Some Advice, Pretty Please? AK47 & Jack

The Celt said:
Pure peat and perlite is cheaper, but it needs to be buffered which is a hard thing to determine in a non-organic grow. Buffering your own medium when using salt based nutrients can be a struggle. That’s why most who use nutes use a pre-buffered medium like ProMix.

You’d be better served by the Black Gold or Promix. Promix BX is a good buffered medium, with perlite if I remember, and has no nutrients in it.
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I would prefer to go organic, but I am too new at this game. I just want these ladies to survive...
 
gratefulredhead said:
I would prefer to go organic, but I am too new at this game. I just want these ladies to survive...
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Also, some have said that Black Gold is too “hot” for cannabis. I’ve heard both sides. Any thoughts? Are my issues due to overwatering, the soil, or the combination of jiffy starters, that soil and peat containers? If it is primarily overwatering, I can wrap my head around that one...
 
There are people here in the forum making their own peat/perlite mix by buffering it with lime. Not complicated, but seems like extra work for a new grower.

Your link took me to a main page with a lot of products to choose from and I wasn’t sure which mix you have.

Usually if the mix is hot they’ll grow through it and I find it’s best in the long run to leave them. But it depends....
 
Weaselcracker said:
There are people here in the forum making their own peat/perlite mix by buffering it with lime. Not complicated, but seems like extra work for a new grower.

Your link took me to a main page with a lot of products to choose from and I wasn’t sure which mix you have.

Usually if the mix is hot they’ll grow through it and I find it’s best in the long run to leave them. But it depends....
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This is the one: Products - Black Gold
 
Things not looking up for this little lady...
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Are they autos? If not then you can transplant some of them to see if they improve? not much to lose. If root issues are set in then they probably won’t make it. But to me they looked mostly salvageable.

If that one in the pic doesn’t have rotting roots it can easily recover from looking like that.
 
Weaselcracker said:
Are they autos? If not then you can transplant some of them to see if they improve? not much to lose. If root issues are set in then they probably won’t make it. But to me they looked mostly salvageable.

If that one in the pic doesn’t have rotting roots it can easily recover from looking like that.
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Hey @Weaselcracker - yes they are autos. The roots coming out of the bottom of the pots look good. I'll try to get those peat containers off of there and transplant into 3 gallons in the coming days. good plan?
 
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:Namaste:
 
I never had good luck growing in those paper pots. They dry out too fast.

Something is wrong with the pH in the soil probably.

You cannot test the soil pH easily it needs to be done in a lab.

Suggest getting some different soil and bigger pots and up pot.

pH test your water - what is it? and whats the water source??

IF tap water then let it sit out overnight to let the chlorine evaporate.

I get seedlings that look like that when I leave them in a cup too long with old
used up soil that I use for seedlings.

If you want to grow in soil you need to get some proper soil mix.

bagged soil from the box store only gonna last so long if at all.

OP - what growing style do you want to try??

soil or soil-less??
 
bobrown14 said:
I never had good luck growing in those paper pots. They dry out too fast.

Something is wrong with the pH in the soil probably.

You cannot test the soil pH easily it needs to be done in a lab.

Suggest getting some different soil and bigger pots and up pot.

pH test your water - what is it? and whats the water source??

IF tap water then let it sit out overnight to let the chlorine evaporate.

I get seedlings that look like that when I leave them in a cup too long with old
used up soil that I use for seedlings.

If you want to grow in soil you need to get some proper soil mix.

bagged soil from the box store only gonna last so long if at all.

OP - what growing style do you want to try??

soil or soil-less??
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Yes will pot up in a couple days as soon as I get some better soil. Water is spring and modified to 6.5. Using Bergman’s plant food. Think they’ll make it a few more days before they get a better home?

definitely not looking so happy...

image.jpg
 
These plants are tiny, that’s not a slam but info you need. Tiny plants cant use up much water at all. The yellow color is because the roots are drowning and can’t breathe. If you water every day or every other day or every 3rd day in a regular pattern like that they will continue to turn yellow and eventually die. They are being watered too frequently still would be my guess. Forget about watering to runoff for now I’m guessing your fiber pots do not have drainage holes. Watering to runoff pertains to a healthy plant in a well drained soil - in my opinion you are not there yet and won’t be for a few weeks

Gently poke 4 holes in the bottom of each pot with sharp knife or ice pick, set them on an oven rack or grate that is elevated with at least 4 inches of free air space under the rack to get airflow underneath. Ok hopefully after popping the holes in the fiber pots the plants will pee out some of that extra water. Dont know where in the house your grow is but keep your plants off the floor and put up on a high shelf where you can keep them warm.

Please understand I’m not trying to sound like a pro or a smart ass, just trying to help you get those turned around. Best of luck and keep us posted!!
 
013 said:
These plants are tiny, that’s not a slam but info you need. Tiny plants cant use up much water at all. The yellow color is because the roots are drowning and can’t breathe. If you water every day or every other day or every 3rd day in a regular pattern like that they will continue to turn yellow and eventually die. They are being watered too frequently still would be my guess. Forget about watering to runoff for now I’m guessing your fiber pots do not have drainage holes. Watering to runoff pertains to a healthy plant in a well drained soil - in my opinion you are not there yet and won’t be for a few weeks

Gently poke 4 holes in the bottom of each pot with sharp knife or ice pick, set them on an oven rack or grate that is elevated with at least 4 inches of free air space under the rack to get airflow underneath. Ok hopefully after popping the holes in the fiber pots the plants will pee out some of that extra water. Dont know where in the house your grow is but keep your plants off the floor and put up on a high shelf where you can keep them warm.

