Newbie needing help diagnosing spots on leaves!

[Chef Theo]

Thank you! I am going to follow Coast of Maine Stonington Blend feeding schedule and recommend products. My next transplant my plants will be moved into 5-gallon containers. My outdoor plants will get one more transfer into 25-gallon containers so their feeding will be slightly different than my indoor plants. I read that normally well water your PH will already be in range so until last night I hadn't checked it. I am going to start adding a touch of baking soda to the water to bring the PH up before watering from now on. I figure since this soil is designed for cannabis already, I should follow their instructions.

I’ve been using this soil for all my grows with TPS One & no deficiencies yet!

 

[Lovie]

I’ve been using this soil for all my grows with TPS One & no deficiencies yet!

The only negative thing I have seen people say about The Stonington blend is the price....but you get what you pay for right? Do you amend and reuse your soil or do you use fresh soil each grow? Do you use the TPS One in replacement of the Stonington Blend plant food or do you use both? If you use it in place of the Stonington Blend plant food, why? If you use it with the Stonington plant food how often do you use it? Sorry for all the questions......inquisitive mind.

 

[Sativa1970]

The reason you buy supper soil is convenience. It has everything the plant needs ready to go. At the end of a "season" the soil is depleted so you must reamend the soil. If you are willing to reamend you might as well make your own mix from the start. I think it is Emily, that makes supper soil mix on here. Chime in if you guys remember where her mix ratio is at. I don't trust my memory to give you the ratios. I stopped using soil in the grow room around 10 years ago.

If you are using an all in one macro and micro additive, the soil becomes almost irrelevant. I still don't understand why people use supper soil and a full spectrum feed.

 

[Chef Theo]

The only negative thing I have seen people say about The Stonington blend is the price....but you get what you pay for right? Do you amend and reuse your soil or do you use fresh soil each grow? Do you use the TPS One in replacement of the Stonington Blend plant food or do you use both? If you use it in place of the Stonington Blend plant food, why? If you use it with the Stonington plant food how often do you use it? Sorry for all the questions......inquisitive mind.

Yeah 35$ a bag but I like growing in 1-2 gallon pots with 4 or 5 plants in my 28”x28” so it’s not crazy amounts.

 

[Lovie]

The reason you buy supper soil is convenience. It has everything the plant needs ready to go. At the end of a "season," the soil is depleted so you must reamend the soil. If you are willing to reamend you might as well make your own mix from the start. I think it is Emily, that makes supper soil mix on here. Chime in if you guys remember where her mix ratio is at. I don't trust my memory to give you the ratios. I stopped using soil in the grow room around 10 years ago.

If you are using an all in one macro and micro additive, the soil becomes almost irrelevant. I still don't understand why people use supper soil and a full spectrum feed.

I did buy it this time for convenience.......and I didn't realize how much money I was going to end up spending on soil until my plants were already growing in a humidity dome. Most of the recipes for super soil I have read require letting the soil sit for 30 to 60 days. I didn't have the time to allow it to sit. That is also why I am transplanting instead of putting directly into their final pots......so it's not so much money at once. I will have 4 plants that will end up in 5-gallon containers and 4 outdoor ones that will end up in 25-gallon containers. I also inquired one from someone a couple of months ago who bought it and then decided after buying it they didn't want the responsibility (that is actually what got me started on this growing journey). That one is currently in a bathroom closet in a 5-gallon container. I originally was going to keep it in the closet and flip it to flower right about now but I realize that is not a good idea because it's too much humidity and the buds will probably mold so that one is going outside too in a 50-gallon container. I figure with as big as that one already is and since it will be in veg for another 3-4 months I better give that one some extra space. So, when all is said and done I will have a lot of money in soil this time. I got to sit down and do the math to see how much I will save making my own and see if the savings is worth the extra work for my next round.

Another reason I went with the Stonington Blend they already figured out when their soil will need some amendments added and designed a feed specialized for their soil. I have no plans of not following their feeding schedule and recommended products unless things are not looking good...... if that happens, I will be back on here posting pics asking for more help!

