fabric pots got saturated--trying to nurse them back to health--tips?

NewEnglandFarmer

NewEnglandFarmer

Well-Known Member
thumper60 said:
What about the rotted stem?
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Not sure--guessing root issue, maybe gnat larvae gnawing on roots? root rot? have quarantined that plant, will cut out rot, see if she rallies. It's a new hemp cultivar I'm trying out but I have another couple in case she goes south.
 
P

Phytoplankton

Well-Known Member
NewEnglandFarmer said:
Update: found some necrosis in the stem and some leaves in one of the plants, guessing this is from a root issue. Overall plant not looking terrible but it's clearly compromised:
View attachment 5310552

Here's the whole plant:
View attachment 5310553

I did a light perimeter watering on all of them and after the worst wilter didn't seem to be responding I felt as deep as I could in the soil with a finger at the outside. Didn't feel wet. So I added a full gallon slowly around the perimeter--nothing to lose at this point, right? Things were definitely going downhill. Pot is quite heavy now. She might look a tad better but not perking up really:

View attachment 5310554

Thumper's probably right, I should cut that bag off and transplant if I really want to save it. But I've got nowhere to put it and I've got another Northern Lights going so I'm going to see if I can salvage her in the fabric pot.
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Is the pith all eaten out of the stem in the first pic? Kinda looks like corn borer damage, but as said, no bore hole. I’d consider losing that branch. The borers can be bad, but they often cause fungus/bacterial infections.
 
Seanf610

Seanf610

Active Member
NewEnglandFarmer said:
I have several 10g fabric pots outside vegging and we had a 3-week stretch in June with lots of rain, drizzle, and fog. When I realized they were wicking moisture up from the wet ground I moved them onto a covered porch so they could dry out (they were saturated). Soil is Coast of Maine's Stonington Blend.

Some of them started to get droopy and/or the leaves wilted, some yellowing and even some decay in lower leaves, guessing there's some root rot going on. Been doing my best to dry them out over the past two weeks but the humidity has been really high. Try to get them in sun (when we have it!) to help dry things out but several can no longer transpire very well, they start wilting badly when in direct sun so have kept them in shade. However a few remain wilted even in shade. Have removed any yellowing/dying leaves. Did a light foliar feed with kelp a few days ago but no visible improvement. Poked aeration holes in one with a chopstick to see if that would help, didn't seem to.

After 2 weeks pots still aren't light but soil feels bone dry when I put a finger in. This morning I gave them a very light watering, just enough to "cut the dust" on the top layer of soil. Seemed like 2 weeks with no water was not a great situation for the top part of the root zone.

Any suggestions on how to turn this around? I know, better to prevent it from happening in the first place--I will never leave fabric pots on wet ground again, my bad, lesson learned. But I still have 2-3 weeks until flowering begins so if I can just nurse them back I might be OK. But it's looking pretty iffy. Looking for others who've successfully come back from a mishap like this. Thanks for any tips.

These two were wilting in the sun so have kept them mostly in shade, still looking pretty sad though:

View attachment 5310231

This one seems like it just be salvageable but after 2 weeks she's still drooping:

View attachment 5310233


This one also might be salvageable but still not looking healthy:

View attachment 5310239

Not sure I can save this one. After I moved them up off the ground this pot started to feel pretty light and looked only very slightly droopy so I gave it a good drink. Next day it looked really bad and has not really recovered even spending most of its time in the shade. That watering must've kicked the root rot into high gear. Should've watered lightly or waited longer I guess.

View attachment 5310248
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I know baking soda, h2o2 and vinegar help reverse root rot if you mix with water. And pee can give nitrogen if you need an immediate fertilizer. Often times it starts with the roots and attracts mites and bugs. You can feed food grade h202 just to be safe but if you want. I used the regular convenience store kind and it worked well. I’ve read it has bad stuff in it when you use the regular kind though I would use food grade
 
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Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
Seanf610 said:
I know baking soda, h2o2 and vinegar help reverse root rot if you mix with water. And pee can give nitrogen if you need an immediate fertilizer. Often times it starts with the roots and attracts mites and bugs. You can feed food grade h202 just to be safe but if you want. I used the regular convenience store kind and it worked well. I’ve read it has bad stuff in it when you use the regular kind though I would use food grade
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Where did you get the idea that baking soda and vinegar would be an effective treatment for root rot?

