I need someone's help with my plant!

[Maxor420]

Hi everyone. I hope that you are having a good day. I am concerned about one of my plants after it recently took a turn for the worse (And I didn't help it, by diagnosing and treating the wrong problem, which made the real problem worse it seems.

Here is the problem. New growth has almost ceased, the main growing top that is sprouting leaves, has diminished it's leaf production down to 1\4 inch a day if that. That is of new leaf, not total height of the plant growth.

Here are some pictures, first is just simply to show that I am using LED to grow this guy! I was constantly getting inter-nodes of less then 1\2 inch. However the rumor about these LED's are that they will produce a squat bushy plant with a superb high. However will not lend to large juicy buds, unless you mess with the ratio of blue - red. Mine right now is a veg light, and I built it to be 3:2 light ratio, or 60% blue, and 40% red. I am planning on adding an additional small panel to help during flowering. Or possibly using some 13w CFL for "light" support..... lol, sorry for the PUN!

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The last three are of TODAY, Jan 7th 2010. I flushed their soil on the fifth, because I noticed all growing tops were turning lime green and thought it was a problem. (I now know fast new growth will be lime green, and should turn normal in a few days) I had also gave her 2 cups of 500ppm nutrient solution on the day before the flush.

They stopped getting worse, however never really got better. Now the tips are turning brown! I have tips turning up, and down, and a general "wilt" happening at the growing top, yet mature leaves are doing alright, slight curling up of the side serrated edges, which is too much water I think.

Oh, please notice that aside from the leaf tips in the picture, you will notice that there are two leaves with brown spots developing. I have NO mites, or infestations. Mold is at a MINIMUM, almost never present unless I keep the soil moist too long.

If I didn't give some information that is needed, please lemme know. Oh, I have no PPM, or PH testing equipment, I use a friend who has them. (Can take up to a week to get something tested.... I have no cash right now to buy those or I would have, long time ago):smokin:

What I am thinking I need to do:

1) Let soil dry out a bit more (There is mold in pockets of air at soil level)
2) Transplant into BLACK pot, not frosted ice cream pail
2.5) Put catch tray under pot
3) Add some extra soil
4) Use a TESTED 5.5PH nutrient solution (Figure my soil PH by now is higher then it should be, so a lower PH would counteract that right?)

Happy Hoots!
Maxor420

Maxor420 Reviewed by Maxor420 on 01-07-2010. I need someone's help with my plant! Hi everyone. I hope that you are having a good day. I am concerned about one of my plants after it recently took a turn for the worse (And I didn't help it, by diagnosing and treating the wrong problem, which made the real problem worse it seems. Here is the problem. New growth has almost ceased, the main growing top that is sprouting leaves, has diminished it's leaf production down to 1\4 inch a day if that. That is of new leaf, not total height of the plant growth. Here are some Rating: 5

[Faddenator]

Judging by the fact that your plant looks like mine did at that size, my guess is that you're over watering and possibly overfeeding?

-The brown tips tell me you're getting nute burn.
-The stunted growth tells me you've hit nutrient lockout.
-I'm having trouble putting this one into words, but just the way your fan leaves look make me think you're over watering.

I would wait until the soil is COMPLETELY dry for the first 3 inches down or so. when I started following that rule, I only watered every 3-4 days, feeding every other time, and my stressed plants literally fixed themselves in under 24 hours.

I also can't tell what your soil looks like because of the emergency blanket, but do you have drainage in your soil mix? like maybe 25% perlite or more? If your soil mix isn't draining properly, you're going to see this problem reoccuring. You also might be increasing your risk of root rot and mold.

Keep in mind i am in no way an expert, This is just the experience i've had with my grows. good luck :stoned:

[Faddenator]

I just re-read your post and noticed you said something about keeping the soil moist. what i've been told over and over is let your soil dry up. it allows oxygen to get to roots to let them breathe a little.

what i've sorta discovered just by the amount I need to water is that cannabis doesn't like water that much, in the sense that its better for the soil to be too dry instead of too wet. don't quote me on that, but it certainly seems that way.