 

[Trump]

The reason you buy supper soil is convenience. It has everything the plant needs ready to go. At the end of a "season" the soil is depleted so you must reamend the soil. If you are willing to reamend you might as well make your own mix from the start. I think it is Emily, that makes supper soil mix on here. Chime in if you guys remember where her mix ratio is at. I don't trust my memory to give you the ratios. I stopped using soil in the grow room around 10 years ago.

If you are using an all in one macro and micro additive, the soil becomes almost irrelevant. I still don't understand why people use supper soil and a full spectrum feed.

I use prepared soil but also feed chelated nutrients. Why? My theory is that I can feed immediately available nutrients to the plant but the plants needs change. By the time the plant is telling me it needs something it's already going into slowdown mode as far as growth. Worse would be that it gets stunted. Prepared soil will be there to back up whatever I'm missing and keep the plant concentrated on growth rather than survival.

I also reuse the soil I grow in and have recently setup soil bins to sequester the soil I've used specific to the cultivar I just grew. I've noticed doing this seems to really super charge their growth. I'm doing this with the assumption that the bacterial and fungal endophytes that the cultivar liked when it was growing are already in the soil and in abundance. So far that theory has seemed to flesh out in the last few grows I've done.

I've posted my method and some have commented that I'm destroying the fungal and bacterial colonies by feeding chelated nutrients. I tested the nutrient I feed the plants in a petrie dish with some agar. Didn't affect the agar one bit. This tells me that whatever method they used to chelate the nutrients doesn't bother the bactertial and fungal colonies. I've also done post harvest analysis looking over the soil and rootball and how the fungal colony was affected. I didn't see any difference from the fully organic grows I've done in the past.

Some of my findings are anectdotal so take them with a grain of salt but most are rooted in scientific findings that I've been able to replicate so I personally regard them as confirmed and continue to use them in my grows.

 

[Lovie]

I am a firm believer in don't fix what is not broken. If what you are doing is working well for you then don't worry about what others say. I am new and still figuring everything out, so I need guidance. It sounds like you have been doing this for a while and have mastered what works for you.

I do have one question for you.....have you ever experienced nute burn adding additional nutes to super soil?

 

[Trump]

I am a firm believer in don't fix what is not broken. If what you are doing is working well for you then don't worry about what others say. I am new and still figuring everything out, so I need guidance. It sounds like you have been doing this for a while and have mastered what works for you.

I do have one question for you.....have you ever experienced nute burn adding additional nutes to super soil?

I've been doing this for many years. In the late 80's early 90's I worked on a few outdoor farms in Northern California. I learned a lot from those farmers but also learned later on, when they licensed indoor growing and I worked in those facilities, a portion of their "facts" were either off or completely counter to the science.

When I worked with Licensed Grow Ops I got access to botanists and master growers. I got to ask a lot of questions and watch a lot of side by side comparisons in regard to techniques and nutrients. Even today there are some "lessons" that my old school hippy farmer friends told me was gospel that I'm finding isn't as valid as they thought it was.

To your question....

IME, nute burn comes from an imbalance rather than just an overabundance. Sometimes an overabundance will cause the imbalance. Sometimes pH will cause it making a particular ion less available than others. Burn comes from the plant taking up an excess of a particular ion. Usually potassium.
Your question poses nute burn as a negative. It can be if you don't use it to your advantage. I try and push my plants to the limit to see how far I can push them to maximize growth performance. One of the things I do is to keep raising the PPM in the water until I start to see the tips start to burn. That indicates to me how much nutrient they can take. I'll back off the PPM's slightly and use that info to adjust my feeds.

So....have I experienced nute burn in super soil? Yes. It's part of my grow technique but mine is purposeful whereas for others it's a negative byproduct so your question doesn't really have a definitive answer because nute burn can be used in different ways to improve performance. It really depends on who is growing and what they intend to do with that information. In your case, if you're worried about nute burn in super soil, I would start out watering with pure water and see how they react. If nothing then start giving them 1/4 strength and ladder up from there. Once you get a reaction you've hit their limit.

