Can MJ plants get AIDS!?

[chiqo76]

Ok, i know my plant doesnt have AIDS, but dam I F'd this grow up huh?

Let me tell you my setup first...

2 rubbermaid boxes stacked in closet
6 cool white (cool white for veg right?) 26W 1700 lumen CFLs (+10,000 lumens)
the whole inside covered with reflective insulation
Ill show pics of soil, nutes, and ph down that Im using
2 CPU fans, one other type of fan (fan info covered by tape)
bagseed
PH= Im using tap water, adjusted to about 6.8 (i think, tester not very clear)
temps= it was around 85F with low humidity (thermometer just said low), but since theyve fixed the AC, temps have been around 75F w/40% humidity
nutes are 30-10-10

Ok, my oldest plant has been through ALOT!!! the first soil i was using was just plain soil, so after about three weeks lower leaves started dying so (was over watering and also using non adjusted ph) so i took out the seedling, roots and all, i know they shouldnt be exposed to light but they were, than everything was going good for another couple weeks and it started dying again, so I flushed and started using PH balanced water (not sure if my ph down is ok to use, its for outdoor aquariums, doesnt say what kind of acid it is). Also started on nutes, about quarter strength.

Im just gonna list all the stress ive caused it, its 2 months old and look how small.

-germinated in ziplock bag with wet papertowel, messed with seeds alot
-kept poking at seeds once planted to see if roots were growing
-bad soil
-over watered
-watered with 7.8 ph water
-been flushed twice
-roots exposed to light
-temps sometimes in high 90's
-low humidity
-used spray bottle to raise humidity, caused burn spots on leaves
-stems turning purple, stunted growth NPK defeceincy?

Anyways ill show some pics of my plant to see if its even worth keeping...

[Bree1978]

Well, I'm absolutely positive that you can bring that plant back. I would repot it in something bigger (3 gallon) and better than what you have...is that from your yard???? Looks like the crap I picked up at dollar G and hated it because it was like pure clay. I can't tell but it looks really crummy, lol. don't bring soil in from outside, you'll open your grow up to bugs.
Look around for the soil that will suit you. Right now I'm using 40 percent perlite and 60 percent shrimp/seaweed compost. I've used Miracle Grow Organic, and that didn't seem too terrible. That's if you are looking for something prebagged.

The aquarium stuff isn't for plants, that's what I've been told.

Reverse Osmosis (which is what most refils machines are at the grocery store) or Distilled water is ph neutral, but you need a cal mag supplement with it (although I got through my first grow without, and it was a bitch).


You seem to have everything else under control. Your temps and humidity are good. Most of the leaf problems look like from you scorching them with the water and from the ph fluctuations.

You can save the plant, like I said. If it does end up being a female, it may hermie on you though. I did almost the same thing with my very first plant, I grew her out and she hermied from all the stress. The smoke was good though, which is what you are after on your first grow, right?

Good Luck,
:jointsmile: Bree

[chiqo76]

THANKS!!!
I will try this stuff when i get home from work today, and i figured it'd probably go hermie, but id at least like to try and recover her so that I know what to do next time, plus im experimenting with LST'ing.....


anyways, late for work gotta go!

[chiqo76]

heres a pic of the soil, nutes, and ph down i use
and the setup...... should be easy to interpret using the previous photos and my rough sketch...

Ive never used dirt from outside, just cheap potting soil (before i switched to the one on the pic)

Ill be switching to a 3 gollon pot tonight, or should i wait a couple weeks cus i justed flushed the other day, dont wanna stress it again so soon?

[Bree1978]

SIGH. Azalea food is acidic...cannabisd likes it pretty neutral -ph wise (6.8 soil). Fish ph up down, I've been told is terrible for plants (diff chemicals? Too salty perhaps?).
You soil seems SUPER strong, but I haven't tried it. Chicken manure is the roughest, most acidic 'hot' compost you can have. In addition, peat can cause more ph issues.....Before using that soil, make a small sample batch of your mix and test the runoff. Thank you Stinky Attic (momma always said give credit where credit is due!), that is advice I will pass on always, Godsend!

