Yea, these plants are obviously not in great shape.. battling many issues from over watering, cold temps, deficiencies etc. The stems seems to be growing ok, but the main issue is why the leaves are growing small. They were under a combo of 80W T5s and low watt LED down lights. Now they are sitting under 200W at the wall 6500K COBs.. What are some of the main culprits of small leaf growth? I know cutting leaf tips is normally for cloning, but thought I'd see if it could promote new leaf growth. First time doing indoors in winter. Thanks... Sent from my MI 8 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
What's your soil composition? I don't see any perlite or drainage aids. Also, what strain is that? From the looks of the stems, you are either way cal/mag deficient, or your temps are dropping 10-20 deg f every lights off cycle. The def could be due to your soil ph. If you have to much peat in there, it will be alkaline, which you dont want.
The soil is just coco coir mixed with potting mix, but mostly potting mix. The strain is Red Russian XXL and also Heavyweight Dream Machine which is doing worse. It is winter here so I think temps are dropping a fair bit over night, like 9C but at 22C during the day (only just thought about this after you mentioned it). But I have a heat mat running 24/7 to help a bit, but only by 3-5C. I have tested PH of the run off and was getting about 6.7. An issue I'm having is it takes about a week before the soil is dry enough to water, so nutrient uptake is even slower and I can't feed them more. I previously had overfed them, flushed, then they became defficient. Have only got them back on 1/4 strength nute mix. So do you know if those big temp differences would be the main cause? And if so why would they be coming out smaller? I didn't really want to run a heater but after u mentioning it, seems like it may be a wise choice. Sent from my MI 8 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I typically only like my temp yo swing like that in flower to promote the color variations in buds. Try to keep the veg space a bit more stable, because vegging plants like a bit more warmth and humidity. You might try bringing your lights down to 12-16" from canopy, and see what that does. Possibly with increased light intensity (and a bit more warmth from lights) they may perk up and fill out a bit. At this point just tinker with it. You'll find the right zone for everything. I've got a similar set up for lighting in my veg cab set at around 10-12in from canopy of the bigger one.
I might try lowering the lights after a few days of running the heater and see what happens. Thanks for those pointers. Sent from my MI 8 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
No problem. Hopefully it works for you. As long as those are photoperiod plants, you technically have as long as you need to get it right while in veg.