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- #61
dmoney4201
New Member
now when i transplant them into the fox farm,do i have to worry that the miracle grow root ball i pretty much have won't spoil the new soil??
Help please: Bright green leaves
- Thread starter dmoney4201
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now when i transplant them into the fox farm,do i have to worry that the miracle grow root ball i pretty much have won't spoil the new soil??
You can break most of the soil off gently to expose the roots and space them out a bit to open the ball, then transplant and feed with pH'd water, they'l be fine.
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- #63
dmoney4201
New Member
the light green part feels thick and almost dry but not crispy dry. i havent had any luck finding dolomite lime... the plant stores around here arent very good and i'm a new grower...so i dont know what to look for and i am afriad to ask questions because i think they'll know what im growing. i cant even find fox farm soil...i'm think of ordering online or something.
i don't have anything for drainage in these cups other then the 6 holes i cut in the bottom of each cup.
Stick some hydro clay pebbles at the bottom for drainage, they also keep the soil level neutral which is good for soil mixes. Also epson salts are good if you cant find dolomite lime.
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- #65
dmoney4201
New Member
now epson salt i have.....add it to my water or just top the soil with it?? thanks for all the help
Steve McStoferson
New Member
do you have any hydro shops near you? They pretty much always have fox farms soil
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- #67
dmoney4201
New Member
im not sure actually...im going to look it up. thanks alot...i appreciate all the helpful tips.
Steve McStoferson
New Member
no problem, best of luck with getting the issue fixed!
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- #69
dmoney4201
New Member
i finally got my soil tested and the PH is over 7. so i'm getting all my new soil and supplies on thursday(payday).... these poor little plants are deffinately locked out of thier nutes...
my question is how long before they are able to recover???
like one of the plants is starting to curl at the tips and brown at the tips also....will this reverse once the plant gets put in better soil?
i tried adding lime juice/water with a 5 PH....but the soil is still at 7. i just wish i could get my check now and transplant these things already!
my question is how long before they are able to recover???
like one of the plants is starting to curl at the tips and brown at the tips also....will this reverse once the plant gets put in better soil?
i tried adding lime juice/water with a 5 PH....but the soil is still at 7. i just wish i could get my check now and transplant these things already!
I don't remember if you bought that General Hydroponics kit that comes with bottles of PH UP and PH DOWN? That is the best stuff to use for adjusting your water and feed solutions to the optimum pH. I adjust all my feeds to 6.5, but water with unadjusted well water that is always at a stable 7.0.
I'm going to take some time and lay some stuff out for you to refer to later. Maybe print this post out and keep it for future reference. All I am going to provide here are some gardening basics related to Cannabis.
First of all... That one application of Miracle Grow wasn't the cause of your issues with that first plant. The problems started long before you added that. As I mentioned before, I have used a single feed of MG dozens of times over the years to quickly resolve rapidly occurring deficiencies in potted plants. It was just applied too late to help in this case. It is true that you don't want to be feeding ANYTHING to new seedlings less than 4-5 inches tall. They simply don't need your help yet, so just stay out of their way!
The problem you had the first time was feeding and/or watering with solution pH levels in the high fours to mid fives. (ACIDIC) Cannabis has a very high tolerance for alkaline soils and the 6.2 to 6.8 range that they prefer is considered to be moderately alkaline. On the other hand, they have VERY LITTLE tolerance for acidic soils in the mid fives and lower. Some strains will start to go south in anything under 6.0.
Surprisingly, few growers even know this simple fact and become their grow's worst enemy.
The fact that your pH is on the alkaline side of the range now is the only reason your young plants are still alive. If your soil had stayed locked in the acidic end (under 5.5) they would all be dead now.
Most of my pot's soils test out at between 6.8 and 7.0 which is totally fine. You want to shoot for between 6.2 and 6.8. I always stabilize all my pots at 6.8 and have done for decades. Still, sometimes you will find a pot of soil that seems hell bent on something higher like 7.0 or even 7.1. If the plant is doing fine, don't worry about it! Just let it be!
I just harvested a GDP plant that yielded 1 pound 8.40 ounces trimmed wet weight. That will eventually yield between 7 and 8 ounces of dried bud. This from a plant that was under 35" tall at harvest. Its soil pH was a constant 7.0 for the last four months.
