Breakthrough! I strongly believe the problem is grower error causing nute lockout due to nute toxicity. Let me explain.
When I did my first test run in July 2022 I was not sure if I could succeed, so I did not want to break the bank on soil prices. Therefore, I decided to go onto YouTube to look for soil mixes. The mix was peat moss, top soil, earthworm castings, compost and humus, and amendments. Suffice it to say, it was a mistake to cut corners as an amateur as I had so many problems. I'm not saying the mix was bad, but as an amateur I must not have got the correct ratios on my end as more times than not the dirt turned into a brick in the fabric pots. After that first grow, which was semi successful (popcorn and larf but succeeded! lol), I decided to try the next grow with Fox Farms soils. That grow, which I am/will be harvesting through Feb., was much easier. I didn't have any problems whatsoever.
The thing was I had a lot of the old used amateur soil left that I did not want to throw away. I came up with the idea for every two bowls (large mixing bowl for cooking--don't judge me, lol) of old soil I would also use one bowl Fox Farms Ocean Forest and one bowl Fox Farms Happy Frog (and for every three bowls of soil added I would also throw in one bowl of perlite as I did not use enough perlite on my amateur mix, and I like to add some perlite to the Fox Farm mixes). I thought this would get the old amateur soil to a more usable state. Obviously I would have to use amendments to amend the old amateur soil as it was already used.
This is where the problem occurs. I counted totals..... and not only of the old amateur soil. In short, six bowls of soil is equivalent to around five gallons of soil which would require 10 tbsp of amendments; I used 20 tbsp. Why? lol, going off my idea, six bowls of old soil would require six (three HF and three OF) bowls of Fox Farm. When it came time to adding amendments, I counted 10 gallons of soil but in actuality five gallons of soil (FF) already had nutrients. I literally just realized this when mixing a new batch of soil.
Considering too much potassium and calcium can lockout magnesium, I am guessing that is what is going on considering my actions with the last soil mix. That would also explain the extremely slow growth, as I'm assuming the roots of the clones and/or transplants were immediately being burnt; for example, I had plants in 1 gallon fabric pots for a month and a half, and they barely grew into 1/4 of the soil (noticed this when I transplanted). Lastly, on some clones the leaves were an extremely dark deep green, which I believe isn't normal and is a sign of toxicity.
The new mix uses the correct amounts of nutrients, worm castings, and dolomite lime (amounts needed for the used amateur soil only). In the future, I may even cut soil amendments down to 80-90% since there is no guarantee the last grow uses all the nutrients in the soil. It's more of a rather be safe than sorry decision.
As with anything else, we learn from our and other peoples mistakes? Hopefully someone learns from mine, ratios can be/are extremely important to overall plant health.
Thanks everyone. As always, this community is great! I'll update the post down the line with hopefully nice healthy plants--probably avoid feeding for a while, lol.
When I did my first test run in July 2022 I was not sure if I could succeed, so I did not want to break the bank on soil prices. Therefore, I decided to go onto YouTube to look for soil mixes. The mix was peat moss, top soil, earthworm castings, compost and humus, and amendments. Suffice it to say, it was a mistake to cut corners as an amateur as I had so many problems. I'm not saying the mix was bad, but as an amateur I must not have got the correct ratios on my end as more times than not the dirt turned into a brick in the fabric pots. After that first grow, which was semi successful (popcorn and larf but succeeded! lol), I decided to try the next grow with Fox Farms soils. That grow, which I am/will be harvesting through Feb., was much easier. I didn't have any problems whatsoever.
The thing was I had a lot of the old used amateur soil left that I did not want to throw away. I came up with the idea for every two bowls (large mixing bowl for cooking--don't judge me, lol) of old soil I would also use one bowl Fox Farms Ocean Forest and one bowl Fox Farms Happy Frog (and for every three bowls of soil added I would also throw in one bowl of perlite as I did not use enough perlite on my amateur mix, and I like to add some perlite to the Fox Farm mixes). I thought this would get the old amateur soil to a more usable state. Obviously I would have to use amendments to amend the old amateur soil as it was already used.
This is where the problem occurs. I counted totals..... and not only of the old amateur soil. In short, six bowls of soil is equivalent to around five gallons of soil which would require 10 tbsp of amendments; I used 20 tbsp. Why? lol, going off my idea, six bowls of old soil would require six (three HF and three OF) bowls of Fox Farm. When it came time to adding amendments, I counted 10 gallons of soil but in actuality five gallons of soil (FF) already had nutrients. I literally just realized this when mixing a new batch of soil.
Considering too much potassium and calcium can lockout magnesium, I am guessing that is what is going on considering my actions with the last soil mix. That would also explain the extremely slow growth, as I'm assuming the roots of the clones and/or transplants were immediately being burnt; for example, I had plants in 1 gallon fabric pots for a month and a half, and they barely grew into 1/4 of the soil (noticed this when I transplanted). Lastly, on some clones the leaves were an extremely dark deep green, which I believe isn't normal and is a sign of toxicity.
The new mix uses the correct amounts of nutrients, worm castings, and dolomite lime (amounts needed for the used amateur soil only). In the future, I may even cut soil amendments down to 80-90% since there is no guarantee the last grow uses all the nutrients in the soil. It's more of a rather be safe than sorry decision.
As with anything else, we learn from our and other peoples mistakes? Hopefully someone learns from mine, ratios can be/are extremely important to overall plant health.
Thanks everyone. As always, this community is great! I'll update the post down the line with hopefully nice healthy plants--probably avoid feeding for a while, lol.
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