 

[Lovie]

Do you monitor VPD? My understanding is VPD can play a big role in nute problems because that affects how much the plants stoma opens. If the stoma is opened too much it will take up too much nutes and vice versa. I live in an old house that is very drafty and the central heating and air unit does not meet the houses needs so we supplement with window units and space heaters depending on the weather (which in spring and fall can vary greatly day by day where I am). Because of this maintaining a constant temperature in my tent has been difficult so I have been focusing on what I can control, how much humidity is in the tent and trying to keep the VPD around .8 to 1.

I guess the reason I am asking is because I want to understand how much VPD affects nute problems and I am trying to figure out if the amount of energy/time I am putting into trying to maintain a .8 to 1 VPD is worth it or should my energy be focused elsewhere.

 

[Trump]

I do but I don't follow it religiously. Most charts and things are great starting points but I let the plants dictate the environment they want. I've run grows that charts tell me is in the danger zone but the plants are telling me something different, so I refer to plant response first then numbers after.

To correctly use VPD you need to account for leaf temp also. I use a laser thermometer for this. I think I got mine for $20 on Amazon. It's not the most accurate but it gives me a good enough reading for me to be able to use it in my calculations. I use the charts from the Dimlux site. Their charts allow for leaf temp differentials which gives you the true VPD at that moment.

Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

Simply put, Vapor Pressure Deficit measures the difference between the amount of drying power the atmosphere is exerting upon your plants. VPD is the key...

www.dimluxlighting.com

Generally, my temp/humidity setpoints are 80°/60%. As long as I can keep the plants in that general range +/- 5 on each I should be in the plants goldilocks zone through most of the stages of growth. Where they will differ is in seedling/early veg and late flower but for the most part that is where they seem to be most comfortable at. My main production tent is a 5 x 5 equipped with an AC Infinity T6 fan/Controller 67 setup for exhaust. I try and keep it as simple as possible when it comes to gear so I don't use booster fans for inlet air. I let the exhaust fan pull air in from the bottom flaps of the tent so that the new air can exchange the air in the tent and I can refresh the ambient CO2 levels in the tent. I also use ScrOG as my choice for grow method. Sometimes I'll do a free grow like the one I'm setting up currently. I'll be popping autos on this run so no ScrOG this run. You can see the last couple of ScrOG Journals I did if you click on the links in my sig.

Can you dedicate an office or bedroom where you have control of temp/humidity with a supplemental window unit? I don't like using window A/C's as smell becomes an issue with them so if you are in close enough proximity to a neighbor that you don't want knowing what you're doing then you'll need to rely on the HVAC. I just moved but in my old house I had an office I dedicated as a lung room. I could control temp and humidity up to where everyone felt comfortable in the house. After that it was just being strategic like running my lights on at night when ambient temperatures outside are lower meaning it's easier to keep the lung room/tent cooler along with everyone in the house wanting cooler temps for sleepy time. Works for me and the tent!

If your issue is that you can't keep your tent warm enough there are a few ways you can do this. You can use an oil filled heater to warm the tent. I bought a small desktop heater that has a thermostat built in so I can set it to the temp I want to top off the tent and keep it in range. AC Infinity just came out with a sweet little tent heater.

Hydroponics & Growers - HEATING - Heaters - AC Infinity

acinfinity.com

I also wanted to mention humidifying your tent. I use an AC Infinity T3 humidifier. It has a probe so you can independently have it monitor the humid environment in your tent and top it off when it drops below a certain level. For dehumidifying I use a 50 liter dehu in the lung room.

Sorry for the long winded post but there are a lot of things to learn before you plant that seed in the ground if you want this to go off with as little issue as possible.

