but I've never had luck with the smart pots. My plants were never healthy the one time I used them. Went back to regular pots and plants grew better. Less watering. Smart pots dry out too quick imo.

I’m going to second this. I’ve had much better luck with deep, rigid planters indoors.
Smart pots are amazing for high density, high humidity, high moisture situations, but fall flat when it comes to dryness. Lots of maintenance, especially outdoors.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

Check the runoff. Have u calibrated the tester?

I've got this guy and there's no mention of calibration in the instructions. And actually, it says not to use with any liquid - just soil. Whoops! The Panama clone is at 7 pH and the GG #4 is at maybe 7.1 or 7.2.

 

[idiographicChronographic]

I'm a perlite guy myself... haven't ever tried smart pots. Perlite with a layer of soil or landscaping fabric to hold in the moisture. Great grow media!

 

[Alitolla]

Hi friend, I respect you and follow you, can I tell you my opinion? You have a fantastic enthusiasm and I admire you for your vegetables...but.. hehehe there is a but.... don't you think that your soil is a little dry? you can see the color of the soil....anyway nice work, thanks for the show.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

I gave the first liquid nutrient feeding today (~1/8 cap) to both MN Tangie and GG #4 mothers and continued training on the Panama today. Gave molasses water to the Panama and Blueberry F5 mothers, too.

Hi friend, I respect you and follow you, can I tell you my opinion? You have a fantastic enthusiasm and I admire you for your vegetables...but.. hehehe there is a but.... don't you think that your soil is a little dry? you can see the color of the soil....anyway nice work, thanks for the show.

Thanks for following along and for the concern! There is a very good chance that my soil is dry. Which pic(s) are you referring to?

 

[Alitolla]

from these photos...I think you can see it...increase the dose of water my friend, you'll see that your plants will thank you...
I edit to add that with pots like yours (and mine) it is better to put saucers underneath which retain the superfluous water first and then you can water from underneath which will be sucked by the soil by capillarity ensuring balanced watering for the whole topsoil..Ciao man!

 

[Entusia]

I mostly agree with alitolla, they're looking thirsty to me too.

Looking forward to follow you closely! We have very similar tents, but you basically have all the stuff i was dying to buy but i couldn't (in the EU the price for most of the AC Infinity stuff is basically double its original price, sigh ).

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

(Gameshow music) Alright everyone - welcome to the weekly (audience says in unison) WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY PLANT? This week we are back with our regular, the GG #4 clone!!! Contestant, please come on down!

She's continuing to look washed out at the new growth and old fan leaves are yellowing. It's pretty difficult to stick my finger in the media in her pot - could she be rootbound? If so, I don't really know what to do, as I don't have a lot of room for a bigger pot. I've been watering her pretty much every other day. She has her 2nd feeding of liquid nutrients coming this weekend. The clip on fan does blast her directly at the end of its rotation. Do you think that could be problematic?

I tried to start LSTing the Panama clone today, but she popped out of her wire. I'll try again in a couple of days.

I mostly agree with alitolla, they're looking thirsty to me too.

Looking forward to follow you closely! We have very similar tents, but you basically have all the stuff i was dying to buy but i couldn't (in the EU the price for most of the AC Infinity stuff is basically double its original price, sigh ).

Thanks for the feedback re: watering!

I have no comparisons, but I like AC Infinity's products thus far.

 

[Entusia]

Some of my plants in the past looked eerily similar, also i was still using fabric pots too: the problem here was mainly underwatering, but also high bicarbonates (250+ppm) in the tap water, and lights were also a touch too far.

With fabric pots you definitely don't want fans blowing anywhere near directly to the pots, they're gonna dry out *very* quickly. This was also the case with my plants. That was also worsening the bicarbonates situation, which locked up Ca and Mg and were causing defs/overs all over the place.



With fabric pots and good draining soil, you basically cannot overwater them (except if they're very young), so don't go light on the water. Fully drench them, and then try to not let them dry out too much. Especially when you have high bicarbonates, because otherwise they'll start building up and causing cascading problems like salt deposits and iron clorosis.

With fabric pots also keep in mind that the pots dry out from every direction towards the inside, instead of from the topsoil towards the roots like regular plastic pots!

After figuring out what my problems were, i started basically blasting them with tons of water every 2-3 days (i'm talking 3L+ every 2-3 days for 20-24L pots), here they were 1 month later:



After that they had salts buildups 1 month later, because i let them run too dry again a couple of times (and the bicarbonates locked up Ca and Mg). Salvaged the grow by flushing them with 40+ L per pot, but they hermed a bit towards the end... luckily they (OG Kushes) were able to finish without more than a couple seeds here and there and the smoke was some of the best i ever had, not so much potency but around 180g per plant

In your plants i also see a touch of N deficiency, while i was (mostly, but not really) feeding correctly. Couple that with underwatering, it could very well be that it's locking out because of drying out too much, or you're just not giving them enough food, in which case it will keep fading even if you largely increase watering.

