Scott's First Journal

[scottreid1966]

- the new, larger pot. Any changes to soil make up? Did you water it, then squeeze out the excess water and then repot? Any new nutes or anything in the soil or the water you wetted it with?

- what did the roots look like when you took it out of the old container?

Because I up-potted into a slightly larger pot when I accidentally over-waterred it, the roots werent showing when I removed it from the pot yesterday morning. The soil was quite damp but didn't want to squeeze it for fear of further damage. I put dry potting soil at the bottom of larger pot, placed the wet soiled plant then surrounded her with more dry potting soil in the hopes it would help absorb the excess. No nutes or water since original drenching in which I had some 20-20-20 in with the mix.
Have a small heater but can add a seeding pad underneath. Room temp at potting level is, at the moment 74f with RH of 40%. soil is at 68f , meter says dry but I can see and feel that it is still damp. See photo. I will spray the dome as suggested.


Lighting is at 75% of my 100w 18" above top with a fan ciculating the air, not directly on plant. After up-potting yesterday, I did blow heat onto the pot untill it reached 71f.

Thanks for following, keeping my fingers crossed. It is snowing lightly outside so it's chilly by the windows. I can try the kitchen table a few feet away and put it on my seeding matt if you think it would be better...

 

[scottreid1966]

Do you have a heat mat to put under the pot.
Get some heat in there.
Hut 67 is about 19c so that's not bad.
What did the temp bottom out at?
Must have got a lot colder than that to cripple her so bad.

Stay safe
Bill

Not sure Bill. The door is open and room temp averages 71 - 72 but was on the floor of my closet till I raised it yesterday.

 

[scottreid1966]

Not sure Bill. The door is open and room temp averages 71 - 72 but was on the floor of my closet till I raised it yesterday.

Since last post, directed heat to pot and soil reading is now at 72F.

 

[Azimuth]

Ok, sounds like the droop is from probably a combination of over watering and cold temps. The heat mat will help warm the soil as well as dry it out.

Now I'm not so sure about the dome. At the very least, leave the cap off. The warming soil should self mist the dome as it aerosolizes the water and help to dry it out via transpiration. But, if the issue is too much moisture, a dome will probably hurt more than help. So, give it an hour or two on a heat mat to warm the soil to 80* if you can, and then take the dome off.

If, after removing the dome, it looked better with the dome on, you can replace it for alternating periods, maybe a few hours at a time. At this stage, you're really trying to just nurse it back to health and leaving the dome on all the time will get it used to a cushy warm and moist environment that you really don't want for the grow.

So, think of it as a temporary ICU, but you want a normal environment as quickly as reasonably possible. Your main mission is to dry out the soil a bit so think of whatever you are doing with that in mind.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

OMG!OMG!OMG! (insert panicky emoticon here).
Woke up yesterday to a girl in pain. Soil was still very damp, and only 67 degrees: 1st photo
Up-potted in my usual and slightly larger pot in hopes to help dry . #2
Lifted the platform a few feet off the ground ( was a pain in my back and probably colder on the ground).
As of now (#3). No improvements so I'm gonna stick a dome on it and cross my fingers unless you suggest otherwise. Worse comes to worse I can try to save the top.
I am heart-broken having gained so much knowledge and then killing my only lady.
I've got 10 Cafe Racers due in on Tuesday. I hope I can get at least 4 for my outside grow. Ideally 7 so I can start my perpetual grow indoors.

Damn to many stress factors back to back... Shouldn't have up potted,topped, or watered til she recovered... Good luck with the new beans.

 

[scottreid1966]

Ok, sounds like the droop is from probably a combination of over watering and cold temps. The heat mat will help warm the soil as well as dry it out.

Now I'm not so sure about the dome. At the very least, leave the cap off. The warming soil should self mist the dome as it aerosolizes the water and help to dry it out via transportation. But, if the issue is too much moisture, a dome will probably hurt more than help. So, give it an hour or two on a heat mat to warm the soil to 80* if you can, and then take the dome off.

If, after removing the dome, it looked better with the dome on, you can replace it for alternating periods, maybe a few hours at a time. At this stage, you're really trying to just nurse it back to health and leaving the dome on all the time will get it used to a cushy warm and moist environment that you really don't want for the grow.

So, think of it as a temporary ICU, but you want a normal environment as quickly as reasonably possible. Your main mission is to dry out the soil a bit so think of whatever you are doing with that in mind.

Gotcha, Thanks. Cap is off dome now and soil reading at 75F and just placed it onto matt. Will keep an eye on it

 

[Azimuth]

The warming soil should self mist the dome as it aerosolizes the water and help to dry it out via transpiration.

And that's transpiration, not transportation. Damn auto correct...

 

[scottreid1966]

Damn to many stress factors back to back... Shouldn't have up potted,topped, or watered til she recovered... Good luck with the new beans.

