2nd time growing need help

[Farmerbob93]

Hey guys this is my second time growing indoor, definitely ran into issues. Plants are growing so slow and don’t look right. They are ethos “the punch line” seeds. Growing in fox farms ocean forest. Watering with 6.0 ph water. Mars hydro tsw 2000 light. Not adding any nutes yet because I heard ocean forest is pretty strong. Tent temps are between 75-80 degrees with 45-50 humidity. I feel like I wasn’t watering enough. They are in 5 gallon smart pots I know I repotted to early. I water about a gallon and a half each to try and totally saturate the soil. And repeat when pots feel light. Maybe dry pockets in soil??Appreciate the help!

 

[Dub_City405]

They need some water. And you can give them light nutrients

 

[Farmerbob93]

They need some water. And you can give them light nutrients

Appreciate the reply thanks! I had just watered a day ago should I wait and give them more next watering?

 

[steamroller]

I would start ferts and plan on adding Ca/Mg in the next waterings .
Do you measure how much water you give them ?
They look good and the pot size should not be an issue from here out IMO.
I follow the FF feed chart pretty close and dose Ca/Mg 2x a month .
The size you plants are now the soil is no threat IME .

I do NOT use ; Flower kiss[ no foliar for me ], Kangaroots, Microbe brew, Kelp me kelp you, Bembe, Rhize up .
They have alot of stuff to sell IMO ??
I also use MB secret sauce . I found a post on this forum about it and figured I would give it a try .It is used in flower and may be a off name replacement for Bembe.
Even dosing full strength a quart bottle will last a couple grows IME,so you can grow your nutrient collection over time .

 

[phxazcraig]

I don't know the particulars about Ocean Forest soils, so can't really say much about fertilizers here. The plants generally look healthy to me. I'm going to guess they are like my 2nd crop last year, which I grew in fabric pots in a homemade soil mix.

My plants seemed a lot like yours - healthy, but slow. In retrospect I think the slow growth was due to two factors: watering/fertilizing and starting too soon in large pots.

The starting too soon part was due to me sprouting the seeds in Jiffy pots and immediately putting the Jiffy pots into a (wet) 5 gallon fabric pot. I should have done a solo cup stage, but I was worried about overwatering. I was worried about over-everything since that was the main lesson from my first grow. Overwatered, over fertilized, over lighted, over-pH'd, whatever.

I had taken my 5 gallon pots outside and soaked them with a hose a day before I put the Jiffy pots in them. Big mistake. Afraid to overwater, it took 4 weeks for those pots to dry down to the point they were just moist again. At the same time the roots were developing, but slowly since they a) hit layers of water, and b) needed to fill up a huge pot.

I think - in general - that a lot of root growth could be taking place and that your plants will take off just fine and are already starting to do so. You might turn up lighting intensity a bit and fertilize a bit more too.

My plants started off very slowly for the first month. (Also, I didn't fertilize them - fear of overdoing.) I started them May 1, flipped to flower Aug 12 and harvested Oct 10. In a 4x4 with 5 plants, I ended up with 18 ounces of dried buds. It just took a while. That's an advantage of photo periods over autos - you can recover from problems by giving them more time.

 

[Blastfact]

When using air or cloth pots one has to water more. Lots of soil moisture evaporation happens with them. I wont use them at all anymore. I'm a dirt farmer and only use #5 or #7 nursery plastic cheap pots with stand offs and saucers. While Ocean Forrest and Nectar for the Gods #8 soil are on the rich/hot side. With my current grow being a 50/50 mix of the two. Watering and plant growth tames them down pretty fast. I transplant out of my solo cups at two weeks into there permeant pots and let it rip for photos. Does not matter whos ferts you use start out at half dose or less and bring them up until your at full strength over a few weeks. Don't get your PH to low. I keep mine between 6.4 and 6.8. Higher in early veg and slowly drop it into and through flower. No reason what so ever to have a acidic soup for good plant growth in dirt. Others will fight about it and point to uptake charts and all sorts of so called research,,, most of it is bunk science. Your light looks like it's heavy on the white and blue leds. Don't know what that lights rated for but the visible is very white and blue. I veg with 4000k blue lights to keep the stretch down and keep the nodes tight. So my plants are always small in veg with fantastic root systems. Then when I put my flower light in the tent all hell breaks loose and they grow and stretch like crazy in late veg through early flower. As my current grow is entering into it's 3rd week I have both of my HLG 100 V2's on now and 25" off the top of the tallest plant with good air flow and 78/80% RH running 76/80F. Next week I will start cutting back the humidity. Good Luck!

 

[Farmerbob93]

When using air or cloth pots one has to water more. Lots of soil moisture evaporation happens with them. I wont use them at all anymore. I'm a dirt farmer and only use #5 or #7 nursery plastic cheap pots with stand offs and saucers. While Ocean Forrest and Nectar for the Gods #8 soil are on the rich/hot side. With my current grow being a 50/50 mix of the two. Watering and plant growth tames them down pretty fast. I transplant out of my solo cups at two weeks into there permeant pots and let it rip for photos. Does not matter whos ferts you use start out at half dose or less and bring them up until your at full strength over a few weeks. Don't get your PH to low. I keep mine between 6.4 and 6.8. Higher in early veg and slowly drop it into and through flower. No reason what so ever to have a acidic soup for good plant growth in dirt. Others will fight about it and point to uptake charts and all sorts of so called research,,, most of it is bunk science. Your light looks like it's heavy on the white and blue leds. Don't know what that lights rated for but the visible is very white and blue. I veg with 4000k blue lights to keep the stretch down and keep the nodes tight. So my plants are always small in veg with fantastic root systems. Then when I put my flower light in the tent all hell breaks loose and they grow and stretch like crazy in late veg through early flower. As my current grow is entering into it's 3rd week I have both of my HLG 100 V2's on now and 25" off the top of the tallest plant with good air flow and 78/80% RH running 76/80F. Next week I will start cutting back the humidity. Good Luck!

