yellowing, wilting, spotting, and stunted

[pickledLSD]

im growing some mandala hashberry and speedqueen using lc's mix
LC?s Soiless Mix #1:5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss3 parts perlite2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compostPowdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon

i have been using plain water except for once i fed them 1tsp liquid karm 1tsp molasses and 1/2 tsp fish emulsion in 1 gallon of water. they were already showing all symptoms when i fed them. i recently switched from my 85w flourescent light to my 250w hps at first they perked up. i also switched from 24hrs of light to 20/4 at the same time and fim'd them. then the drooping and yellowing got worse. i thought maybe the 250 is too much for them but they're about 2ft from it. ventilation and temps are both good but i have no idea about rh. they only get watered about 2 or 3 times a week, just when they feel light and dry. i considered the possibility of them being root bound so i took a picture. they are almost 3 weeks old

3 days ago



now

 

[pickledLSD]

it wouldn't let me add this picture to my first post

 

[Buffoonman]

Have you considered repotting into larger pots with a more standard soil mix? Maybee foxfarm or bio bizz allmix.

 

[Miss Blunted]

It looks like a pH or deficiency issue to me....a little over watering may be it too. Your soil mix looks good and they're not root bound. I think they're old enough to start getting nutes. What do you plan on feeding them when you water? I would suggest getting a pH meter just for good measure...do you happen to know where your tap water sits at? When we ran a soil mix similar to yours and watered wth guano teas, we didn't have a pH issue...but switched back to chem and absolutely had to adjust the water, same with using coco now...it's a must. Also, I found that punching/drilling a lot of holes on the bottom and lower side of my pots made a big difference in drainage and drying time...especially in soil. Make sure you only give them water when the soil has dried out enough.

 

[pickledLSD]

buffoonman, i cant get any decent soil mixes locally and high prices on the internet combined with shipping kill me ( ive ordered ff soils before)

miss blunted, i have been buying gallons of water from wally world that has a ph of 6.4-6.6 ive read not to use tap water when using organics because chloromine or something being used in place of chlorine that doesnt evaporate? i plan on making some teas using molasses, guanos, etc that are suggested in the organics for beginners thread

 

[pickledLSD]

i'm brewing a very weak tea right now using ewc, molasses, liquid karma, and a tiny bit of fish emulsion. i'll wait until they're completely dry before i water. any professional opinions on this?

 

[pickledLSD]

they're perking up a little, the drooping might have been from overwatering. i'm going to give them this tea in morning and maybe transplant this weekend. opinions?

 

[B.C.]

High-ya Pickled! good to see ya man...... Nice lookin start ya got there. I think ya may have got alil heavy with the water. They do look more perked jus from the first picture to the last one though. Miss Blunted's idea about adding the holes in the bottoms of the pots is a good one. You can -never- have too much air, the roots as well as the aerobic bacteria love it! Food for thought.

From the looks of the roots, I think you can go alil while longer before transplanting.

Jus for the purposes of learning: The PH in this case is not going to be an issue. The lime that was used in the soil will keep it adjusted. Also, the compost/worm castings are going to add humates. This will buffer PH lockouts, so the plants are always able to feed. It's what makes organics so forgiving.

I think you got the right idea by starting the feeding. The color of these plants are nice and dark for the most part, but I'm sure they will need somethin any time now. They are 4-5 weeks old now, right? That's probly what the yellowing bottom* leaves are all about, they're starting to get hungry.... If it were other issues, it would show all over the plants. BC

 

[cave]

sounds like the soil mix might be to strong and or ph issue. if you were only feeding them water, they are dark green all but the few leafs i would have to say test ph run off and change your water brand. test it before you use it for ppm/ph adjust accordingly you can use tap water you just need to filter it any good water filter will remove chlorine
if changing water does not help repot with pro mix bx or some good soil should buffer the problem

 

[pickledLSD]

b,c.! it's good to see you're still on here man. i'm starting to think it was overwatering and them being hungry as well. tomorrow i'll feed them and when i get home i'll try drilling some holes. a couple of them still haven't dried completely so i'll wait an extra day on those. we'll see how it goes. again, it's good to hear from you

 

[pickledLSD]

ok, things arent looking so good for my babies right now. the three that got the tea this morning have perked up a little but are yellowing even worse. i'm completely lost now. the biggest one didnt get watered this morning since it still doesnt feel light enough. the tea i made still stinks like the fish emulsion thats in it and when i turned the pump off there was stuff floating in it. is this normal? im starting to think i got in over my head with this new soil and tea stuff. i have cow compost, ewc, liquid karma, molasses, bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, and dolomite lime to work with. should i just repot them into my lc's mix that has most of that in it already and has been cooking for a month? btw, they are all between 21 and 23 days old

 

[cave]

test the ph of your water and transplant for now in good poting soil like pro mixand just give them water and liquid karma till they come around .. you have to mix the soil and let it stew for two weeks when you make you new organic soil to let eveything activate you should be good in two weeks or less

 

[jasonk]

Hey Pickled LSD I'm taking a seat too. Looks like I'm in very similar shoes as you. I have 3 seeds that are 3 weeks old, fed fish emulsions so far twice and molasses for the first time last night. I'm not using the bone/blood meal, but I have some Neptune's harvest fish/seaweed in the mail right now. Hopefully they're just hungry!

 

[B.C.]

They're jus showing more signs of being hungry. It's gonna take a lil bit for the tea to kick in and stop the yellowing from going farther. Did yer tea jus smell like the fish emultion or was it an ammonia smell? I wouldn't use the emlution in the tea any more, use it on it's own. Also, when ya make the tea next time, only use a small amount of the molasses. Too much causes a big baterial bloom that only a -very- high volume of air can support.

It wouldn't hurt to transplant, but I think yul be fine if ya jus step up the feeding some. Give em the recommended dose of the fish emultion by itself, and brew up some more tea with just compost, castings and a dash of molasses. The tea is mild so yul never hurt em with that, and it would take several heavy feedings right in a row to do any real damage or burn em with the fish emution. So don't be afraid to dive in alil till ya find yer groove. Hang in there bud, they'll get better! BC

 

[pickledLSD]

ok three of them are looking perky again but the big one was looking worse. they are all still yellowing so i'm going to start a new tea right now.
b.c., the tea smelled like the fish emulsion that was in it. can you recommend me an exact tea mix? i'm using a 2 gallon bucket, and will i need to dilute it before watering? you can pm if you want
cave, i have a stronger soil mix that has been activating for a month now. i transplanted the biggest one into this two nights ago and watered it the following morning. it is looking much better now.
jasonk, it looks like yours are just hungry. they look very perky and happy still. one thing i noticed when i transplanted my biggest one was how moist the soil was after 4 days with no water. i added a fan to my box pointing directly at the pots and i think its helping them already. i'll be drilling holes tonight as suggested by ms. blunt and b.c.

 

[copperheadrd]

repot them cant hurt, try a simpler soil mix