Please understand I’m not trying to sound like a pro or a smart ass, just trying to help you get those turned around. Best of luck and keep us posted!!
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Thanks for the post. There is drainage in these pots. The soil has been getting quite dry as of late. For the last week I have not watered to run off. In fact, I have been giving less and less - yesterday, when dry and light, just gave a little around the edges. New leaves seem maybe a little better? Not sure.
 
Hey Grateful! A healthy plant that size should be able to go 4 to 5 days easy without any water added. Your plants are not healthy meaning they need even less water. When the soil totally dries out I mean light as a feather then she sends out tiny root hairs to search for water. This is a good thing and it’s also what propels growth... Fill a fiber pot with dry soil and use as a comparison weight, it’s called the lift a pot method. Or put them on a weed scale or kitchen scale to comparison weigh them is another idea. For now her leaves are pointing at the problem - roots / wet feet / can’t breathe something along those lines - when things get dry her leaves should perk up.

Again, not a pro - just a gardener... hope she (they) bounce back quickly!!
 
PH - soil is around 5.5 - 6.0. Water has been around 7.2 - 7.5.

Not sure if anyone pointed this out, but 7.2-7.5 is way too high for your input pH.
You should be going in at 6.3-6.5 in soil.
I've used Black Gold before in my (bloom) soil mixes. It runs alittle hot, so you probably would have been okay without feeding for at least two weeks after sprout.
With auto strains, you typically want to start off in your final pots.

My recommendation… run 2 gallons or so of fresh water ph'd to 6.5 through each plant, then get them into your 3-5 gallon pots. Saturate the soil and let dry completely before you water again. If you're using the same soil, don't feed for a couple of weeks. If you are having trouble finding decent soil, just grab a bag of Miracle Grow Organics from the store. I know people say it's no good, but I've used it plenty of times without any issues. I add in a bag (8 qts.) of perlite to a big bag of MGO to help with drainage, and have a solid wet/dry cycle.

I'm not familiar with your nute line, but I recommend getting something made for cannabis. Mega Crop is super simple to use and cheap.

Also... read the How to properly water... link in my signature.
 
013 said:
Hey Grateful! A healthy plant that size should be able to go 4 to 5 days easy without any water added. Your plants are not healthy meaning they need even less water. When the soil totally dries out I mean light as a feather then she sends out tiny root hairs to search for water. This is a good thing and it’s also what propels growth... Fill a fiber pot with dry soil and use as a comparison weight, it’s called the lift a pot method. Or put them on a weed scale or kitchen scale to comparison weigh them is another idea. For now her leaves are pointing at the problem - roots / wet feet / can’t breathe something along those lines - when things get dry her leaves should perk up.

Again, not a pro - just a gardener... hope she (they) bounce back quickly!!
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Thanks for the reply - really appreciated. I'm not having much luck turning things around it seems.
 
So, everyone. First, THANK YOU for your help. Super appreciated...

Update: Cut one open to see what was going on in there and to try potting up. Root growth not too substantial although nothing looked rotted or dead. Even though I gave a small drink this morning, the basic environment was just a little damp, not wet. Did I over correct for too much water last week? Just not enough time to recover? What do your more experienced eyes tell you about this grow? The others continue their downward spiral, more or less.

December24a.jpeg


December24b.jpeg


December24c.jpeg


December24d.jpeg


December24e.jpeg
 
Dry those plants out as much as possible and hope for the best. If root rot hasn’t set in then there is hope for them, but it’s looking rough. Personally I’d be looking around for more seeds though for the next run just in case. Non -autos IMO.

Edit. Some of the growth looks like it has a spark or two left in it. The second photo looks good. Probably could be left as is for a while and see if growth starts to take off

If the soil seems ‘just a little damp’ then it doesn’t need to be watered.
 
AdaminCO said:
PH - soil is around 5.5 - 6.0. Water has been around 7.2 - 7.5.

Not sure if anyone pointed this out, but 7.2-7.5 is way too high for your input pH.
You should be going in at 6.3-6.5 in soil.
I've used Black Gold before in my (bloom) soil mixes. It runs alittle hot, so you probably would have been okay without feeding for at least two weeks after sprout.
With auto strains, you typically want to start off in your final pots.

My recommendation… run 2 gallons or so of fresh water ph'd to 6.5 through each plant, then get them into your 3-5 gallon pots. Saturate the soil and let dry completely before you water again. If you're using the same soil, don't feed for a couple of weeks. If you are having trouble finding decent soil, just grab a bag of Miracle Grow Organics from the store. I know people say it's no good, but I've used it plenty of times without any issues. I add in a bag (8 qts.) of perlite to a big bag of MGO to help with drainage, and have a solid wet/dry cycle.

I'm not familiar with your nute line, but I recommend getting something made for cannabis. Mega Crop is super simple to use and cheap.

Also... read the How to properly water... link in my signature.
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Great info - been adjusting water to 6.5 as of late. Nute line is for cannabis - from the Netherlands. I’ll do your tek to a couple plants in a day or so (if they make it that long). Thanks for taking the time.
 
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