Should I follow the feeding guide for the brand of soil I'm using?

[CarpeDiamonds]

Stop over thinking and adjusting the pH, just put the seed in the soil and leave it alone, use filter water and add 150 ppm of liquid cal-mag, don't over water, and that's all you have to do. The pic looks like the plant is burned because of the lime, don't do that, the soil is formulated already and there is no need to add lime to it, just don't add anything other than cal-mag to your filter water, stop using tap water, and don't over do it adding fertilizer, in soil you really only need to add fertilizer one or two times throughout the grow. You might consider starting over if you have more seeds, all the pH adjusting killed the plants.

Your missing the full picture of the situation from my previous posts prior to this where I was having issues with pH as identified by other members. I was having the issues prior to adding dolomite lime, hence why I added it. I definitely think it was a pH problem now as when I prepared new soil for transplanting my other seedlings the runoff pH was 5-5.5. I haven't added anything besides the lime I added when problems arose. I'm only going to start feeding now with half the concentration recommended by the soil manufacturer. Also with regards to tap water I was told to not use distilled water by another member and seeing as I don't have any cal mag I think that was the right approach.

 

[Hopefull Stoner]

I'm using Fox farm soil bags which has food for the plants so there is no need to feed every week.

So knew someone would object to what you said. so many folks give advice that is simply not suited to the grow situation at hand. so all they can do is tell what they did/do. which is exactly what you did.

I've been around awhile and i try to tell newbies to be reasonable and practical when taking advice from helpful folks with a few grains of salt or more because they are often wrong. i always try to direct them to search out the sick plant threads and pictures for personal reference to try and diagnose their issues and couple that with practical advice from posters that understand ur situation well and advise u based on what you have explained and shown them. as ur searching threads you can often come across folks with the same issue and pictures to match quite often.
note: their is more than one sick plant guide w/ pictures. i think they're are 3/4 good ones and 2 of those are connected to the same person. "my names stitch" i was honored and thankful to be around overgrow when she was helping us all the time. and after all these years still is helping thousands based off her generous info. she even wrote a book as well.

basics for newbs has been stated already. follow directions and when it comes to feeding start with less and then add more as needed. our overall experience has taught us manufactures rec's are usually excessive. learn to recognize a healthy plant. earn to record what you do so that if you run into an issue you are already ahead of the game to fixing it.

give the plants decent nutes and all the basics and let it grow. do not start adding additives to shit until you have grown well for awhile and now want to see what else is possible with added prodcuts. do urself a favor an d look at all the dank weed grown with minimal products. that tells us all we don't need to spend as much as many do to equal or surpass their results. those tons of pictures prove this fact over and over again. when u do add products always do so with one or a couple plants or a complete 50-50 side by side to find out for yourself what difference the product makes or doesn't make. now u get to spend all the extra loot on more sensible stuff. peace

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

So knew someone would object to what you said. so many folks give advice that is simply not suited to the grow situation at hand. so all they can do is tell what they did/do. which is exactly what you did.

I've been around awhile and i try to tell newbies to be reasonable and practical when taking advice from helpful folks with a few grains of salt or more because they are often wrong. i always try to direct them to search out the sick plant threads and pictures for personal reference to try and diagnose their issues and couple that with practical advice from posters that understand ur situation well and advise u based on what you have explained and shown them. as ur searching threads you can often come across folks with the same issue and pictures to match quite often.
note: their is more than one sick plant guide w/ pictures. i think they're are 3/4 good ones and 2 of those are connected to the same person. "my names stitch" i was honored and thankful to be around overgrow when she was helping us all the time. and after all these years still is helping thousands based off her generous info. she even wrote a book as well.

basics for newbs has been stated already. follow directions and when it comes to feeding start with less and then add more as needed. our overall experience has taught us manufactures rec's are usually excessive. learn to recognize a healthy plant. earn to record what you do so that if you run into an issue you are already ahead of the game to fixing it.