Imho, first try to increase watering and to distance your lights correctly (36-40cm distance is the best, usually). Also try to measure light intensity at the canopy level (PPFD, for that the Photone app can help you get a rough estimate) if you want to have some measurement. Then you should see if there's something to fix on the feeding side... since that's strictly correlated to water availability/transpiration and metabolism.

The next time you water them, maybe also take a look at runoff EC/pH... that's gonna give you a very rough idea of what's going on in the soil chemistry, but it's better than nothing!

Some info on bicarbonates in irrigation water

Hope this helps

 

[rindindoo]

The plant looks hungry, you need to find the reason for this. Could nutrients be blocked due to soil drying out, or vice versa due to overwatering? What concentration of fertilizers did you give, indicate in %? Is the largest plant in the photo a Panama clone?

 

[limegreenlimey]

Great project. I fear that you are going to have some difficulty with the difference in the height of the plants, when it comes to flowering. I usually had this problem when growing from seed. The well-established plants take over the tent and crowd out the little ones. But that's some way down the road. My two pennies on watering: give them a good drenching but allow the surface of the soil to dry out before you water again. This may mean putting more water on, less frequently. With fabric pots this may mean that they leak a lot of water from the bottom and sides before they are wet through, so while you can, you might want to plunge the whole pot in a bucket or tub of water for a few seconds, then lift and drain. This is much tidier and ensures all the soil in the pot is wet... but do drain them well... Agree with above: test the pH again and again.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

@Entusia, @limegreenlimey, and @rindindoo, thanks for the feedback!

Using my analog pH meter, the medium was at ~7.2 pH prior to watering and ~7.3 after watering today. The directions don't recommend measuring liquid, so there's a limitation there. I had been told that it isn't too important to measure pH when growing organically, so I didn't go and purchase a digital meter.

I chose fabric pots as I heard they air-prune and aerate the medium well. Maybe this was a bad choice? I don't have the means to dunk them, @limegreenlimey, unfortunately.

I lowered the light by ~6 in today, putting it at about 1 ft 6 in above the GG #4 and Panama, which are the tallest. I also lowered the clip fan and changed its angle so that it's not blowing directly on the plants.

@rindindoo, the first liquid feeding I gave it was a week and a half ago was at 25% strength. I'm planning on giving a 50% strength feeding this weekend.

Here are some updated pictures of the Blueberry F5:

I'm not seeing any clear indicators on sex. Thoughts?

 

[rindindoo]

hi Dr. Mantis Toboggan! I think in one photo I saw female sexual characteristics, but so far without hairs 25% is not enough. after rooting, I water it once with a 50% solution and the next watering I give it a 100% concentration. Since you haven't gotten used to your setup yet, continue to be careful, but keep in mind that a clone is an adult plant, despite its size, it has the same appetite as an adult plant.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

Began training the Panama clone today.

hi Dr. Mantis Toboggan! I think in one photo I saw female sexual characteristics, but so far without hairs 25% is not enough. after rooting, I water it once with a 50% solution and the next watering I give it a 100% concentration. Since you haven't gotten used to your setup yet, continue to be careful, but keep in mind that a clone is an adult plant, despite its size, it has the same appetite as an adult plant.

I'll be feeding it 50% this weekend.

 

[right]

I think i might see pistols coming out of a cylax in the top picture. At this point I still think it's a guess

 

[right]

Hey Dr mantis why do you you start manually flipping it with light deprivation in a dark closet 12 light 12 dark that'll show you sex quicker

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

I raised the power of the light in what will be the flowering chamber to 80% power.

Fed the GG #4 clone with 50% strength of the liquid nutrients.

Fed the Panama clone with dry nutrients.

Hey Dr mantis why do you you start manually flipping it with light deprivation in a dark closet 12 light 12 dark that'll show you sex quicker

That'd be ideal, but:

• I don't have another light for it.

• It's already stinky, and there is a clear understanding with my landlords that if they can smell my plants, I have to stop growing.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

Continued training the Panama clone.

Gave molasses water to the Panama and MN Tangie clones and all mothers.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

LST'd the GG #4 clone more than I ever have today. Hopefully it didn't enter into high-stress training!

 

[shawkmon]

you could have had new seedlings ready to flip by now., ugg seems like your trying too hard. put seeds in dirt , add water and light . it's that simple , just keep your lightning 12x12 . I get 5 foot plants 1212 from seed. your doing something wrong, plants look yellow and over loved. plant some female seeds and learn to neglect your plant morre so you don't kill them