They're not.
 
Seanf610

Seanf610

Active Member
Billy the Mountain said:
Where did you get the idea that baking soda and vinegar would be an effective treatment for root rot?

They're not.
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Billy the Mountain said:
Where did you get the idea that baking soda and vinegar would be an effective treatment for root rot?

They're not.
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The vinegar might not help but I know h2o2 worked and the baking soda helped other stuff for me if not the roots it got pest away and stuff like that, that tied in with overall health and roots.
 
Seanf610

Seanf610

Active Member
Billy the Mountain said:
H2O2 is an effective treatment.

Vinegar and baking soda are useless unless your goal is to create some CO2 foam.
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Yes CO2 was good for it too. The more time I spent with it helped so I assumed there was CO2 coming from my breath but what do you think not enough? How could I get adequate CO2 without polluting my house
 
Billy the Mountain

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
Seanf610 said:
Yes CO2 was good for it too. The more time I spent with it helped so I assumed there was CO2 coming from my breath but what do you think not enough? How could I get adequate CO2 without polluting my house
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It is a safe assumption that you're exhaling CO2; no cause for concern.

Vigorous exercise will dramatically raise your CO2 output.
 
NewEnglandFarmer

NewEnglandFarmer

Well-Known Member
thumper60 said:
Thats strange no bore hole?
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I cut out that stem with the dead section and inspected. Doesn't appear to be hollow, just the tissue died there. It's happening in a few of the leaves too. I removed all of it and have quarantined the plant. Can't see any sign of borers, although I've only seen borer damage in pictures, no direct experience. Going to assume these are root issues. Plant looks healthy overall but we'll see how things go.

Thanks again for chiming in everybody. I feel way better about the prospects for these plants now. Always more to learn, isn't there?
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
Seanf610 said:
The vinegar might not help but I know h2o2 worked and the baking soda helped other stuff for me if not the roots it got pest away and stuff like that, that tied in with overall health and roots.
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H2O2 is a hail mary when you over water and your plant is drowning 3% can in a pinch help save them from suffocating. It's the extra oxygen to the roots that helps you. Unless you're running very hot you don't need CO2 supplementation.

Baking soda and vinegar will power the Cosmic Rocket though which I highly recommend:
 
Seanf610

Seanf610

Active Member
TCH said:
Co2 tanks are a big thing in cannabis grows. I am fairly certain that Co2 is not flammable
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Ok I knew they were the big thing but I maybe just have to read up and try it, what do you just put it in your tent and turn it on for 20 minutes at a time every few hours?
 
TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Seanf610 said:
Ok I knew they were the big thing but I maybe just have to read up and try it, what do you just put it in your tent and turn it on for 20 minutes at a time every few hours?
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Regulators, timers, plumbing, etc.. there are threads about it on here.
 
NewEnglandFarmer

NewEnglandFarmer

Well-Known Member
Update: I think I may be back on track here, and just in time for flowering, too. Phew! To overcome the hydrophobic medium I put the fabric pots in a container and then watered each with 3g water with aloe vera, any runoff got collected in the bigger container and soaked back into the fabric pot eventually. They're now in full sun 8am-6pm and doing great.

Here's the 2 Northern Lights, the one on the right was the one with the worst wilting last week:
nl.jpg

Here's the Pine Tar Kush looking much better too:
ptk.jpg

Remember that stem I showed earlier in the thread with the strange stem damage on that hemp plant? I found a spot on the same plant where the stem was discolored and looked almost like it had a brown fuzz on it, like mold ( wiped it off, I think the brown you see in the photo is plant tissue damage). Anybody have any idea what this could be? Plant still seems to be doing OK overall but it's got me worried:
stem-issue.jpg
 
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