give the plants decent nutes and all the basics and let it grow. do not start adding additives to shit until you have grown well for awhile and now want to see what else is possible with added prodcuts. do urself a favor an d look at all the dank weed grown with minimal products. that tells us all we don't need to spend as much as many do to equal or surpass their results. those tons of pictures prove this fact over and over again. when u do add products always do so with one or a couple plants or a complete 50-50 side by side to find out for yourself what difference the product makes or doesn't make. now u get to spend all the extra loot on more sensible stuff. peace

Hey, not sure if your response is directed at me? Really confused by what you and m8ty are saying? I was having complication well before I added dolomite lime. Began as small yellow brown spots and spread. How could the problem be caused by adding dolomite if the symptoms were present before that? I didn't even apply any products before I noticed the yellowing. If you have any insight into what could have caused the complication please let me know. I am very willing to learn so if you have any good resources please direct me to them and I'll happily read away. I don't really see the point in joining a forum though if you're not even going to point me in the right direction or offer any opinions other than "search through the forum". Please provide some kind of insight into the problem if your going to comment a paragraph like that.
Here's the link to the post that was proceeding this in which I thought I identified a low pH as the cause:
https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/yellow-brown-spots-on-edges-of-seedling-leaves.120991/

 

[m8ty]

Hey, not sure if your response is directed at me? Really confused by what you and m8ty are saying? I was having complication well before I added dolomite lime. Began as small yellow brown spots and spread. How could the problem be caused by adding dolomite if the symptoms were present before that? I didn't even apply any products before I noticed the yellowing. If you have any insight into what could have caused the complication please let me know. I am very willing to learn so if you have any good resources please direct me to them and I'll happily read away. I don't really see the point in joining a forum though if you're not even going to point me in the right direction or offer any opinions other than "search through the forum". Please provide some kind of insight into the problem if your going to comment a paragraph like that.
Here's the link to the post that was proceeding this in which I thought I identified a low pH as the cause:
https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/yellow-brown-spots-on-edges-of-seedling-leaves.120991/

Yes I see the spots on the leaf, and you have bugs, you can tell because the spots started around the vein of the leaf, most of the time that's bugs feeding around that leaf vein.

As for pH, is never a pH issue, most of the time it's, over watering, too many nutrients, or too much light.

So why does the plant have bugs? What kinda flies are they? Are they black or white? And the round bug in the soil was it a thrip or something else?

From what I can tell from the leaf the way it bends and waves and the speed bumps on the leaf, it looks like over watering at some point, and over watering can cause bugs like flies.

Then you added lime and burnt the plant with a pH shift caused by the added lime.

Just throw it all in the bin of knowledge and start over, no sense in trying to fix it now, it's better to start over, remember that it will take you five grows till you start to be a successful grower.

As for your question about following the soil manufacturer feeding chart the answer is yes because if the soil already has plant food already in it or not. What does the feeding chart for the soil you are using say you should do?

 

[m8ty]

Also with regards to tap water I was told to not use distilled water by another member and seeing as I don't have any cal mag I think that was the right approach.

Get water from the machine that filters water at the local super market, it's 35 cents per gallon and it's r.o filter water, very clean with no salt and a neutral pH. also you need to get a bottle of cal-mag, it's a must, there is a reason all successful growers use cal-mag.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Yes I see the spots on the leaf, and you have bugs, you can tell because the spots started around the vein of the leaf, most of the time that's bugs feeding around that leaf vein.

As for pH, is never a pH issue, most of the time it's, over watering, too many nutrients, or too much light.

So why does the plant have bugs? What kinda flies are they? Are they black or white? And the round bug in the soil was it a thrip or something else?

From what I can tell from the leaf the way it bends and waves and the speed bumps on the leaf, it looks like over watering at some point, and over watering can cause bugs like flies.

Then you added lime and burnt the plant with a pH shift caused by the added lime.

