What Am I Doing Wrong?

[TheKoreanKid]

First time grower here.
Using a viraspectra 300 watt led panel.
Growing in Nectar for the gods #8 mixed with 8 cups worm castings, 4 tbs bat guano, a sprinkle of lime and gypsum, and powdered alfalfa.
I made a tea using 4 tbs molasses, 2 tbs liquid kelp, 2 tbs bat guano, 2 cups worm castings.
The soil ph seems to be pretty alkaline at 7ish, and the tea I gave them came in at ph 5.9
These plants are about 4-5 weeks old, i feel from pictures they should be bigger/fuller. The leaves on some have turned brown and died.

 

[SoLowDolo]

First time grower here.
Using a viraspectra 300 watt led panel.
Growing in Nectar for the gods #8 mixed with 8 cups worm castings, 4 tbs bat guano, a sprinkle of lime and gypsum, and powdered alfalfa.
I made a tea using 4 tbs molasses, 2 tbs liquid kelp, 2 tbs bat guano, 2 cups worm castings.
The soil ph seems to be pretty alkaline at 7ish, and the tea I gave them came in at ph 5.9
These plants are about 4-5 weeks old, i feel from pictures they should be bigger/fuller. The leaves on some have turned brown and died.

Do you have good drainage in those Solo cups. I poke holes in bottoms and sides. They also look like they are stretching for the light. How far away is your light?

 

[SoLowDolo]

Also, your soil could be too hot for how young they are. Sorry I don't know much about the soil you're using. But they don't need many nutes when they're that young. Sorry I don't know much about organic teas like you use either lol. So I dunno if that could nute burn them. Just throwing some ideas out there.

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Do you have good drainage in those Solo cups. I poke holes in bottoms and sides. They also look like they are stretching for the light. How far away is your light?

The drainage could be better on the cups, I will do a better job of that when I get home. My light is maybe 6 to 8 in above the plants.

 

[SoLowDolo]

The drainage could be better on the cups, I will do a better job of that when I get home. My light is maybe 6 to 8 in above the plants.

Oh, then you may need to raise the lights. I thought they might be stretching. But when they are that little, I would definitely raise it up. With my blurple led, I start at about 24 inches from the plants and then raise or lower it based on how they react

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Oh, then you may need to raise the lights. I thought they might be stretching. But when they are that little, I would definitely raise it up. With my blurple led, I start at about 24 inches from the plants and then raise or lower it based on how they react

For the early stages of Life on these, what soil would you suggest before I transplant them into this soil which I have?

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Oh, then you may need to raise the lights. I thought they might be stretching. But when they are that little, I would definitely raise it up. With my blurple led, I start at about 24 inches from the plants and then raise or lower it based on how they react

Also I was having trouble getting Mighty down to I'm more acidic level. It wanted to hang out around 7 on the pH, so I put a cap full of rice vinegar in the five gallon jog in order to get it down to the 5.9 or six range. Was that stupid?

 

[SoLowDolo]

For the early stages of Life on these, what soil would you suggest before I transplant them into this soil which I have?

Personally, I use happy frog soil. Like I said, I don't know a lot about your soil. You might be good. After Solo cups, I transplant to fox farm ocean forest soil. It had plenty of nutes in it already to keep the plants going. But I know I only give mine plain water for the first few weeks of life and they do just fine with no deficiencies.

 

[SoLowDolo]

Also how often do you water? Do you let your soil dry out a little bit?

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Also how often do you water? Do you let your soil dry out a little bit?

I I'm going to be fully transparent because I want to succeed. I think it is likely I have been doing too much with these guys. I had the two which are planted in a different soil but I was thinking the soil did not have enough nutrients, so I replanted them into a new mix which I saw on a YouTube video bye Casa Verde. She never explained at which point the plants needed to be in that soil mix oh, so it is very possible that my soil is too hot. I was watering them maybe three times a week at most, which after saying it makes me feel it was too much. My intention was to now only water them with mighty twice a week. I am the type of person who really likes to do his research, and I feel that I have lots of knowledge now, I just do not have experience at this point so I am confident I am making some significant mistakes even with knowledge in mind.

