Very slow growth in soil

rootsRock

rootsRock

Member
howdy all,

i finished my room and started my first crop about five weeks ago. i was expecting to run into problems, and learn a lot this time around, but now i'm just getting frustrated.

unfortunately, when i started out, i didn't notice that i purchased GARDEN soil instead of POTTING soil, and it was only about a week ago that it occurred to me that this is most likely my main issue.

anyway, the plants are showing some growth, but not very much. the older fan leaves have all yellowed, so i removed them. some new leaves have yellowed, and all seem to have burnt-looking tips, though on some, they aren't really looking burnt now (also, at this point, new growth isn't yellowing right away). some of the leaves are showing weird brown/yellow spots . . . don't think it's pests, as i've thoroughly examined all plants and haven't found anything crawling around on them.

here's the low-down:

6 plants in 4-gallon containers (3 jack the ripper, 3 querkle)
soil: kellogg organic garden soil (recently read that THIS STUFF IS AWEFUL!!! pretty sure i agree . . .)
lights: HO florescent; 4', 8-tube (~40,000 lumens)
watering: about 32oz every three days (soil doesn't seem to dry that well, but it's mixed with about 35% perlite . . .)

PLEASE HELP ME! i'm thinking i'm either simply overwatering, or i might need to chuck the soil and move the babies to a hydro medium, and start usuing a passive reservoir system. if any of you agree/think this would help, please suggest an affordable medium!
 
doobnVA

doobnVA

Well-Known Member
yeah 32 oz is a lot. I've got plants in 3 gallon containers and they get less than a cup (about 6 oz) every 3-4 days. They're small (3 or 4 inches) so yours may need a bit more, but not much.

I made the garden soil mistake too, so don't feel so bad =)
 
G

growone

Well-Known Member
you mention that it doesn't seem to be drying out completely red flag for root issues - might have a touch of root rot going
 
M

mrmadcow

Well-Known Member
I would get some better soil & mix it w/ perlite, take the plants out of the pots & remove as much "dirt" from the rootball as possible w/out damaging the roots. repot in same containers w/ your new soil and see what happens.if the pots are rootbound,trim some of the roots.
good luck
 
greengrowthexpert

greengrowthexpert

Active Member
Yeah, Pull your plants don't rip roots your plant will stun for a bit but you will at least get a harvest... it's your first time don't plan on getting HP plants lol. Use some fox farm soil, I really love them. Use there nutes with their soil too, It's very good. I grew some big plants indoor with that shit =O
 
sguardians2

sguardians2

Well-Known Member
rootsRock said:
howdy all,

i finished my room and started my first crop about five weeks ago. i was expecting to run into problems, and learn a lot this time around, but now i'm just getting frustrated.

unfortunately, when i started out, i didn't notice that i purchased GARDEN soil instead of POTTING soil, and it was only about a week ago that it occurred to me that this is most likely my main issue.

anyway, the plants are showing some growth, but not very much. the older fan leaves have all yellowed, so i removed them. some new leaves have yellowed, and all seem to have burnt-looking tips, though on some, they aren't really looking burnt now (also, at this point, new growth isn't yellowing right away). some of the leaves are showing weird brown/yellow spots . . . don't think it's pests, as i've thoroughly examined all plants and haven't found anything crawling around on them.

here's the low-down:

6 plants in 4-gallon containers (3 jack the ripper, 3 querkle)
soil: kellogg organic garden soil (recently read that THIS STUFF IS AWEFUL!!! pretty sure i agree . . .)
lights: HO florescent; 4', 8-tube (~40,000 lumens)
watering: about 32oz every three days (soil doesn't seem to dry that well, but it's mixed with about 35% perlite . . .)

PLEASE HELP ME! i'm thinking i'm either simply overwatering, or i might need to chuck the soil and move the babies to a hydro medium, and start usuing a passive reservoir system. if any of you agree/think this would help, please suggest an affordable medium!
Click to expand...

I used garden soil too, the wife purchased the wrong stuff, so I mixed it down into a super soil mix with bat guano, blood meal, bone meal, perlite,. The problem is that garden soil holds a lot of water an is very slow to dry out.

You have to stop watering immediately! Allow the soil to dry out before watering. Make sure you get a soil moisture probe and check the moisture levels (they will be very high).

Over-watering is the number one reason we kill our plants. You are experiencing nute lock -up becase your soil is too wet, and the roots are not getting enough air, which they need for osmosis. This situation does not allow the roots to use the nutrients in the soil, and will cause root rot.

It will take up to two weeks for that soil to dry out enough to water because of the way garden soil holds water (even with perlite).

I would wait to transplant until the situation is corrected and you start to see improvement in your new growth,otherwise you can over-stress the plants, making the situation worse.

It's up to you, good luck!

Remember, never over-water, cause you can't take it back!
 
rootsRock

rootsRock

Member
doobnVA--thanks for the vote of support! i am certain at this point that it's an overwatering issue. i'm just going to sit back for a while until the top 2" - 4" of soil are DRY DRY, then i'll give 'em some more water.
 
rootsRock

rootsRock

Member
sguardians2--thanks to you as well! i have not doubt that the issue is overwatering. since they are growing (be it slowly), and they are probably stressed as it is, i was considering letting them go without water for a while (10+ days, i imagine), until the soil is really dry, then checking them. however, i think i'm just gonna chuck this soil and start with something else. THANKS!
 
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