Don't let the weekend warrior gardeners worry you too much. The problems you are having are more complex than a point or two above the optimum 6.8 pH Cannabis thrives in. The transplant into a bigger pot and better soil should turn it around eventually, but don't expect these improvements to happen overnight. It can take as long as four weeks for an ailing plant to fully recover from trauma.
Once you start using the right kind of soil and hold off on the temptation to feed and water your plants to death as so many amateur gardeners do, a new fresh batch of seedlings or clones should do really well for you. If you have never grown anything before, don't expect to raise an award winning plant your first, second, or even third time! This stuff takes practice, and something even more important... PATIENCE!
Maybe look into buying yourself some Air Pots. These pots will help minimize the effects of slow drainage and soil pH effects on your plant's root systems. They are best used with Coco as the soil medium because you need to pack these tight for them to work their best. But Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Happy Frog will work too in a pinch.
You want to shoot for Coco because it doesn't have pearlite and all the usual drainage helpers found in most potting mixes. These little pebbles can clog the air holes of the Air Pots and make them less effective, but as I said, it will still work better than a conventional container even with standard potting soils instead of the fine grain Coco blends out there.
A good majority of the master "soil container" growers on this site use them. I just recently converted over to them myself and will be using them exclusively next season.
These are four week old Grand Daddy Purple clones growing in Air Pots. Soil pH is 6.85
This is a clone from my award winning Blueberry Kush plant that will be the mother for my BBK crop next year. It was fed a single dose of MG when it was showing some signs like your plants are its first few weeks out of the cloner. Soil pH here is 7.0. Do you see any issues with it now?
All these plants are watered WHEN NEEDED (About once every 4-6 days) and fed Fox Farm Grow Big once every 7-14 days. Ocassionally some Organic Kelp Extract and Molasses instead of the FF. Thats all they need. You need to let your soil dry out in between waterings. The plants need that part of the water cycle just as much as they need the water and the occasional nutes. If you deprive them of their much needed "Dry Time" you are headed for problems.
I don't normally post photos of my own grows in someone elses thread, but I got the indication from a few of the previous comments that I needed to clearly demonstrate through actual results that I KNOW what I am talking about!
Good luck with your transplant, and don't forget to pick up a bottle of Liquinox START B1 transplant solution to water the root ball and soak the new pot of soil with! Your plant is not at its peak of health so it is going to need some TLC in the form of START to help it move forward and beyond its current difficulties.
I'm going to take some time and lay some stuff out for you to refer to later. Maybe print this post out and keep it for future reference. All I am going to provide here are some gardening basics related to Cannabis.
First of all... That one application of Miracle Grow wasn't the cause of your issues with that first plant. The problems started long before you added that. As I mentioned before, I have used a single feed of MG dozens of times over the years to quickly resolve rapidly occurring deficiencies in potted plants. It was just applied too late to help in this case. It is true that you don't want to be feeding ANYTHING to new seedlings less than 4-5 inches tall. They simply don't need your help yet, so just stay out of their way!
The problem you had the first time was feeding and/or watering with solution pH levels in the high fours to mid fives. (ACIDIC) Cannabis has a very high tolerance for alkaline soils and the 6.2 to 6.8 range that they prefer is considered to be moderately alkaline. On the other hand, they have VERY LITTLE tolerance for acidic soils in the mid fives and lower. Some strains will start to go south in anything under 6.0.
Surprisingly, few growers even know this simple fact and become their grow's worst enemy.
The fact that your pH is on the alkaline side of the range now is the only reason your young plants are still alive. If your soil had stayed locked in the acidic end (under 5.5) they would all be dead now.
Most of my pot's soils test out at between 6.8 and 7.0 which is totally fine. You want to shoot for between 6.2 and 6.8. I always stabilize all my pots at 6.8 and have done for decades. Still, sometimes you will find a pot of soil that seems hell bent on something higher like 7.0 or even 7.1. If the plant is doing fine, don't worry about it! Just let it be!
I just harvested a GDP plant that yielded 1 pound 8.40 ounces trimmed wet weight. That will eventually yield between 7 and 8 ounces of dried bud. This from a plant that was under 35" tall at harvest. Its soil pH was a constant 7.0 for the last four months.
