Jumping Right In! Brand New Set Up

[Goodthingsgrow]

I notice you mentioned ammonia smell in your tent... what's your medium?

Certain forms of soil bacteria/root rot can smell like that fwiw and the droopy tops might be a warning sign

Yes. I read that about the smell.
Its not there anymore. It was just after watering with micro, bloom and grow.
Im wondering if it was the nutes I was smelling. Is this possible?
If it was root rot, please no, wouldn’t the smell be increasingly constant?
I don’t have an exhaust in that tent.

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

And it is soil. In 5 gal pots. I also have only been watering 2L every other day.

 

[Grownsince95]

Microbial smell in soil can bloom every time you water it just like that smell that happens after it rains. Activity goes way up with the influx of fresh water

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

Is this microbial smell related to root rot?
A peroxide soak would help right?

 

[Grownsince95]

Is this microbial smell related to root rot?
A peroxide soak would help right?

Never peroxide in soil if u ask me but thats why I switched to coco. You will kill all your beneficial stuff imo.

For $48 I can't even wrap my head around that...

 

[Grownsince95]

Ammonia smell comes from anaerobic bacteria...that means they thrive in a lack of oxygen... in your roots that would be from overwatering or waaaay too compact soil combined with slight overwatering.

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

Would something like this help too?
I was told to use this 1ml/L with every watering.

 

[Grownsince95]

If you are overwatering compact soil no amount of products will help you. Based on those price tags it looks like the guy at the hydro store is taking advantage of you bro.

 

[Grownsince95]

Go back to basics a little and keep it simple. You must 1st be able to keep a plant alive with only water and the most basic food before you start throwing all this crap at it. Just my 2 cents tho

 

[BroScience101]

Ammonia smell comes from anaerobic bacteria...that means they thrive in a lack of oxygen... in your roots that would be from overwatering or waaaay too compact soil combined with slight overwatering.

This is true. Happened to me with plain wet peat in a plastic grow bag. Nastiest smell ever like rotten eggs and feet. Dumped it into a fabric container and rain tons of water thru it and the smell went away.

However, OP has plenty of perlite and he's using fabric containers that provide massive amounts of aeration. For a little 5 gallon fabric container that's mostly air from perlite to go anaerobic would be highly unlikely .

I'm in 15 gallon plastic with zero perlite and I water the living daylights out of my soil and it's never gone anaerobic.

 

[Grownsince95]

This is true. Happened to me with plain wet peat in a plastic grow bag. Nastiest smell ever like rotten eggs and feet. Dumped it into a fabric container and rain tons of water thru it and the smell went away.

However, OP has plenty of perlite and he's using fabric containers that provide massive amounts of aeration. For a little 5 gallon fabric container that's mostly air from perlite to go anaerobic would be highly unlikely .

I'm in 15 gallon plastic with zero perlite and I water the living daylights out of my soil and it's never gone anaerobic.

Agree, but those aren't small pots for that size plant. And fabric and perlite cannot magically move oxygen into the root zone if it's flooded. I would guess the bottom 3 inches at least are always swamped.

 

[Grownsince95]

Doh!
They look hangry!

I could be totally wrong but when I look at this pic my 1st impression as a grower is not hungry. Those plants look plenty fed and plenty watered if you ask me.

Then seeing $40 bottles of h202 start flying just reinforces that belief

Just trying to help, if I'm being too annoying I'll see myself out lol

❤❤

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

Go back to basics a little and keep it simple. You must 1st be able to keep a plant alive with only water and the most basic food before you start throwing all this crap at it. Just my 2 cents tho

I do appreciate your help and completely respect your opinion.
I have done indoor grows in the distant past when there was pretty much just DNF.
This is my first indoor in a long time; not my very first.
The outdoor plants I have done were all just water. They were awesome.
I also know his prices are high but I can walk there in ten minutes.
Im not the least bit frugal. Sorry, eh.

 

[BroScience101]

To the OP:

Peat based potting mixes are soilless. Peat literally doesn't compact. It's why I don't use perlite or lava rock or pumice or any other non sense like that. Even when in a dried compressed bale, once watered it expands like a sponge.

Compaction is most likely to occur with heavier soils like clay and loam, but when heavy equipment is used, sandy soils can become compacted.

What To Do About Compacted Soil

Gardeners are sometimes unaware of the problems soil compaction can cause in lawns, flower beds and gardens.

www.canr.msu.edu

Not only is peat moss absorbent, it also does not compact, unlike other organic materials. Soil compaction is damaging to gardens and reduces water absorption and plant growth. Peat moss remains springy when it is wet.

Peat Moss: Using Sphagnum Peat In The Garden

One of the most effective and controversial materials to garden with is peat moss. Effective because it works well in tons of situations, and

www.epicgardening.com

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

I really don’t believe it’s overwatering or compacted soil.
I have only been giving them 2L every other day and they are very light.
If anything, I am leaning toward underwatering.
They may have been a little warm too. I raised the light about three inches this morning and they look much better now. There is no ammonia smell present.

 

[Grownsince95]

I do appreciate your help and completely respect your opinion.
I have done indoor grows in the distant past when there was pretty much just DNF.
This is my first indoor in a long time; not my very first.
The outdoor plants I have done were all just water. They were awesome.
I also know his prices are high but I can walk there in ten minutes.
Im not the least bit frugal. Sorry, eh.

You're obviously loving the shit out of those plants man! That's the problem 9 times out of 10 though until you get running again after a hiatus. Trust me on that one

A very wise Farmer here says it best..."more plants die from love than neglect"

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

You're obviously loving the shit out of those plants man! That's the problem 9 times out of 10 though until you get running again after a hiatus. Trust me on that one

A very wise Farmer here says it best..."more plants die from love than neglect"

Thank you. I will try to calm down. No matter how much it costs!

 

[BroScience101]

and they are very light.
If anything, I am leaning toward underwatering

They definitely shouldn't be light. I can barely budge my 15 gallons. I think you are correct when you say they are under watered. If you Google "ideal soil ratio" and go to the images, you'll see everyone's right around 25% water. So take an empty 5 gallon home depot bucket, fill it 25% with water, and compare that weight to your grow containers. They should be equally heavy, actually the plant should be a bit heavier since it also has compost and the plant itself in the container.

They may have been a little warm too

Warm is fine . If you go to Google scholar and search ideal root zone temperature you'll see studies that support around 25c provided the best growth which is 77f. My IR gun shows 80f at the top of my "soil"

 

[kevinfever]

nice grow im in southern O

ntario just started mine November 1st

 

[Goodthingsgrow]

They definitely shouldn't be light. I can barely budge my 15 gallons. I think you are correct when you say they are under watered. If you Google "ideal soil ratio" and go to the images, you'll see everyone's right around 25% water. So take an empty 5 gallon home depot bucket, fill it 25% with water, and compare that weight to your grow containers. They should be equally heavy, actually the plant should be a bit heavier since it also has compost and the plant itself in the container.




Warm is fine . If you go to Google scholar and search ideal root zone temperature you'll see studies that support around 25c provided the best growth which is 77f. My IR gun shows 80f at the top of my "soil"

Wow. I can tell you they’re much lighter than that bucket test when I water. I watered last night and I bet you they weigh that much now.
I may have to correct my terminology; by warm I meant overheating by being too close to the light.
This is the tent right now.