Growing Problems past the seedling stage

[Julie Y]

The other picture that looks like your plant a bit in the book looks like nitrogen toxicity. Maybe search those two things on the internet.

 

[Julie Y]

Light leaks during the dark stage can stress the plant, confuse it and make it Hermi.
In soil I try and keep it below 85. In Hydro your solution needs to stay below 75.

Tonight the lights go off at 9 and set to come on at 9. Set up for with extra rings near top of the cage posts for the growth spurt.

 

[Carty]

If your using RO water Calmag is a must as it's stripped completely out of the tap water...

How close is your light to these plants? looks like you have a few different things going on bro.. Flush them to give them a good restart, feed at half strength till you get it figured out. Be sure to back off Nitrogen as you go info flower
PH could also be your issue, some plants are more forgiving then others

 

[petrovich]

Nitrogen Toxicity shows in "clawed" leaves, i got none. Im using calmag...ph is good. Also the other 2 plants look nice and theyre even closer to the light. Its about 600PPFD at this height.

 

[CrashMagnet]

Great thread. I've learned a lot, mostly about things I've been doing wrong. Not much to add other than to say I killed a few seedlings myself when I started : )

 

[petrovich]

ok i think i might have the answer. I also discovered some brown "corrosion" looking spots on new growth of that plant. It seems to be Boron deficiency. Theres Boron in most tap water and def. is rare, but it often goes together with chronic underwatering. I think i kept the dry.cycles to long, everytime i watered them the water fell right through and came out at the bottom. i always have to water 1/3rd of the amount, wait for 1-2 hours and then water the rest to avoid it running through. Another sign of underwatering is, from what ive read, when the plants look much better and happier a few hours after watering. I also thought that to be normal..to let them droop down for a day.Seems every 3rd day watering isnt enough. Or i didnt keep up with the higher comsumption they have when they grow bigger. ive put the pots on a scale now so i can exactly see how much water is left in them. Seems i was a little to careful or to scared to overwater them. But late veg seems to be a totally different game then seedling stage. they suck the water out of the pots so fast now...hope this is the solution.

the other pot is looking beautiful. I did water that pot stronger, because its larger and there 2 ladies living in.

another thing, you say changing the fertilizer is a must in flower? Im not far away from beginning flower cycle and still using an allround-fertilizer 7-5-6. I knoe flower boosters have very reduced nitrogen. Im just not sure yet if its really a must. When i let the plants deceide what they pull out of the soil, is the N gonna accumulate and get toxic?

 

[Julie Y]

Today is day one of flowering cycle. Trimmed and opened up. The future buds are attached or will be to the mini tomato cages. The room is blocked off for the 12 hrs of dark.
I also have fertilizing questions. They have been healthy and looking good. I have Fox Farm Big Bloom. The other day I mixed up a batch of water with fertilizer. How long does it last? Should I only mix up the exact amount I need? In my book it says to fertilize every other watering. They were moved from one gallon grow bags to 3 gallon fabric pots with fresh Fox Farm Ocean blend so they have nutrients to start. Thanks everyone.

 

[choxie]

@petrovich

There's veg plus bloom which is for the whole entire grow time. I really don't think an absence of nitrogen is necessary as a lot of this "bro science" tends to be bequeathed and is carried on. I'd just get a hydro blend of fertilizer and that'll ensure all the nutrients accounting for certain soil deficiencies.

 

[choxie]

Does anyone remove all side branches during flower? I'm experimenting and doing that on one plant and keeping the other all natural aside from defoliating bottom 1/3

 

[WeedHopper]

No I use side lighting for those.

 

[Julie Y]

No I use side lighting for those.

I trimmed all the foliage on the lower 1/2 plus. I tied all the side branches left to the cage . Just a disclaimer - this is my first grow so I'm reading my books, talking to y'all and faking it (I can grow a vegie garden that does very well). I also talk to them and tell them they're pretty.

 

[WeedHopper]

Stoner.

 

[choxie]

Well I'll just keep this posted and see what the outcome is

 

[carpas48]

Hello All !!! I have been trying to grow for about 6 months. I manage to kill them every time. I have a small popup grow tent, humidity and temp a bit over 70, 2 different grow lights, heated seedling mat and the recommended soil etc... I have mastered the art of soaking and germinating. After that it's all downhill. This last batch has grown the best. They are 3 weeks old - here's where it all goes bad. There are 4 "good" ones of the bunch. They are all 3" to 4" tall and have the starter leaves and two adult serrated looking leaves. Total across both leaves tip to tip is about 1/2". They are so lanky I put plant supports to hold them up. They get about to this point and die. I am using the moisture meter and being very light with the watering. I know I drowned a bunch of them. And yet - I can't justify starting more just to watch them do the same stupid thing again. I am at a loss at this point. Ask me anything you can think of that I didn't give enough info on. I really just don't get it. Thank you all..... Julie

