Can anyone identify the problem w/ this plant?

[kbfl0912]

This plant is about 4 weeks old from seed. It is bag seed, not sure what kind. Started out great! Then, thought I fert burned it, so did a flush. I started LST'ing a about 4 days prior to this picture. But, things looked bad before that. The leaves are very, very wilted and are turning gray / purple. They are very dry and brittle to the touch. Growth seems very slow. I am growing in Scott's potting soil, w/ kitty litter mixed in. No Perlite available. It is in a 5 gallon pot. Lighting is a 4ft. 8 bulb New Wave T5 w/ mixed cool and warm lights. No heat issues, so lights are about 3-4 inches from highest point. Fertilized once using MG, then flushed. Then, fertilized w/ Earth Juice Veg and Catalyst at 1/4 strength. One more thing. Noticed that the soil contains a very small slow release fertilizer. Anyway, any suggestions would be great. Some pics attached. Thanks!

[bluebong]

Nute burn. The plants look green, but every tip is brown and crispy. Soil with ferts in it is bunk, especialy for seedlings.

Just keep giving it clean water for...well, forever. The slow-release stuff lasts like, three months. Oh, and let the soil dry out completely between waterings.

One more thing... Kitty litter?

[kbfl0912]

Someone told me if I couldn't get perlite, to mix in cheap clay cat litter. They said it pretty much serves the same purpose as perlite. Should I transplant into some better soil, say Fox Farm or something. Or, would that stress it out more. Am I going to have problems during flowering because of the slow release capsules? Thanks so much for your input. There is another plant, another strain, in the same soil and it is fine. But, it is smaller and haven't added but just a small amount of ferts.

One other thing, the gray/purple leaves, is that a sign of a deficiency of some kind? And, the stems have purple veins.

[bluebong]

purpling sometimes indicates a defficiency, although in this case that's very unlikely because of the nute burn. Sometimes it's cold nights, sometimes it's genetics, I've even heard of a fairly benign mold that can cause purple leaves.

Go grab a bag of soilless mix and transplant those suckers. Don't give them any nutes for a while, and hopefully that'll solve it....but the slow release nutes will be a problem throughout the grow, and there's really no way to take them out.

[kbfl0912]

Thanks so much for your help. I will do that this weekend. I will go ahead with both plants even though the other looks great. Don't want problems down the road. I do have access to Fox Farm Ocean Forest, does that have too many nutrients already in it? Would it cause further stress on my sick plant? I understand that if you use this during vegetation you wouldn't have to fertilize at all. Is that true? Just during flowering.

One other thing.....The dark, curled up purple leaves that are basically covering all leaves underneath....should I cut those off? Or are they still beneficial to the plant?

[GrowBot]

don't worry about the ferts. in the soil. it's not that big of an issue. my first grow was in sam's special mix from wal-mart. i also put in blood meal and bone meal. the pre-added ferts. and what i added break down in time. even with those additives and ferts. i started fertilizing 12 days into veg. i don't know what to say about the kitty litter. how can you get the other things you're talking about, and not be able to get perlite? anyway, when you transplant, take as much of the old soil off as ayou can. transplant and fert. at maybe 50%. looks like your plants are drooping cause of too much watering.

[bluebong]

Carefull "taking off" soil in transplant. It's easy to damage roots that way.

The Fox Farm soil ia pretty good, if you get soilless mix it'll give you more control over the feeding. The fact is, plants don't need that much feeding. I preffer for them to be under-fed than over. Right now, your plants are way over-fed, and it is hard to fix.

[GrowBot]

Originally Posted by bluebong

Carefull "taking off" soil in transplant. It's easy to damage roots that way.The Fox Farm soil ia pretty good, if you get soilless mix it'll give you more control over the feeding. The fact is, plants don't need that much feeding. I preffer for them to be under-fed than over. Right now, your plants are way over-fed, and it is hard to fix.

this is some "very" good advice. i hear you blue, i like to keep my plants a little hungry. i read about people feeding their plants like 1700 or even over 2000 ppm and can't understand how they do it. 800 to 1000 is about as high as i can get without seeing burn.

