Mold!?

Hi all

This is my first grow. I fucked it up big time, but things are slowly getting better.

However, today I went to water my plants and the one that didn't really recover too well looks like it isn't drinking. It still feels saturated. I took a closer look and I think maybe the roots or soil are getting moldy!!! Can someone take a look and give me your opinion?

Here is my original thread for the nutrient deficiencies and such.

soil molds and fungus are signs of a health soil. Could be mycorrhizae or some type of mycelium both are great to have in a soil grow, but your plant are over feed. I would wait till they need watering then feed only water. Classic over fertilization it the first mistake we all make. You can salvage them still id say.

Pic 3 looks like some nice healthy roots. Not mold

Boatguy said:

Pic 3 looks like some nice healthy roots. Not mold

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Yeah those are roots. If they are sticking up out of the soil that likely means you are way overwatering.

hefflm said:

Hi all

This is my first grow. I fucked it up big time, but things are slowly getting better.

However, today I went to water my plants and the one that didn't really recover too well looks like it isn't drinking. It still feels saturated. I took a closer look and I think maybe the roots or soil are getting moldy!!! Can someone take a look and give me your opinion?

Click to expand...

Your plants have the look of plants that have a less than optimal root zone pH.

Those roots hairs are a good thing.

Whew... that I can deal with. She is the only one not really drinking. I may kill her off along with my other nearly dead plant in the picture. That one is sooooo far gone haha. I think 4 will suffice for personal consumption.

I actually just did the final transplant (3 to 7 gallon fabric pots) and I am two days out from the first water in the new pots. I probably placed her too high in the pot when transplanting...? Seems more likely than overwatering, right?

From the previous thread, when I started I was overwatering, then underwatering, and fucking up the pH causing nutrient lockout and burn. Lots of folks pointed to phosphorus and magnesium, so I began trying to bring them back to life. Out of the 6 I had going, 4 are doing much better.

Thoughts on killing her and just moving on? If she isn't drinking, what does that really mean? The other 4 pots were much lighter after 2 days...

Renfro said:

Your plants have the look of plants that have a less than optimal root zone pH.

Those roots hairs are a good thing.

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Absolutely. I had pH issues from the very beginning. They actually look wayyyy better than they did a month ago. I guess my concern is if I keep trying to nurse them back to full 100% health they'll be 3'+ feet tall by the time I hit flowering. Then if they stretch way too much, I'll run out of room. The tent is only 7' tall! The LED doesn't run that hot, but having it directly on top of the plants probably isn't a good look. I have a trellis net I'm going to install this week, but I did no LST or anything like that. I did top them twice though.

hefflm said:

Absolutely. I had pH issues from the very beginning. They actually look wayyyy better than they did a month ago. I guess my concern is if I keep trying to nurse them back to full 100% health they'll be 3'+ feet tall by the time I hit flowering. Then if they stretch way too much, I'll run out of room. The tent is only 7' tall! The LED doesn't run that hot, but having it directly on top of the plants probably isn't a good look. I have a trellis net I'm going to install this week, but I did no LST or anything like that. I did top them twice though.

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You are still in veg. Just give em another good topping.

Boatguy said:

You are still in veg. Just give em another good topping.

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Fuck, that's a good point. I should've done that a couple weeks ago. They're already so god damn tall. Should I cover the exposed roots with more soil for now? Can they be harmed by being exposed?

Lots of lessons learned on this first run. I will top again tomorrow and put up the trellis net on Monday. I also plan on installing the Blumats on Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on when I water) to alleviate some of the under/over watering problems I've been creating for myself.

I take mine back 3 or 4 nodes sometimes. They bounce back quick

Really? I thought you should only top on the freshest newest growth on the top. So I can actually go way down low and top? Get them back to like 1 foot or so (ostensibly halving their height)?

hefflm said:

Absolutely. I had pH issues from the very beginning. They actually look wayyyy better than they did a month ago. I guess my concern is if I keep trying to nurse them back to full 100% health they'll be 3'+ feet tall by the time I hit flowering. Then if they stretch way too much, I'll run out of room. The tent is only 7' tall! The LED doesn't run that hot, but having it directly on top of the plants probably isn't a good look. I have a trellis net I'm going to install this week, but I did no LST or anything like that. I did top them twice though.

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Just keep plugging on the pH correction even if you go to flower. Stay on it.

I usually wait till they get to 6 or 7 nodes and top back at 3 for the first topping. Its not a problem

Alright, cool; that is good to know. Do you LST after your first top or just let them grow out? I tried using this tutorial:


but I destroyed the first plant I tried to tie down. I broke the main branch right in half. That is why one of my plants looks super bushy and just generally odd. It is hard to tell in the picture, but it is the big boy in the center. It is in a 13 gallon fabric pot because it got so big after I initially fucked it up. Long story short, I didn't want to do more damage so I stopped trying to train. I think they may have been too young and the branches/stems too weak for my non-dexterous hands.

I feel way better now that I have a plan. Top 4 nodes down, keep correcting pH, trellis net, possibly try to LST again, and let the plant that isn't drinking have a minute to catch up to the rest.

Thanks all! As always, this forum rocks.

I have topped mine twice this round.
They are around 5 weeks from seed. May top one more time. I repot 2 to 3 weeks before flipping to flower.
Never tried a small plant to a huge pot so i cant offer you any advice there. Biggest pot i have used indoors is 3 gallon

Boatguy said:

I have topped mine twice this round.
They are around 5 weeks from seed. May top one more time. I repot 2 to 3 weeks before flipping to flower.
Never tried a small plant to a huge pot so i cant offer you any advice there. Biggest pot i have used indoors is 3 gallon

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That's interesting. Everything I've read says to wait until the plant has like 5+ nodes, then top the new growth.

Have any resources that document cutting off multiple nodes? If I go forward with this to prevent them from getting to tall, I don't want to fuck it up. They have already had a pretty hard life haha.

Nice! Thanks a lot.