Help with organics

Lnp32

Member
I was wondering if anyone could be of any help please.
Im growing 4 plants in a 5ft x 5ft tent, under 1 lumatek zeus pro 600w.
My plants are in 7 gallon fabric pots and soil used is canna terra pro. I started them in 2l pots from seedling and transplanted into 7 gallon fabric pots after 2 weeks of seedling stage.
Ive vegged my plants for 4 weeks and decided to flip to flower 3 weeks ago.
I didnt use any additional nutrients up until the beginning of flower stage as canna terra pro has enough nutrients to get you through the first 4 / 5 weeks.
Im staying completely organic and using guanokalong products. I ordered guankalong grow ( 5 N - 3 K ), guanokalong bloom ( 2.5 N - K 6 ) and guankalong bat boost 2% K.
These organic products dont contain any P so i also bought bat guano to make a complete PK for flower stage.
It says to use 1 / 2ml per l of water so ive been averaging about 10 - 15ml per watering. I usually water about 6 litres of feed through each pot and seems to be doing the job.
Although i did read somewhere that some growers water there plants in conjunction with how many gallons they’re growing in. For example, some growers believe if you grow in 7 gallon pot then you should be putting 7 litres of water through the pot. 5 gallon pot / 5 litres and so on.
Anyway, i just wanted to check in to see if anyone can diagnose a problem ive discovered on 2 of the 4 plants. If you zoom in to pic you will see the problem on the plant in the front to the right. They’ve all been fed accordingly and the bonus of organic liquid fertz is that you cant really over feed which is a big bonus.
Ive attached a few picks and if anyone could be of any help, id be very grateful.
Thank you.

gave them a feed today and top dress of 30ml bat guano, epsom salts and gypsum.
Mixed 10ml guanokalong bat boost ( 2% K )
3ml guanokalong grow ( 5 - 0 - 3 )
3ml guanokalong bloom ( 2.5 - 0 - 6 )

there’s a problem and not sure whether i need to up my feed, whether its a lockout, not sure but would really appreciate some feedback. The only thing im thinking is i water / feed 6L water in each 7gallon pot but i leave the pots for about 4 days until the soil is bone dry. Do you think it could be that ? Some growers say to let the soil dry right out between each watering but other sources say to always keep soil damp.
Thanks.
 

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Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
What you are lacking is compost. NPK is only half of the story. It is microbial activity that helps keep ph in range for absorption and drives the soil. Giving worm castings in soluble tea form could be the fastest way to green these back up. There is still plenty of npk value locked up in the soil but you need an active form of compost to release it.
If you can go to a larger container that is an easy way to get compost into the mix. Add some gradually mycorrhizae as well if you don’t already. If they are already in their final size pots then a compost tea is about the best thing you can do but if that’s not an option simply top dress w/ewc.
 

Lnp32

Member
Thanks very much for feedback.
I will make a compost tea tomorrow.
Can i mix a little bit of bat guano in with the castings ?
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Thanks very much for feedback.
I will make a compost tea tomorrow.
Can i mix a little bit of bat guano in with the castings ?
Sure but I would only add in a few pellets; guano is loaded with bacteria. Not really a bad thing it is just that your mix needs a heavy dose of probiotics. I suggest adding kelp meal instead because it has the probiotics you need but if it’s killing you to use guano it won’t hurt. Alternatively you can just top dress w/guano and water it in but then again you can do the same w/EWC. Here’s a simple aact recipe:
1-3 gal clean water
1-2 cups EWC
1-3 tsp kelp meal
1 tsp molasses
1-3 tsp liquid fish emulsion (optional)
Bubble it for 36+ hrs and serve...
 

Lnp32

Member
Thank you for the feedback my friend.
I already made a compost tea before seeing your advice.
I used...

4 cups ewc
3/4 cup kelp meal
5 tsp molasses
In 5gallon bucket of chlorine / chloramine free tap water, ph’d at 6.2

The tea is still brewing and wont be done for another 18 hours yet. Do you think the doses ive given are too much ?

im going to top dress the guano and its quite hot at npk 1.10.1 and im not sure how much to top dress in 7 gallon pots. Any suggestions would be great please.
Thank you.

ive also noticed purple streaks rising up the stems and hope im not onto some sort of lockout. I did give organic cal mag by adding 30ml of epsom salts for mag and 30ml gypsum for calcium.
Hope its nothing too serious.
 

T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
Did I miss something, or are you lighting up a 25 sq. ft. tent with only 600 watts of HID light? You need about twice that much - or at least 1,000 watts.
 

Lnp32

Member
Ive got a 5ft x 5ft tent / 1.5m x 1.5m.
The light im using is a lumatek zeus pro 600w led. Its a fully legit light, check it out.

 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the feedback my friend.
I already made a compost tea before seeing your advice.
I used...