Hello All !!! I have been trying to grow for about 6 months. I manage to kill them every time. I have a small popup grow tent, humidity and temp a bit over 70, 2 different grow lights, heated seedling mat and the recommended soil etc... I have mastered the art of soaking and germinating. After that it's all downhill. This last batch has grown the best. They are 3 weeks old - here's where it all goes bad. There are 4 "good" ones of the bunch. They are all 3" to 4" tall and have the starter leaves and two adult serrated looking leaves. Total across both leaves tip to tip is about 1/2". They are so lanky I put plant supports to hold them up. They get about to this point and die. I am using the moisture meter and being very light with the watering. I know I drowned a bunch of them. And yet - I can't justify starting more just to watch them do the same stupid thing again. I am at a loss at this point. Ask me anything you can think of that I didn't give enough info on. I really just don't get it. Thank you all..... Julie

Hi
I had this same problem numerous times but have done much better the last two years with the following regime:
I soak seeds for 16 - 18 hours in water/H202 (2T 3% H2O2 to 1 pint distilled water): this may have the effect of killing any evil microbes as well as getting the seed to pop. After 16 hours or so, the seed casing will have split a little and then I plant in soil: 1/4 in deep. If you leave it soaking too long, the rootlet emerges and, for me, the plant doesn't survive. So, get the seeds into soil before the rootlet emerges.
And finally, I sprinkle a small amount of cinnamon on top of the soil after planting the seed: the cinnamon too discourages damping off as it is an antifungal.
I also think damping off is more likely if sprouts get too leggy; so bring your lights in closer: LEDS - 400W to within 12 inches; I have T5 24w CFLs at about 12 inches. I also have a fan blowing lightly over the sprouts to make them move/vibrate which will strenghten their stalks/stems.

 

[petrovich]

im will move to flower phase starting friday. Im planing to reduce light for 1 hour each day, so after 6 days ill be at 12/12. You guys think thats enough? My panels should have more than enough red light, theyre for seed to harvest. Still i have 2 extra e27 bulbs with 70% red diodes...i wanted to add them to give a little extra "stimulus" and change the light spectrum a little more into red. I was a little disappointed to see they only have 6-7 watts each even with 200 diodes each. i measured them for par they put out about 50 PPFD at 4 inch distance and about 12-15 PPFD at 8 inch distance. You think its a good idea to use them or is it not needed?


i just saw a video about cutting clones close before harvest. It makes a lot of sense to me when you have several plants, you cut clones from the one that grew the best. In my case 1 plant is outstanding, grew bigger than other and didnt show 1 sign of any problems. Huge leaves. Now this guy just cut a few branches of and put them into a glas of water for 2-3 weeks on the windows. They all developed roots. Now i wasnt surprised about the facts you dont need any gels or supplements for that, nature alone does its job. But i learned that roots need darkness and also oxygen. When your soil is to wet for too long, roots suffer. But in this case it was fine.

 

[CrashMagnet]

I tried the branch in water approach a couple of times, and never got one to root. Doing the root riot/clone-x approach in a covered seedling tray this time. No roots showing after 4 days, but at least the leaves haven't wilted. They wilted on my tomato clones, but I'm holding out hope and not trashing them for at least 10 days.

 

[spunom]

The octopot is awesome since a lot of roots grow into the water well thing and some roots are above that level which is dry so they always get oxygen and all the water they an possibly need thus growing much larger and faster than dirt without having the issues of pure hydro

How tall are those octopots?

 

[petrovich]

@CrashMagnet

i got it from this video:


but im sceptical. Ive never done it at all. I think ill try 2 branches in water and 2 in soil and always keep the soil very wet. I think if the plant has the ability to reroot it will and you dont need any supplements. These are no magic gels that make things grow that normally wouldnt. just my common sense. Ill try anything else before ordering such a product.

Not trash them for 10 days this time? The guy said he had them 3 weeks in the glas. I wouldnt take a glas, but a cup thats not transparent..and close the surface to the point where only the stem fits through.


edit: man i wish there was finally a real alternative to Youtube. I hate them so much.

 

[CrashMagnet]

This is the one I saw before trying it.



Got the impression they would have rooted for him had he thrown them in the toilet. I tried all of his methods with no success. Only significant change was I was using grow lights to keep them warm. Maybe the lights were the problem. I have the plugs on an actual seedling mat this time.

 

[choxie]

How tall are those octopots?

They're kind of tall but I rolled down the sleeve around 10 inches and compensated by using a higher ratio of perlite so it doesn't wick up so fast. I think total it's like 28 inches or so if you use it correctly.
I have a really short tent 60 inches, so I couldn't allow a 28 inch planter.