Don't let the weekend warrior gardeners worry you too much. The problems you are having are more complex than a point or two above the optimum 6.8 pH Cannabis thrives in. The transplant into a bigger pot and better soil should turn it around eventually, but don't expect these improvements to happen overnight. It can take as long as four weeks for an ailing plant to fully recover from trauma.
Once you start using the right kind of soil and hold off on the temptation to feed and water your plants to death as so many amateur gardeners do, a new fresh batch of seedlings or clones should do really well for you. If you have never grown anything before, don't expect to raise an award winning plant your first, second, or even third time! This stuff takes practice, and something even more important... PATIENCE!
Maybe look into buying yourself some Air Pots. These pots will help minimize the effects of slow drainage and soil pH effects on your plant's root systems. They are best used with Coco as the soil medium because you need to pack these tight for them to work their best. But Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Happy Frog will work too in a pinch.
You want to shoot for Coco because it doesn't have pearlite and all the usual drainage helpers found in most potting mixes. These little pebbles can clog the air holes of the Air Pots and make them less effective, but as I said, it will still work better than a conventional container even with standard potting soils instead of the fine grain Coco blends out there.
A good majority of the master "soil container" growers on this site use them. I just recently converted over to them myself and will be using them exclusively next season.
These are four week old Grand Daddy Purple clones growing in Air Pots. Soil pH is 6.85
This is a clone from my award winning Blueberry Kush plant that will be the mother for my BBK crop next year. It was fed a single dose of MG when it was showing some signs like your plants are its first few weeks out of the cloner. Soil pH here is 7.0. Do you see any issues with it now?
All these plants are watered WHEN NEEDED (About once every 4-6 days) and fed Fox Farm Grow Big once every 7-14 days. Ocassionally some Organic Kelp Extract and Molasses instead of the FF. Thats all they need. You need to let your soil dry out in between waterings. The plants need that part of the water cycle just as much as they need the water and the occasional nutes. If you deprive them of their much needed "Dry Time" you are headed for problems.
I don't normally post photos of my own grows in someone elses thread, but I got the indication from a few of the previous comments that I needed to clearly demonstrate through actual results that I KNOW what I am talking about!
Good luck with your transplant, and don't forget to pick up a bottle of Liquinox START B1 transplant solution to water the root ball and soak the new pot of soil with! Your plant is not at its peak of health so it is going to need some TLC in the form of START to help it move forward and beyond its current difficulties.
You can also water at 5.5 and that should bring it down to 6.3-6.4
OK I dunno maybe I am crazy here.
When you say you added lime you mean dolomite lime? I types the procedure for solving your problem twice. Flush, top dress, water with 1/2 strength nutes, preferably something for MJ with micros.(FF, etc).
With all due respect to others, Xplanting didn't work last time, why will it be successful this time?
I think the primary issue here is that he waited until the problem was well advanced to a serious state before dealing with it.
Its a typical rookie mistake that only a few failures caused by acting on the developing problem too late can cure.
As for the transplanting... If his original soil the plant started in has gone to shit, getting it out of that garbage and into a larger volume that is stable will eventually solve the problem if the roots can survive long enough to grow out beyond the toxic soil they started in.
They can recover. Another prob with dolomite is ph. It holds it nuetral mostly. I hate that stuff. Ease up on nutrients tips might be burned because of that
Also u can use enzymes or bacteria to clean your existingg soil
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- #76
dmoney4201
New Member
okay...so i got everything i could find and afford from the Hydro Shop in my area. i picked up four 2 gallon pots, a 1.5cu ft bag of Fox Farm ocean forest, i bought the PH up/down and the PH test from the same company....my in soil tester was not working. i bought a bag of clay hydro rocks for the bottom of the pots, and the girl gave me a free bottle of a rooting solution called voodoo juice(they had no Liquinex). next week i would like to pick up some of the fox farm Grow Big...i am NEVER going to put anything to do with Miracle Grow near any of my plants again!! 
so i transplanted them all last night and it went so smooth and clean. how much water would you give a 2 gallon pot?? i slow poured two 16oz cups of PH'ed water and they drained great compared to that other garbage....the soil was nice and soked up but this morning it seem like they are already dried up....? i dont want to over water them...but was the 2-16oz cups not enough water?? or is that good?
