Need your help

[PVCPOT777]

Good day fellow growers.

My first time growing and i have a few issues / questions.

Seeds:
I started 3 seeds and they did great for 10 days then they started turning yellow. They are now in 2 gallon pots

Clones:
Planted in a 2 gallon pots. They were doing good but one of them started to wilt so I brought them back inside. I try to use sunlight when I can otherwise they are inside.

Water : ph 6.2
soil: mother earth coco+perlite
light: 18/6
Temp: 72-76

I was originally using GE 9watt grow light and i suspected that might have been the issue so I just switched over to a 5000k CFL light. The plants are in a small "tent" right now with a fan.

could the GE grow light be causing the problem?

Can I make a gallon of ph water and use it a few days or will it go bad?

[dphipps1020]

Your issue (unless I missed something) is that you're growing in coco and not feeding any nutrients. Everything else seems ok to me.

[PVCPOT777]

I have also read about diluting the nuts even more than its recommended before feeding the plants.

Also do you feed the plants just once or every time you water them?

[dphipps1020]

Most people who have a lot of experience with feeding recommend starting nutrients at half strength. From what I've seen, frequency is up to you. Most people feed with every other watering, but I've also seen some that feed less but feed every time they water. I know that's probably confusing and doesn't help much. Since it's your first time I would suggest every other water feeding your plants. It will be less likely that you'll get salt/nutrient build-up that way. It should also give you a good general idea of what you want to look for and you can always tweak it a little to make it work better for you. I just recently started using coco, so I have just started my journey with feeding when I water. I've been doing hydro and soil grows since I started so I figured I should try coco too. I hope my suggestion helps, even if it's just a little bit.

I have this link opened in my browser for quick reference

https://www.growweedeasy.com/coco-coir

[gbauto]

Yep, they're starving.
Like dph mentioned, coco needs to treated like a hydro system.
You MUST feed from the start-it's an inert medium.
I run Jacks 3-2-1 in my systems, and my seeds and clones are fed 1.6ec from day one.

[TOKABIGONE]

OK, at the risk of sounding like a skipping record, as I've said this several times on here, your pH is too high for coco for the nutes to be effective. They are hungry as said above but won't be able to uptake at 6.2 pH. Mix a gallon of 1/2 strength nute solution which you then pH down to 5.5. Do a flush to runoff and you should see green new growth in a couple of days. In coco especially, Ph matters a lot to get in the range your plants can uptake ALL the nutes in your solution. Good luck!

[dilvish]

Try not to confuse the term hungry plants. In nature the biggest thing that "feeds a plant" is sunshine. Proper full spectrum light is vastly important and you can add any nutrient you want but if the light isn't adequate (full spectrum) you'll get poor results. added nutrients are like vitamins...they essentially boost what mother nature already provides.

Growing under synthetic lights are the real reason plants require nutrients and as mentioned above, coir has no nutrients at all, unlike soil. Sure they will grow with just light and water, but the intent with cannabis is yield. The bigger the plant, the bigger the yield.

Cannabis can be quite tricky and it takes some practice to get where you want to be, especially if growing indoors. If you are using a CFL it should be very close to the plants like 4 inches. if you are also giving them sunshine, direct sunlight for at least 6 hours a day will really help..

[PVCPOT777]

Thank you for the input. As of tonight I can see a small bit of improvement and the only thing I changed was the bulb. Like I mentioned in my original post the GE grow light (9watt) I was using seemed to be rather weird on the color it emitted. Now I am using two CFL bulbs ... 18/6

lets wait until tomorrow to see more changes.

[PVCPOT777]

Here is an update one how things are. Your input is welcomed.

Since my last post I have fed them twice with fox farm big bloom. And been using two CFL bulbs. (Equivalent too 100watts each.)

[dilvish]

also make sure you aren't overwatering. Your pots should have drainage holes in the bottom and the top 2 inches deep of the coir should be dry to the touch (push a finger down to feel) before the next watering. Make sure you do 2 things when watering 1. make sure the water is at the proper PH AFTER adding any nutrients (mix thoroughly) and 2. every other watering should be a plain PH'd water flush with no nutrients. Essentially in a week you shouldn't need to water more than twice, once with nutrients and once with a thorough flush.

[dphipps1020]

They're definitely improving, all the new growth is a healthy green. Should be nice and easy now (hopefully).

[PVCPOT777]

I also feel its headed in the right direction.

The only thing that worries me about flushing is that the soil will stay wet for too long causing root rot. I dont know why I have that gut feeling even with the soil having good drainage properties. and since they are indoor plants (mostly)

The white containers have around 12 pencil sized holes on the bottom and a few around the perimeter.

[dilvish]

flushing doesn't mean drowning. if the plants have good drainage then the coir can only hold so much water so as long as you are letting it dry out a few days in between, don't concern yourself over root rot. the roots have to be sitting in a lot of moisture over several days for that to occur so as long as yur temps are good and the drainage is good, flush away!

[SoOrbudgal]

How come your using only big bloom if you don't mind my question? So put some more holes up higher in the pot but i don't think root rot will happen if you use the technique of lifting the pot to feel it's weight before an after watering.

[PVCPOT777]

Its my first grow, I bought the three pack, no particular reason other than it was used by others who liked it.

I am always open to suggestions.

[SoOrbudgal]

Sorry i just read the feeding charts on FF website. I use just grow big by FF nothing else i really don't need that do to my soil mix being infused with worm casings but i do use it once my soil looses it's vigor. And i use a different bloom. Have you read their feeding chart? I don't grow in all coco. I didn't think you gave bloom at this age of the plants is all. Good luck with the grow

[PVCPOT777]

Latest update.... the clones have new growth but now I am noticing the leaves are curling downwards and the color of the leaves are light green.

Any ideas?

P.s the seedlings didn't make it

[dilvish]

Pale green usually means nitrogen deficiency. You did mention you were only using Big Bloom and that one contains no Nitrogen in the Fox Farm trio. drooping leaves on the other hand can be overwatering, underwatering (rare) or too much heat/humidity.

[dphipps1020]

Read the coco tutorial again, get the rest of the nutrients you need, follow a recommended feeding schedule, and watch your watering and you should be fine. I think the biggest thing is you need the rest of the nutrients if you haven't got them yet.

[PVCPOT777]

Thanks for all the input. The plants never made it and I figured it was a nutrient problem.