Thanks for the input, my first grow I had the same light, I had issues at first due to improper watering but it worked out great in the end. I think it’s my watering I need to work on, maybe I’ll grab a new light next time!

 

[Farmerbob93]

Any one else have any input? Much appreciated

 

[phxazcraig]

Any one else have any input? Much appreciated

Have you seen the technique of jamming a water meter sideways into a fabric pot about 1/4 up from the bottom? A handy way to check the water at a critical point, and by watching it react as you water you can stop overwatering. (Need to poke a couple holes to get it started.)

 

[Farmerbob93]

Have you seen the technique of jamming a water meter sideways into a fabric pot about 1/4 up from the bottom? A handy way to check the water at a critical point, and by watching it react as you water you can stop overwatering. (Need to poke a couple holes to get it started.)

I actually saw that, I’m going to stop at my local hydro store tomorrow and see if they have one. Thanks for the input

 

[Happysmoke]

How long have the been in the new pots? They will need to be fed after a couple weeks in FFOF. The one on the left looks like it needs nitrogen as it's a little yellow. If you think it has enough feed, then water to runoff and check the PH and make sure it is within range to make sure the plant isn't locking out. I had some issues with FFOF dropping PH over time when I used it in a previous grow. Do make sure if your going to check runoff in soil that you let it dry out really well before and after you do this or you will get over-water symptoms. Your light might be a little far away as well. Check the height compared to your lights specs, it might just be me. I don't use that light so I could be wrong.

 

[Farmerbob93]

They’ve been in those pots for about 3 weeks it’s strange because they both get the same watering, they both have the same ph run off I believe it was around 6.4 6.5 and they say 18-24” for the light height I might be a couple inches high I’ll double check.

 

[phxazcraig]

They’ve been in those pots for about 3 weeks it’s strange because they both get the same watering, they both have the same ph run off I believe it was around 6.4 6.5 and they say 18-24” for the light height I might be a couple inches high I’ll double check.

What par, lux or lumen value do you have at the canopy. Or estimated value based on your led ight chart? You really need a meter to know.

 

[Happysmoke]

They’ve been in those pots for about 3 weeks it’s strange because they both get the same watering, they both have the same ph run off I believe it was around 6.4 6.5 and they say 18-24” for the light height I might be a couple inches high I’ll double check.

Your PH range should be fine. I would feed them and see if they respond to it. It might just be the pic but it looks quite a bit higher than that.

 

[Farmerbob93]

Your PH range should be fine. I would feed them and see if they respond to it. It might just be the pic but it looks quite a bit higher than that.

Yeah I’m going to try a light feeding next time I water, my light was around 26 I lowered it to 22

 

[Farmerbob93]

What par, lux or lumen value do you have at the canopy. Or estimated value based on your led ight chart? You really need a meter to know.

I don’t have a meter unfortunately, I’ll check the hydro store tomorrow, my light was a tad high to begin with

 

[steamroller]

I do the moisture meter in the side of my 5g buckets in 2 spots .
Tells a lot about what is going on . Moisture meters are like $10 and worth it IMO.
Real PAR meters are $$$[ Apogee Quantum FTW aprox $500+ ] .
I use an app mentioned here called photone .
It does PAR/LUX/DLI and maybe spectrum .

 

[Farmerbob93]

I do the moisture meter in the side of my 5g buckets in 2 spots .
Tells a lot about what is going on . Moisture meters are like $10 and worth it IMO.
Real PAR meters are $$$[ Apogee Quantum FTW aprox $500+ ] .
I use an app mentioned here called photone .
It does PAR/LUX/DLI and maybe spectrum .

Mine are Smaller plants, I should still saturate the whole pots ? I’m gonna get a meter or two

 

[steamroller]

I don't saturate or have run off. I may do things different the others ?
I use the meter at about 1/2 way in my 5g bucket and about 2 inches from bottom.
I point it straight in or to the left or right to see the whole pot level .
The upper hole at 1/2 way can be dry as long as the bottom still is moist by meter .
When bottom gets dryer I add my water .
I always measure how much with a 16oz solo cup .Depending on where plant is at I water up to 96 oz.
I mix what ever nutrients I am installing in a 2gallon bucket and use the cup as I go down the line .

New Simplified Way to Water Marijuana Plants

The other day I had an idea and after testing, it works great. To know if you need to water, get yourself a soil meter. Poke or drill 4 holes in your pot 1/4 way up from the bottom spaced around the pot. Insert the meter probe into the hole and test for moisture. If its dry, then water SLOWLY...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[Farmerbob93]

I don't saturate or have run off. I may do things different the others ?
I use the meter at about 1/2 way in my 5g bucket and about 2 inches from bottom.
I point it straight in or to the left or right to see the whole pot level .
The upper hole at 1/2 way can be dry as long as the bottom still is moist by meter .
When bottom gets dryer I add my water .
I always measure how much with a 16oz solo cup .Depending on where plant is at I water up to 96 oz.
I mix what ever nutrients I am installing in a 2gallon bucket and use the cup as I go down the line .

New Simplified Way to Water Marijuana Plants

The other day I had an idea and after testing, it works great. To know if you need to water, get yourself a soil meter. Poke or drill 4 holes in your pot 1/4 way up from the bottom spaced around the pot. Insert the meter probe into the hole and test for moisture. If its dry, then water SLOWLY...

www.thcfarmer.com

Awesome I just ordered a meter worth a shot!