 

[Lovie]

I actually have been using Dimlux Chart using a 1 degree temp difference (I read somewhere with small plants the leaf temp is usually different by 1 degree). I just ordered AC Infinity Handheld Leaf VPD & Temperature Monitor so hopefully with that I can get a precise reading with no assumptions. My tent has an exhaust system so I am not worried about smell. Also, I live in the country....no neighbors to worry about either. My tent is upstairs, even with a window unit running in the middle of the day it gets hot up there. I did not take into consideration how much the outside environment would affect the tent environment and I do not have another place I can put my tent at this time. My lights out time is between 2pm and 8pm since that is when it is hottest where my tent is. I do have a space heater in my tent set to cut on at 73 degrees. My tent temps flux from 73 degrees to 82 degrees which are acceptable ranges but require adjustments to the humidity to maintain VPD. I have tried setting my exhaust to automatically cut on and off every so often to try to maintain a certain temp but with the outside temp fluctuating so much it's impossible. Sometimes when researching I get lucky and find my answers in medical journals and I read in one of them that if you can maintain a good VPD and supplement with CO2 it will increase your yield by 30% so once I know I have an accurate VPD I was going to attempt adding CO2. Also, the only thing that puts off any CO2 upstairs is me at night when I am sleeping so I am wondering if my plants are being denied enough CO2 already. I am going to purchase something that will tell me the current CO2 levels.

 

[Sativa1970]

The short answer; Drop a seed outside with decent soil, sun, and water. Take another seed and place it in a green house with lights, perfect nutrients, ph, VPD, CO2 enrichment, and computer controlled environment. You will knock 2 weeks off your grow and gain 25% yield. A lot more equipment and time invested. You do it because you enjoy the science.

Growing up my family consists of hippies, master gardeners and bio chemists for Monsanto AG. My oldest son has 3 horticultural degrees. To this day they don't agree on the right way to grow but they all enjoy growing and have beautiful plants. Find the method you enjoy. Don't mix and match until you fully grasp one technique.

 

[Lovie]

The short answer; Drop a seed outside with decent soil, sun, and water. Take another seed and place it in a green house with lights, perfect nutrients, ph, VPD, CO2 enrichment, and computer controlled environment. You will knock 2 weeks off your grow and gain 25% yield. A lot more equipment and time invested. You do it because you enjoy the science.

Growing up my family consists of hippies, master gardeners and bio chemists for Monsanto AG. My oldest son has 3 horticultural degrees. To this day they don't agree on the right way to grow but they all enjoy growing and have beautiful plants. Find the method you enjoy. Don't mix and match until you fully grasp one technique.

Where I live medical cannabis has only been around for a couple of years and just recently has been allowed for recreational use. There are no experts around here. Once some time has passed and my husband gets over how much I have already spent on this endeavor, and after he hopefully gets some enjoyment from his investment, I plan on asking him to let me take a cannabis horticulture class.

 

[Lovie]

I do but I don't follow it religiously. Most charts and things are great starting points but I let the plants dictate the environment they want. I've run grows that charts tell me is in the danger zone but the plants are telling me something different, so I refer to plant response first then numbers after.

To correctly use VPD you need to account for leaf temp also. I use a laser thermometer for this. I think I got mine for $20 on Amazon. It's not the most accurate but it gives me a good enough reading for me to be able to use it in my calculations. I use the charts from the Dimlux site. Their charts allow for leaf temp differentials which gives you the true VPD at that moment.

Vapor Pressure Deficit - The Ultimate Guide - Dimlux Lighting - The Best Grow Lights

Simply put, Vapor Pressure Deficit measures the difference between the amount of drying power the atmosphere is exerting upon your plants. VPD is the key...

www.dimluxlighting.com

Generally, my temp/humidity setpoints are 80°/60%. As long as I can keep the plants in that general range +/- 5 on each I should be in the plants goldilocks zone through most of the stages of growth. Where they will differ is in seedling/early veg and late flower but for the most part that is where they seem to be most comfortable at. My main production tent is a 5 x 5 equipped with an AC Infinity T6 fan/Controller 67 setup for exhaust. I try and keep it as simple as possible when it comes to gear so I don't use booster fans for inlet air. I let the exhaust fan pull air in from the bottom flaps of the tent so that the new air can exchange the air in the tent and I can refresh the ambient CO2 levels in the tent. I also use ScrOG as my choice for grow method. Sometimes I'll do a free grow like the one I'm setting up currently. I'll be popping autos on this run so no ScrOG this run. You can see the last couple of ScrOG Journals I did if you click on the links in my sig.

