Soil Compaction

[TheBone1234]

So, I made the most serious mistake and bought poor quality soil to start my grow. Paid $4 for it. I am well into flower, just beginning my fifth week today (5/1). I am growing blue dream, they are all 18 inches tall right now, and have not put on height in 2-3 weeks. I thought I was dealing with a pH issue, but I was wrong.

There is not enough aeration in the soil for my roots to truly take in nutrients the way they should. (there is no perlite in the soil, and no additional additives, i used it straight) They grew fine, except when I had to move them because of a legal issue, and they went in my room from a basement. I had to get a inline fan, in the 5 days it took to get that together, my temps were roughly 92-98 degrees F when I was at work and not able to have the door open. Now my temps are fine. They were in flower at this time. Once the temp issue was gone they took off, and added a lot of buds and 6". But they have not put on mass since then, in like 3 weeks, they have consumed little water, and i have not watered in 2 weeks.


To make a long story short, what can I do to try and get as much out of my girls while they have very unhappy roots?

Also have some fairly recent photos. From roughly a week ago

 

[TheBone1234]

some more pictures from right now. looks a lot like I might be harvesting soon

 

[TheBone1234]

Hers is a link to my other thread, not about soil compaction, should answer any questions about my watering, light ect.

https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/321604-yellowing-spreading-up-plant-now.html

 

[TheBone1234]

not one comment, not even on how the ladies look?

 

[nubiebud]

I have not completed my first grow yet.
I am almost 7 weeks Veg. So to me they look great.
Sorry I do not have any constructive criticism for you.

 

[TheBone1234]

no worries, patience always pays off

 

[TheBone1234]

Bump please

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

i don't grow in soil anymore, but i know what you're talking about. here is what i did. get yourself a couple of toothpicks. hold them so they make a little V, about 1/4-1/2 inch at the tips. use this like a little pitchfork and till up the soil. you may run into some roots, but don't worry about it. till it up a good 3/4 inch, or even deeper if you don't run into a lot of roots. (plants look good)

 

[blizzard420]

Dude is it safe to buy sedds online

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

never have anything shipped to the garden addy. if you do buy on-line, use an established company.

 

[TheBone1234]

sorry blizzard i don't know what this has to do with seeds

Will definitely use the tilling of the topsoil today. just so as much air can reach the lower sections of the pot i suspect. Thanks for your input

 

[siht7419]

Over the weekend I used a skewer to poke several holes into the soil and aerate all around and through the root ball. My babies went from almost dead from suffocation to perky and thriving. Hope this helps. Also I heard that h2o2 could help as well.

 

[Revelations]

sorry blizzard i don't know what this has to do with seeds

Will definitely use the tilling of the topsoil today. just so as much air can reach the lower sections of the pot i suspect. Thanks for your input

grab your pot and smush it side to side to break up the soil. then get a long screwdriver and stab it deep as you can a wiggle it break that shit up. grab chunks and break it up with your hands from the top.
then when you are all done doing that pat the sides so the loose dirt fills up the new exposed area. I do this every time I water.

 

[Silky Shagsalot]

Over the weekend I used a skewer to poke several holes into the soil and aerate all around and through the root ball. My babies went from almost dead from suffocation to perky and thriving. Hope this helps. Also I heard that h2o2 could help as well.

you could def do this too. just make sure you use something with a small diameter. a coat hanger would be good.

 

[Travis82]

I had this issue also a week ago I lost two auto seeds because it rained very damn hard and soil was hardened and suffocated them. I let the soil dry out and then put a two tablespoons of hydrogen paroxide in a gall of water and watered them. all the plants are happy now. Also coat hanger works too for really deep pots.

 

[afrawfraw]

Nitrogen D...Normal when flowering on some strains, if it worsens you can bump the N a little...We don't want them dying to soon...

 

[afrawfraw]

Wo...So missed the second page, nevermind my last post...

 

[TheBone1234]

Will try these things, hopefully its not too late. Thanks for the submissions everyone. I will let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[TheBone1234]

I am looking really close to harvest today, they have really advanced fast in the last 2 weeks. So I broke up the soil from the sides which loosened the top too, then used a metal rod (coat hanger size, actually from a round tomato support) and stabbed the pot all over straight down and at an angle, did this to all of them. I even pulled one out since they are really dry to see the roots(I know this is a no-no , and I did this before i broke up the soil). Saw the roots, which were brownish, which i expected from their recent suffocation.

Planning on watering for the last time tonight with just water with a proper pH, and maybe some molasses or some hydrogen peroxide. I am a little hesitant to put anything in the water since I am probably only a few days from harvest, a week at the most.

 

[RickAlvin]

Over the weekend I used a skewer to poke several holes into the soil and aerate all around and through the root ball. My babies went from almost dead from suffocation to perky and thriving. Hope this helps. Also I heard that h2o2 could help as well.

I know this thread is really old but I am hanging onto the idea that mine will be alright as well. I just did what you were posting about. I poked holes through all the soil and broke up the soil. My plant was doing nothing, just little spurts of growth here and there. It was 6 inches after 76 days and it kept dropping all the bottom leaves, tips burning and such. It truly was a pitiful little thing LOL I'm not sure why I kept it for so long! Didn't matter what I did. it just would not grow. It was down to roots and finally I started poking in the soil with a long screw driver. I have always been so protective of the root system, I thought doing that would kill it and that's what I thought while I was poking. This will either kill it or set it free. Only time will tell now. So, I sit and wait. I will let you all know if it takes off. Funny thing is, out of all the exhaustive researched I did online, nothing spoke about this at all. Never saw a word mentioned about soil compaction. Not in any of the grow bibles, nowhere. Just makes me wonder why. It must happen a lot. I forgot to tell you! While I was breaking up the soil with the screwdriver and my hands, there was something really hard under the root ball. I didn't see it but I was definitely hitting something and it was hard. I pulled up some gravel! OMG I forgot that I had put gravel in the bottom of the one gallon pot. When I transplanted it, some of that gravel didn't fall out and the roots twisted up all around it, it was acting like a barrier I suppose, plus the old soil that was in the one gallon pot was terrible so it went along for the ride when I transplanted as well. It was a soil/clay/gravel/twisted root nightmare! No wonder it wouldn't grow or put down better roots. So, someone said to kill it and start again, I love challenges and it has come this far already, I'm going to see if I can help nurse it back to health. Sitting on the edge of my seat for the next several days. It will either live or die but I think I gave it a fighting chance!