SOIL Same issue, Different attempt

[No3odiesShad0w]

It starts......The leaves on the bottom start turning yellow and falling off. In about 2 weeks the hybrid won't have any fan leaves. In 2 more weeks, the leaves around the buds will start falling off. I have no idea what's wrong. pH is around 6.5, I watered with FloraBloom and CalMag nutrients at the beginning of the week. The buds on the hybrid are growing well. The spiritual punk you can clearly see the nitrogen toxicity effecting the growth of the buds dramatically. I did 2 flushes. I doubt I'm going to have any decent results but i want to figure out what this issue is and why i keep hitting this wall EVERY TIME. I'm sure this all goes back to the soil but nothing I can do about that without killing the plant. It looks like nutrient deficiency but then at the tops it looks like nutrient burn so I don't know.....i just don't know. This is my wall. It's all downhill from here on out.

[PLreef]

I'm gonna take a stab at this and say I think the ph in the soil is low. I had a similar issue before. I corrected it ph watering at 7.2 to 7.5 ph and added a little extra cal mag. Just a guess.

[PLreef]

When did you last calibrate your ph pen?

[No3odiesShad0w]

Can't afford a ph pen. I have the pH drop kit where you match the color and i have this pH meter probe thing https://www.amazon.com/Sonkir-Soil-M...2010368&sr=8-5

I test both with the drops and with this probe and usually get similar results. Could be off by maybe .2-.5 but that's why i test 2 different ways. What i thought would be a fail safe

[Puglover1]

No3odiesShad0w This might only last one grow or you might need battery change but it's $12.99. I started with one like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZDCXSYT...NrPXRydWU&th=1 I later upgraded to one that's $29.99 and I'm happy with it.

[DeadlyFruit]

Also just guessing but given it looks like you are in plastic buckets from the pics, do you have multiple holes drilled into the bottom? Best case you have holes drilled all over the place (or better still use a fabric pot). It could be your problem is root rot or something similar. Just spitballing.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Plenty of holes. I'm careful with the watering. If anything I lean more toward the dry end. In the past i would overwater the plants and actually killed one that way. I just don't know. every grow this is my wall.....gonna end up with nothing again. everything is fine until it's not

[No3odiesShad0w]

Doing the same thing. More leaves are turning yellow and falling off. My best guess is iron deficiency since you can see the veins turn yellow first. I have iron but it also has 5% nitrogen and since i'm struggling with this stupid soil, the last thing i want to add is more nitrogen to hot soil. Just at a loss.....idk if i should just cut my losses now and start another attempt or try and fix this and waste a month to get zero results. It was growing so well....I was so surprised in 3 weeks how much it grew and then bam wall.....

[SoOrbudgal]

Guess away or start with better soil an a new grow. Those got a long ways before harvest from the looks of the buds. Time for a big change in your setup soil and enviornment or just keep posting asking the same question over an over. Everyone tells you the same thing, yet somehow your still asking the same questions.

[desertdan]

Wild guess, check the soil for bugs.

[No3odiesShad0w]

That why i have that yellow sticky trap thingy because it was an issue in the past for my first grow. The trap is clean; both sides. If there was something in there at least 1 would have gotten caught by now.

[Puglover1]

Did you have gnats the first grow? Could be something else in the soil.

[No3odiesShad0w]

I did have, I guess gnats, my very very first grow because i used my compost from my yard.....They didn't attack the plant or anything. They just bred like mad and got into everything else in the house. I got rid of all the soil and buckets, Everything. The house is bug free. I have one of those hanging strips and it is clean, as well as the yellow traps in the bucket itself. Just in case something wants to creep out of the dirt.

It's the garbage soil in this grow. One is nitrogen toxic the other who the hell knows. I have attempt 7 underway with Fox Farm soil. Everything should go smoothly. I shot myself in the foot and now I'm dealing with it. I didn't know about the miracle gro bs .....you like and you learn. I'm not an indoor grower

[No3odiesShad0w]

You live and you learn. It's the miracle gro soil. I'm literally attempting to do the impossible. I tried flushing and different amounts of nutrients and it's just whatever. I'm not giving up on them but I'm going to focus more on my next attempt.

New buckets 2 gallon size because of my sever height restrictions (the current grow is the MAX height i can let them grow. My lights are almost touching the ceiling. So i think 2 gallon might be the best size) I drilled holes even on the sides to get better air to the bottom.
Fox Farm Happy Frog soil
General Hydroponics Trio plus CalMag
For Veg I'm going to be using my Mars Hydo TS600. For Bloom I'll Be using the Spider Farmer SF2000
Feeding Schedule I'll be using the one provided by GWE website not the one printed on the side of the bottle (too strong as you can see by the burn) The pdf for GH Trio plus CalMag seems more plant friendly.
Cuttings are on Week 1 feed schedule Bloom is on Week 9
Cuttings were ReVegged from my current grow. Did some topping and FIMing on 2 and continuing with LST. The 3rd I've only been doing LST, twisting and stretching into an ivy looking shape.. Should get an even canopy ...fingers crossed.....it just looks cool

[No3odiesShad0w]

What I don't understand, the leaves are turning yellow and falling off just as rapidly as the buds are fattening up on the plant. If the leaves are in such a poor state, one would think the buds would get stunted or start looking ugly but they keep getting thicker and thicker. Meanwhile, the Spiritual punk which is so dark green from the lovely miracle gro soil that the buds don't want to grow. Same soil, same light, same watering and feeding and such a drastic difference. I'm just going to keep an eye on them and see what i can do, if anything. I have faith in this next attempt since i know the main reason for my problems was the soil.

