Good morning EddyWally,
No problem at all mate. Just sharing my favorite hobby, glad to offer advice or help if I feel it's relevant.
Thanks for the detailed reply.
I had been reading about nutrient deficiency and excess, the way she looked and considering the heavy soil I figured it had to be an excess so my unexperienced mind told me to try this flushing I had been reeding up on..
What fertilizer / nutrients have you been using? How much and how often? As a fertilizer I use easy grow and easy bloom from Royal Queen Seeds. Picture of the packaging. I didn't use the bloom on this plant yet though. She's been getting the easy grow mixed with 5l-6l of water. And she's been getting it from the start. The packaging said it can be given from germination.. Since the flush she's been getting plain water.
I water more or less every 2-3-4 days, tbh I put my first her in the soil and I water here when she is dry. I've been trying to water so. She is dry in 2-3 days.
Yeah heavy soil is really tough. So easy to overwater, overfert and encourages anaerobic conditions. (low oxygen, poor aeration, low ph, pathogens etc.)
Very likely you needn't have watered that often at all. I feel pretty confident the soil beneath or towards the bottom of your pot is staying too wet.
Also because it's heavy and holding onto a lot of water without adequate aeration / drainage, it's very likely overferted as well.
With regular fertigation the soil really needs to drain quickly once it's saturated.
Because I have been reading water should be around 6-6.5 so that's why I've been lowering the ph on my water. I didn't do it for the first two months because I didn't have the tools yet.
Out my tap I get around 7.5-7.8
Wise in my opinion to give plain water every 2nd or 3rd watering with a decent amount of runoff. This helps rinse any excess salts out the pot.
When you give plain water I really wouldn't be concerned about it's pH, if the ec isn't too high.
Bear in mind much of the time over fertilizing will lower pH of your media.
How do I asses my soil? With one of those ph soil meter? I don't own one of those. Is there different ways?
I feel pretty confident in suggesting you had been overfeeding and watering too often. I think if the soil pH is off, it's mostly a result from watering / feeding too often. Encouraged even more so by having heavy soil.
Attempting to correct pH in this instance will just make things worse imo.
I like the cheap kits you buy from a hardware or nursery. Comes with a liquid solution and barium sulfate powder, to test a sample, then compare it to the supplied colour chart. Really easy if you have a good eye and they're accurate.
Nothing really wrong with the meters but a good one isn't cheap, and tbh I've found the kits more reliable.
In my opinion it's sensible to test a soil sample right before planting. Removes so much of the guess work if planting, amending the soil, or when something's wrong. pH 6-6.5 and you're golden.
Personally I never it let go below 6.0 for soil, imo any lower it's asking for trouble. And try to keep it under 7 until I intervene.
The ones I buy come with about 100 tests worth.
And last but not least, give me your honest opinion doc! You think she will still manage to pull through? Or is it looking like a lost cause, considering I already messed up with the soil.. I have been questioning if she is savable to still get some harvest or if i'm waisting time and resources on her..
I think it's possible to turn things around, for sure. Though I would expect smaller yield.
If it's your hobby I say roll with it.
Very kind regards!
Eddy Wally for ev
Likewise Eddy!
Take it easy and have a good one.