4 cups ewc
3/4 cup kelp meal
5 tsp molasses
In 5gallon bucket of chlorine / chloramine free tap water, ph’d at 6.2

The tea is still brewing and wont be done for another 18 hours yet. Do you think the doses ive given are too much ?

im going to top dress the guano and its quite hot at npk 1.10.1 and im not sure how much to top dress in 7 gallon pots. Any suggestions would be great please.
Thank you.

ive also noticed purple streaks rising up the stems and hope im not onto some sort of lockout. I did give organic cal mag by adding 30ml of epsom salts for mag and 30ml gypsum for calcium.
Hope its nothing too serious.
I honestly don’t know; I’m not familiar with those nutrients but guano is like super concentrated. A little goes a long way. I doubt any if your issues are NPK related. Your mix just needs is a boost of microbial activity. Aactea will do that; give it a week after applying a worm tea and I bet these plants green right back up.
Don’t worry too much about purpling stems. Maybe have seen somewhere it says that purple stems indicates a P deficiency but it’s more likely a result of sluggish microbial activity which keeps ph in range. Most of the time when people think their soil is “depleted” it has in fact just become inactive. It is actually not all that easy to keep soil in an indoor container highly active over the long term.
 

myke

Well-Known Member
I see you Ph the water?Not sure but the molasses alone will drop it down into the 5,s.I quit using it just for that reason.
 

Lnp32

Member
I honestly don’t know; I’m not familiar with those nutrients but guano is like super concentrated. A little goes a long way. I doubt any if your issues are NPK related. Your mix just needs is a boost of microbial activity. Aactea will do that; give it a week after applying a worm tea and I bet these plants green right back up.
Don’t worry too much about purpling stems. Maybe have seen somewhere it says that purple stems indicates a P deficiency but it’s more likely a result of sluggish microbial activity which keeps ph in range. Most of the time when people think their soil is “depleted” it has in fact just become inactive. It is actually not all that easy to keep soil in an indoor container highly active over the long term.
thanks for feedback my friend.
To be honest i think i havent watered them frequently enough aswell. Ive been so busy and havent been able to tend to them for several days at a time and when ive come back, the soil has been bone dry so maybe im letting it dry out too much between waterings.
I usually like to water to soak the whole medium with about 5 / 10 % runoff which the plants drink up from the trays within 10minutes.
 

Lnp32

Member
I see you Ph the water?Not sure but the molasses alone will drop it down into the 5,s.I quit using it just for that reason.
yes i ph the water with bio bizz organic ph down / citric acid. I ph to 6.2 everytime but ive heard you can kill microbial life in soil if its under 6.7
The tap water where i live is about 7.5 / 8 ph straight out the tap so even when ive made a tea with molasses, the ph is still always about 7 so always have to bring it down more
 

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
What you are lacking is compost. NPK is only half of the story. It is microbial activity that helps keep ph in range for absorption and drives the soil. Giving worm castings in soluble tea form could be the fastest way to green these back up. There is still plenty of npk value locked up in the soil but you need an active form of compost to release it.
If you can go to a larger container that is an easy way to get compost into the mix. Add some gradually mycorrhizae as well if you don’t already. If they are already in their final size pots then a compost tea is about the best thing you can do but if that’s not an option simply top dress w/ewc.
Do you add mycorrhizae during grow cycle, or just at transplant?
 

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
thanks for feedback my friend.
To be honest i think i havent watered them frequently enough aswell. Ive been so busy and havent been able to tend to them for several days at a time and when ive come back, the soil has been bone dry so maybe im letting it dry out too much between waterings.
I usually like to water to soak the whole medium with about 5 / 10 % runoff which the plants drink up from the trays within 10minutes.
If you're trying to do living soil, don't water to runoff. 5% water by volume of soil. 7 gallons of soil would be 0.35 gallons I believe.
 

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
excuse me for my ignorance but what’s mycorrhizae ? Im new to this growing and need as much help as i can get lol
Mycorrhizae is a fungus that attaches to the plants roots, and trade nutrients from the soil in exchange for sugar produced during photosynthesis. It's a lil more than that, but I believe that's how it basically works.
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
I had the same watering issues in my organic soil. Ive switched over to sips, and have been amazed at the difference.
A super simple sip that you could make in a matter of minutes, is take a big plastic tub, put about 5"-6" of perlite in it, and set your pots on top of the perlite. Pour in water, until the water level is about an inch below the top of the perlite. Ive got a 10 gallon and 7 gallon fabric pot both sitting in one right now.
After this run, I'm gonna pull it out, and replace it with a sip planter I got at Lowes. Ive got 3 already, and I love them.
 

Lnp32

Member
If you're trying to do living soil, don't water to runoff. 5% water by volume of soil. 7 gallons of soil would be 0.35 gallons I believe.
thanks my friend, i try not to water to too much run off as ive heard on other forums about washing away good bacteria when over watering with living soil.
Ive been giving mine about 6L water each in 7 gallon / 30l fabric pots.
I water in relatively slowly but the runoff i get always gets sucked back up by the plant within 5 / 10mins.
Im wondering if 6L is enough water for a 30L fabric pot. Maybe i could push to 7L just to make sure i saturate the medium, leaving no potential dry spots in soil. Do you think that could be a cause ?
I’ll post some pics of the ladies today after feeding them a tea.
 

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Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
I had the same watering issues in my organic soil. Ive switched over to sips, and have been amazed at the difference.
A super simple sip that you could make in a matter of minutes, is take a big plastic tub, put about 5"-6" of perlite in it, and set your pots on top of the perlite. Pour in water, until the water level is about an inch below the top of the perlite. Ive got a 10 gallon and 7 gallon fabric pot both sitting in one right now.
After this run, I'm gonna pull it out, and replace it with a sip planter I got at Lowes. Ive got 3 already, and I love them.
I just ordered an earth box from bas. I can't wait for it to get here.
 
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