I went cheapo and used runoff water to water some of my plants in veg for about a week. All the leaves turned light green with rust spots on some leaves. The stems turned purple and growth slowed down. I have transplanted into my large no till pots and the problem seems to be going away very slowly. Anyone know what happened?
The lighter discoloration is not from the water. The plants were running out of fertilizer in the smaller pots. Transplanting into the fresh soil will solve the problem as the plants receive more nutrition. PW
My drain table runs into a tub. I use my runoff water all the time with zero issues - and it's pretty nasty water sometimes. J
I was thinking the runoff water messed with the PH or made certain nutrients unavailable thats why that was happening. The runoff water was actually a kelp/alfalfa tea that I used for flowering plants. I suppose it has nutrients in there I would think, thats why I saved it. It didnt yellow on the bottom or anything, the whole plant went lime green. I've seen the same problems in very dense, dry soil that doesn't hold water.
This is what they look like. Its been a couple weeks and they are still like that. What can I do to speed things up? Should I add anything to my pots?
Picture water that has been sitting a week. 10 days. Then throw some assorted OM and dead leaves in it. Yep - a festering mess. I tried using it out of sheer laziness a couple years ago. It didn't phase the plants. I tried it again and again and the plants continued to be perfectly healthy. I've been reusing the drainage water for a few years now and have never seen any type of negativity because of it. Think about making a "tea" with any kind of organic matter in it... Let's say you put some comfrey in water and let it sit for a couple weeks. Maybe you stir it here and there. Maybe not. Either way it's a nasty soup by the time you pour it on your plants. Same deal, right? J
That makes sense. These girls really do like some foul stuff, dont they lol. I call thrm my 'nasty bitches' Quick question, kinda off topic. I have some compost that got too wet and is throwing off a foul ammonia odor. I would assume this means the compost should not be used until it no longer smells rancid as it would probably burn the girls right up? Sent from my SM-N920P using Grasscity Forum mobile app
There is a *chance* that anaerobic bacteria could have a negative affect but I think as long as it's mixed with some aeration and isn't sludge that aerobic bacteria will win - like they always do. Fluff it up for a couple days and I've no doubt it'll be fine to use. J Edit: "These girls really do like some foul stuff" It's more the soil than the girls, I think. It all comes back to broken/breaking down OM that the soil feeds off of anyhow. We call it fancy names like Nutrient Cycling but we could just as easily call it rotting gunk... Lol J
Lol, so true. I added diatomaceous earth (the stuff from Napa Auto Parts) to the mix and it fluffed right up, smell seems to have diminished also. Thanks for the tips J. Always down to help a brutha out, you are lol. Sent from my SM-N920P using Grasscity Forum mobile app