Is my compost too strong?

[Taliesin]

I found a plant growing in my backyard so I don't know when it sprouted, but I have been aware of it for at least a month and it is approximately two feet tall.

Because of it's location, it has gotten direct sunlight from about 7AM until maybe 10AM, and then again from about 1PM until 2PM. About a week ago I thought I would try moving it to a different part of the yard so I dug it up and put it in a five gallon bucket. I put the bucket in the sunniest part of the yard, where the plant received direct sunlight from approx. 10AM until 5PM. The amount of daylight hours received by the plant is slightly more, and now it is more of the afternoon rather than the morning rays.

So, the problem is, the plant seemed to do very well after the transplant for a few days, then some of the smaller lower leaves started to turn yellow. A few got so yellow they looked beyond recovery so I took them off, and a few more were yellow this morning. By this afternoon, the plant was noticeably limp. The soil was whetted thoroughly at transplant, and then once again two days later when I added approx. one inch of pure manure/green waste compost to the top of the soil, and the soil was still moist today from that watering.

The plant has not received any form of direct fertilization. Is it possible that the plant is being burned by nutrients in the compost that could have been leached out after it was added to the bucket and soaked it with water?

 

[bucktoothal]

Thats what it sounds like to me, be careful when you add green waste it tends to heat up. I would remove the manure/green waste and see it it get better.Also the ph could have jumped too

 

[Taliesin]

BTW, this is what it looked like in the morning before the wilting:

 

[Taliesin]

This is what the plant looks like now.

I removed pretty much all of the compost from the top about 18 hours ago, and then irrigated with about one gallon of tap water (pH=8) to try and flush the soil. This was in the morning so then the plant was left in direct sunlight for most of the day. This evening the leaves are droopier than ever, the soil is almost like mud, and more leaves seemed to have turned yellow during the day.

Also, and probably strangest of all: there appear to be female buds forming on the plant. This is the uppermost node:

Anybody know what could be going on with this plant?

 

[NugNoggin]

I'm not sure if I can help but,...

You said the soil was like mud. Does that mean the pot is retaining water? Make sure you have adequate drainage, The water should quickly drain away, if it's not then try to either clean out the drainage holes in the pot or maybe even drill a few more from underneath.

Also, you might want to make sure the pot itself is not being exposed to much sunlight. If the pot gets too hot the roots struggle too much. You might try double potting (place this pot into another larger pot that will shade it from the sun.

Good Luck

 

[GreenLove]

I notice sometimes when going from indirect light to full sun causes plants to wilt from the shock of strong light. Some make it. Some dont. Manure was probably too much too. That stuff should be tilled into the ground and preferably composted before hand as well. I find it really hard to burn with organics but it can be done with steer manure and chicken manure.

I think I remember reading too that applying steer manure directly to the top layers of soil can cause a form of nute lockout as well but something along the line of an organic barrier gets formed. I dont know how long that takes or application rates.

How thick was the layer you put on? You prefer organics? For my potted plants I use compost teas and guano. I use the steer manure and my home made compost for the yard and trees and flower beds. Mainly because of volume. I would love to use the expensive organics all over the house but the size of my yard prevents that.

Maybe some B1 or superthrive to help the roots out if it is transplant shock.

 

[bucktoothal]

after looking at the pictures it looks like the roots are not getting enough o2 to them. and also soulds like the water is not draining fast enough. hopfuly your plant is not doomed . you might have to add some pearlite or something to help the water drain faster.

 

[redfox30]

If your compost is very rich in animal manure then it may really be too strong to spread near to growing plants, so test a bit out on a small area first. If the compost is too strong it will scorch leaves that touch it.

Based on the pics you've provided, give the compost longer to mature or work it into fallow (unused or empty) areas only however, if your compost never properly heated up during production then you may find that you still get weed seeds germinating. If so, you will need to hoe them off regularly, or use the compost dug into the soil.

Sad to know that the plant has grown up 2ft that tall just to die like that way.

 

[ledtester]

You cant do that in a pot brother...can you take another pot and mix about 60% perlite and 40% of your compost and transplant them ASAP. or min 50/50.take the plant out and wash the mud away until you have mostly roots before transplanting and you'll start fresh ...make sure to soak the transplnat right down with straight ph water. giver a couple of days to recover and then start giving her bloom nutes.