Temp Issues...Did I kill Her

[greeni80]

Here is the Problem: I started w/ a clone from a freind it was about 3 weeks when I transplanted it to a larger pot. It was about 4 inches tall, When Igot it home my closet setup wasn't completly finished and I had a few days where the temp spiked to about 85 degrees. The baby may have only been in there for about 2 hours when that occured. Now I have the complete oppiste problem, a few nights ago the temp dropped to 58, for a few hours. So I am wondering how am I going to correct the issues with my plant. After the first heat stress the top leaves tips started to turn brown...Now after the cold snap the whole leaves are turning brown. I am assuming that the temp stress of the plant is causing the browning but how do I fix the plant so she doesn't die?

Hydro or Soil: Soil is a 50/50 mix of cocopeat and ocean farms
Type of light? Two CFL's 23W
"Atmosphere" Conditions Mostly around 74 degrees...But as explained before i have had issues keeping it constant. I have 3 Fans, Humidity around 45%
Waterings I have watered her twice with RO nutraulized PH
PH Range 6.5~6.8
Nutrients/Supplements none
Design and Dates Closet setup; broken in half 1 side for vegging and the other for flowering

Pictures: These are a few days old, the browning has worsened. only on the top few leaves This strain is AK47

[tieme]

I am not the most experienced grower here but those temperatures really aren't that far out of range. Especially the 58 degrees. I would be quite surprised if that was causing the brown leaves.

Have you considered other problems? Lighting seems a bit weak. How close are those bulbs? Did the plants appear unhealthy prior to the temp change/browning leaves? Check for root rot/damping off (although it might be a bit far to be damping off).

You said you watered her twice? Do you mean you've only watered twice in the past 3 weeks? That could definitely be an issue.

Why does your temp fluctuate so much anyways? Just out of curiosity.

o/
Tieme

[greeni80]

I Sorry I haven't gotten back...I THOUGHT I cured the problem but solve one and more pop up.

Two answer your direct questions---
I have considered other problems, I orginalluy thought of Nute burn, so when I watered it the second time I flushed the pot with two gallons of PH balanced water. The plant seemed to recover a bit. I got a few new shoots.

After I posted this I looked into other issues besides the heat issue, I found out that I have Spider mites, I tried to cure them w/ "neem" I think that is what it is called but it is used to kill insects. But now...I will get to that later.

Lighting issues I was using two 23w CFL's at 6500k spec. The lights where about 3~4 inches away, I added two more this weekend and the plant seemed top come to life. So I think that I got the lighting right.

There was a liitle bit of browning before the temp issues I think that was due to the stress of transplant and moving enviroments.

Yes I did say that I watered her twice in three weeks, She was flooded when we transplanted her, then I brought her to my house 1 week later I watered her, then the following week I watered her again...So I only watered her twice in three weeks due to the saturation during transplanting.

The heat flucated that extreme because I wasn't completly finished w/ the room prior to getting her to my house. But now she is in a enviorment that is stable.

Question for you...How can I check the roots while it is in soil?

Also, Now I have other issues, the plants has gone from 25% browning to no browning now to 75% browning in about a four day period, This after I treated it for spider mites. I also am watering in in the morning, even though the soil is still damp at about 1/2 inch below the soil top. Here are some pics...I don't want to kill her so if anybody can help PLEASE...

[tieme]

It really isn't very easy to check the root system. I would dig her out and gently break dirt away from the root system until you can see them. They should appear white and clean looking. Snap a photo if you can. Then transplant back into your pot. Don't let the roots dry out.

Becoming root bound might also be a concern at this point. Your little girl needs plenty of room to stretch her roots. Another good excuse to check the root system. If roots are bunching up on the side of the pot it is probably time to upgrade to a bigger pot.

If I had to guess I would say it in the soil area. PH...over or under watering...root rot or root bound. Probably one of the last two but it's hard to tell.

Also you said you water her in the morning....not every morning, right?

Keep us updated.

o/
Tieme

[greeni80]

No I don't water her every morning. I will be watering her in the morning, the last time I watered her was a 5 days ago. So about checking the roots, she is a transplanted clone, in rock wool. How am I going to break apart the wool w/o hurting her roots? I can excavate her, but when we transplanted her the tips of her roots where barely showing out of the wool. If the plant is root bound itt would be all in the wool...Right?

Thanks Greeni

[tieme]

Hmm.

So it is a plant in a block of rockwool then covered in soil? That could be an issue because there aren't going to be very many nutrients going to the main mass of roots.

When did you transfer it to the dirt?

Also, you wouldn't break apart the rockwool to see the roots. That's my biggest beef with rockwool is that it's hard to get at the roots. I would say it couldn't hurt to try pulling it out and breaking some dirt off and seeing what the roots look like. They should be expanding out of the rockwool. If the roots aren't bunched up against the side of the pot then it probably isn't root bound.

Do you have any nutrients? I would start watering with a ph balanced nutrient solution around ph 6.0. Maybe 1/4 strength.

o/
Tieme

[greeni80]

Well I transfered her to dirt about 3 weeks ago. she was doing alright taking into concideration the shock of enviroment change.
I watered her yesterday some botanicare pure blend pro grow, It said to use 1.5 tsp per gallon on seedlings. I used 1 tsp per gallon on a 5 inch plant. I think that was diluted enough.
Thanks for all the info.
I will keep updating this to let you know how she is doing.

Thanks
greeni