I agree, but I didn't top. It was healthy as a horse when I up-potted it on Friday. I relied on my soil tester when I added water to the dry soil in the bigger pot. Bitch was, I added just a bit around perimeter, waited... Tester still said dry so I added more, waited a minute then saw water drainfrom the bottom. @#$%^&. I guess that function of my 4 in 1 soil tester isn't dependable. Even now it says dry when I can see and feel the the dampness from the top.
Since there was an inch of drenched soil surrounding the roots, Up-potting it again into dryer soil was a desperate act but was one of the only ways I could think of to dry out the initial soil.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

I agree, but I didn't top. It was healthy as a horse when I up-potted it on Friday. I relied on my soil tester when I added water to the dry soil in the bigger pot. Bitch was, I added just a bit around perimeter, waited... Tester still said dry so I added more, waited a minute then saw water drainfrom the bottom. @#$%^&. I guess that function of my 4 in 1 soil tester isn't dependable. Even now it says dry when I can see and feel the the dampness from the top.
Since there was an inch of drenched soil surrounding the roots, Up-potting it again into dryer soil was a desperate act but was one of the only ways I could think of to dry out the initial soil.

Yea watering seems to be a tricky wicked for alot... Take all the advice you got... And simplify it all to work best for you. That's how I came up with mine. But I hear ya on the last ditch attempt....sometimes that gets us by man lol

 

[Scrogdawg]

Throw that soil tester in the garbage. I've never come across one that was worth a damn.
Best method I've found is to bury your finger an inch into the soil, if its damp, leave it. If its dry water it.

In my opinion, your way overthinking this whole grow thing and its getting you into trouble.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

Hey @scottreid1966 not to be funny but you now have an entry into my thread "marvelous misadventures of pot" (link in signature) where you can show plants with problems.....also to show your not alone keep ya head up

 

[Azimuth]

How's it looking after 6 hours on the heating mat, any improvement?

 

[scottreid1966]

How's it looking after 6 hours on the heating mat, any improvement?

Little change in temperature and plant looked the same. I tried heating the pot and misted the dome to protect the leaves from the heat stress. Just woke up and the girl is standing more straight though the top node leaves are browning around the edges. Soil is now at 77f, meter says dry but it is still damp. Just removed the dome and heat, 100w lighting at 75%.

 

[Azimuth]

Well, standing up a bit more is progress. As I said, you've got it in ICU right now, just trying to stabilize it. I'd give it alternating periods of dome and then no dome, maybe half day increments at a time. That way she gets a little of both environments and hopefully will recover enough in a few days to start putting on new growth. At that point you'll know the roots have recovered and you should be back on track.

But, you're not there yet. One step at a time.

 

[scottreid1966]

Well, standing up a bit more is progress. As I said, you've got it in ICU right now, just trying to stabilize it. I'd give it alternating periods of dome and then no dome, maybe half day increments at a time. That way she gets a little of both environments and hopefully will recover enough in a few days to start putting on new growth. At that point you'll know the roots have recovered and you should be back on track.

But, you're not there yet. One step at a time.

What if the soil gets dry by the end of the day? Still damp but not very.
Thanks

 

[HappyHazmat88]

Good morning Scott and azimuth hope your both having a good morning... She does seem to be standing a little more up straight this morning but May I ask why the dome?

 

[Azimuth]

What if the soil gets dry by the end of the day? Still damp but not very.
Thanks

Well that's going to be tough to tell since you said you have a core of really wet soil surrounded by dry soil you were trying to use to wick some of the moisture.

I think you should use the weight test. The pot should feel surprisingly light when you pick it up. Otherwise the weight you feel is mostly water weight. Given the damage you've probably done to the roots it's very unlikely that they're using much water and the pot itself won't dry all that much on its own.

You're mostly looking for positive responses from the plant now. See if it can stand back up and so on.

Good morning Scott and azimuth hope your both having a good morning... She does seem to be standing a little more up straight this morning but May I ask why the dome?

The plant was wilting quite badly and that's likely a sign of either too much water or not enough. I thought that if the roots had been trashed, a misted dome might be a way to get the plant some moisture through its leaves to tide it over a bit. Kinda like treating as a cutting.

But, don't want to leave it on too long because that would create other problems.

So, my thought was to help stabilize the plant while it could rebuild some roots. I'm assuming the roots are weakened significantly but not completely trashed.

 

[HappyHazmat88]

@Azimuth thanks and I get the idea behind it. But may I ask about the use of hydro guard? Ive used it in the past when I thought I was having similar issues and seemed to help.

 

[Azimuth]

@Azimuth thanks and I get the idea behind it. But may I ask about the use of hydro guard? Ive used it in the past when I thought I was having similar issues and seemed to help.

Interesting. Never used it, so can't speak to it. The label says it "forms a barrier against damping-off disease and root rot." But what if you already have root rot? Wonder if it would still help.

I would think that simple proper watering and allowing the roots to dry out each cycle and get stronger would eliminate the need for such a product, but don't really know. I use worm castings pretty liberally so maybe I'm getting some of those beneficial bacteria as part of the process.

Good thought though.

 

[Scrogdawg]

I've encountered root issues in the past and used a product called Z7 which is very similar to Hydroguard. It worked great to repair the root problem.