Overwatering/Underwatering??

[MintyFresh]

I am brand new to growing and I started a few plants. They are almost 2 months old from seed. The skinny one is a little over 4 in tall and has 5 nodes really close together, and the squat one is just under 3 in. with 3 nodes really close together.

I have read through here and I can't tell if these plants are over/under watered....I have let it go until the soil was so dry it was pulling away from the sides of the container and very light, which would be about watering every 2 days. Then I have tried watering every day...neither way has helped. Am I missing something?

I have just started (couple weeks ago) feeding them a houseplant food at 1/4 strength (this is all I have at the moment, the food is 8-7-6.)

I don't think they are rootbound because I can see the roots and they just don't look all compacted together.

The mix is peat moss, perlite and little bit of lime. The ph of the runoff is 6.6-6.8 using drops and comparing the color to a chart.

This is the squat plant:

This is the skinny plant:

I just noticed the pictures make them really yellow..only the 2 first leaves have gone yellow and the set above are fading a bit....the rest are green.

 

[Maxyeild]

Looks way over watered to me, and twisting leaves looks like PH is off. You can let it dry out but how much water do you water it with? Do you have holes in the bottom of the pot>? Looks like there floating to me, but chit what do I know

 

[Denial N Error]

Exactly, Overwatering.

 

[MintyFresh]

Ok so ph 6.6-6.8 is wrong? Should I try lower or higher? There are many drain holes in the bottom. I'm not sure what you mean by floating as I watered them yesterday and right now they are just a little bit moist. I water until a little bit of water drains out the bottom and I water slowly to make sure it gets all through the mix. I have let them dry out until the entire pot is dry...no change. I have them in a rubbermaid with 4 13 watt lights. The temp is usually between 79-83 during the day and around 76-79 at night. (I have them on a 18/6 light cycle.) The humidity in there is usually mid 40s.

 

[MintyFresh]

I thought overwater too! But I have let them dry out -completely- and only water then, and they still look exactly the same.

 

[10k]

seriously, wtf is that in on the soil in the second picture ?

 

[MintyFresh]

Could it be that I need to let them dry out for a longer period of time? Since I wasn't sure when I tried slowing down the watering there was no change after 5 days....would it take longer for them to straighten out? Did I not wait long enough?

 

[MintyFresh]

10k: do you mean what is the mix? It is peat, perlite and lime. Or did you mean what is the container? It is a 20oz water bottle cut down.

 

[Maxyeild]

you need to stick your finger down in the soil about 3"s if it feels moist you do NOT water if bone dry then water. If you let dry out for 5 days and no improvement, then Im not sure WTF you have going on. What type of water are you using? They look WAY over watered to me, your at the eazy stage this should not be very though to figure out.......

 

[MintyFresh]

RO water from a machine (you know, the ones you take your empties to and fill up for .25 a gallon?)

I know it should be easy..that is why I am sitting here trying to figure out what the heck went wrong. I let them go until the whole dang thing was completely dry...5 days and no change so I went back to watering everyday....but maybe this time I will give it a week...maybe they needed more time?

 

[Grand Funk]

Ok guys, I got this one...........get them in a bigger pot asap! Let them bitches stretch their legs a bit, and see how they will take off!! I'm just sayin'........!! Rootbound!! 2 months in half cut 20 oz soda cups??? Yeppp.....I'm callin' root issues. Add to that Ro water with no micros...... Get 'em in bigger pots and feed them.

What kinda light you got them under?? What's their environment like?? Did you see the sticky in this forum with the list?? Help us help you. Give more information please.

Start here. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=799262&postcount=22

 

[MintyFresh]

Sorry! yes I saw it..should have filled it out in the first post:

How long has this problem been going on?
last month

What STRAIN are you growing?
Bagseed

What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
seed

What is the age of your plants?
2 months

How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now?
since seed popped

How Tall are the plants?
squat: little under 3 inches, skinny: little under 4 inches

What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
Veg

What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc)
will be SOG

What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot)
20 oz bottles cut down

What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?)
75%peat 25% pearlite bit of lime

What Nutrient's are you using?
houseplant food 8-7-6

How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful*
miraclegrow 1/4 of suggested use in gallon water

How often are you feeding?
first every day, then ever 2-3 day, back to everyday

What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used?
no idea..cant get a meter

What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
6.5-6.8 around those numbers

What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen?
drops/compare to color code strip

How often are you watering?
first every day, then every 2-3 days, back to everyday

When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding?
yesturday, every watering

What size bulb are you using?
13 watt cfl 6500k (4 of them)

What is the distance to the canopy?
about 1-2 inches

What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
usually between 35%-42%

What is the canopy temperature?
79-84 thereabouts daytime, around 74-76 night time.

What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
same as above

What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.)
not sure..use a computer fan

Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running ?
two holes passive, 1 hole with computer fan, fan always on, Fan inside box pointed upwards towards lights.

Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
sometimes a little

Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
moist

Is your water HARD or SOFT?
don't know

What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?
RO from pay filler machine

Are you using water from a water softener?
don't think so

Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
no

Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?
no

Are plant's infected with pest's?
see a little gnat every now and then but kill it every time.

------------------------------------------

I will try transplanting them into bigger containers...I wanted to try the hempy bucket way since it says it is hard to over water them that way. I will up the plant food too...first 1/2 per gallon for a week then to full?

 

[Grand Funk]

Keep it simple brother! First, get them in bigger pots. There's no need to use Ro water....you just have to put back what you are missing. Use tap unless you have issues with hard/soft water. If you have to use miracle grow nutes, then by all means, use only half/quarter strength at first. The directions are meant for larger plants with way more light available. So start off with plain Ph'd water 6.5-6.8 Ye hear any bad advice guyz?? Make sense?? Small plants....2 months old in small containers using Ro water thus far. I say up size and feed lightly until they are big enough, and have enough light to use the food.

 

[BeardedClam]

I read somewhere that clear containers were a no-no, but agree with over watering.

 

[wvkindbud38]

EDIT......mintyfresh if you need any help just pm me........I edit out my info because 10k wants all post to be perfect with punctation and grammar and paragraphs.......and I don't write or type perfect as this post isn't going to the white house to be read. 10k must think he's PERFECT or a Yale grad or something. But I'm not gonna be insulted by 10k about my post so if you need some help pm me if not I'm sure there's some cool understanding members that will help you and not make fun of you........WVKINDBUD38.............EDIT

 

[10k]

wvkindbud38,
Man I get a headache ( really I do) reading posts where people cant seem to find the enter key and run everything all together in one giant block of text with dots between each rambling thought. But other than that it was decent advice. Please use paragraphs if at all possible.

mintyfresh,
the reason I asked wtf that is on top the soil in the bottom photo is it looks from here like a chunk of dog crap heh heh

Anyway, "peat moss" is a very acidic and poor choice for soil.
I would transplant them into a good soil or soilless mix with perlite added for drainage, and get them started on a good feeding plan.
btw, they sure look over watered from here.
Also please don't be cramming your finger down into the soil like someone advised here,
instead get used to the lift the pot method to know when to water. (see sig below)

hth,
10k

 

[wvkindbud38]

wvkindbud38,
Man I get a headache ( really I do) reading posts where people cant seem to find the enter key and run everything all together in one giant block of text with dots between each rambling thought. But other than that it was decent advice. Please use paragraphs if at all possible.

mintyfresh,
the reason I asked wtf that is on top the soil in the bottom photo is it looks from here like a chunk of dog crap heh heh

Anyway, "peat moss" is a very acidic and poor choice for soil.
I would transplant them into a good soil or soilless mix with perlite added for drainage, and get them started on a good feeding plan.
btw, they sure look over watered from here.
Also please don't be cramming your finger down into the soil like someone advised here,
instead get used to the lift the pot method to know when to water. (see sig below)

hth,
10k

man if you don't like how I post my info don't read it. I'm just trying to help out this guy with the overwatering questions. I'm not writing a post to the President or anything........nor or I a scholar........this is a forum about marijuana and growing info. So bro if you get a headache don't read it......I'm getting tired of all the smartass kids on here with all the disrespect. Like I said I don't need anybody telling me how to type......I know it's not correct or perfect but this is how I type in forums. I didn't realize this post was going to be judged like it was posted on a Harvard law firm post or something

insert new paragraph LOL

10 k......really really I hope your head keeps hurting........I'm trying to help a newbie and you are acting very disrespectful. It's doesn't say anywere in the rules of icmag that you have to type each post with perfect grammar and pronoucation, new paragraphs........I don't care how anybody types......it's all about the info/advice. So I'll continue to do my..........thing on any post I want......as I'm not writing a letter to the president......just offering almost 15 years of grow info to a new member......but whatever 10k bro

 

[10k]

wvkindbud, "don't have a cow" man, no disrespect intended. I did say it was decent advice. sheeeesh

 

[wvkindbud38]

this is about mintyfresh and helping him with his overwatering problem.......that's all I dropped by for was to help this guy with this over/underwatering problem. I'm not saying my advice is the best and only advice mintyfresh needs. These forums are about helping growers with info and advice. I appreciate the typing info but I'm not here to learn how to type a perfect paragraph......I used to have over/underwatering problems and offered my info/advice to mintyfresh......just trying to help.....GOOD LUCK mintyfresh......don't give up man it takes time

 

[Miss Blunted]

Yeah, overwatered darlin'. Without a ph meter, I don't know if you are getting a good reading, I know they're expensive, but they help. Try to stay away from the miracle grow if you can. I would raise the light a bit as well...I've never had a light 1-2 inches over my canopy, maybe some do...idk. I would transplant them into a bigger pot that has plenty of holes in it for air flow...that should also help draw moisture away from the roots into the dryer soil mix. Hope you get them balanced out...good luck.