Not 100% Sure on the Problem, or Solution

[MightyBeard]

I started my first grow this year, just over a month ago. Started these seeds - a selection of various hybrids, mostly - in clean seedling soil (no nutes), and they grew well for the first month in small (3") pots. About a week, maybe a week and a half ago, one plant began to exhibit yellow/brown spots in the middle of the leaves. I've read through the guides, but it seems that it could be several problems. Overwatering? Over or underfed? Here are the details:

About 6 weeks old from seed
Started in clean soil
After the 3rd set of true leaves popped I started feeding with 1/8-1/4 strength brewer's yeast solution (trying to keep this fairly natural). Only fed them a total of 3 times.
Repotted them to 6-8" pots yesterday.
Water every 3-ish days or when they feel nice and dry.
Indoor for the moment with one led bar light and a fan. Planning on moving them outside in June.
18-20 hours of light a day.
When I repotted them, I put them into FF Happy Frog soil and soaked them with SuperThrive solution (used recommended dose on the bottle, about 8 drops per liter).
No pests that I can spot.
Mostly the yellowing is appearing on lower leaves but is dotting the leaves. Baby leaves are mostly yellowed and dead, as they should be.

Any help would be great!

 

[Phytoplankton]

At 6 weeks those plantsshould be at least 1-2 feet tall. My best guess is that they are overwatered and underfed. You need to let those pots dry back before watering. The roots are/were suffocating. You also need to start a light feeding regime, once the roots recover, then increase the feeding once the plants start to recvoer.. How did the roots look when you transplanted? They should of had a nice tight rootball with white roots almost circling the pot.

 

[MightyBeard]

At 6 weeks those plantsshould be at least 1-2 feet tall. My best guess is that they are overwatered and underfed. You need to let those pots dry back before watering. The roots are/were suffocating. You also need to start a light feeding regime, once the roots recover, then increase the feeding once the plants start to recvoer.. How did the roots look when you transplanted? They should of had a nice tight rootball with white roots almost circling the pot.

They were in biodegradable pots so they weren't bound, but the roots were getting into the bottoms of the pots. I may have left them in the smaller pots a little too long.

 

[Roy Growin]

They just look plain hungry to me, so if you don't want to use bottled perhaps top dress with blood/fish/bone?
A bit of kelp might help vigour too

 

[MightyBeard]

They just look plain hungry to me, so if you don't want to use bottled perhaps top dress with blood/fish/bone?
A bit of kelp might help vigour too

When I transplanted I soaked them with Super Vigor solution, which has kelp and other such things in it. Think that's enough?

 

[Roy Growin]

When I transplanted I soaked them with Super Vigor solution, which has kelp and other such things in it. Think that's enough?

Doesn't look like it's enough - is there any NPK/CaMg etc in it or is it a boost type supplement?
Did you use recommended dose?

 

[MightyBeard]

Doesn't look like it's enough - is there any NPK/CaMg etc in it or is it a boost type supplement?
Did you use recommended dose?

Looks like it's more just a boost? Has a little N. Might just have to resort to MiracleGro, then.

 

[bluter]

you need actual cannabis nutes. it's used what it has in the soil and is eating itself to stay alive. miraclegro isn't balanced for cannabis and will probably kill it quicker. but give it a shot if you aren't going to get set up proper.

edit : it'll stay super slow under that lighting so you have *some* time.

if these are all going outdoor you could up pot in more soil with nutrients then maybe start moving them out to harden off during daylight. might be enough for them until you plant outdoor permanently.

 

[MightyBeard]

you need actual cannabis nutes. it's used what it has in the soil and is eating itself to stay alive. miraclegro isn't balanced for cannabis and will probably kill it quicker. but give it a shot if you aren't going to get set up proper.

edit : it'll stay super slow under that lighting so you have *some* time.

if these are all going outdoor you could up pot in more soil with nutrients then maybe start moving them out to harden off during daylight. might be enough for them until you plant outdoor permanently.

