Try a new idea and prepare for challenges. Help!

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BudBudzy

Member
Hello, ive been a lurker since day one on this site. Good people. Growing for 30 years in and out but always in soil.
this “grow” is having issues.
Weak growth, spots, burn, wilt, lightness in color. Basically a few challenges.
***Upon suggestion im trying 50% peat, 45% amended soil, and rest worm castings.
location of this grow the same as many others.
***New white LED 200 watts(actual) dimmed 30%.
Its been trouble since week 2.
***water same. Tap. Ph highish 7.2. Occasionally lower w citric acid to 6.8.
—attempted solutions
Fungicide/copper, soap, water
Pesticide/ neem, soap, water( no bugs noted even under loop)
More Nitrogen
Foliar seaweed(my typical adder)
Moved 2 plants outdoors in rain( seem to be doing better than indoors).
*** Could it be the lighting?
The chopped Peat bundle from lowes?
A pest unseen

help!!!!
These are a few different cultivars as I have been breeding for 20 years and always run assorteds.
 

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Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
What is in your 45% amended soil? Also, how high are you keeping the light? If there are nutrients in your soil, then it's possible you are overwatering, often that will result in small plants that look like they have nutrient deficiencies.
 
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BudBudzy

Member
Rurumo said:
What is in your 45% amended soil? Also, how high are you keeping the light? If there are nutrients in your soil, then it's possible you are overwatering, often that will result in small plants that look like they have nutrient deficiencies.
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Perlite, mycorrizae and MG potting soil
 
HydroKid239

HydroKid239

Well-Known Member
BudBudzy said:
Hello, ive been a lurker since day one on this site. Good people. Growing for 30 years in and out but always in soil.
this “grow” is having issues.
Weak growth, spots, burn, wilt, lightness in color. Basically a few challenges.
***Upon suggestion im trying 50% peat, 45% amended soil, and rest worm castings.
location of this grow the same as many others.
***New white LED 200 watts(actual) dimmed 30%.
Its been trouble since week 2.
***water same. Tap. Ph highish 7.2. Occasionally lower w citric acid to 6.8.
—attempted solutions
Fungicide/copper, soap, water
Pesticide/ neem, soap, water( no bugs noted even under loop)
More Nitrogen
Foliar seaweed(my typical adder)
Moved 2 plants outdoors in rain( seem to be doing better than indoors).
*** Could it be the lighting?
The chopped Peat bundle from lowes?
A pest unseen

help!!!!
These are a few different cultivars as I have been breeding for 20 years and always run assorteds.
Click to expand...
Looks like you have those biodegradable “cardboard like” starter pots inside a bigger pot. I’m not sure if that starter pot will break down fast enough for the roots to break thru. If the rootball is in there, and not pulling thru into the new pot.. then when you water.. the roots aren’t getting the food.
lose those starter pots & repot would be my suggestion.
 
B

BudBudzy

Member
HydroKid239 said:
Looks like you have those biodegradable “cardboard like” starter pots inside a bigger pot. I’m not sure if that starter pot will break down fast enough for the roots to break thru. If the rootball is in there, and not pulling thru into the new pot.. then when you water.. the roots aren’t getting the food.
lose those starter pots & repot would be my suggestion.
Click to expand...
 
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BudBudzy

Member
Yes you have a good eye. When I repot like that I pull the sides lower, off of the Peat pots for that exact reason. Some of them have been transplanted without the peat pots however in this grow. if the plant falls out of the P pot easily without ruining its root structure, then I transplant without the Ppot. But if the plant root structure is through the peat pots, I rip the sides off of it and transplant. But I’ve done that for years
thx
 
HydroKid239

HydroKid239

Well-Known Member
BudBudzy said:
Yes you have a good eye. When I repot like that I pull the sides lower, off of the Peat pots for that exact reason. Some of them have been transplanted without the peat pots however in this grow. if the plant falls out of the P pot easily without ruining its root structure, then I transplant without the Ppot. But if the plant root structure is through the peat pots, I rip the sides off of it and transplant. But I’ve done that for years
thx
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Oh, alright. I just had to mention it. I don't have experience using them. I kinda figured with you growing for so long, that you knew what you were doing there. Silly me lol
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
BudBudzy said:
Yes you have a good eye. When I repot like that I pull the sides lower, off of the Peat pots for that exact reason. Some of them have been transplanted without the peat pots however in this grow. if the plant falls out of the P pot easily without ruining its root structure, then I transplant without the Ppot. But if the plant root structure is through the peat pots, I rip the sides off of it and transplant. But I’ve done that for years
thx
Click to expand...
I'd lift those peat pots out and break away the walls so the roots can get into the rest of the pot. Just twist gently until they lift out and try to get rid of the peat or at least slash up the sides a bit so roots can escape. I always tell people never to use those damn things. Little plastic pots work great and once the plants have decent root systems if you let them dry down the whole rootball stays together when you move them to a bigger pot.

I think because they are trapped in those peat pots they are running out of available nutes as indicated by the yellowish centres on the grow tips which means they are trying to grow fast but having to steal mobile nutes from lower leaves which are now turning yellow as they lose nutes.

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
crimsonecho said:
roots can grow through the peat pots thats not a problem at all they grow through fabric, its peat.
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Eventually they will but not quick enough for a fast growing pot plant. I've seen so many instances of guys having nothing but trouble with peat pots in the 15 years or so I've been hanging around pot forums. This is not the first time I've seen the same problems being discussed here.

Without the peat pots there would be roots poking out the drain holes in those bigger pots in 4 - 6 days and they would have access to all the nutes in the larger area right away. I usually up-pot 3 - 4 times from sprout or clone and saw off the bottom of the rootball each time so the remaining roots will grow out side roots and thousands of new fine feeder roots in a couple days. At harvest the whole rootball is saturated with a fine web of roots and none at the bottom or circling the pots. I already go through too much RO water as it is and that would double my use and halve my days between waterings using fabric pots. People with high humidity problems would do better that way using plastic pots to reduce evaporation.

RootPrune01.jpg

RootPrune02.jpg

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
BudBudzy said:
Very interesting idea sawing the lowest roots. Have you compared growth of identical clones utilitizing that method? Side b side.
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Long time ago I did just to see what happened. Ended up with lots of thick roots at the bottom of the 5gal pail that wasn't pruned and it didn't grow with the same vigor as teh prined one. Never really kept track of the yield but the pruned on was a happier looking plant the whole grow.

I've done it ever since and never had a negative response from any plant. More positive than anything.

Here's a 5gal rootball cut in half lengthwise and laying head to head. Note how roots are evenly distributed from top to bottom where usually the bottom 3rd is most of the roots with the middle 3rd fairly populated and the top 3rd almost devoid of roots. The cavity on the bottom was from an inverted net pot I placed in the bottom before filling as an experiment to see how that worked for root pruning after seeing some pots with a cone up the middle that was full of holes to do that. To fussy to do regularly so don't bother.

RootBall5gal.jpg

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
BudBudzy said:
I already did/applied those
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That could be a big part of your problem too. NEVER just start throwing stuff at a problem until you identify the need for it. Like identify which kind of bug you have before using anything to kill bugs as different bugs need different strategies to properly get rid of them. People who say spray as a preventative are nuts in my eyes. Like taking chemo to prevent a cancer you don't have ffs. lol

Throwing crap at your plants willy-nilly causes more problems than it fixes in almost every case. More plants die from too much TLC than neglect.

:peace:
 
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