[SoOrbudgal]

Yes so what soil are you gonna use next?

[No3odiesShad0w]

SoOrbudgal Fox Farm Happy Frog. That's all the new cuttings that finally rooted and growing nicely. Following the feed schedule for the GH trio. (When i can afford it in going to buy a bag of that super soil. Less headache it seems)
Took a while to get the materials together and then waiting for the cuttings to take. Next attempt is under way. Just wasting electricity on this grow.... Gonna be a fail so cutting my losses.... Had to bloom them because i didn't know if i had males again and then just tried to make the best of a dead situation while everything else got started.

[No3odiesShad0w]

I noticed that the GH Trio +CalMag nutrients are really acidic. Are they supposed to be that acidic? Did i get a bad batch?

Besides adjusting the pH before watering the plants with it, I was wondering if maybe mixing some prilled dolomite lime or regular dolomite lime into the soil itself to help combat the acidity. Good idea? Bad idea?

[DeadlyFruit]

When I mix up some water with GH trio and calmag I don’t have problems with it being too acidic. My last step is almost always to add a few ml of ph down because it isn’t acidic enough. What is your plain water pH?

Assuming your plain water isn’t really acidic to start, do you calibrate you pH tester pen on a relatively regular basis? I speak from unfortunate experience when I say that it will slip out of calibration. Even calibrating once a month would be helpful.

[No3odiesShad0w]

All are in Happy Frog Soil Week 1 GH Trio +CalMag feed schedule. A little bit of training. Had to reveg. I didn't know if i had males again. Got lucky with 2 females now to grow them right. 3 more back up cuttings. Really surprised they took.... They were tiny tiny.

Also possible i have 2 males. The ivy looking one is from seed so sex unknown as well as the seedling that i tried cutting a manifold. Practice practice!

[No3odiesShad0w]

DeadlyFruit I'm not sure if it's supposed to be acidic like that. I never used this fertilizer so I'm not sure if it's supposed to be acidic like that. The picture below is the water after i mixed the nutrients. It dropped down to 4. My water is pretty good. When i test just the water, i get roughly 7. The tap water in my area is some of the best. No hard or soft water, pH is neutral so the water isn't a concern.

I don't have a pH pen. SONKIR Soil pH Meter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BR52P26...K2KBSJ825ZRG3K

I use that and i use the drops that came with the pH up and down. I'm planning on getting a better one in the near future.

[DeadlyFruit]

No, mine certainly isn’t acidic. I’d say it is the opposite effect - with everything mixed in the water tends to become slightly more alkaline. I always need to add a little pH down for indoor coco based grows.

I don’t have great colour vision but you certainly look close to 4 in the pic. If you haven’t added any pH down and it is that acidic then something is off. I personally find drops hard to read (especially given nutes mostly have dyes in them already) and my experience with a soil tester like that one wasn’t great. I would recommend getting a digital pen and calibrate it occasionally to ensure you are on target. If budget is a problem just get a cheap one (I think they are under $20) and a small bottle of a fixed pH testing solution so you know if it is out and by how much).

Sorry, I can’t think of anything that would skew your nute water that much without using some type of pH down. I’ve never noticed a variance between nute bottles of the same type so if that is the problem you could probably return it due to defect. To be sure I think you could have tested the pH of the nutes if you had a digital pen but the concentrated nutes with dye in them would probably make it very difficult to read with drops.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Well did a bunch of homework today. Borrowed my friends pH pen.100% my issue was high pH in the soil. There's hope yet for one of the 2 plants in bloom. The SP with nitrogen toxicity might be hopeless but the hybrid might be savable. I adjusted the pH to a comfy 6.5. Makes sense since it looked like i had copper, magnesium and zinc deficiencies. The soil pH was around 7.8 which is my fault thinking it was too acidic and tried to raise the pH.

I tested the nutrients and they're fine. Tested my tap water and it's at 7.6. That could have been the issue that caused the pH to raise in the soil. I agree the drops are a bit hard to read at times especially when you're slightly color blind. The soil pH probe i have works fairly well in comparison to my friends pH pen. So I'm rely on that a bit more since it's fairly accurate. I was using it wrong. Didn't leave it in the soil long enough.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Put these under the bloom light. Not sure if they're male or female so i need to check. If they're females then attempt #6 begins. If not in 2 weeks in throwing the other 4 cuttings i have in the other room under the bloom light. Those are females 100%