Noob with BIG problems

[Skunker]

Hey all, after reading every grow and sick plant guides i could find, and still not being able to get my babies on track, i decided to make a post. This is my second grow and im having a bunch of problems. Miraculously my first grow from a very old bag seed did very well, but that was under different conditions.

My plants are 5-6 weeks old.

They were from a pack of Nirvana's Indoor Mix, so I dont know the exact strains as they werent seperated when i got them, but i can narrow it down to 5

I am growing in either 3 or 4 gallon pots, not exactly sure, with some cheap potting soil (i regret being cheap here) I had mixed in a small amount of some Miracle Grow Organic Blood meal before i put the sprouts in the soil. (something else i probably shouldnt have sone?)

I started out with low stregth of Fox Farm Big Bloom after maybe a week or 2, and have since moved up to the regualr strength. I usually fert every 3 days, and flush sometimes in between. I have been using jugs of water from walmart, since my tap is very high in PH and tastes weird too.

I am sadly forced to grow in a small closet becasue i moved, and it can get pretty warm dry. I am using 8 CFLs right now for the 3 plants, and have 2 fans going. I have 6 23w Daylight, and 2 23w of the yellower kind. I am currently leaving the lights and fans on 24/7 as it worked well for my first grow. I have Mylar on the inside lip of the pots as well as on the walls to help maximize light.

I've tried a lot of different things such as adding small amounts of Epsom salt and lime to the water, and I also have been testing the water with a drop PH tester. I've been adjusting with Earth Juice Natural Up and Natural Down. When I test the PH of the runnoff though, it is always high at around 7 or 8. Even after flushing with water of 4.5-5 PH the runoff is still very high above 7. What could be causing this? The runoff also smells a lot like rotten eggs for a few minutes but then dissapates. Could this be from the bloodmeal? But Bloodmeal should lower the PH right?

I mist them with 6.5 PH water to help with the humidity and heat.

I've also had a small infestation of thrips, but i have been able to keep them well managed and close to wiping them out with neem oil.

Here are pics of two of the tree plants i have that have the most problems. My other plant is doing pretty well, just a bit of yellowing on the lower leaves.




Lot's of leaf twisting and yellowing. Very stunted, Dry and crisp feeling leaves with dark around the edges. also some purple stem.


Any help would be appreciated! Sorry if this was a bit of a ramble, been smoking resin Dang I need weed!

 

[Skunker]

here is my healthier plant.

 

[i love herb]

is that aluminum foil?


you have a large range of issues

what are you using to adjust ph/test ph
you were using nutes way to early
the soil mix you are using with the bloodmeal is too hot


what kind of lights are you using?

 

[Skunker]

is that aluminum foil?

no, Mylar

 

[Skunker]

is that aluminum foil?


you have a large range of issues

what are you using to adjust ph/test ph
you were using nutes way to early
the soil mix you are using with the bloodmeal is too hot


what kind of lights are you using?

i knew i was forgeting something! I have been using Earth Juice Natural Up and Natural Down to adjust the PH.

And by hot you mean low PH right? But the runoff is VERY high, it's almost like it gains 2 PH points in the minute it travels through the pot and out the bottom. And this is after flushing quite a few times with 4.5-5 PH water!

Currently have 184w of CFL spread between them 24/7.

 

[stinkyattic]

That's a very odd-looking soil you have there- do I see wood chips and charcoal?

 

[i love herb]

That's a very odd-looking soil you have there- do I see wood chips and charcoal?

i laughed out loud

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

i knew i was forgeting something! I have been using Earth Juice Natural Up and Natural Down to adjust the PH.

And by hot you mean low PH right? But the runoff is VERY high, it's almost like it gains 2 PH points in the minute it travels through the pot and out the bottom. And this is after flushing quite a few times with 4.5-5 PH water!

Currently have 184w of CFL spread between them 24/7.

sounds like you have some numbers wrong. 4.5 ph is VERY BAD. i ****ed my whole crop with 4 ph in 2 days.

you should imediately go and buy 3-6 gallons of DISTILLED water and flush theos pots.

whats with the wood. thats got to go. no charcoal either. and what with the mylar?

you should have 6.5 PH water go through there ONLY!!!

hot mean its full of nutrients to the point the plant cant use them.

that 4.5 ph is a bad idea where did u get that wild idea?
quit lowering the PH and quit using PH adjusters alltogether, DISTILLED / RO water comes out at 6.5 the perfect range for soil. infact TOO MUCH PH ADJUSTER will burn the plant aswell.

good freakin luck.
happy growing.

