I think I have some problems I'm a first time grower their about 3 weeks now Thus morning I noticed some Palish color on new growth leaves curling up and down I'm thinking my pH might be off by allot, I never check. Soil is peat moss and cow manuer , I need peralit and a pH pen with pH up down I'm using 700 watts of cfl light about 1 foot above mixed with 5000k and 2700k spectrums any suggestions?
If you ask me if you in coco or soil I'd add a little calmag always helps for me when that's happening let them dry right out compleatly then add just pure ph water give that a good flush and See how they look in a week or 2 see if the get any different checking darker I the leaves Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would get a pH meter ASAP! It's going to be a life savor once they get a little older, you should ALWAYS make sure your pH is between 6.5-7.0 for soil. On Amazon.com they have extremely cheap pH and PPM meters. I got both for around $50. So far you've been lucky your soil is most likely pH'ed between the proper levels so they've been thriving off the nutes in the soil alone. What kind of water or you using for feeding, tap or distilled, r/o, purified???
I'm getting a ph meter asap...I'm using pure tap water from the sink....and I KNOW the tap water is so bad especially when I dont know whats in it or the ph lvl's . I shouldve just went with bottled water till I got a meter but Oh no I had to be stuborn.....I have like 13 plants right know...unknown sex so I'm thinking in the end ill have maybe 6 females IF im lucky, just gotta wait till the sex'd..the ones with the issues im hoping are males...lmfao...thanks for the replies im still learning and appearently its gonna be the hard way lol
CFL at 700 watts is dire overkill, in time you may consider an led or ho T5 racks as a better source, I'd not go over 200w cfls, as a 250 Metal halide is more efficient, beside to get the best you gotta have them cfls at about 1-2 inches of the tops, Avoid messing with a Ph tool as one can never get a correct reading of Hydrogen levels in soil...is serious dumbass ..but do use it on you left out water. Had you stepped back and examined your master plan you will note several noob floors, as follows at 3 weeks old your plants have left the seedling stage having consumed all their free food and are living of the crap in the pot, the crap, indeed, is...as peat moss will hold a serious amount of water, hence it will hold a big amount of too hot cow shit, which it has done, and is now burning your plants, repot now to peat free and cow shit free potting soils, fox farm ocean forest is good, along with 20-30% perlite, more is good, to prevent the above happening again, and to avoid root compaction. The good news with this grow is the balanced kelvin, 6500 and 2700k, but that still way too many cfl's with way to many grams of mercury..? in one room ...good luck don't expect you ph pen to be your friend
So what your saying is its my peat and cow shit mix? I have 13 plants right now and as is it seems I don't have enough to spread over them all lol
A pH meter may not be able to test the levels in the soil but you should definitely be making sure the solution you are feeding your plants, wether it be just water or nute mix, is at a balanced pH. I agree with vostok about using a pre mixed soil such as fox farm or happy frog soil. But at the stage you are at your plants will be just fine if you supplement the missing nutrients in your soil mix with some organic nutes for soil. There are numerous different types of nute brands, personally I'm using general organics BioThrive, CalMag+ and some additives for root growth and my plants are loving it!!
You could actually pH the runoff after watering your plants to get an idea what the soil pH levels are.
thanks for all the replies, I'm basically getting the idea here that its my soil, ph, nuets..... untill i can get the fox soil im gonna switch to a better less water retaing soil and watch my ph lvl's...i think if my soil drains properly and my ph is good with or with out nuets things should start to perk up better...ill get everyone posted and the results as they come in...stay tuned
Ok, alittle update here. I got my ph meter today and tested my tap water, it was around 7.9-8.0, I lowered the ph to arounf 6.7-6.9 and watered them, I'm sure they didnt need watering but its been 4-6 days since I watered them and they still seemed pretty damp on the top soil. I'm also not sure if I shouldve done that... My temps around 77-79 degrees and I finally got my humidity down around 66% from 81%. Plants still look sick as hell, droopy and looks like burn spots on a couple leaves as well as some tips changing yellow.. I know I just started the recover process today by giving the new ph water, I'm getting super frustrated...lol It's gonna take time I guess, what time frame am I looking at for ANY sign of recovery? I'll post some pics in a few so everyone can laugh at the NOOB....lol
The affected leaves will not recover but will not get worse I would also recommend for the first couple of watering me to make it a little more acidic that will help bring the soil ph down a little bit faster and by more acidic I mean like 6.2-6.4 good luck man!! I had the same problem and ended up with a iron calcium and magnesium deficiency