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by GrowBot

don't worry about the ferts. in the soil. it's not that big of an issue. my first grow was in sam's special mix from wal-mart. i also put in blood meal and bone meal. the pre-added ferts. and what i added break down in time. even with those additives and ferts. i started fertilizing 12 days into veg. i don't know what to say about the kitty litter. how can you get the other things you're talking about, and not be able to get perlite? anyway, when you transplant, take as much of the old soil off as ayou can. transplant and fert. at maybe 50%. looks like your plants are drooping cause of too much watering.

Well, if I go to get the Fox Farm, I can also get the Perlite. Just in a different city, but not far. And, I had just flushed the plants...so I do think they were way over watered, but I have a more recent pic that I will post and they actually look completely different now. I will post shortly. Thanks for your comments and suggestions. They are helpful.

[kbfl0912]

I don't know what this is. There was one seed in a bag that was amazing and it actually germinated. Anyway, it doesn't seem to be having any problems even though it is in the same soil, etc. Should I also transplant it? As you can see, it started out really crazy and then kind of took off. But, it is still extremely small compared to the other. Any ideas on what strain?

And just to summarize, if I do decide to transplant both, I would just stick them in a mix of Fox Farm and Perlite, carefully removing as much old soil as possible without damaging the roots.. Then, water and fert and about 50%. That's the plan...sound good?

The first pic is of the original sick plant above.

Other pics are of the "little crazy" plant that is under same conditions as first.

[deafeningsilanc]

I would check the pH of the soil, the way that the plants leaves are curling under itself and twisting could be because of the pH being far too high.

[kbfl0912]

I have not tested my soil ph. My tap water is at about 8.2. I have an aquarium so I use the test kit for the water. I bought a water conditioner for aquariums that buffers it to 6.5. I have been putting that in the water prior to watering. Is that bad? To check the ph can I just test the water that runs out of the bottom during watering?

[deafeningsilanc]

unless you test the water after you condition it you pant know if its getting low enough. 8.2 is real high, idk if id even wanna drink that

[bluebong]

Hmm. Well, looking at the most recent pics, I would say on top of your over-fert issue, you're having pH ballance issues as well. It's not serious, I think your soil might be a little alkaline. I'm actualy thinking the kitty litter might have some part in that...i think some part of that stuff is gravel, which tends to buffer toward high pH, and also I'm sure they add a bunch of chemicals to it. Who knows? That's why it's important to start with a good medium.

I think the sooner you get to transplanting the better. Just give them clean water at first, go to the store and buy a gallon of distilled water...it's like, a buck. See if things perk up.

By the way, there's something special about that little plant... I want to see it flower.

[kbfl0912]

Originally Posted by bluebong

Hmm. Well, looking at the most recent pics, I would say on top of your over-fert issue, you're having pH ballance issues as well. It's not serious, I think your soil might be a little alkaline. I'm actualy thinking the kitty litter might have some part in that...i think some part of that stuff is gravel, which tends to buffer toward high pH, and also I'm sure they add a bunch of chemicals to it. Who knows? That's why it's important to start with a good medium.

I think the sooner you get to transplanting the better. Just give them clean water at first, go to the store and buy a gallon of distilled water...it's like, a buck. See if things perk up.

By the way, there's something special about that little plant... I want to see it flower.

Yes, the plan is to transplant this weekend into some Fox Farm and Perlite. I will water with distilled water and see if things perk up.

The little crazy plant is doing well, i think. It is like a little mushroom cap and very, very short and compact thick growth. Originally, it started out with terrible. Then I topped it at a very, very young age. Now, it is growing quickly. I have never seen anything like it. It is so tight, I can't see between the leaves. The bag the seed came from was very expensive and smelled like cucumber. There were no seeds except for this one lucky one! We'll see what happens. Will keep updated pics.

Thank you everyone for all your help!