Seriously, if you are going to raid someone's nutes...Here is what you NEED.
IN veg get a higher N of the NPK numbers. ( There are alot of variations, you'll have to do a search. I use 24-8-16 for veg, but only 1/4 first feed and perhaps a half feed before flower)
For flower get a higher P rating that the others. I use 15-30-15, this is not optimal. There are growers that use the super bloom as well (10-52-8 or close if I remember correctly), however there is a debate about growth and using a SUPER phosphate. Research is all I can say.

Find something in those parameters and find your own groove so to speak....Isn't growing fun....I thank my stars everday!

:jointsmile: Bree




Edit: I ascertained that you had taken nutes from someone available that grew quite acidic flowers.... I'm quite sorry if I have overstepped my bounds...

[chiqo76]

ok..... hmm...... I wish i would have read that post earlier, I just bought another bag of that same potting soil.... oh well. So my first soil was called hyponex potting soil (got at wallmart), looks pretty plain and generic, it says its made of hypnum peat moss, forest products, sand, and perlite, should I switch to that?. Does anyone happen to know how much Fox Farm organic potting soil goes for? As for the Nutes, I bought that one cus I thought I read MJ was an acid loving plant, although I have read that urea nitrate isnt good or something, but I got it becuase it was 30-10-10. Does anyone know how much Fox Farm nutes go for? Ive been using tap water, and I wont even drink that shit, shouldnt have been giving it to the plants, it leaves crust all over our cups n stuff. Switching to RO water for sure. I will repot in bigger pot once I know which soil to use. Well thanks ALOT for all the help, and yes growing is so much fun, to think about a year ago I was anti-weed, and now Im growin!!! Anyways, looks like I have more reasearch to do once I get home for work.

[chiqo76]

same with the ph down, gonna get some better stuff...

[Weedhound]

Bree's got it right with the ph up and down....the stuff for aquariums has too much salt for plants....fish can take salt much better. ph testers for fish are ok...not adjusters.

The soil stuff I would agree with Bree as well if I had any idea about soil but I don't. :)

[chiqo76]

ok, I got new soil with no chicken manure, I got alaska fish emulsion 5-1-1, got superthrive, RO water, bigger pots. Just found out theres a hydro shop in town, have to wait till tuesday to pick up some better PH adjusters, dont want to add all this new stuff but still have a problem with PH. Anyways, plants are looking alot beeter, in fact my younger one looks healthy actually!!! Ill post some pics in a minute.

[Weedhound]

Hey chigo in a real pinch you can use small amounts of baking soda to raise the ph of your water....don't put anything in the soil itself...and you can use small amounts of distilled white vinegar to lower ph. Not as good as the hydro stuff but will get you by until Tuesday...miuch better than the fish ph adjusters. ;)

[chiqo76]

OK..... so, I finally got some PH adjusters as well as a heavy duty timer (been doing it by hand, forgot to turn on lights alot of the times, mainly after partying the night before) from the hydro shop. Anyways, so I transfered my biggest one to a little bit bigger pot with the new soil, flushed with RO water with a couple drops of superthrive, PHed, and flushed till the water coming out was clear and tested ph (looked good). Did the same with the younger plant, accidently lost some roots with this one! Oops!!! Oh well, Ive started germinating some more seeds, actually experimenting. Put some in jiffy pellets with dome, some in some moist soil and perlite, some in sandwhich bag and moist paper towel, on top of the modem. We'll see which one works best.

Ive also worked on my box, covering places where light goes through, cleaned inside, added oscillating fan, and tubing for intake with fan at each end, hopfully so I can stick it in the closet and cover it and close the closet for beeter stealth. Ive been leaving it wide open when no ones around to keep temps down, hopefully my intake works good enough.

Ill post pics when everythings done...

[chiqo76]

ok.....
well the biggest plant looks like its dying.... its actually weird, the leaves are alot softer and dont feel as dry as before and they also look greener, could it just be that it got over watered during the flush? Its 50%soil50% perlite.