Can you dedicate an office or bedroom where you have control of temp/humidity with a supplemental window unit? I don't like using window A/C's as smell becomes an issue with them so if you are in close enough proximity to a neighbor that you don't want knowing what you're doing then you'll need to rely on the HVAC. I just moved but in my old house I had an office I dedicated as a lung room. I could control temp and humidity up to where everyone felt comfortable in the house. After that it was just being strategic like running my lights on at night when ambient temperatures outside are lower meaning it's easier to keep the lung room/tent cooler along with everyone in the house wanting cooler temps for sleepy time. Works for me and the tent!

If your issue is that you can't keep your tent warm enough there are a few ways you can do this. You can use an oil filled heater to warm the tent. I bought a small desktop heater that has a thermostat built in so I can set it to the temp I want to top off the tent and keep it in range. AC Infinity just came out with a sweet little tent heater.

Hydroponics & Growers - HEATING - Heaters - AC Infinity

acinfinity.com

I also wanted to mention humidifying your tent. I use an AC Infinity T3 humidifier. It has a probe so you can independently have it monitor the humid environment in your tent and top it off when it drops below a certain level. For dehumidifying I use a 50 liter dehu in the lung room.

Sorry for the long winded post but there are a lot of things to learn before you plant that seed in the ground if you want this to go off with as little issue as possible.

I forgot to mention, I do use a humidifier. It's Spider Farms version of the one mentioned. That is what made maintaining the humidity easier to control than the temp.

 

[Lovie]

I just wanted to give everyone an update and big thanks! I adjusted my PH in my water and waited to water until my plant's leaves were starting to look a little sad. They are coming along nicely. Here are before and after pics. If you look closely you will see new growth and overall better appearance.

 

[Lovie]

Just curious.....are my plants showing good growth for 27 days old?

 

[Chef Theo]

Just curious.....are my plants showing good growth for 27 days old?

Look very healthy, maybe a touch small but looking good.

 

[Lovie]

Look very healthy, maybe a touch small but looking good.

That is what I was thinking. There is hardly any space between the nodes on most of them. Is this from having the lights too close or genetics? I have 3 Sour Diesels, 2 Green Crack, 1 Blueberry, 1 Chocolate Thai, and a Do-Si-Do.

 

[Lovie]

Look very healthy, maybe a touch small but looking good.

I also had to spend 5 days in the hospital when they 2 weeks old still in jiffy pots. When I got home they were so wilted I thought they were done for. I almost threw them in the trash as soon as I saw them but decided to go ahead and give them water to see if they would come back....which they did. I am sure that is contributing to their small size too.

 

[SmokingWings]

If you are using an all in one macro and micro additive, the soil becomes almost irrelevant. I still don't understand why people use supper soil and a full spectrum feed.

Interesting comment but pretty much what I have been thinking over the past several years.

If I put together a super-soil with all the special amendments then why do I need to use dry or liquid fertilizers to get the plant through to a decent harvest with most of the leaves still looking healthy. Most likely it is that the pots of soil mix are not large enough. The reason that I am believing is that the plants are demanding more than a 3 or 5 or 7 gallon pot can supply. Especially so once the plant is in a flowering stage.

If I want to grow a plant in a good soil for the benefits that a soil grow provides then the plant has to be kept at a size that matches the pots, that is a smaller size that matches.

Then I, and many other growers, want a larger plant to get more at harvest time. So I end up feeding various nutrients increasing both the size of the plant and the harvest. Ends up a vicious cycle of more nutrients mixed into the soil followed by more during the vegetating and the flowering stage. Round and round we go. Until we start to ask why bother building a super soil if we are going to end up putting the same nutrients in with the water or top dressing the soil.