New grow style, familiar problem.

Grow space: 2.5x3x5
Light: 135w 288 QB from HLG
Medium: see below
5 gallon smart pot
Temps/rh: 78f to 80f at approx 45% lights on. 72 to 74 at approx 45% lights off
Plant is indica, 25 days from sprout and has been topped once.

Trying a style of grow that is new to me. It's basically the 'kind soil' method except I used soil that I cooked myself. Idea being that a light coco based soil in the top 2/3 of the pot provides a zone to allow the plant to drink without feeding much if it wants, and the bottom 1/3 with the "hot" soil provides nutrients when needed.
She was started in the light soil and up potted until she was ready for the 5 gallon smart pot at which point the hot soil was introduced. Transplant was a bit over a week ago. New growth is twisting pretty badly. I am suspecting 1 of 3 things.

1. shock from the roots finally hitting the hot soil
2. Iron deficiency from lack of or lockout
3. Pests

Haven't been able to locate evidence of bugs and based on what I amended the soil with it should have plenty of fe available. Lock out from pH? Water in has been 6.3 to 6.5 consistently so far so I'm doubtful there. Twisting started maybe 36 to 48 hours ago and it does seem that as the new growth gets bigger the twisting gets less drastic.
I had just switched her to 12/12 yesterday but I'm probably going to put her back to 18/6 so I can sort this out.
Any and all help is appreciated. Only got one pic of the problems so far but can take more tonight.

A lockout would show as deficiency and this plant looks fairly healthy. The ph could be just a bit acidic yet still in range for absorbtion. Ph is set by the soil mix itself; adjusting the ph of the water you give does nothing to keep the soil ph in range. You need a soil probe to check the actual soil ph at the root zone. Twisting indicates your soil mix could be too hot. Yet there's no burn so it's relatively minor at this point. I've had plants that had twisted & clawed leaves until halfway through bloom phase but still harvested decent size buds off them. It can take a few recycles before your mix reaches the coveted supernatural status.
How long did you cook the soil for? Did you add any ph buffers like crushed oyster shell to the mix when you built it?
Not trying to be a dick here just want to help...

Richard Drysift said:

A lockout would show as deficiency and this plant looks fairly healthy. The ph could be just a bit acidic yet still in range for absorbtion. Ph is set by the soil mix itself; adjusting the ph of the water you give does nothing to keep the soil ph in range. You need a soil probe to check the actual soil ph at the root zone. Twisting indicates your soil mix could be too hot. Yet there's no burn so it's relatively minor at this point. I've had plants that had twisted & clawed leaves until halfway through bloom phase but still harvested decent size buds off them. It can take a few recycles before your mix reaches the coveted supernatural status.
How long did you cook the soil for? Did you add any ph buffers like crushed oyster shell to the mix when you built it?
Not trying to be a dick here just want to help...

Click to expand...

Not being a dick at all! I appreciate the help immensely. This is my first shot at homemade living soil so im totally open to assistance. Soil ended up cooking for about 60 days. I'll provide you with a complete list of what went into the soil when I get home. Thanks again!

@Richard Drysift
I know a few of these are going to get me yelled at. I hadn't fully done my homework when I built the soil...

Peat moss, coco coir, perlite, worm castings, bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, alfalfa, kelp meal, guano, neem meal, langbeinite, rock phosphate, oyster shell, lime, azomite, humid acid, char, mycorrhizal fungi, trichoderma and a compliment of beneficial bacteria. And I'm sure I forgot to list at least one thing. I'll look at my notes.

Actually I use many of the same amendments as you do give or take a few. 60 days cooking should've been plenty of time to cook all that in. I would simply add a bit more coco & perlite to the mix if you can to cut it down for the next time. As far as treating this plant most of the damage is done already; just watch to see it doesn't get worse and water as normal. Pretty sure it was the pure humid acid that gave my plants the claw that time; probably added just a little too much. It is acid after all which will acidify the soil ph somewhat. You can try to give some hydrated lime (bubble 1tsp lime w/ 1 gal of water for a few hrs) which should help bump up the ph a bit or just sprinkle some dry d-lime on top for slower release but I wouldn't get too crazy with it unless you have a soil probe to check ph at the root zone. Top dressing with worm castings can also help raise up the ph slightly. Add the mycorrhizae only at transplants; it doesn't do much unless it's in direct contact with roots.

Here's a link to my thread if you wanna see how I do it..
https://www.rollitup.org/t/dick-does-dank.909077/

Richard Drysift said:

Actually I use many of the same amendments as you do give or take a few. 60 days cooking should've been plenty of time to cook all that in. I would simply add a bit more coco & perlite to the mix if you can to cut it down for the next time. As far as treating this plant most of the damage is done already; just watch to see it doesn't get worse and water as normal. Pretty sure it was the pure humid acid that gave my plants the claw that time; probably added just a little too much. It is acid after all which will acidify the soil ph somewhat. You can try to give some hydrated lime (bubble 1tsp lime w/ 1 gal of water for a few hrs) which should help bump up the ph a bit or just sprinkle some dry d-lime on top for slower release but I wouldn't get too crazy with it unless you have a soil probe to check ph at the root zone. Top dressing with worm castings can also help raise up the ph slightly. Add the mycorrhizae only at transplants; it doesn't do much unless it's in direct contact with roots.

Click to expand...

Thanks a million! That's a lot of good info for me to chew on. Particularly about the mycorrhizae. If I'm honest, a lot of what I learned while prepping was from your threads and posts on the topic so I was super happy when you were the one that replied.

Awesome glad to help

another easier way perhaps is ....

pot up

good luck

When I combine coco and soil, the coco is a plug in the center and the soil a ring around that. This allows me to use whatever water is on hand... Left over water with nutes in goes in the center and normal tapwater around the edges in the soil when no nutes are left over.

I think by layering them you have two mediums with competing ideal pH ranges...

ANC said:

When I combine coco and soil, the coco is a plug in the center and the soil a ring around that. This allows me to use whatever water is on hand... Left over water with nutes in goes in the center and normal tapwater around the edges in the soil when no nutes are left over.

I think by layering them you have two mediums with competing ideal pH ranges...

Click to expand...

Just to be clear... the coco isn't pure coco. It's a coco based soil. So the recommended pH range is very much in the same range as the optimal pH of the hot soil. At least in theory. It's something I'll explore when I test soil pH today at lights on. The main thing I'm a bit concerned about is the difference in porosity between the 2 soils. I am a bit worried about the hot soil retaining more moisture and possibly causing issues down the road.

vostok said:

another easier way perhaps is ....

pot up

good luck

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I'm in a small space so the 5 gallon smart pot is as big as she is going to get this run. I do have extra smart pots laying around though, so if the problems continue I can yank her out, take the hot soil out of the equation and just run her as a bottle fed soil grow. That is absolute last resort though. I'm determined to get this method figured out. Thanks for the input, always appreciated.

Looks like the new growth is straightening out somewhat. Still a little off but it seems like there was some definite truth to the guess that she might just grow put of it as she gets bigger and adapts to the higher levels of available nutrients. I'll try to get some pics later tonight. Thanks @Richard Drysift @vostok @ANC for the input.