stunted growth

[qdavid]

I tend to ramble sometimes, like most stoners, so please bear with me. Iâ??ll try to stay on point, but thereâ??s a lot of stuff to say. So I guess youâ??ll have to allow for some rambling. But flame if you must. Also, please try to keep in mind this is only a medical, fun, hobby, type grow. This grow is for personal use only and itâ??s a learning thing. But I would like to be rewarded for my efforts with some decent smokage someday though.
Sadly, my plants are stunted. Iâ??ve tried a lot of stuff to get â??em to flourish, but theyâ??re still small. Only 3â?� tall at about 2 months old. This is my second attempt. The first ones didnâ??t even last this long. I think I over-watered, over-nuted, and just loved them to death. When I pulled my dead babies out of the pots, I found the soil in the bottom of the pots to be almost soggy. So for my second soil mix I used a lot more perlite along with peat moss, dolomite, and potting soil mix. I also drilled bigger drain holes in the potâ??s bottoms and put some rocks in there before the soil mix, hopping that would help drainage. I started this grow in the old pots (but new mix) but the pots still werenâ??t draining or getting air to the roots so I wrote here asking for advise. Stinkyattic suggested I drill big holes in the pots making them like Swiss cheese. Yeah, hardy, har, har, har! I tried it, and made some big â??ole cheese holes, but then transplanted to these pots Iâ??m using now anyway, after there was no visible improvement and my moisture meter was still reading high for the pot bottoms after a week or so of trying. (Ramble, ramble, ramble).I have my babies in a little Mylar walled cabinet and have six 27W cool cfls going. I usually have to shut down four of â??em in the afternoons when the temps get upwards toward 85F, but theyâ??re on mornings and evenings. I have the cab doors open and a desk fan going about a foot outside the cab door. I also a have little computer fan going in the back of the cab for some exhaust, but it sucksâ?¦literally. I try to keep the little buggers about 2â?� from the light. The plants are on an 18/6 schedule right now. I water with Ph (6.6 to 6.8) distilled water. I tried this cheap ass Expert Rhododendron and Azalea fertilizer because it was 30-10-10, so I thought itâ??d be good. But even diluted in half from the recommended, I think it burned â??em. And I donâ??t think I will use it again. Iâ??m not thinking they need to be flushed as Iâ??ve only nuted once and Iâ??m not confident they could take the stress of it. Iâ??m kind of shy about using more superthrive too. I tried foliar feeding with that stuff in the water thinking maybe they needed a kick in the roots, but nothing there, either. I tried some Epsom salts in that foliar feeding water when I thought it might be a Mg deficiency. But after a week or so of that, no change. Iâ??m thinking Iâ??ll find what they need sometime and theyâ??ll just take off. Overall, they look fairly good to me, just so damn small. Smell good too. The bottom leaves do die and fall off, but Iâ??ve read some growers saying donâ??t worry about it. Itâ??s just a natural process the plant goes through. Then again, Iâ??ve read others say, â??Bullshitâ?�. Damn opinionated folks, them. I say whatever floats your boat. Iâ??m thinking I should drill some more air holes in these pots, again. That was kind of fun anyway. They do like the distilled water better than rainwater. Ph was a little high (7.0) in the rainwater before so maybe I was getting lock-out. But I wouldnâ??t think 7.0 would do it. Any suggestions here really appreciated. Even though this is slow, Iâ??m looking long term anyway, as long as I donâ??t get busted. 21g gets you a felony, fine, and a mandatory minimum incarceration here. Moving is always a hassle, but jail would just suck, especially for something like cannabis. So hey, toke on kids. Oh, and by the by, one of my babies might be Blueberry. The seeds are from an indoor mix but something sure smells sweet and fruity and I can only hope sheâ??s a chick, if it is berry. Berry, berry goot. (Steve Martin, SNL flashback?)
P.S. Those are plastic shopping bags you see under the pots. I use â??em to catch shit and I try keep â??em loose so they wonâ??t cut off any air.

qdavid Reviewed by qdavid on 11-16-2006. stunted growth I tend to ramble sometimes, like most stoners, so please bear with me. Iâ??ll try to stay on point, but thereâ??s a lot of stuff to say. So I guess youâ??ll have to allow for some rambling. But flame if you must. Also, please try to keep in mind this is only a medical, fun, hobby, type grow. This grow is for personal use only and itâ??s a learning thing. But I would like to be rewarded for my efforts with some decent smokage someday though. Sadly, my plants are stunted. Iâ??ve tried a lot of Rating: 5

[Weedhound]

Ummmm, are those plastic bags under those pots all the time? Is the pot itself resting on the bag or above it with air in between) If not you may have just solved your drainage problems......really how much air is getting in there through a plastic bag, loose? or otherwise.

