STILL having same problems even after switching out nute brands and soil brands

I've been battling deficiencies for half a year now, a month ago I switched from promix and dyna gro to using green planet nutes and sunshine advanced #4, mendo organic mix and perlite in a 1:1:1 ratio but am still having the same problems which tells me that it isn't the soil or the nutes that is causing this issue.

It looks like a nitrogen deficiency to me, been using 8 ml/gal part A and B and 8 ml/gal pro-cal every other watering. I looked at the root ball and the root system isn't very robust, but they are white with a little yellowing here and there but nothing major.

Can anyone suggest a course of action? I was just going to bump up the nutes to 10ml/gal from 8/ml gal but I have a feeling the deficiency may not be from lack of nutrients going in.

The room stays between 78-82F. Per suggestion of a grow store owner I've been watering them daily at 160mL/gal of soil, each day they are bone dry for the next watering. plenty of circulation.

Only thing I can think of is that I've been using a "vortex" style brewer left over from my organic days and I have a feeling it was growing a ton of brown slime in places that I could not see. Assuming the brown slime would be in the water as well and thus in the soil and locking out nutes. I've changed my water holding containers since then to just plain old 5 gallon buckets with a air stone.

Help is appreciated. Thanks in advance, Growery.

Ya definitely looks like N def. Maybe cal mag as well but not much. Are you watering often?

I water daily 160mL per gallon of soil

Are the Green Planet nutes an organic line? If so, you may want to bump up your waterings or consider using a blue mat. By letting your soil go to a completely bone dry state you may be causing your microbes to go dormant in the soil so no nutrients are available to your plants. The wet-dry cycles apply more to synthetics. Organic soil should stay moist throughout.

Also, have you checked the PH of your water, and the runoff? You may be having some issues there as well.

Good luck

Could be a lighting issue (not enough) creating the bottle neck.

st0wandgrow said:

Are the Green Planet nutes an organic line? If so, you may want to bump up your waterings or consider using a blue mat. By letting your soil go to a completely bone dry state you may be causing your microbes to go dormant in the soil so no nutrients are available to your plants. The wet-dry cycles apply more to synthetics. Organic soil should stay moist throughout.

Also, have you checked the PH of your water, and the runoff? You may be having some issues there as well.

Good luck

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yes to all that ^^^^

hammer21 said:

Could be a lighting issue (not enough) creating the bottle neck.

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^^^^^^^^My first thought. second was U are using RO water. third was time to up-pot

good luck

Thanks for the help guys, appreciate it.

The green planet nutes are synthetics, the T5 bulbs are only a few months old. i haven't cleaned the bulbs in some time, I'll do that tonight and transplant them from 1/2 gal pots to 2 gal pots tonight. pH of water going in is 6.6, i can't measure any run off since I only put in 160mL of water at a time.

hopefully the tips you guys suggested will work out, thanks again.

It's tempting to drench the soil but I'm afraid of inducing root rot as it seems to happen every time I do it.

Broad mites anyone?? I thought i was deficient for a while but it turns out it was broad mites.. might wanna really dive in and check for them. look for any weird looking leaves coming out of the new growth and dying leaves.


Having looked at the pics closer idk it probably isn't broad mites they look deficient and are root bound pretty bad i bet. they tend to get cranky when they don't have leg room that could be a big part of it.

The Growery said:

Thanks for the help guys, appreciate it.

The green planet nutes are synthetics, the T5 bulbs are only a few months old. i haven't cleaned the bulbs in some time, I'll do that tonight and transplant them from 1/2 gal pots to 2 gal pots tonight. pH of water going in is 6.6, i can't measure any run off since I only put in 160mL of water at a time.

hopefully the tips you guys suggested will work out, thanks again.

It's tempting to drench the soil but I'm afraid of inducing root rot as it seems to happen every time I do it.

