I keep killing my indoor plants!

Hi guys im new here Nd to growing i think i should fill you in from the start.
I love growing tomatos and potatoes and have grown over the last 5 years in a green house and a small bed outside. Two years ago after doing a small amount of research on youtube i decided to nessle a couple of Super skunk autos one side of the green house but come august with a few weeks to go i got mold and picked early and it was like hay and grass not good. The following year i done the same but increased air flow by leaving door open 24-7 and managed to get a average harvest using cheap ass compost and soil from the garden 50/50 mix. I also bought a two part nutrient sensi a and b to feed them but only fed them once a week with the flowering bottles. I got a ok bit of weed i think i just cured to fast a possibly left too long as alot of the trichomes were amber and it really did stink the week before so maybe i missed its prime i dunno.
This brings me to now, i decided to buy a tent and light fan etc so i can get medicine all year round but had nothing but problems indoor.
I bought a soil called grow magic contained perlite and ita really light and fluffy was trying to get some 'good stuff' this time round as ive spent a fair bit on a
5x5x5ft tent mars hydro 600*(214 actual watt)
Fams de humidifier etc after a little struggle with humidity and heat ive now bought some sensors and temp switches to control my environment but what i didnt thibknof was the ph of the soil. Nothing wants to grow in it for long i measured run off of it and its going in at 6.5 and coming out 3.5-4.0 so im guessing this is the problem the bag doesnt have a ph on it just says it designed for hard water but ive been using rain water ph to 6.5 with ph down now ive left it at 7.5 -8 natural to try bring it up.
New seeds ordered and im going back to the basic conpost but im going try purting 1/4 worm castings out my bin and 1/4 perlite in cheap stuf from the store. Any advice on my situation would be appreciated. Ive put some pics of some problems ive had with the plants. And these new seedlings didnt seem to last two weeks. Dam this acidic soil or is it me? The yellowingr always starts from the bottom up let me know guys. Thanks and smoke on.
 

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Bernie420

Well-Known Member
Feed it some grow nutes at 150 ppms and add microbes to it. no microbes top dress some worm castings on top and feed it some grow nutes at 150 ppms water in at 6.5 ph leave it alone for a few days.
 
I tried before at this stage and it burnt the plants. ive given that really white bad looking seedling a reallly small drop of cal mag coz ive tried transplanting it into some of the cheap soil with 50%coco to try save it. Thanks i will try 150 ppm of the veg bottles see if one of the others perks up. nothing to lose lots to learn haha
 
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Something is wrong with that dirt or is it possible you are amending with some nutes of some type? They look fried either ph or heavy feed.
The run off is reading 4.5ph and 2000+ ppms its a 'enriched' soil soni havnt fed only used rain water at its natural 7.5 for this time to try bring the soil up but its had worse effects.
I tried to feed before and burnt the plants so stayed well away from nutes this time. Ive gave one cal mag i transplanted out the soil into cheap stuff with coco for drainage see what happneds
 

CannaBruh

Well-Known Member
The run off is reading 4.5ph and 2000+ ppms its a 'enriched' soil soni havnt fed only used rain water at its natural 7.5 for this time to try bring the soil up but its had worse effects.
I tried to feed before and burnt the plants so stayed well away from nutes this time. Ive gave one cal mag i transplanted out the soil into cheap stuff with coco for drainage see what happneds
I wouldn't waste my time with that dirt, get some new dirt.
 
I wouldn't waste my time with that dirt, get some new dirt.
Yeah im going to throw it up the garden and start with a basic peat moss based compost with worm castings and perlite. Ordered some microbes and a air pump for compost teas just looking into organic amendments for no till indoor containers but ill plant some into the baisic soil and feed with the a and b as a test. Looking to do a outdoor organic no till bed for my autos next year so having the tent to experiment with is cool ill post a poc in a few weeks of some new seedlings in new soil
Its hard to find super soil recipes with uk ingredients
 

Bernie420

Well-Known Member
The run off is reading 4.5ph and 2000+ ppms its a 'enriched' soil soni havnt fed only used rain water at its natural 7.5 for this time to try bring the soil up but its had worse effects.
I tried to feed before and burnt the plants so stayed well away from nutes this time. Ive gave one cal mag i transplanted out the soil into cheap stuff with coco for drainage see what happneds

You fed it cal mag when it wants veg nutes.

Microbes feed the plant the plant feeds the microbes. You dont have a root mass or a microbe population in there. When you water with plain water its no different than hydro meaning what hits the roots gets absorbed so no nutes no green plant. Your basically flushing the plant doing this every time you water at this stage.This is with synthetic nutes, (what hits the roots gets absorbed), thats one reason you water in at 6.5ph, organic is different and you would probably have a microbe population if you were to do a tea or do organics, so the plant will be able to get fed quickly.

