Slow growth -- repot?

My first 2 grows went pretty well. 8 oz and 10 oz respectively on a 2x4 scrog. Now on my 3rd grow and not off to a good start. As before, I started 2 beans – 1 Jorge's Diamonds and 1 White Widow -- in peat filled cups. They broke ground after 2 days, then after 1.5 weeks they were transplanted to 1-gal pots with the same soil mix as previous grows. I also included a seedling size clone of Northern Lights from my earlier grows. It seemed that all of the plants were slow growers from the beginning and the larger pots didn't help. After 2 more weeks I transplanted to 7-gal pots, their final destination.

All factors are the same as my earlier grows: Same super soil recipe, same lights, same nutes, same environmental conditions – EXCEPT, on this grow I loaded my pots with the same soil but this time letting it age, covered, for a couple of months before potting the seedlings into it. So, on to the actual problem(s). Remember: These girls germed on Oct 10:



The plants are now 5 weeks from germination and they look like their growth has stalled out. They've only been lightly watered once a week with a Tbl of comfrey ACT. Here's the 3rd gen re-vegged Northern Lights clone. These genetics were a real winner in earlier grows. Good growth, nice yield of some pretty good buds, but this one seems stunted. It should have filled out part of my scrog, but just isn't putting on any vegetation:



The JD plant has shown claw leaves since going into the bigger pots:



and the White Widow shows what I think is nute burn on the edges of it's lower leaves, and it seems slow growing and overly bushy, but maybe it's just the genotype of the plant:



I don't see much congruity in the problems for each plant, so not sure where to go from here. Should I try flushing (flush organic, really?), or maybe repotting into a fresh soil mix? Or, am I just overreacting? Any experiential input greatly appreciated.

Theres no way its an issue with the pot size. It loosk like its overwatered or poor drainage. the upper dark green shiny makes me think ur in a lockout, making me think that ur PH is all jacked up.

Whats the temp of the grow area? Whats the runoff PH? Whats the drainage situation? What are u feeding it? What temperature is the water ur feeding it with? How often?

Lite said:

Theres no way its an issue with the pot size. It loosk like its overwatered or poor drainage. the upper dark green shiny makes me think ur in a lockout, making me think that ur PH is all jacked up.

Whats the temp of the grow area? Whats the runoff PH? Whats the drainage situation? What are u feeding it? What temperature is the water ur feeding it with? How often?

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I agree
expeacly the one looks to have had a history of overwatering, look at them speed bumps.
check the ph of the runnoff

Lite said:

Theres no way its an issue with the pot size.

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Yeah, no indication that pot size might be part of the problem. Roots were fine at transplant.

: said:

It loosk like its overwatered or poor drainage. the upper dark green shiny makes me think ur in a lockout, making me think that ur PH is all jacked up.

Click to expand...

When I first put them in the big pots I noted that the soil mix was moist, not wet, and had compacted after a couple of months to a consistency of fresh EWC -- not loose, but crumbles when you squeeze it. Most of the chunks had broken down and It has the look and feel of really good, rich soil, as it should. A pH check of the soil gives 6.5, and I pH the watering solution to 6.5 as well. Since the soil was already well-moistened, I watered all of them lightly at transplant just to integrate the root ball with the soil, but didn't soak them. When I watered, I add a couple of Tbs of ACT before pHing. Each of the 3 hasn't received more than a liter of water in since transplanting into the big pots 2 weeks ago.

: said:

Whats the temp of the grow area? Whats the runoff PH? Whats the drainage situation? What are u feeding it? What temperature is the water ur feeding it with? How often?

Click to expand...

room temp 20'-23'c
no runoff

Again, I'm using the same methods and materials from 2 earlier successful grows, except that the soil mix was aged for a few months. It's not worth posting my specific soil and tea recipies because I know they work and it will only serve to send some of you down meaningless rabbit holes when I know what I have can work. For whatever reason, there is clearly a problem with my soil, so rather than try to trouble shoot the specific problem, can I transplant these girls into a new pots with different soil, or will I shock them so significantly it would be better to take cuttings and start over?