Just throw it all in the bin of knowledge and start over, no sense in trying to fix it now, it's better to start over, remember that it will take you five grows till you start to be a successful grower.

As for your question about following the soil manufacturer feeding chart the answer is yes because if the soil already has plant food already in it or not. What does the feeding chart for the soil you are using say you should do?

The bug wasn't a thrip, not that I can say that with confidence as I don't know my bugs very well but it wasn't long and was more round shaped and kind of brown with patterns camouflaging with the soil. I killed it as soon as I spotted it. As for the flies they were tiny little black flies. I live in Australia by the way just in case we don't share the same insects.
The feeding chart said I should have been feeding with the manufacturers veg solution from the get go. You can see the feeding schedule on page 1.
Not going to scrap them just yet. Might hold off for a bit and see what happens at least till I finish my uni finals.
I'll post some newer pictures as well soon

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Get water from the machine that filters water at the local super market, it's 35 cents per gallon and it's r.o filter water, very clean with no salt and a neutral pH. also you need to get a bottle of cal-mag, it's a must, there is a reason all successful growers use cal-mag.

I'd like to check if my tap water is viable before I committing to buying RO water and Cal mag as its a much pricier option than just using tap water, especially if the tap water is fine to use. I have water quality report for my area. Do you know what analytes I should be looking at in particular?

 

[m8ty]

I'd like to check if my tap water is viable before I committing to buying RO water and Cal mag as its a much pricier option than just using tap water, especially if the tap water is fine to use. I have water quality report for my area. Do you know what analytes I should be looking at in particular?

What's the ppm and pH of the tap water?

 

[Kampbe1l]

i use Canna Terra Professional, and I don't follow their feed chart at all - maybe i should look at it again. generally, i tend to dilute the portions more than what's written on any label. for instance, when feeding i probably use about 1/4 of what it states on a label or chart.

i might be on the other end of the scale, i don't use much nutrients - maybe i should.

ppl state that there is enough nutrients in this Canna Terra Professional for just plain watering for its first 3 months. I mostly water only with Cannazym and Cal-Mag. one plant i have only ever watered, and she's a monster.

i only add more fine perlite to this soil mix.

as earlier posts stated, let the plant growth determine what she needs, rather than following some manufacturer's chart. charts are a general guide.

i always suspect pH imbalances, when i run into issues - or bugs. but that's me, ready to point my finger at these two.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

PH is

What's the ppm and pH of the tap water?

pH says 7.9 on the report, I tested it got similar 7.6 -8. As for ppm, what would that be labelled under, total dissolved solids, or total hardness?

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

i use Canna Terra Professional, and I don't follow their feed chart at all - maybe i should look at it again. generally, i tend to dilute the portions more than what's written on any label. for instance, when feeding i probably use about 1/4 of what it states on a label or chart.

i might be on the other end of the scale, i don't use much nutrients - maybe i should.

ppl state that there is enough nutrients in this Canna Terra Professional for just plain watering for its first 3 months. I mostly water only with Cannazym and Cal-Mag. one plant i have only ever watered, and she's a monster.

i only add more fine perlite to this soil mix.

as earlier posts stated, let the plant growth determine what she needs, rather than following some manufacturer's chart. charts are a general guide.

i always suspect pH imbalances, when i run into issues - or bugs. but that's me, ready to point my finger at these two.

What soil pH do you get for you Canna Terra Professional straight out the bag? Also what pH do you aim for and have you had complications at pH of 6 or below similar to the photos in this post e.g. yellowing of lower leaves?