Also not an expert or anything but the soil your using you said its for tap. They probably made the soil with a low ph to offset a high ph that comes from a tap and then it would balance things out but idk seems reasonable to me I guess. Microbes regulate the ph right at the root surface no need to check ph run off.

Add microbes (top dress worm castings if that is all you have right now) feed at a light ppm 150 sounds ok at this point leave alone and let it rebound. You should see improvement in a few days. The old damaged leaves wont come back but the new growth should be an indicator to go by from now on.
 

redivider

Well-Known Member
4.5 ph is too low...

you need to put 100% water through the soil to flush out all nastiness (and a lot of nutrients so you'll want to feed next day)..... tap water should be left out for a day or so so the chlorine evaporates..... you put water in it until it starts coming out the bottom, then you stop, wait 10 mins.... do it again, about 4 times and stop... see if the plants look happier tomorrow - they should...
 

Zero_OS

Well-Known Member
If you do a flush as advised above, you may have to wait for more than just a day for the plants to show improvement, as the wet soil might may make them droopy for a while longer. And the flush may not address the low pH since the soil is designed for hard water.

If I were to keep that soil, I would add in some dolomite to get the pH up and give it some buffering ability at a higher pH level, then cut the soil with ewc to get the ppms down, then give it another go. Or just get a new soil all together (not one for hard water). I doubt that the issue is with your seedbank.

I once slurry tested a batch of FFOF out of the bag and got over 1700 ppms and a pH=5.6), but hadn't run into any seedling issues in that batch of soil. But I would say 2000 ppms may be a too hot for your seedlings, and 4.5 pH is definitely too low.
 

IIReignManII

Well-Known Member
Keep it simple man...I'm in the middle of my first grow and I've had almost no issues so far. Start in a quality organic potting soil like Gardner & Bloome, Happy Frog, Ecoscraps, or something like that. Keep worm castings and compost around all the time...while your seedlings are starting and vegging, mix up a bigger pot of a super soil recipe and let it cook for 3-4 weeks until you're ready to plant into it. Use amendment meals like blood, bone, kelp, alfalfa, neem, crab, azomite, etc theres tons of recipes on this website
 
You fed it cal mag when it wants veg nutes.

Microbes feed the plant the plant feeds the microbes. You dont have a root mass or a microbe population in there. When you water with plain water its no different than hydro meaning what hits the roots gets absorbed so no nutes no green plant. Your basically flushing the plant doing this every time you water at this stage.This is with synthetic nutes, (what hits the roots gets absorbed), thats one reason you water in at 6.5ph, organic is different and you would probably have a microbe population if you were to do a tea or do organics, so the plant will be able to get fed quickly.

Also not an expert or anything but the soil your using you said its for tap. They probably made the soil with a low ph to offset a high ph that comes from a tap and then it would balance things out but idk seems reasonable to me I guess. Microbes regulate the ph right at the root surface no need to check ph run off.

Add microbes (top dress worm castings if that is all you have right now) feed at a light ppm 150 sounds ok at this point leave alone and let it rebound. You should see improvement in a few days. The old damaged leaves wont come back but the new growth should be an indicator to go by from now on.
Thanks for your advice. I have some new seeds ordered and my next attemps will be organic. I have been doing some research on the soil food web and its definitely the way to go. I have some dry amendments and a new batch of soil on the way with the intention to feed only compost tea liquid seeweed and molasses. I will no doubt check back when underway.
 
Ive flushed with ph 6 water and the run off is now 5.8 and ive given them a light feeding of veg nutes moved them a little away from the light gonna just let them dry before doing the same and ill check run off hopefully i have some new growth. Thanks guys ive taken it all on board
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Thanks for your advice. I have some new seeds ordered and my next attemps will be organic. I have been doing some research on the soil food web and its definitely the way to go. I have some dry amendments and a new batch of soil on the way with the intention to feed only compost tea liquid seeweed and molasses. I will no doubt check back when underway.
Organic or not organic if you over feed them you will kill them. You have purchased hydro nutrients, Sensi A&B just get some coco pith, and put them in a Dixie cup to germinate in the dark. Then transfer to a Solo Cup (with coco pith/perlite 50/50) and if they start to turn very light green give them a very light taste of the Sensi (mix it to 1/4 of what is recommended. Once their leaves are well over the Solo Cup then transfer them to your organic soil and they should survive. Cannabis is a light feeder.

Best of luck and make sure you punch holes in the cups so you don't drown them.
 
Thanks for your advice guys ive flushed them with ph 6 rainwater bringing the run off ph up to 5.8
Ive fed 1/4 strengh sensi grow and they seem to still be alive. Ive got some new beans on order so i will keep these going to see how they come along.
 
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