I quit! Never doing soil again.

[SavageSiren420]

So 2 of my autoflowers are done for and the 3rd is on its way out. All 3 photo period plants look like shit as well. I honestly think it has to do with ph. I usually grow in coco and have NEVER had this much trouble. Thats why I like coco because I know EXACTLY what nutrients the plant is getting and how much. So far I have never had a sick plant in coco. Soil however is another story...

So these plants are in fox farms ocean forest potting soil. If you have seen my other posts I did have an over watering issue to start with but since then they recovered and were looking beautiful all but one with some weird leaves. Well I got sick. So for a few days they got ignored. Now they had been watered right before I got sick I mean like the night before. So a few days you would think they would be fine, they shouldn't have needed water. Well when I felt better and checked on them I just about had a heart attack. They all appeared to be wilted and dying. I immediately watered them expecting them to bounce back. They have not. So that tells me the problem is has nothing to do with over or under watering. Upon closer inspection some of the leaves that are dead/dying look different then anything im used to. I will include photos with this as well as a couple before photos. I have one more in soil separate from these that seems to be doing fine. At this point I have come to the conclusion I'm going to loose these plants. Its disappointing but on the bright side I can go back to coco lol. I still want to identify what went wrong the best I can so I can learn from this epic fail. So let me know what you think. First photos is my other photo period plant that is separate but they all looked just as good before. Last photo is a before of one of the autos sorry I didn't have a photo with the light off.

 

[Stonerbudz]

So 2 of my autoflowers are done for and the 3rd is on its way out. All 3 photo period plants look like shit as well. I honestly think it has to do with ph. I usually grow in coco and have NEVER had this much trouble. Thats why I like coco because I know EXACTLY what nutrients the plant is getting and how much. So far I have never had a sick plant in coco. Soil however is another story...

So these plants are in fox farms ocean forest potting soil. If you have seen my other posts I did have an over watering issue to start with but since then they recovered and were looking beautiful all but one with some weird leaves. Well I got sick. So for a few days they got ignored. Now they had been watered right before I got sick I mean like the night before. So a few days you would think they would be fine, they shouldn't have needed water. Well when I felt better and checked on them I just about had a heart attack. They all appeared to be wilted and dying. I immediately watered them expecting them to bounce back. They have not. So that tells me the problem is has nothing to do with over or under watering. Upon closer inspection some of the leaves that are dead/dying look different then anything im used to. I will include photos with this as well as a couple before photos. I have one more in soil separate from these that seems to be doing fine. At this point I have come to the conclusion I'm going to loose these plants. Its disappointing but on the bright side I can go back to coco lol. I still want to identify what went wrong the best I can so I can learn from this epic fail. So let me know what you think. First photos is my other photo period plant that is separate but they all looked just as good before. Last photo is a before of one of the autos sorry I didn't have a photo with the light off. View attachment 1245517View attachment 1245518View attachment 1245519View attachment 1245520View attachment 1245521View attachment 1245522View attachment 1245516

So yeah it’s definitely the nutrients burning your plants sadly and on top of it over watering might also be an issue in top of the nutrient burn

 

[Stonerbudz]

Try to use normal water for next / feedings and see if they will perk up a bit and look at ph of soil also what’s ur oh of water going in and also your ppm?

 

[mysticepipedon]

That doesn't look like nutrient burn. I think it's overwatering.

The danger of overwatering is low in coco, from what I understand. That might account for your success with coco.

 

[Aqua Man]

That doesn't look like nutrient burn. I think it's overwatering.

The danger of overwatering is low in coco, from what I understand. That might account for your success with coco.

Yup

 

[SavageSiren420]

That doesn't look like nutrient burn. I think it's overwatering.

The danger of overwatering is low in coco, from what I understand. That might account for your success with coco.

Over watering in coco is pretty much impossible. Coco coir has an idea air to water ratio when it is fully saturated. I do high frequency fertigation in coco so its set on a water system to water 2-4 times a day lol. Never allowing my coco to be less then 80% saturated. So yeah going to soil is a challenge.

My problem with over watering being the culprit is this... they didn't get touched from sunday night to thursday or Friday. They were dried out and all wilted by the time I checked on them. I grow a ton of other plants as well and they were all extremely thirsty at that point. All wilted and sad looking. Everything got watered and all my normal plants perked back up and went right back to normal. The photo plants perked up a little bit after being watered but they seem to just be getting sicker. My one healthy plant in soil that is separate from these I am hoping to keep as a mother. So I have to figure out exactly what happened so I don't lose it!