Hmmmm... checking symptoms, the one with the claw leaves -- maybe not too much N but rather too much fan? I had a fan blowing on them pretty hard for the first month, but not for the past week. Shouldn't it have recovered by now?

7 gallon dry pots need exactly 1.75 gallons of water added all at once.
when the pot is once again dry and light, repeat. anything else is ill.

graying.geek said:

Yeah, no indication that pot size might be part of the problem. Roots were fine at transplant.



When I first put them in the big pots I noted that the soil mix was moist, not wet, and had compacted after a couple of months to a consistency of fresh EWC -- not loose, but crumbles when you squeeze it. Most of the chunks had broken down and It has the look and feel of really good, rich soil, as it should. A pH check of the soil gives 6.5, and I pH the watering solution to 6.5 as well. Since the soil was already well-moistened, I watered all of them lightly at transplant just to integrate the root ball with the soil, but didn't soak them. When I watered, I add a couple of Tbs of ACT before pHing. Each of the 3 hasn't received more than a liter of water in since transplanting into the big pots 2 weeks ago.



room temp 20'-23'c
no runoff

Again, I'm using the same methods and materials from 2 earlier successful grows, except that the soil mix was aged for a few months. It's not worth posting my specific soil and tea recipies because I know they work and it will only serve to send some of you down meaningless rabbit holes when I know what I have can work. For whatever reason, there is clearly a problem with my soil, so rather than try to trouble shoot the specific problem, can I transplant these girls into a new pots with different soil, or will I shock them so significantly it would be better to take cuttings and start over?

Click to expand...

Just skimming on by and will add a thought.
The soil amendments added are the same as the last time.
How can you be sure the soil you amended was in the same condition as the soil you amended the previous time. You could probably say that if you used a base mix that was new each time they would be the same.
If you made a soil and used it then amended it again the exact same way, that could be a mistake because the soil you are amending the second time is likely not going to need to be amended as heavily.

Buba Blend said:

Just skimming on by and will add a thought.
The soil amendments added are the same as the last time.
How can you be sure the soil you amended was in the same condition as the soil you amended the previous time. You could probably say that if you used a base mix that was new each time they would be the same.
If you made a soil and used it then amended it again the exact same way, that could be a mistake because the soil you are amending the second time is likely not going to need to be amended as heavily.

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It took me a while to parse this , but no, all soil components are fresh out of the bag.

I believe that the "clawing" could be a Lockout Probably due to CalMag or just Overwatering possibly, what Kind of Lighting?

ScoobyDoo90 said:

I believe that the "clawing" could be a Lockout Probably due to CalMag or just Overwatering possibly, what Kind of Lighting?

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EB-series LED strips. Right now, ~1/2 way through veg, delivering 15-20k PAR lumens to the canopy.

They could be a bit bigger, but overall looks good just minor issue if corrected nothing detrimental, also do you LST or train?

Put a yellow sticky strip down, just to be sure its nothing else.

Canadain Closet Gardener said:

Put a yellow sticky strip down, just to be sure its nothing else.

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Leaves do look kind of glossy

Okay, @canadain-closet-gardener called it: spider mites. I discovered them back toward the end of Nov and covered all 3 girls in insecticidal soap each day for 5 days. I know (now) that I should have kept it up for another 5 days, but not, so of course they're back. I'm ready to throw in the towel on these girls, but here are my questions:

1) After investing $20 in seeds and 2 months of grow, it's hard to give up completely on these mature females, so is there some way to treat cuttings before rooting to assure all of the critters and eggs are dead, dead? Dip them in insecticidal soap then in 30% alcohol?

2) What is the best way to sanitize my grow area and assure there is no resurrection of these little f*ckers? Spray bottle with bleach? Ozone generator? Insecticidal bomb? What?

Thanx for any help.

Spray with fresh squeezed lemon juice and transfer to a hydro setup.

is there some way to treat cuttings before rooting to assure all of the critters and eggs are dead, dead?
forbid 4f pricy get small amounts from ebay or small amount of floramite works great use in veg. only