HELP! Newbie Trusted with Jamaican Red / Columbian Gold! Yellow and White Leafs

[Smokey200618]

Hey everyone, first time grower that can't usually keep a cactus alive! I was wondering what you think of my new babies, do they look healthy..ish? Don't laugh but I've never seen a plant in real life up until now, just smoked for years. I have two Jamacian Red / Columbian Gold (not sure, seeds were mixed up in a container from the 1960's) and one Grandad something.

The discoloration on the edges of the leaves are worrying me. I was thinking nitrogen or calcium deficiency? What do ya'll think is going on here? And how can I fix it before its too late?

Info:
- 900W (175 actual watts) LED full spectrum light 24" away from top of plants on an 18/6 schedule
- Originally planted in top soil (dates below), moved to Pro Mix BX on April 12th.
- Soil PH was originally very high (the top soil (around 7 or 7.5), currently between 6.0 and 6.5 in the Pro Mix BX.
- PH'ed water between 6.0 and 6.5
- Temp between 70°F and 72°F
- Humidity between 36% and 40%, having trouble getting it any higher.
- The biggest one was planted April 1st (Grandad something, can't remember exactly, feminized seed), bottom leaf's are drooping, turning yellow and then dying with the upper leaf's edges turning yellowy white.
- The smaller two were planted April 29th (Jamaican Red or Columbian Gold, seeds were mixed up in a container and from the 1960's), also showing white leaf tips but no wilting.
- Watering once the soil is dry up to my first knuckle.
- Using FloraNova Grow but have only used once (before the transplant) in a 0.5ml or less per litre of water ratio.
- Regular plastic pots with drainage
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Less concerned about the Grandad-Something and more concerned about the Jamaican Red / Columbian Gold. I have done a lot of research and I've read that I basically have a moral obligation to keeping the JR / CG alive due to them being so rare, but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[CaptainWiese91]

Do you use any kind of perlite or Leca?
what about drainage in those pots ?

 

[Smokey200618]

The pots have 4-5 pinky finger size wholes for drainage.

I'm using straight Pro Mix BX, no Perlite or Leca -- unless its already pre-mixed into the soil (which I'm assuming are the white dots in the soil)

 

[CaptainWiese91]

The roots can’t breathe in that soil. 30-40% of leca or perlite need to be mixed in the soil for 1. Better drainage 2. Oxygen man reach the roots. The roots live on oxygen bro

 

[dphipps1020]

I'm just wondering about the aluminum foil around the one pot? Unless you have it there for a specific reason you can probably get rid of that. And as was mentioned, you're going to want to add some perlite.

 

[Jordann]

Make more holes in the bottom and maybe lots of quarter inch holes all around the pot top to bottom.

 

[CaptainWiese91]

I only do that with my 40L/7,9 gallons pots.
If you have a 20 L pot, then I just make at the bottom. But I make 40-50 holes with a 0,8 mm drill.

My 40 L pots have over 100+ holes in them 😂 but it fucking works - also in the side - up too the middle of the pot 👍🏻

 

[Jordann]

First. I'm surprised seeds from the 60s even germinated.
sec. Yes more perlite and more holes. Might want to transplant into bigger containers now and add about 50 percent perlite mixed with 50 percent soil. Half half mix.
Third. The little burns on the leaves might be a pH problem or calmag deffency. I got from 6 to 7 for ph in soil. And don't stay at say 6 every watering. I water one at 6 then next around 7 and bounce it around to help it absorb everything it needs better.

Looks like they could use a bump up in the gro nutes. When I look on their sites for water to waiste they suggest using the grow and micro together and in flower you give all 3 while weaning off the grow and going with bloom and micro through flowering. They need npk right through their lifecycle I have found better results using the 3 together compared to using grow in veg and bloom in flower. Just my 2 cents.
Do you splash nute water on your leaves. Even straight water can amplify the power of the light and burn spots where the droplets sit.
I would bump up the n abit. The leaves could get a darker green to them and the yellowing of the lower leaves is the plant eating itself to get something it needs that it can't get from the soil.
If it's not a water issue with the burnt leaf edges it could be the early stages of a calmag deffency.
I added some photos that have helped me in the past.

 

[Smokey200618]

Trying to reflect light onto lower leafs as I'm not using a grow tent

 

[Smokey200618]

Me too, it took multiple tries with many seeds just to get the two. Will this weaken the genetics?

I added a mix of soil/perlite to the top layer of the pots. I just moved them to these pots on May 12th. Should I move them again now or let the shock settle first? The rooting system wasn't very big when I took them out of the solo cups.

I guess I should re-introduce the nutes now? It's been 5 days since the last transplant.

No, I do not splash the leafs with nutes or water.

 

[Smokey200618]

I have added more soil/perlite mix to the top layer, I will be sure to do this for the next transplant for the sides/bottom

 

[CaptainWiese91]

It will benefit your plant and the roots for sure

 

[Jordann]

How big are the pots they're in now? Should be good in there for a couple weeks before you transplant again. How big do you want to grow them. Might want to look at pots between 5 and ten gallons. 20 to 40 litre. Some say to transplant when the leaves are over hanging past the edge of the pot. When you transplant make sure to use lots of perlite I like to go 50/50. If it's nice and healthy you can take your time with the nutes.

 

[Smokey200618]

They are currently in a 1 or 2 gallon pot. I have 10 gallon pots for the final transplant.

I have a height limit of 6ft, so I would like to keep them under 5ft -- short but fat -- in an 8x6 room. My intentions are to produce fresh seeds or clones, assuming nature is in my favor and that they don't both turn out to be males, so that I have a healthy starting point for the next time around.

I reintoduced the nutes today, so I will wait a few days and post an update pic! They seem much happier in the last 24 hours.

Thank you for your help, I really apprecaite it!

 

[Smokey200618]

Thank you for your help, I really apprecaite it!

 

[Smokey200618]

UPDATE:

The two JR/CG babies have grown drastically in the last few days and are now close to out growing the Grandad something. There is no new discoloration on the new growth coming in on any of the plants and the discoloration on the lower leaf's seems to have stopped in its tracks, however the bottom set of leaf's on Grandad are still drooping and may wilt away.

On a side note, I have started a random bagseed just to see if it would grow.. and it did! But it only has one leaf? Does this look like bugs ate it or a mutation? I checked both the top and bottom of the leaf's...leaf... and I can't see any bugs but I'd like a second opinion on what it looks like as I don't want it to affect my other plants.

Thank you again to everyone!

 

[Jordann]

Looks like a genitic mutant, grow it out. It will likely revert to normal growth with time, and if not it would be fun to see a plant grow in that manner. All others look healthy glad they came back and hope it all works out breeding them or atleast cloning some.