Any recommendations? I've been eyeing the FF solutions, but I'm not sure which are best. I picked up some blood meal and will top feed with that today, but I'm cautious on watering as I did yesterday.

 

[bluter]

Any recommendations? I've been eyeing the FF solutions, but I'm not sure which are best. I picked up some blood meal and will top feed with that today, but I'm cautious on watering as I did yesterday.

are they going direct into the ground ? wondering if you have a feeding plan if they are staying in containers.
even some of what they are currently in would help in a bigger pot for a while.

 

[MightyBeard]

are they going direct into the ground ? wondering if you have a feeding plan if they are staying in containers.
even some of what they are currently in would help in a bigger pot for a while.

I plan to keep them in large pots outside to make them easier to move out of bad weather or whatnot. So when I repotted them yesterday, I put them into FF Happy Frog. I was planning to use brewer's yeast, meals, and supplement with some liquid nutes. I just hadn't figured out which ones yet.

 

[bluter]

you'll either need a full nute plan sooner or up pot now. they should be starting veg nutes now. the list you gave won't cut it.

edit : i think fox farm runs a 3-part basic nute system.

 

[Phytoplankton]

I plan to keep them in large pots outside to make them easier to move out of bad weather or whatnot. So when I repotted them yesterday, I put them into FF Happy Frog. I was planning to use brewer's yeast, meals, and supplement with some liquid nutes. I just hadn't figured out which ones yet.

You really need to decide if you're going organic or synthetic on nutes. As @bluter said, the list you have is woefully lacking. Most liquid nutes are synthetic, the brewers yeast and meals are organic, organic needs bio action in the soil to make nutes available, synthetic nutes are available immediately, problem with using both is that the synthetic nutes will suppress the amount of bio activity, so they kind of fight each other. The downside of synthetic is you can get a salt build-up that can cause lockouts, and requires a flush.

 

[SmokingWings]

So when I repotted them yesterday, I put them into FF Happy Frog.

The soil already has some nutrients in it but only enough for several weeks. The Fox Farm web page for that particular soil mentions that gardeners should start a fertilizing program within a month. The bigger the plant the sooner it will use up what the company added to the soil.

I was planning to use brewer's yeast, meals, and supplement with some liquid nutes. I just hadn't figured out which ones yet.

My suggestion is to find a basic fertilizing program first since this is a 1st time grow. Then start to plan for supplements like the Brewer's Yeast, meals and any extras for the second grow. Trying to start off with extras first does not cut it since most of them are highly specialized.

 

[Phytoplankton]

you'll either need a full nute plan sooner or up pot now. they should be starting veg nutes now. the list you gave won't cut it.

edit : i think fox farm runs a 3-part basic nute system.

Yes FF is a three part, "Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom" they are synthetic nutes, and don't forget Bush Doctor (Calmag) if you have "soft" water. FF has a ton of other add-on's, that are for the most part unecessary, and are a good way to separate money from your wallet! I would suggest a simple organic two part dry amendment nute regime, one for veg, one for bloom, there are several good ones, Geoflora, Dr. Earth are just a couple.

Edit: Big bloom is actually organic, but the NPK is 0.0, 0.5, 0.7.

 

[SmokingWings]

Yes FF is a three part, "Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom" they are synthetic nutes, and don't forget Bush Doctor (Calmag) if you have "soft" water. FF has a ton of other add-on's, that are for the most part unecessary, and are a good way to separate money from your wallet!

To make it even more confusing the Big Bloom is not a fertilizer in the traditional sense and it is considered organic input. It might even be the only one of the Fox Farms line of fertilizers and supplements that is considered organic.

It has an NPK of 0-0.5-0.7 so not even 1% of any of the macros. The beauty of it is that it is made worm castings and bat guano and those ingredients help supply a steady supply of micro-organisms if used according to the suggested schedule & dose.