 

[stinkyattic]

i laughed out loud

And why would that be? Look at that medium. It's bizarre.

 

[HeadyPete]

If there is wood ash in your mix it is high ph and will cause the ph upswing you are noticing. Lime is another one that will raise ph. The perfectly adjusted ph means adjusting your fert water to counter the natural soil ph to end up at a nice value of 6.5. If your soil is high you need to adjust fert water low to counter it and vice versa.

Yes, too hot means to strong. Bloodmeal is very potent high nitrogen fert, like 13-1-0. That is very strong in organic fert terms. Seedlings should get no feed for the first week, including no food in the soil.

 

[MynameStitch]

Bout time you showed up heady where ya been! You are late, late late!!
Was about to get someone else to take your job! j/k

Now get to work; you are on a time card now!

 

[Skunker]

That's a very odd-looking soil you have there- do I see wood chips and charcoal?

no charcoal, but there is some woodchips that were in with the "organic" potting soil. It's wet so that's why it looks dark. The white is some other type of wood i am assuming.

 

[stinkyattic]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my small brain around why a POTTING soil would contain such fresh, raw, obviously un-composted WOOD chunks. It looks like it's been scraped off my rose bed!

 

[Skunker]

sounds like you have some numbers wrong. 4.5 ph is VERY BAD. i ****ed my whole crop with 4 ph in 2 days.

you should imediately go and buy 3-6 gallons of DISTILLED water and flush theos pots.

whats with the wood. thats got to go. no charcoal either. and what with the mylar?

you should have 6.5 PH water go through there ONLY!!!

hot mean its full of nutrients to the point the plant cant use them.

that 4.5 ph is a bad idea where did u get that wild idea?
quit lowering the PH and quit using PH adjusters alltogether, DISTILLED / RO water comes out at 6.5 the perfect range for soil. infact TOO MUCH PH ADJUSTER will burn the plant aswell.

good freakin luck.
happy growing.

ok ill try that. I was doing that the first few weeks with distilled water that was 6.5 with no adjusters added to it, but everytime i would check the runoff it was 7-8 PH, so i figured i needed to lower the PH somehow so i flushed with the low PH water.

Thanks for the input!

 

[i love herb]

get you some fox farm happy frog soil and call it a day



sorry to say but those girls look past recoverable

 

[MynameStitch]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my small brain around why a POTTING soil would contain such fresh, raw, obviously un-composted WOOD chunks. It looks like it's been scraped off my rose bed!

LOL the humor on these boards I swear.... small one liners are the hillarious parts about it.....

There has not been one day I have not come on here and not seen something funny a grower has done weather it was a mistake or on purpose

He may have gotten soil that was supposed to be used for top soil and not potting mixture

with some cheap potting soil

There is an old saying goes that will stick to the end of time..... you get what you pay for! I can guarantee all your problems resolve around the cheap potting mixture...... wood chunks cause root growth problems; and I have even heard can damage roots.... not 100% sure about that.

I would also back the fluro off a bit just a little.... you are using a reflector for it..... concentrates a small amount of heat in an area with those... I used those with my fluros too....

 

[Skunker]

yea, i really do regret getting the least expensive i could find at lowes. I was new to the area and poor so.... lol. I have since found a small hydro store so ill look for the suggestions.

Do you think transplanting would be an option still without pushing them over the edge?

 

[MynameStitch]

nope, the entire soil needs scraped; at least most of it.....

some soil will have to stay with what is on the root system......

I would take happy frog and a mixture of some other soil and transplant it.... the sicker ones will have to be in that mixture... for the ones that is bigger I would straight transplant it in happy frog soil.

 

[Skunker]

nope, the entire soil needs scraped; at least most of it.....

some soil will have to stay with what is on the root system......

I would take happy frog and a mixture of some other soil and transplant it.... the sicker ones will have to be in that mixture... for the ones that is bigger I would straight transplant it in happy frog soil.

alright awesome thanks! would you do that to limit the amount of nutes to the sicker ones? Ill buy some perlite as well to add to the soil.

I appreciate the help everyone! i wish i could give rep

 

[MynameStitch]

the sicker ones is a smaller size and not a big root system, which is why you need to minimize the amount.

The bigger the plant the more food they need.