 

[SavageSiren420]

Try to use normal water for next / feedings and see if they will perk up a bit and look at ph of soil also what’s ur oh of water going in and also your ppm?

I have only used normal water through this whole grow so far. I have added nothing. My water is terrible I have a filter on it but its old so at this point its probably obsolete. I should probably take it off. But my water ph is 8 and my ppm is 611.

 

[N1ghtL1ght]

But my water ph is 8 and my ppm is 611.

on soil pH 6.5-7 and ppm 100-200 are better, there maybe something hostile in those 611ppm that is either already plenty in that soil or commonly unneeded.
soil is not equal so you got to learn how to best use it, trial and error or by taking measurements.
soil EC 1:1.5 method, soil pH pen, water & soil analysis, smaller pots looking for the early deficiency, suitable fertilizer is what it takes.

 

[oldskol4evr]

ok im confused
you say ocean forest soil ,but talk of coco
which is it
so if that is ocean forest, how much extra perlite did you add
what nutrients are you feeding and what ec or ppm
this is important,because if you have a salt build up the plant will look just like that if you have had a serious dry period , those plant are in containers ,the bottom 4 to 5 inch is were your moisture level will stay ,
regaurdless of rocks in bottom or what ever in a container even when your runoff is finished you still have moisture the 4 or 5 inchs in the bottom,in a ground bed it will be the top 4 or 5 inch because the ground has no bottom , so you could do a knuckle deep test in ground to check if you need watering were as in a container you cant, well i guess you could if you have very very large hands and a knuckle is 7 inch long hahahah.
my point is if you let them dry for 4 days and they have searched every crevase for the last bit of moisture,there could be scavaging by the plant or just ph imbalance from trying to lick, the salt

 

[oldskol4evr]

i will add that in containers,you can get about for around 4 days easy before watering,
in a ground earth bed it can go up to 10 days depending in temps

 

[ET12SECOND]

I agree I never grow in dirt. Have not done that in probably 25 years or more. I use pro mix. Like you said you know whats going in the plant since the USA promix( gen purp) has no fertz in it Dont like dirt but love coco and peat

 

[SchwiftyGrower]

I agree I never grow in dirt. Have not done that in probably 25 years or more. I use pro mix. Like you said you know whats going in the plant since the USA promix( gen purp) has no fertz in it Dont like dirt but love coco and peat

I used to grow using DWC and NFT setup a long time ago, but just recently changed to soil. It is a huge challenge that is its own beast. Overwatering is so easy and usually most peoples issue.

As long as you start in small pots and keep your watering simple and using the lift method and 2” down method you should always be good with no overwatering.

At that point, it’s just listening to the plants on what they want/need regarding nutrients as long as you keep soil pH between 6-7 you’re good to go.

Each medium has their benefits and disadvantages, but I personally prefer DWC. I recently moved countries and that is why I chose soil, it’s cheap and quick to get started. When I can invest more, I will be going back to DWC.

Best of luck no matter your medium

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I'm doing ebb and flow with 1 Gal fabric pots, (2/3) miracle gro, (1/3) perlite), using Jacks 321 + Agsil 16H.

Watering once a day, everyday, for 15 minutes and I am kicking ass.

It's not the soil, obviously. User Error.

 

[Shaded_One]

Yeah soil totally sucks can't grow weeds in it

 

[J.dub]

It's funny -- I'm clueless on anything but soil. Even then, my time in the store-bought soil and water-soluble nute feeding game was short-lived, and I spent some time reading, and dialing in living soil methods, and I find getting the right living soil mix simplifies growing and makes it a no-brainer. The plant takes whatever it needs from the soil when it needs it, and you just feed the soil water and occasional teas or dressings (enzymes) to unlock the nutrients. If the soil is balanced, water is decent, and the enviro is good, nature takes care of all the needs for the the grower. To each their own I guess, but I'm much more overalls than lab coat.

 

[Ilike2grow]

It looks like you have them on a auto watering system. Was that not there before you got sick ? Also this is the reason I only use coco now. I used to grow with ocean forest but I had a lot of issues with it. When I went to coco I had no problems.