 

[SoLowDolo]

I I'm going to be fully transparent because I want to succeed. I think it is likely I have been doing too much with these guys. I had the two which are planted in a different soil but I was thinking the soil did not have enough nutrients, so I replanted them into a new mix which I saw on a YouTube video bye Casa Verde. She never explained at which point the plants needed to be in that soil mix oh, so it is very possible that my soil is too hot. I was watering them maybe three times a week at most, which after saying it makes me feel it was too much. My intention was to now only water them with mighty twice a week. I am the type of person who really likes to do his research, and I feel that I have lots of knowledge now, I just do not have experience at this point so I am confident I am making some significant mistakes even with knowledge in mind.

Yeah, it's easy to love them to death on your first grow. Lift your Solo cups and check the weight. Check one wet, and check one with dry soil. Feel the difference. Don't follow a schedule when watering. Water them when they feel light. I honestly think sometimes I water maybe once in a week when they are in Solo cups. That might be different for you. But my point is, it doesn't take much. They like to dry a little between watering.

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Yeah, it's easy to love them to death on your first grow. Lift your Solo cups and check the weight. Check one wet, and check one with dry soil. Feel the difference. Don't follow a schedule when watering. Water them when they feel light. I honestly think sometimes I water maybe once in a week when they are in Solo cups. That might be different for you. But my point is, it doesn't take much. They like to dry a little between watering.

I'm on edge because seeds are somewhat difficult to come by for me. So I really need this to work out, you know.

 

[JWM2]

The soil mix is way too hot for seedlings (even freshly rooted clones don't need much until they get established). The soil as it was out of the bag had enough nutrients to carry you through for a couple weeks before feeding them.

At this point I wouldn't do much but water them, keep an eye on them and let them grow. They may eventually adjust to the soil or they'll shrivel up and die. Either way making drastic changes will only stress them out and push them closer to death.

No matter what you do you'll want to learn from this and apply that moving forward. You can't grow plants in a textbook, so while book knowledge is great, experience is where the rubber meets the road.

Just know that early on the plants are delicate and don't need much to survive and thrive. When you feel they need feeding take it easy by going 1/4 strength and working your way up from there. A couple feedings at 1/4 strength, then 1/2 strength, etc. You can grow most plants very well at 1/2 strength. Water, water, water, feed is a common pattern many growers tend to follow. If needed you can use toothpicks in the soil to let you know how many times you've watered them with just water. After your 3rd toothpick, fertilize them, remove the toothpicks and start over.

I wouldn't worry too much about pH right now. Just keep it simple. Many grows are screwed up by the grower adding chemicals to their soil because they "thought" it was off. The soil does a great job of buffering your pH and unless your tap water is way off in ph and dissolved metals (ppm) it should be fine.

You may want to add some calmag to your tap water if you start seeing a calcium or magnesium deficiency, a good ppm meter will help you decide if its needed. Its important to know your water as well as your soil, so get the right tools and find out where they are so you can proceed and make the right decisions to help their overall health.

Remember growing is about keeping them happy, not force feeding them things to get them to bend to your will. Allow it to grow and be a plant and it will reward you with smokable fruit. Mess with them and they'll become unhappy and you'll end up with frustration and more questions than you'll have for answers.

You goal is just to keep them happy. Only make incremental changes when you see issues pop up and when you do, don't do anything drastic. You can't fix most problems in a day. Check the new growth for signs, not the old damaged growth. Damaged leaves in most cases will never recover. So keep an eye on them but don't take their word for it. Check the new growth, it will tell you how the plant is growing and wether its happy or not.

 

[TheKoreanKid]

The soil mix is way too hot for seedlings (even freshly rooted clones don't need much until they get established). The soil as it was out of the bag had enough nutrients to carry you through for a couple weeks before feeding them.

At this point I wouldn't do much but water them, keep an eye on them and let them grow. They may eventually adjust to the soil or they'll shrivel up and die. Either way making drastic changes will only stress them out and push them closer to death.

No matter what you do you'll want to learn from this and apply that moving forward. You can't grow plants in a textbook, so while book knowledge is great, experience is where the rubber meets the road.