[qdavid]

No, actually those bags are underneath everything and not blocking anything. Those pots have removable bases with the actual drain holes for the pots inside that base. I think you might have hit on something there though. Maybe I'll try removing those bases and set the pots up off the shelves a little somehow and dry everything out for a few days. That might well be the problem. Thanks. Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes to see an obvious problem.

[cnd411]

It's easy to control your growing medium with young seedlings by using small container. Start with small coffee cups until they have 3 to 5 set of true leaves then transplant into small nusery container.
Young seedlings do not need any nutrients until they have three set of true leaves. First feeding should be a mild dose of B vitamins such as Liquid Karma,5ml per liter of water or B52, 5ml per liter of water ...

Is there any thing you want to know? Just post your questions we will try to help if we can.

Cheer

[Weedhound]

Ok I think I know what you mean...can you snap the pot and base together and them snap them apart? Make sure the little spikes in the bases arent blocking your holes.....hope that does solve it for you...

[Tupamaro]

well brotha this is what i would do cuz after 2 months you should be almost ready for harvesting. if i were you i'd go and get some good quality seeds, not bagseed. i than would go to the hydroponic store or growshop and get some good 3 to 4 gallon pots that don't have that snap off bottum, and good big drainage holes. i actually used to have those exact same ones. add some lava rocks or those little rocks for hydroponics at the bottum. (if you get lava rocks for a grill wash them off really really good, no dust). get some good foxfarm soil. and fill em up. i'd than decide what to fertilize with and follow the instructions for christ sake, haha. and nothing to hardcore powerful, if its got good genetics it shouldn't treat yah bad. as for watering don't overwater. and don't do it here or there. just do alot of watering 1 day and see how it handles. if it its no good than lower it a bit, or raise it accordingly. none of the watering a little here and a little there. try to give it a good amount to last it. good luck.

[Abattoir Dream]

measure how much you water it, if the leaves start to droop, add less water next time, until you get the right amount... its not hard..

[qdavid]

Ok I think I know what you mean...can you snap the pot and base together and them snap them apart? Make sure the little spikes in the bases arent blocking your holes.....hope that does solve it for you...

Exactly. Cool design but I think they don't breathe so they kinda suck.

[qdavid]

[QUOTE=Tupamaro;1089213 .[/QUOTE]

after 2 months you should be almost ready for harvesting.[

Damn dude. You be the fastest mofo around.

if i were you i'd go and get some good quality seeds, not bagseed.

I wrote the seeds were from mixed indoor. They are supposed to be quality, they came from a top rated medical marijuana sight.

as for watering don't overwater. and don't do it here or there. just do alot of watering 1 day and see how it handles. if it its no good than lower it a bit, or raise it accordingly. none of the watering a little here and a little there. try to give it a good amount to last it. good luck

I'm thinking the same about the water. I try to keep to a regular watering schdule of every third day and go from there with how the plants take it. But I think I'm not so good reading the plants yet, plus those damn pots are throwing it all off. I guess I'm gonna have to just dry everything out for 4 or 5 days, anyway, then give 'em water, and go from there.

i than would go to the hydroponic store or growshop and get some good 3 to 4 gallon pots that don't have that snap off bottum, and good big drainage holes. i actually used to have those exact same ones. add some lava rocks or those little rocks for hydroponics at the bottum. (if you get lava rocks for a grill wash them off really really good, no dust). get some good foxfarm soil. and fill em up. i'd than decide what to fertilize with and follow the instructions f


I probably should repot again and get different soil, like Fox Farm if I can find it. No hydroponics stores anywhere near this country fried burg. I definitely will get new pots and soil mix for the next grow but I'm gonna try and salvage this. I did put some rocks, not lava rocks on the bottoms. And I did rinse 'em first.

Thanks for the input. I tried taking those false bottoms right off and setting the pots on top of some little junk to hold them off the shelf. If they still read wet on the moisture meter, after a few days, I plan to drill more holes. I'm thinking better drainage and Ph adjusted water schedule are the keys here. By the way, you said you had those same pots before. Did you ever get a successful grow out of them? I'm thinking you didn't though cause you advise repotting, now. I'm not so keen on stressing them more (hermaphrodites?), but they're gonna need some kind of a jolt anyway to fix 'em. In the long run they'lll be better off.

[Weedhound]

I have used them--they really do work fine if you don't block the little holes (when you put the two parts together they tend to slip into a locking position by themselves, the asswipes, but with good draining soil etc (I think I used different bases after awhile) they worked fine. Just make sure that wherever you set the pot it is ABOVE the base so there is airflow between them--an inch or two between the bottom and the ground or base. I stick a flat couple of pencils or something between them.