 

[Kampbe1l]

i haven't done a sludge test, run-off test for over a year. i'll do some measurements over the next week or so - all my plants are in this Canna Terra Professional mix - and it'll give you, hopefully, something else to work with.

are we safe to assume we have the same product? put that aside...

i noticed my tap water varies in its pH range, anywhere from 5.8 to 8.0 - lately it's been on that lower side. I let the water sit for at least 24 hours to dechlorinate, typically, i add some Cannazym and Cal-Mag, then measure its pH. The pH of this water solution is between 5.8 and 6.3 thereabouts, so i don't even bother adjusting its pH to any particular level.

my opinion is that it is somewhere between that region 5.8 to 6.5 even. so, you're smack in the middle of my pH range.

there's gonna be the other variable factor between our experiences of using this Canna Terra Professional - our water source and its quality (pH level, etc).

sorry, got lost in the thread, but what are the levels you're encountering - what do your feed/water at, what's the sludge/run-off tests results?

I try not to fuss too much about my grow, no point tinkering something when the issue might be another matter. also, i try to make small adjustments in one area to see how it affects the growth, to see if it might be the area of issue.....

I use Canna Terra Professional because previous to that, i encountered difficulties growing in other commercial soil mixes.

oh, why don't i do all these tests soon (next week) when i buy the next bag, as i need to repot?

------------

P.S. after another look at the photo, i wouldn't stress too much - i reckon after a repot it'll power on. it looks overwatered in those jiffy pots. let them go in larger pots, the Canna Terra Professional by itself is fine as a grow medium.

many times, the plant will grow out of 'issues'.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

i haven't done a sludge test, run-off test for over a year. i'll do some measurements over the next week or so - all my plants are in this Canna Terra Professional mix - and it'll give you, hopefully, something else to work with.

are we safe to assume we have the same product? put that aside...

i noticed my tap water varies in its pH range, anywhere from 5.8 to 8.0 - lately it's been on that lower side. I let the water sit for at least 24 hours to dechlorinate, typically, i add some Cannazym and Cal-Mag, then measure its pH. The pH of this water solution is between 5.8 and 6.2 thereabouts, so i don't even bother adjusting its pH to any particular level.

that's gonna be the other variable factor between our experiences of using this Canna Terra Professional - our water source and its quality (pH level, etc).

sorry, got lost in the thread, but what are the levels you're encountering - what do your feed/water at, what's the sludge/run-off tests results?

I try not to fuss too much about my grow, no point tinkering something when the issue might be another matter. also, i try to make small adjustments in one area to see how it affects the growth, to see if it might be the area of issue.....

I use Canna Terra Professional because previous to that, i encountered difficulties growing in other commercial soil mixes.

oh, why don't i do all this soon when i buy the next bag, as i need to repot?

I definitely have Canna Terra professional so we have the same soil unless you have the "plus" version. As for water, Just been watering with plain tap water that has a pH of 7.9 and sometimes a weak 1:500 Canna terra Rhizotonic solution, mostly before and after transplanting. I didn't feed the plants any thing up until today, gave them some Canna Terra Vega today at 20ml/10L with Rhizotonic at 10ml/10L. I added Dolomite lime couple days ago at the recommendation of a user to increase pH, only about 5 grams to the topsoil and that was only after noticing the yellowing. When I was testing my pH previously I think I was doing it incorrectly as i was just putting a topsoil sample into a tube, diluting with distilled water and testing with reagent returning values of 6. However when prepared new pots for my other seedling for transplant in fresh soil, I tested the actual runoff and got pH of 5-5.5.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

So now I'm not too certain what's going on haha... But these are a few guesses based on all the information I've gathered from everyone. Either:
(A) The pH of the soil straight from the bag was too low causing improper absorption of calcium or other nutrients.
(B) The soil was to "hot" from the get go and had to many nutrients
(C) Insect damage???
(D) Over watering, (but I really doubt this as I simply sprayed the surface with a spray bottle and waited until the top soil was dry. I also used a wooden skewer to check soil dryness depth before watering again. Only time I watered a lot was when prewetting the soil during transplant)

 

[Kampbe1l]

yes, need to shift through all the information and suggestions.

i would repot. that would solve the overwatering issue, if that is the case - and i mean overwatering not so much your watering routine, but more so the moisture content of the soil in the small pots.

take it with a grain of salt, but IMO this soil mix has enough nutrients not to feed the plants for at least the first 3 months of their growth. i have plants which i have not been fed at all, and one is a monster. that might explain Point (B). and i have had the experience, where the plants grew out of this 'hot' soil mix issue, weeks later the plant was thriving.

