Sprout isn´t doing well.

Madridgrower · May 23, 2020

I am a first time grower. I have 2 young lemon skunk plants growing on my terrace. Both are not doing well. They are growing in Canabium (Coco fiber, black peat, blond peat with fertilizer. I do not test the PH of my plant and I use normal tap water for them.
The situation is that my plants have brown tips and some white spots. One of my plants had some white powder fungus earlier but I got rid of that.
I started the grow May 1st and transplanted them about a week ago.
The bigger plant in the black bucket now has it´s first tiny leaves yellow and the upper part of the stem is a dark color.
The smaller plant in the green bucket does not have that problem.
Both have yellowing leaves and brown spots and some white.

Last Thursday May 23rd a few days after transplant I watered them with fertilizer and I wonder if that was a mistake. I´ve looked around and think it is potassium deficiency or surplus because it is on all leaves.

GNick55 · May 23, 2020

Madridgrower said:
I am a first time grower. I have 2 young lemon skunk plants growing on my terrace. Both are not doing well. They are growing in Canabium (Coco fiber, black peat, blond peat with fertilizer. I do not test the PH of my plant and I use normal tap water for them.
The situation is that my plants have brown tips and some white spots. One of my plants had some white powder fungus earlier but I got rid of that.
I started the grow May 1st and transplanted them about a week ago.
The bigger plant in the black bucket now has it´s first tiny leaves yellow and the upper part of the stem is a dark color.
The smaller plant in the green bucket does not have that problem.
Both have yellowing leaves and brown spots and some white.

Last Thursday May 23rd a few days after transplant I watered them with fertilizer and I wonder if that was a mistake. I´ve looked around and think it is potassium deficiency or surplus because it is on all leaves.

overwatering is one of the problems. need to let the pot dry out!
drain holes in bottom and sides for air flow/help drying out.
the two small round cotyledon leaves are dying off is a sign that feeding can begin as the nutrients that came with the seed are used up.

Jimster · May 23, 2020

The plants look pretty good overall, but as mentioned, cut back on the water or improve your drainage. I don't like using cups for starting plants because the medium always seems either too wet, or dries up too quickly and hurting the root structure. You are starting to get some new growth at the joints, so that is always a good sign but the light color is probably from the roots suffering a bit from being too wet and not getting the Oxygen that they need, in addition to the water. A bit more light might be beneficial, but you could probably use what you have as they aren't too leggy or stretched.

Madridgrower · May 24, 2020

GNick55 said:
overwatering is one of the problems. need to let the pot dry out!
drain holes in bottom and sides for air flow/help drying out.
the two small round cotyledon leaves are dying off is a sign that feeding can begin as the nutrients that came with the seed are used up.

Thanks. This being my first time I am very nervous about this all.
Is the over watering the problem for the brown spots? or the white ones? I saw in another post that the white could be spider mites so I sprayed some homemade insecticide on them. Also it would be fine to start giving the fertilizer then?

Madridgrower · May 24, 2020

Jimster said:
The plants look pretty good overall, but as mentioned, cut back on the water or improve your drainage. I don't like using cups for starting plants because the medium always seems either too wet, or dries up too quickly and hurting the root structure. You are starting to get some new growth at the joints, so that is always a good sign but the light color is probably from the roots suffering a bit from being too wet and not getting the Oxygen that they need, in addition to the water. A bit more light might be beneficial, but you could probably use what you have as they aren't too leggy or stretched.

Okay thanks. I have them both in big buckets right now. The black is about 6L or 1.3 gallons and the green is about 10L or 2.1 gallons. I live in Madrid, Spain and the heat here is pretty intense. Should I allow the sun to keep hitting direct then? I have been shading them once every 2 or 3 hours to protect them.

GNick55 · May 24, 2020

Madridgrower said:
Thanks. This being my first time I am very nervous about this all.
Is the over watering the problem for the brown spots? or the white ones? I saw in another post that the white could be spider mites so I sprayed some homemade insecticide on them. Also it would be fine to start giving the fertilizer then?

Madridgrower said:
Okay thanks. I have them both in big buckets right now. The black is about 6L or 1.3 gallons and the green is about 10L or 2.1 gallons. I live in Madrid, Spain and the heat here is pretty intense. Should I allow the sun to keep hitting direct then? I have been shading them once every 2 or 3 hours to protect them.

probably a good idea to shade them for a few days off and on, should make it for them to enjoy the weather there!

