seedlings: odd leaf development

[Sharpie]

Hey Matt, I'm up to day 47 already. While they're still pretty small, I'm thinking I might give them another week, 2 at most and then flip. As I said above, this was really just a learning experience for me, and I've learnt a tonne. I can't wait to take another run at this and improve.

 

based on the photos, do you think I should repot just before going 12/12?

 

Razz0r, thanks for the detailed info. Like you, I think I've now finally realised that soil, is not the best for indoors. Sure, in the outdoors where it has ~4 months to veg, it is probably great, but indoors when you're trying to get a faster turn-around, it's not ideal. I'll be considering going cannaterra or coco for my next grow. I'm just loathed to spend more money after spending so much decking out this grow room. The last thing I want to do is buy more stuff like EC and pH meters, pH up/down and nutes.

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

[chopperw33d]

Hi buddy, first time is always fun. The best thing about this site is you will always get everyone's 2 cents, and at the end of the day all those 2 c equal a few $$.

So here is mine...

When ever you want to flip a girl to 12/12 remember that it is a stressful time for her. You want her to be healthy and strong and no to little stress, so if you are going to repot. Do so but give her a bit to recover, my rule is 10 days. We all have been there starting a new room and the cost of the build and so on, but after many year indoor and outdoor and with many mediums. If I had to have one tool that I can not live with out, its a Ph Pen. The cheap Ph liquid is good, but for 50$ a pen is a great investment, for both indoor and outdoor. Soil is a good place to start growing even under light, you may not get a plant as big as a nute fed plant in a medium, but you get to see how things work, and be able to focus on getting the main key points right which are temp, humidity, air flow, light ect. You said you are considering going cannaterra or coco. Cannaterra is soil, its just top on the line soil mix and cannaterra food is a really expensive soil food. Which does work but can be replaced by many other organic cheaper foods. On the case of Coco, its a great step up from soil. Has all the same issues soil can have but you deal with feeding them and it has no food in it.  Which means you got to keep Ph level Ec level water temp and air all at the right levels, and there is less margin for mistake. Not trying to say dont go to a medium, but theses are things to think about. You can get really great results from some soil, just takes a bit longer. If you really loath spending more $ atm, get a Ph pen and some good soil, and keep going.

Hope my 2 c helps.

Laters 

[Sharpie]

Hey Chopper,

Thanks for the 2 cents. You've given me some food for thought on sticking with soil. I suppose each medium has its own pros and cons. I was aware that the cannaterra was a soil medium, but from what I've read, people are pretty happy with it, some even claiming to get results comparable to coco.

In regards to a pH meter, for now, I have some test strips from the chemist that can show readings between 0 and 14.



As an update, my plants are growing beautifully. they're really showing new growth every time I go in there, but I noticed this morning they were drooping a little and the pots were super light. the temp in there has been getting up to 30 recently (even though I've not changed the setup), that with the added size, I think they're needing water more frequently. So this morning in a rush I put some nutes in the watering can, filled it with standing water and watered. This evening on checking on them, I can see the lower leaves are yellowing. I didn't test the pH of the water at all which I normally do, and correct it upwards slightly.

Just wondering, how quickly would I notice detrimental effects if the pH was off? surely not this quickly?

So the question is, what could be the problem? The only thing I've done differently recently was watering with seasol 3 days ago, and that time I did check the pH.

Any ideas? I'm considering flushing with pH adjusted water and then feeding again as I suspect it's a nutrient lockout issue.

 

edit: I just tested the water I used and it measures around 6.5. I also tested the solution I used and it measures about the same, though given it's been standing for over 12 hours, in all likelihood, the nutes in the water might change the pH over time.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Sharpie

[Razz0r]

Don't worry just yet. Plant will use the lower leaf for water etc. Get ya temp down to 27ish if ya can. Getting that moisture meter will help with know how wet or dry they are.

[Matt_FTW]

Just slow down a bit brother and all will be fine.

 

Try not to rush things like you did yesterday morning. These plants will be fine without any water for more than a few days so don't just chuck stuff in a can and pour it in as that is when you will start getting problems.

 

The PH of 6.5 is a little high but whats more concerning is that you said you just put nutes in in a rush. Did you measure the nutes correctly or just free pour them into the water?

 

Please get yourself a PH pen. The strips aren't good enough. Even if you just get a cheapy pen off eBay for this grow and get a better one later on. For the record, I had to get all new stuff as this is my first grow in Australia and my PH pen was only $13. It came with 2 PH poweders to get it set but I also have PH 7.0 fluid for recalibrating pens and taht was only a few bucks too.

 

Going back to your droppy leaves... yes, that can indicate underfeeding. I suggest you draw up a calendar and write in it everytime you feed then, trim leaves, adjust lighting , everything. That way you can see the patterns forming and it really does help.

 

I would suggest leaving the plants alone for a few days. Totally alone! Try not to open the tent in fact for at least 48 hours. Give them some space and time to sort them selves out and I am positive you will come out the other side better off.

 

Then, in around 4 - 5 days from now feed them again. At this stage and by the look sof their size I would suggest about 1.5 litres to cover all plants. Probably even less at this stage.

 

Then transplant them 4 -5 days after that and feed them again but like said above, leave them for a good week or so to readjust.

 

I wish I could just pop around and help you through your first grow but unfortunately thats not possible. I remember my first ever attempt and all I wanted was someone to come and help me as I prefer to learn through watching for the first time. But it didn't happen and my first grow was rather shit. But I learnt and battled on and now I'm confident enough to give it a crack and the reason for this is that I learn the most important lesson of all....

 

Canabbis is a weed. A pest if you will. It will strive to stay alive and suck every last bit of food from its surrounding and go hungry for days before giving up teh ghost. It needs very little attention if you take it slow. When more additives are added, the more you need to monitor things and the more complicated it can get.

 

But don't be afraid to leave the plants for a day or to until you get the answers you need if you have any concerns. We are all here to help you brother!

[Matt_FTW]

Also...temps etc...like Raz said, don't stress too much right now.

 

My temps are anything from 22 at night up to 31 in the day and humidity is anywhere from 50% in teh day to a staggering 99%+ at night (99+ as my meter on reads double digits so it's probably 100%) and all is well. You will probably find that the humidity will rise dramatically in a small grow space after you've fed them as there is a lot of water in there so don't worry, this is normal.