I can't jump to the conclusion of Point A and Point C.

Come back to you, tomorrow....let me sleep on it, too.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

Here's some newer pics. (Close ups following a photo are the same plant)

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

yes, need to shift through all the information and suggestions.

i would repot. that would solve the overwatering issue, if that is the case - and i mean overwatering not so much your watering routine, but more so the moisture content of the soil in the small pots.

take it with a grain of salt, but IMO this soil mix has enough nutrients not to feed the plants for at least the first 3 months of their growth. i have plants which i have not been fed at all, and one is a monster. that might explain Point (B). and i have had the experience, where the plants grew out of this 'hot' soil mix issue, weeks later the plant was thriving.

I can't jump to the conclusion of Point A and Point C.

Those photos were old, I've actually transplanted them all except one into 4L pots. Do you think I should avoid feeding with the terra vega solution then? Just a little worried that the complications were a result of not feeding this entire time. You did say 3 months though and its only been less then 23 days.

 

[Hopefull Stoner]

DUDE I POINTED TO THINGS TO HELP U IN THE LONG RUN. so u obviously didn't read what i wrote with an open mind in context.
i get that your new to this etc. but when u are already getting decent advice it's no need for me to say more. i was not actually trying to solve your exact issue. but based on the air of ur reply = write a pargraph like that i will leave you to your own machinations. i don't get sesneitive with ultra needy newbs who speak as u did. so i'm done. i'll remain quiet even more than i used to when i come across someone who wants help but also doesn't seem to have taken care of the basics in growing. frankly i tried to equip you so you wouldn't think it's out job to hold ur hand, spoon feed you and answer all the questions that pop into your head that are there because of lack of homework/basics to begin with. do you and i'll go back to doing me. did i write to much this time. probably but at least i didn't let you suck me into this lol.

 

[CarpeDiamonds]

DUDE I POINTED TO THINGS TO HELP U IN THE LONG RUN. so u obviously didn't read what i wrote with an open mind in context.
i get that your new to this etc. but when u are already getting decent advice it's no need for me to say more. i was not actually trying to solve your exact issue. but based on the air of ur reply = write a pargraph like that i will leave you to your own machinations. i don't get sesneitive with ultra needy newbs who speak as u did. so i'm done. i'll remain quiet even more than i used to when i come across someone who wants help but also doesn't seem to have taken care of the basics in growing. frankly i tried to equip you so you wouldn't think it's out job to hold ur hand, spoon feed you and answer all the questions that pop into your head that are there because of lack of homework/basics to begin with. do you and i'll go back to doing me. did i write to much this time. probably but at least i didn't let you suck me into this lol.

Sorry If my reply seemed rude dude, I do respect you for giving me advice for the future, especially that bit about comparing plants side by side, however you were implying that I was overfeeding my plant and I just wanted some insight onto why you thought that? I haven't fed the plants any nutrients this entire time, and I only applied lime to raise the pH after symptoms started getting worse. What would you have done if you noticed these symptoms in your plants and found the pH to be in the low range? I don't wish to be spoon fed, just want people opinions on the cause so I can learn from it.

 

[Entropy]

I think you were on the right track but came to the wrong solution. A pH of 6 is only slightly low, and you indicated that it was rising on it's own (it's supposed to), which is why it's a good idea to "cook" peat based mediums before planting. This basically allows the lime the mfg added to start to counteract the acidic peat.

This pH post by aqua explains it better then I could, but by adding more lime, and your tap water sounds like it's fairly alkaline too you could be heading towards a problem with total alkalinity in the future.

Also the plants pictured didn't look too bad, I would have looked more at watering practices at that point in their lives, but IMO they were a bit young to be chasing pH or nutrient problems

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