Just know that early on the plants are delicate and don't need much to survive and thrive. When you feel they need feeding take it easy by going 1/4 strength and working your way up from there. A couple feedings at 1/4 strength, then 1/2 strength, etc. You can grow most plants very well at 1/2 strength. Water, water, water, feed is a common pattern many growers tend to follow. If needed you can use toothpicks in the soil to let you know how many times you've watered them with just water. After your 3rd toothpick, fertilize them, remove the toothpicks and start over.

I wouldn't worry too much about pH right now. Just keep it simple. Many grows are screwed up by the grower adding chemicals to their soil because they "thought" it was off. The soil does a great job of buffering your pH and unless your tap water is way off in ph and dissolved metals (ppm) it should be fine.

You may want to add some calmag to your tap water if you start seeing a calcium or magnesium deficiency, a good ppm meter will help you decide if its needed. Its important to know your water as well as your soil, so get the right tools and find out where they are so you can proceed and make the right decisions to help their overall health.

Remember growing is about keeping them happy, not force feeding them things to get them to bend to your will. Allow it to grow and be a plant and it will reward you with smokable fruit. Mess with them and they'll become unhappy and you'll end up with frustration and more questions than you'll have for answers.

You goal is just to keep them happy. Only make incremental changes when you see issues pop up and when you do, don't do anything drastic. You can't fix most problems in a day. Check the new growth for signs, not the old damaged growth. Damaged leaves in most cases will never recover. So keep an eye on them but don't take their word for it. Check the new growth, it will tell you how the plant is growing and wether its happy or not.

Phenomenal. If you were in my situation, would you let them rest and soil dry for a week then flush it to stop a nutrient burn? Or just do as you said and just stick to a straight watering cycle? I will get myself a ppm meter, what should one look for on my ppm for a reasonable level?
Thank you

 

[JWM2]

Any cheap ppm meter will work. You can get one for about $10-15 on amazon.

I wouldn’t flush. Let them adjust. They’ll most likely pull through. But stop adding things to the soil.

The soil mix from the bag was just fine. Imo it’s better to feed nutrients through waterings especially for newer growers. I like the control but also that I can use a light soil mix early on and then add nutrients to it as they need it.

It’s much easier to add nutrients to your soil than to try and take them away.

Just feed em water for the next couple weeks and resist the urge to feed them or mess with the ph unless it’s absolutely necessary.

You can top dress worm castings, bat guano and bone meal as needed down the road.

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Any cheap ppm meter will work. You can get one for about $10-15 on amazon.

I wouldn’t flush. Let them adjust. They’ll most likely pull through. But stop adding things to the soil.

The soil mix from the bag was just fine. Imo it’s better to feed nutrients through waterings especially for newer growers. I like the control but also that I can use a light soil mix early on and then add nutrients to it as they need it.

It’s much easier to add nutrients to your soil than to try and take them away.

Just feed em water for the next couple weeks and resist the urge to feed them or mess with the ph unless it’s absolutely necessary.

You can top dress worm castings, bat guano and bone meal as needed down the road.

Awesome. thanks for the knowledge!

 

[JWM2]

You’re welcome. I’m half Korean btw. My mom is from just outside Seoul and still has a lot of family there. Her and a few of her sisters met American men and moved here in the 70s. Nice to meet you :-)

 

[Dan789]

Oh, then you may need to raise the lights. I thought they might be stretching. But when they are that little, I would definitely raise it up. With my blurple led, I start at about 24 inches from the plants and then raise or lower it based on how they react

Too much light, too close. These might be toast, pun intended...
Only pictures in natural light convey any meaningful visual information...

 

[TheKoreanKid]

Too much light, too close. These might be toast, pun intended...
Only pictures in natural light convey any meaningful visual information...

The bottom fan leaves were burnt, but the top ones were all in really good shape imo. Where the old fan leaves died there was some new growth beginning so I might get lucky?

 

[JWM2]

Check my AK-47 F1 & Chocolate Diesel grow diary. I have a trick I use with different sized solo cups to create a little better environment for seedlings. With them being that far down in the cup the sides are reflecting light onto them, which is only compounding the issue IMO.