3rd Indoor Grow .. Wedding Cake/Grandoggy Jones

[newbutoldgrower75]

Hey everyone.

I had to go away for 6 days from the 02/08 to today (07/08) for a week of tests, scans, rehabilitation and appointments with specialists. It was better for me to stay there than to travel 2.5hrs there and back all week, my back and neck wouldn't handle it at the moment. So I left my roommate in charge of the grow tents with specific instructions of what to do while I was away, I think you can guess where this post is going now haha. I got a phone call from him Thursday (05/08) asking me if he had been doing everything right as the plants don't look well and are looking quite dark and droopy. He also mentioned the leaves had tip burn and were starting to look wrinkly. First thing that came to me was Nitrogen Toxicity and overwatering. I don't want to go into too many details as I am thankful that my roommate looked after them for me, but the EC ended up being too high and he was feeding them twice a day when it was suppose to be every second day. I asked him to flush each pot with 8 litres of pH'd water to each plant slowly and not to give them anything else until I get back. I checked the Hygrometer when I got back and the temps/humidity haven't been the best either unfortunately .. HIGH temp 24.4°C + 72% humidity LOW temp 14.9°C + 35% humidity .. not good:nah:. And to make things even worse I found a split in the main stem/trunk of the plant, definitely wont be going away again until the grows are finished, I asked him to keep the branches as Horizontal as possible while I was gone, another mistake made by me.

So I'm hoping for some help from you good people of the GWE Forum with how to best tackle this, I have had a tough week as it is. The plants are looking a lot better from a couple of days ago soo y roommate says. They definitely don't look like they have grown much, but seem to healthyish. The leaves are definitely a darker green, bigger tip burn on the GDJ plants than the WC, leaves look like the plants have been overwatered lately (droopy and slightly wrinkled). The tips of the GDJ along with the darker green color, look like signs similar to Nitrogen Toxicity.
Should I give each plant a full flush of 90 litres each and then start them on EC 1.3? Or should I wait an extra day for them to dry out and just them back on nutes at EC 1.3? They haven't been fed since the 8 litre flush with pH'd water on the 05/08, and the plants do seem to be recovering according to my roommate, they do seem quite perky compared to the way he described they were.

Any advice help with the plants would be greatly appreciated as always, especially with the flushing etc, I don't want to do anymore damage to them by overwatering them even more. Also if anyone has any advice ideas to give some strength to the split in the main stem/trunk of the plant, will upload photo as well. Cheers

 

[TOKABIGONE]

I think I would pt supports under the main beam and tape the trunk under the split. If you can keep that gap closed it will heal ok, form a scar and be strong. Hope your tests are all god results. G'day sir!

 

[newbutoldgrower75]

Thanks buddy for the advice, appreciate it. Trying to figure out a good way to support them, got any ideas lol? I will work on a way to brace and support the main branches today, and tape the trunk under the split. What would be the best tape to use mate? Cheers

 

[TOKABIGONE]

You can use one of the white hooks to rebend so it has a cup for the branch. Or I used 14 gauge house hold wiring I had left over. Really anything that will fit under the beam about the middle so it supports all the weight. If it has been more than a day since it broke you may not get a strong scar to hold the weigh so may have to support it for life.

 

[newbutoldgrower75]

Thanks TOKABIGONE for the idea. As the white hooks were just thin old clothes hangers that I cut and reshaped to make pegs, they obviously weren't doing the job properly of staying in the ground. I "had" a cheap old wire clothes dryer thingy made of thicker wire that I was planning to take to the tip/recycle, nothing wrong with it just don't use it. So I proceeded to cut it up and shape the ends like idea you mentioned above(refer to picture), and I think they are going to work a lot better.

I do have a question/s before I install the supports. As I have found another slight split in another trunk, and they are more than a day or two old by the looks of them, so will have to use the supports for whole grow no doubt .. would it be better to leave the supports long and cut them to size so they reach the bottom of the pot? Would that give better support to the branches? Would I do any damage to the roots going that far down?
Any help would be greatly appreciated before I install them and potentially stuff things up more than it already is .. cheers

 

[TOKABIGONE]

You got the idea. Yes cut long then to fit. I have actually used a long screwdriver to loosen and aerate my medium with no ill effect so yeah push them down. I like adhesive bandage tape to wrap the stem. It's easier to remove than most but still holds well. Might as well get that second one done at the same time and support it too. I'm a bit foggy as I slept 3 hours then woke up so I got up, lol. I'll be back down soon. Keep an eye on the stem in case it grows and the tape gets too tight.
One final thought: When you top a plant, leave a centimeter of stalk above the branch to the cut as it will add strength to avoid splitting

 

[newbutoldgrower75]

Cheers buddy, wasn't sure if I would do any damage to the roots or not, but you have put my mind at ease, thanks. I will see in the morning if I should risk driving to the hardware an hour away for adhesive bandage tape, we have just gone into our 6th Covid lockdown unfortunately😥. I will get the supports done on both of them first thing in the morning, and will work something out with the tape.
I did leave a bit of stem when I first topped the plants, but maybe not enough. Thinking it had more to do with my roommate trying to push the homemade hooks/pegs into the coco when they kept coming out. Its my fault for not using the right gauge wire to secure the branches properly, going to make some more hook/pegs out of the rest of the clothes air dryer for training, they should work well.
Thanks for your advice/help and input mate, I would be probably freaking out a bit if I hadn't spoken to you. Cheers

 

[newbutoldgrower75]

Hey everyone.

So it has been a busy week in the Grow 3 tent trying to get the plants healthy and growing again. But after some TLC and lots of hours put into them, the plants seem to be back on track and growing again. I have now got supports under the main branches of 3 of the plants that had slight splits in the top of the trunks, thanks TOKABIGONE for the idea and help. The splits seem to be healing even though I haven't had a chance to get any tape, bloody lockdowns. The supports work well and still train the main stems Horizontally without putting any pressure on the split in the trunk. The plants are a bit behind now due to temps/humidity and me being away for those 6 days, but are catching up on the training part and will do the second topping in the next couple of days.

I also gave the plants 8/L of pH'd water each and started them back on nutes at EC 1.3, it seems to have helped with the Nitrogen Toxicity that looked like they were starting to get. Leaves are back to a nicer green color now. The lights haven't been adjusted since the plants have been under them except the power of the lights to 60%. As I hadn't accounted for height of the plants from mainling this time, I gave The Greensunshine Company a call and spoke to David, once again haha. He suggested that I turn the lights to 70% and watch the plants for a couple of days, then turn it up to 80% if the plants aren't showing any signs of stress. The lights were turned up to 80% today, so fingers crossed.

I know there was more I had to add to this but I'm pretty heavily medicated(Gelato OG from last harvest) at the moment, so will most probably put more in later. These pics were taken first thing this morning at lights on, before feeding and a little defoliation. Any advice/opinions/feedback is warmly welcome as always. Cheers