Madridgrower said:
Thanks. This being my first time I am very nervous about this all.
Is the over watering the problem for the brown spots? or the white ones? I saw in another post that the white could be spider mites so I sprayed some homemade insecticide on them. Also it would be fine to start giving the fertilizer then?

yes you can start to feed when the pot is very light in weight/dryish.
the brown yes can be from overwatering
white spots, more than likely mites, but you did mention having a powdery mildew also?
less is more with growing, post here if your unsure about something, before reacting as you do not want to compound problems!!!
what will you be feeding her? how much do you think she needs?

Madridgrower · May 24, 2020

GNick55 said:
probably a good idea to shade them for a few days off and on, should make it for them to enjoy the weather there!

yes you can start to feed when the pot is very light in weight/dryish.
the brown yes can be from overwatering
white spots, more than likely mites, but you did mention having a powdery mildew also?
less is more with growing, post here if your unsure about something, before reacting as you do not want to compound problems!!!
what will you be feeding her? how much do you think she needs?

Yes the plant in the green bucket had some white powder about a week ago and I made a fungicide for that and it has not returned. (Fingers crossed)
I have a fertilizer i bought from my supermarket it is for all plants it says. It has an NPK of 14-7-14 and says to use 1 tablespoon every 2 weeks.
I am currently making my own compost to use in about 30 or so days.

GNick55 · May 24, 2020

Madridgrower said:
Yes the plant in the green bucket had some white powder about a week ago and I made a fungicide for that and it has not returned. (Fingers crossed)
I have a fertilizer i bought from my supermarket it is for all plants it says. It has an NPK of 14-7-14 and says to use 1 tablespoon every 2 weeks.
I am currently making my own compost to use in about 30 or so days.

ok, well that is concentrated and is strong, i’d only give a quarter of that?.
i’d wait for a reply from someone to confirm how much to give, but no way full strength!

Madridgrower · May 24, 2020

GNick55 said:
ok, well that is concentrated and is strong, i’d only give a quarter of that?.
i’d wait for a reply from someone to confirm how much to give, but no way full strength!

Oh thanks.
I gave some to her last Thursday May 14th. Thinking it needed some. Could it be excessive nutrients then? It wasn´t much.

Jimster · May 24, 2020

In my opinion, the plant is much too young to need any kind of feeding. I use a strong fertilizer, 20-20-20, but I only feed about every 15 days, maybe 4 times during the grow... in a 5 gallon bucket. The compost sounds good, but be careful it isn't too hot and is good and composted before using it. The ammonia coming off of compost while it is composting is bad for the plant.

SPARECHANGE · May 24, 2020

the browning stalk vs light- just hardening, faster. judges?
measure the ph and ppm from 20% runoff, collected and then, these good peeps, can better help u, from there. ur gonna ingest thiz so mind what u put on em. u mentioned home made- probably already do; simply reiterating.

Madridgrower · May 25, 2020

Jimster said:
In my opinion, the plant is much too young to need any kind of feeding. I use a strong fertilizer, 20-20-20, but I only feed about every 15 days, maybe 4 times during the grow... in a 5 gallon bucket. The compost sounds good, but be careful it isn't too hot and is good and composted before using it. The ammonia coming off of compost while it is composting is bad for the plant.

okay. thanks. It gets very hot here in Madrid. I try to cover him once every 2 or 3 hours for an hour. I was told to put grass clippings to help with the heat.
I´ll make sure the compost is ready before using. The only problem is the heat here. I have to move things maybe more often.

Madridgrower · May 25, 2020

SPARECHANGE said:
the browning stalk vs light- just hardening, faster. judges?
measure the ph and ppm from 20% runoff, collected and then, these good peeps, can better help u, from there. ur gonna ingest thiz so mind what u put on em. u mentioned home made- probably already do; simply reiterating.

Thanks. I suppose I should buy something to measure the pH of the water.
Also glad to hear the stems are them just hardening
Yeah so far all things have been homemade. Even my compost is be prepared by me.

Jimster · May 25, 2020

Madridgrower said:
okay. thanks. It gets very hot here in Madrid. I try to cover him once every 2 or 3 hours for an hour. I was told to put grass clippings to help with the heat.
I´ll make sure the compost is ready before using. The only problem is the heat here. I have to move things maybe more often.

I apologize for the possible misunderstanding when I said about the rowing medium or compost being hot... I was referring to the mix having a LOT of nutrients in it, not the actual temperature of everything. I was just trying to help you avoid a common problem, which is when a mixture has too much nutrients in it... it is called "Hot" because it can cause burning of your plants from too much nutrients. Once you get your plants in a larger container, I would make sure it got all of the light it can. If it is very warm outside, you might want to use a lighter color of a container to keep the sun from overheating the roots, which can happen in dark containers sitting in the sun. Keep up the good work!