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I think homeless nailed it. Your girls have outgrown their home. You may want to score the rootball when you pop them out prior to transplanting to speed up the recovery.

when I transplanted them, the roots had barely grown into the medium, the bottom half of the soil simply "fell off" when I was transplanting them. any ideas? I've got them in 2 gal pots now and still the same, drooping, yellowing leaves. I've noticed that the plants in the flower room however recover and show vigorous green growth after about a week under 12/12 hps so I'm thinking perhaps it could be lack of light, but I've never had this problem before using the same equipment in the past. i'll post if I find anything that I missed that would maybe cause these issues.

you have seemed to check on all of the most obvious causes for what is going on so i figured id mention that i remember having some root rot in the past that gave that type of look. I noticed that with mine, they stopped getting taller and started trying to bush up on their lower and middle nodes. It seems like yours might be doing that as well..and they also had that classic droop. thats my best guess considering you have ran different variables to diagnose it already.

needlesnpins said:

you have seemed to check on all of the most obvious causes for what is going on so i figured id mention that i remember having some root rot in the past that gave that type of look. I noticed that with mine, they stopped getting taller and started trying to bush up on their lower and middle nodes. It seems like yours might be doing that as well..and they also had that classic droop. thats my best guess considering you have ran different variables to diagnose it already.

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were you able to save the plant that had root rot? at times I feel like some of them do have root rot b/c they will be limp with water still in the soil. the confusing part is they start as clones in dixie cups being fed clonex liquid and they do very well, fast growth, all green, no striping, nothing. then a couple weeks into their first transplant they ALWAYS start to stripe and then leaves turn yellow. it is such a bizarre problem I am having. only thing I can think of is that I'm aethiest and maybe there is a god and he is smiting me.

i thought it was the nutes I was using but changing out nutes presents the same problem.. ahhh!

well, when that was going on with my stuff i was in a ebb n gro system and i had a combo of root rot and the slime (cyano) im surprised you would even have to worry about that in dirt but it does sound and look very similar to my situation. unfortunately i was never able to get them out of their stunting and one afternoon I had myself a very therapeutic disposal session lol.

The only thing i could think for you to do is try to get some beneficial bacteria in there in the hopes that it is just a fungal infection or similar.
if I was you i would sacrifice one of the worst plants and take a look at their roots...if they smell and are falling apart you definitely have yourself some rot..in the mean time try botanicare aqua shield..i've had success keeping things happy with that in the past.

when they are in the dixi cups do the cups have soil in them or just water? also, how do you clone? if you use an aero cloner im thinking you may be introducing the bacteria before they even get into the dirt.

I use root riot cubes in a tray and humid dome, the dixie cups have the same soil mix as the rest of the plants. I think you are right that there is some type of fungus/virus being transmitted. New seeds that are popped always do well, with minimal striping and yellowing of leaves, it's only after I clone them that I get these problems and since when I clone I have multiple strains in the same tray, they are all probably infecting eachother? but then why would they always do well during the dixie cup stage and get worse later? I would think it would be the opposite.

Maybe jonny is crazy but those drooping leaves look like you're over watering? Watering every single day doesn't make a great deal of sense to me....is anyone else picking up on this?

I water my 5 gallon pots once every 3-4 days...couldn't imagine watering every day. My girls might look like yours

The fact that your roots aren't penetrating to the bottom of the pot with as much vertical growth that you have going on sounds like you got a bunch of wet sludge at the bottom of your pot that never gets to dry out at all therefore your roots cannot penetrate. Roots need oxygen to function so if your sludge at the bottom of the pot never has an opportunity to dry out due to your daily waterings, you constrict your root growth.

Just my $.02...

The Growery said:

I use root riot cubes in a tray and humid dome, the dixie cups have the same soil mix as the rest of the plants. I think you are right that there is some type of fungus/virus being transmitted. New seeds that are popped always do well, with minimal striping and yellowing of leaves, it's only after I clone them that I get these problems and since when I clone I have multiple strains in the same tray, they are all probably infecting eachother? but then why would they always do well during the dixie cup stage and get worse later? I would think it would be the opposite.

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idk man you got me stumped!! I had these problems in hydro and when i switched to soil it was all good lol...your best course of action would be to pop some new beans and keep the cuts from them in their own separate trays and don't take anymore cuts from the current plants..

needlesnpins said:

idk man you got me stumped!! I had these problems in hydro and when i switched to soil it was all good lol...your best course of action would be to pop some new beans and keep the cuts from them in their own separate trays and don't take anymore cuts from the current plants..

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seeds crack with a certain amount of food to jump start their lives..


jonny? I thought the same thing. But you said they are bone dry between correct Growery???

Overwatering. 160ml per gallon of soil per day your roots will always be waterlogged and the water displaces oxygen. You should just water thoroughly and not repeat until your pots are light again.

Yep, those girls are drowning Try watering every third day until they recover and then only every other day if they can uptake the water. Watering your plants should be directly dependent upon their usage.