Your plant is also still very young, so it needs a very small amount of water. I believe I was using about 8 oz. of water per plant every three days at this stage. hope this helps.

[Maxor420]

Fist of all I want to send out props to the guy who created this

Complete nutrient deficiency guide!

Secondly, thank you to faddenator for your response! I prefer someone who says "Jeeze that's just what my plants did...." then, "I think it could be this, or looks like that..... sometimes it could also be this!...."


I think there is about 15-20% perlite, and it has a LOT of peat moss (Spongy), and also wood.... like chopped sticks, some are still small sections of twig. It's a no-name brand from Superstore canada.

I am going to get on checking the PH, and the PPM of my feeding water, and the PH of my run-out water.

Anyone know an appropriate PH to have your feeding water at if your growing in normal soil? Also what PH is a safe range for my run out water?

[Maxor420]

I just re-read your post and noticed you said something about keeping the soil moist. what i've been told over and over is let your soil dry up. it allows oxygen to get to roots to let them breathe a little.

what i've sorta discovered just by the amount I need to water is that cannabis doesn't like water that much, in the sense that its better for the soil to be too dry instead of too wet. don't quote me on that, but it certainly seems that way.

Your plant is also still very young, so it needs a very small amount of water. I believe I was using about 8 oz. of water per plant every three days at this stage. hope this helps.

I couldn't ask for more honestly. You just essentially gave me my exit strategy for getting out of this mess! Thank you!

Oh yeah, that plant is 4 weeks old. (Actually 6, but it was a survivor from a failed fogponics setup, not fogoponics)

[Maxor420]

Is is possible that in stead of nutrient "Lockout" it could simply not have any nutrients to uptake?

Either way, I will wait a day or two, let it dry out.... maybe let it get to the wilting stage to be sure! Then start giving it 1 cup of nutrient solution every 3 days, or when three inches of the top soil is dry.

Faddenator, Thank you.... I know I could have found that information elsewhere, but then I am left with interpreting it on my own. You have apparently just fixed this problem, so I am VERY inclined to follow your suggestion to a tee.

[Faddenator]

It's always good when someone appreciates advice. I'm always very thankful for the info I get in these forums.

I could be very wrong about lockout. from what I can gather, its caused by overfeeding or ph problems (the ph needs to be in 6.5 range for optimum nutrient uptake) so if you arent feeding regularly, maybe its a ph problem? or it possibly could only be overwatering? I don't think you need to worry about feeding so much until the plant is a little bigger... there should be enough nutrient in the soil (assuming its new soil) to feed a small plant for a little while, even if it isn't self feeding soil.

as for your ph concerns, ill hand the mic over to stinkyattic. he posted a pretty in-depth thread about ph levels

http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...hy-how-do.html

yay information! :jointsmile:

[Faddenator]

Just remember, you can use my suggestions, but you should make some decisions based on how your plant reacts to those suggestions. What works for me in my climate, with my soil mix, with my materials, etc. might not work for you. It's a good place to start, but I obviously can't stick my head in your growspace every day to ensure this is the right. It's up to you to make judgments and tweak them to fit your situation.

go ahead and use my suggestions to start though, There is no doubt in my mind that you'll at least see some improvement.

let me know how she's doing in a few days, I'd love to see the results. :thumbsup:

[Faddenator]

Sorry, but this is kinda cool. I have pics of mine before and after. I think you'll see what I mean when I say I was in a similar situation.

[Maxor420]

I am going to post picture updates every day that I can until this is remedied. The plants lower set of leaves started wilting to the foil, I am going to wait until this evening, and see if it's worse, or the same. I will find it hard to believe if it's gone through that entire flush in three to four days... considering it has barely grown in the last two days.

I had a cheap froggy moisture detector, you can see it in the purple pics, however it would never trip, and I found that out one day when I came to check on her, and she was already keeling over. I removed the detector, it started chirping when I took it out of course.....lol.

I should really invest in some cheap equipment already.....