I have seen some excellent plants grown with the Fox Farms basic trio on the msg board. Decent sized plants with an excellent canopy of leaves and color.

I would suggest a simple organic two part dry amendment nute regime, one for veg, one for bloom, there are several good ones, Geoflora, Dr. Earth are just a couple.

I can recommend the Roots Organic Terp Tea Grow and Terp Tea Bloom which will fit in for a basic two part dry program. Simple and easy to use. Their Elemental is the dry Cal-Mag product though they do have a liquid Cal-Mag. The only down-side I can think of is that the company extracts everything they can from fish so the Elemental does have a fishy smell for a day or so after applying. The Terp Teas are not all that bad as far as smell.

 

[MightyBeard]

I can recommend the Roots Organic Terp Tea Grow and Terp Tea Bloom which will fit in for a basic two part dry program. Simple and easy to use. Their Elemental is the dry Cal-Mag product though they do have a liquid Cal-Mag. The only down-side I can think of is that the company extracts everything they can from fish so the Elemental does have a fishy smell for a day or so after applying. The Terp Teas are not all that bad as far as smell.

This looks more up my alley. I would prefer to try organic/natural if possible, though I know that's going to be a little more difficult. Is there a standard feeding schedule for something like this? The Roots website mentions dosages but not frequency.

Thank you all for the invaluable information. I didn't see some of this stuff - like the 'chemical' vs 'natural' nutes warring thing - on the guides, so it's nice to get a little more perspective.

 

[013]

Hey MightyBeard,

By chance when you transplanted them did you leave them in the biodegradable jiffy pots??

They are supposed to break down and allow roots to pass right thru the sides, however sometimes the jiffy pots restrict the rootball keeping it tiny and the plant above suffers same fate…

Might want to dig one up…

 

[MightyBeard]

Hey MightyBeard,

By chance when you transplanted them did you leave them in the biodegradable jiffy pots??

They are supposed to break down and allow roots to pass right thru the sides, however sometimes the jiffy pots restrict the rootball keeping it tiny and the plant above suffers same fate…

Might want to dig one up…

I took them out when I transplanted. One was just starting to grow through and I lost the tip of one root, but otherwise, they were free and clear overall.

I do wonder if the pots - and leaving them in too long - kept them as small as they are.

 

[013]

Good call on removing jiffy pots. I think the jiffy pots might work better if they were presoaked for about 2 dozen wet dry cycles before you ever add soil, that and pop some air holes / root escape hatches too.

As far as size, hmm not sure what brewers yeast does but weed is a heavy feeder. It wants NPK that’s nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium plus calcium and magnesium. More specifically it wants high N but lower PK for veg but in flower less N but more PK, yet needs calcium and magnesium all the way thru. There’s no way brewers yeast can touch this, yeast is probably just carbs anyway and that single source input is not conducive to seeing you thru flower to build huge colas

Rootbound is ok if your soil mix and soil tilth are right, should be plenty of healthy white roots if it’s done properly. But you don’t want to go to flower in a root-bound situation, that requires heavy feed all the way thru so best to upcan a few weeks before flower. At some magical point in flower (after stretch perhaps) the plant pretty much stops growing new roots and uses what it has.

organics done easy, buy 2 bags of Geoflora. The first is for veg, the 2nd is for bloom it’s dialed in to give what I mentioned above NPK plus cal-mag in proper ratios to match stage of growth. You add it to your soil when you pot up and then top dress every 2 weeks and water it in. You can run Geoflora organic dry mix nutes with another soil product like FoxFarms Ocean Forest. Geoflora is a sponsor here and their Veg and Bloom products are in countless journals, there’s even a sponsor help thread.

Let’s talk about that led bar light… can you dig up more info like wattage draw? That will help us but in meantime strongly suspect your light is way underpowered. What is food for a plant? Photons is the correct answer. These girls want to feast on a metric buttload of light, light is their primary food, nutes are kinda like vitamin pills…