SPARECHANGE · May 25, 2020

Jimster said:
I apologize for the possible misunderstanding when I said about the rowing medium or compost being hot... I was referring to the mix having a LOT of nutrients in it, not the actual temperature of everything. I was just trying to help you avoid a common problem, which is when a mixture has too much nutrients in it... it is called "Hot" because it can cause burning of your plants from too much nutrients. Once you get your plants in a larger container, I would make sure it got all of the light it can. If it is very warm outside, you might want to use a lighter color of a container to keep the sun from overheating the roots, which can happen in dark containers sitting in the sun. Keep up the good work!

genius, jimster. absolutely ingenious, thinkin it out so far through. almost like ur right there.

Madridgrower · May 25, 2020

Jimster said:
I apologize for the possible misunderstanding when I said about the rowing medium or compost being hot... I was referring to the mix having a LOT of nutrients in it, not the actual temperature of everything. I was just trying to help you avoid a common problem, which is when a mixture has too much nutrients in it... it is called "Hot" because it can cause burning of your plants from too much nutrients. Once you get your plants in a larger container, I would make sure it got all of the light it can. If it is very warm outside, you might want to use a lighter color of a container to keep the sun from overheating the roots, which can happen in dark containers sitting in the sun. Keep up the good work!

Thank you for your help. I hope I can get this right. I am a bit concerned because it has been 4 weeks and they aren´t that tall. I have feminized lemon skunk and it said it 7-8 weeks. 1st plant in black bucket is 5 inches and the other is only 3 inches.
Their final destination are green buckets. Hope that wasn´t a bad decision.

Last thing, if you want, My lemon skunk is about 4 weeks old and they are just 3 and 5 inches tall.
is that a bad sign?

Jimster · May 25, 2020

Madridgrower said:
Last thing, if you want, My lemon skunk is about 4 weeks old and they are just 3 and 5 inches tall.
is that a bad sign?

They are pretty small for that age. The two main things that influence growth is having enough light and having things right at the root zone. If the roots are suffering, then the plant can't get the nutrients it needs to grow with vigor. There are a number of reasons that your plants might be stunted, but without knowing most of the variables, it is still a bit of a guessing game. Some strains will sprout and thn stall for a week or two as they grow roots, but they rebound quickly and catch up to the others that grew earlier. I usually have roots coming out of the bottom of my 5 gallon buckets at 4 weeks, with plants about 12-16 inches tall if started from seed.

Madridgrower · May 25, 2020

Jimster said:
They are pretty small for that age. The two main things that influence growth is having enough light and having things right at the root zone. If the roots are suffering, then the plant can't get the nutrients it needs to grow with vigor. There are a number of reasons that your plants might be stunted, but without knowing most of the variables, it is still a bit of a guessing game. Some strains will sprout and thn stall for a week or two as they grow roots, but they rebound quickly and catch up to the others that grew earlier. I usually have roots coming out of the bottom of my 5 gallon buckets at 4 weeks, with plants about 12-16 inches tall if started from seed.

That is very depressing to hear =(
May I ask what are somethings I need to check on. I now know I need to test the pH of things and will soon buy a device for that.
I thought I had it was good light at the beginning. I have a south facing terrace and the soil I believe to be well nutrients. =/
Maybe I took to long to transplant it.

mancorn · May 25, 2020

Madridgrower said:
Okay thanks. I have them both in big buckets right now. The black is about 6L or 1.3 gallons and the green is about 10L or 2.1 gallons. I live in Madrid, Spain and the heat here is pretty intense. Should I allow the sun to keep hitting direct then? I have been shading them once every 2 or 3 hours to protect them.

Yeah if it's super hot putting them in the shade is a good plan. A shade cloth would also be a good idea, especially if you could install it so it only covers the plants during the heat of the day (and save you moving the pots all over).

If you can get them into the ground they'll deal with the heat much better. If that's not an option, then fabric pots will help with cooler. Or in a pinch just stick the plant in a box to shade the pot. I wrapped some of my small pots with newspaper today as it's real warm and the little black pots are screaming hot. (I'm using some sixpack holders as I can justify drinking more beer. You know, to save the crop.)

Sprout isn´t doing well.

Madridgrower

GNick55

Jimster

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Madridgrower

GNick55

Madridgrower

GNick55

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SPARECHANGE

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