well now we'll just wait and see how they grow....i'll post pictures soon, my desk top is being worked on so i have to wait to upload photo's.
i'd like to thank everyone who has participated in my thread and shared many helpful tips and information to a new but already addicted grower(holy cow its so much fun)
thanks GoldenGoose for that very informative post i got what i could find and things are looking good right now.
i'll update very soon...
so i transplanted them all last night and it went so smooth and clean. how much water would you give a 2 gallon pot?? i slow poured two 16oz cups of PH'ed water and they drained great compared to that other garbage....the soil was nice and soked up but this morning it seem like they are already dried up....? i dont want to over water them...but was the 2-16oz cups not enough water?? or is that good?
well now we'll just wait and see how they grow....i'll post pictures soon, my desk top is being worked on so i have to wait to upload photo's.
i'd like to thank everyone who has participated in my thread and shared many helpful tips and information to a new but already addicted grower(holy cow its so much fun)
thanks GoldenGoose for that very informative post
i got what i could find and things are looking good right now. i'll update very soon...
Did you mix dolomite in with your FFOF? If not top dress with 1/4 cup of dolomite lime per gallon of container size. So 2 gallon pot would get 1/2 of a cup. Scratch up the first inch or two of soil and sprinkle it in then push the soil back over. Not too close to your seedling as to disturb the roots.
This is how you should water, any other way you risk over-watering.
Hefting Method:
This means scratch up the first couple inches of soil, then water the pot a little let is soak in, do that again and again until about 10-30% of the total watering volume has run through, so for example if you gave the plant 1 gallon of water somewhere between a half a quart and a little more than a quart should have run through. Once you completed the watering, LIFT THE POT! Remember mentally the weight.
Now the important part of watering. WAIT UNTIL THE POT IS LIGHT. Then repeat the above procedure. If your plant droops you let it get too dry. You can also judge by scratching the first two inches of soil and feeling the wetness, but sometimes the top will dry out before the bottom - so hefting is the most accurate method.
This is how you should water, any other way you risk over-watering.
Hefting Method:
This means scratch up the first couple inches of soil, then water the pot a little let is soak in, do that again and again until about 10-30% of the total watering volume has run through, so for example if you gave the plant 1 gallon of water somewhere between a half a quart and a little more than a quart should have run through. Once you completed the watering, LIFT THE POT! Remember mentally the weight.
Now the important part of watering. WAIT UNTIL THE POT IS LIGHT. Then repeat the above procedure. If your plant droops you let it get too dry. You can also judge by scratching the first two inches of soil and feeling the wetness, but sometimes the top will dry out before the bottom - so hefting is the most accurate method.
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- #78
dmoney4201
New Member
so it has been 10 days since i transplanted my little sick plants into their new homes.....
things are looking WAY better then when they were in that poison soil...(pic hopefully soon)
one of the plants has a genetic mutation...it's a Quadrifoliate. 4 leaf sets are sprouting instead of the usual 2.... its pretty cool but i heard it may not be such a special thing(i hope it is a good thing)
of my 4 plants 3 have rebounded really good.....1 is still fighting
i topped 2 of them and trimmed all the dead leaves off all of them....
so far at 3 weeks from breaking soil... and dealing with the nute deff, these things look crazy good...hopefully after all this stress i still get 1 female out of the bunch.
pics very soon...still having computer issues at home.
things are looking WAY better then when they were in that poison soil...(pic hopefully soon)
one of the plants has a genetic mutation...it's a Quadrifoliate. 4 leaf sets are sprouting instead of the usual 2.... its pretty cool but i heard it may not be such a special thing(i hope it is a good thing)
of my 4 plants 3 have rebounded really good.....1 is still fighting
i topped 2 of them and trimmed all the dead leaves off all of them....
so far at 3 weeks from breaking soil... and dealing with the nute deff, these things look crazy good...hopefully after all this stress i still get 1 female out of the bunch.
pics very soon...still having computer issues at home.
Steve McStoferson
New Member
good to hear they're back on track man, that's always a relief
ehhhhh why dolomite fuck dolomite what the shit with everyone using god damm dolomite. dont you want to control the ph and amount of nutrients the plant gets. holy shit im sick of that word