Started my indoor a couple weeks ago. Got two plants going. Skunk Hero is doing just fine, but my Blueberry Cookies has been weird from the get go. Early after transplant into main container, leaves turned dark green and eventually variegated. Looked like the soil was too rich for a seedling and I just let it go. Now the younger leaves are bright yellow around the edges and curled. Kinda looks like nutrient burn, but the longer it goes, the less certain I am. Huge inter-node spacing also and new leaves appear to stop growing in size super early. It's in a 30 gal with clack recipe. First run in this one, so it's all fresh materials. Grew my outdoor in the same stuff with great results. Only difference is I had cover crop growing in this all summer dumping extra nitrogen into the soil, but would that be enough to cause all this wonkiness? I haven't given any teas. Just an MBP top dress mixed with worm castings so far. Anybody know what's goin on here?
Not sure. Standard no till recipe. Haven't tested it. Used 80 gallons from the same batch to grow outside without issue, but those got mostly rain water. I'll have to do a slurry test.
I'm off to Walgreens to pick up a gallon of distilled water. I don't know why I didn't think about ph. Ever since switching to no-till, I haven't given a second thought to ph, but since my outdoor wasn't getting bicarbonate rich tap water for every watering, maybe it was better able to stay in range. My tap water is middle of the road for bicarbonates, but still worth looking into. Thanks!
I think its mag deficiency. The increase in calcium carbonate may have increased pH, but also increased calcium levels. Try adding some epsom to the water, or better yet, neutralize using nitric acid + calcium carbonate = CO2 and calcium nitrate, but u will still need to increase magnesium, and epsom salts is organic enough.
It sure does look like magnesium deficiency, but magnesium is a mobile nutrient. Shouldn't my young growth look alright? It also seems odd because the Build A Soil Oli blend I have in the other pot has already had a couple plants run through it and the plant in there is fine on the same water. It's basically the same soil. I'll be checking the ph tomorrow. If that is what it should be, I've got a big bag of epsom salt on hand already. Thanks for your input.
Hi trojangrower. I think you might be the good person to clarify my thoughts here... feels like you know your chemistry. I've red somewhere here on GC about issues using Epsom salts with a form of calcium (sorry can't remember witch one) forming an insoluble precipitate. Can you please help me? (sorry OP don't mean to hijack your thread but I am concern about adding epsom salts)
The problem with calcium and epsom is that it can form calcium sulfate, which is much less soluble, but it is still used as a fertilizer. Calcium sulphate is known as gypsum, the stuff they make drywall with. The problem with calcium and magnesium in fertilizers (or soils, etc) is that they can form a bond with phosphates, which are insoluble.
@trojangrower Since my ph looked ok, I went ahead and put a teaspoon of epsom salt per gallon when watering today. Should I continue to do so, or just go back to my normal routine and wait to see if that made a difference? This is my first time using epsom salt outside of the bath, lol. I'm not watering to run off so whatever I put in stays put. One other thing of note, the bottoms of my grow bags had been staying quite wet, so I was only watering every 4th or 5th day. Couple days back I put a fan on the floor just to move some air around between the pots and this time they were more than ready for water after three days. I do wonder if this has more to do with the pot being too wet at the bottom and too dry at the top. Now that the bottoms aren't staying wet for almost a week at a time, the top of the pot will be seeing more water.
You can spray the epsom, this will take the potential insoluble phosphorous binding out of the equation. I'd say ~tsp per L. I usually just eyeball in my palm and add to a sprayer bottle. I've added some epsom to my reservoir, but I've been using nitric acid, so I do this to repair Ca:Mg ratio, but I don't use much. I've been spraying a couple Mg looking plants in the last few days and I see some effect, so it can take a few days. This grow is organics and idk about fabric bags so much as I tend to use DTW methods in plastic containers. I think @TimJ would be a good person to ask, if he has the time. Or you should just drop in his thread and ask, more organic growers there Mainlining and more.
I'm not sure what you have going on there. I'd look at all the variables within your grow and try to narrow down what you did differently with that pot. I believe you mentioned the other plant you are growing with the same variables has no issues. Something must have been different, or still is different.
I would guess the biggest difference is just the base compost. Looking at the build a soil Oly soil, it's just your basic no till recipe, same that I made. Also, they're different strains. It's possible this one is super sensitive to...something. I'm thinkin about just getting on my normal top dress/tea schedule now that they're both established and hope for the best. If I have another bad run in it, I'll probably get a soil test done.
You said your pot's bottom was wet and the top of the pot was dry. Could your soil have gone hydrophobic? If it's a possibility. Use a good surfactant like aloe or soap nuts and very slowly rehydrate your medium.
It 100% did, but I actually spent a few weeks getting it back up to saturation after the summer and, when I transplanted, found nice moist soil in the top layer, still filled with worms (which was a surprise!). I also found adequately moist soil when doing my slurry test about 48 hours after the last watering. However, I do feel like the top layer was probably drying out in between waterings when I was going like 4 days. I think the fan on the floor has helped the situation, but we'll see. The top 3/4 of the bag has a plastic liner inside so shouldn't effect that. Thanks, Tim!
I use plant risers under the pots I run in my 4x4, it ensures they don't sit in a wet saucer. My tents sit on a cement slab, so I also run 1" foam insulation under my saucers so I don't run into issues with low soil temperature in the winter months. In my 2x2 I run a SIP style pot. It's a fabric pot with 2" of lava rock in the bottom. It lives inside a plastic pot and they have a saucer under them. I water to a tiny bit of run off on that pot. But, it quickly sips it back up. I think I heard of someone having an issue using that Oly soil recently. If I remember who I'll tag them here.