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- #21
SpacemanSpiff
New Member
Week #3
Alright, my girl is smaller than I expected and it sort of concerns me. She lost a little height when I replanted last week, due to putting soil around the base, but not that much and right now at three weeks, she is only 2" tall. She does have two nodes and is very symmetrical with nice color. (See pictures.) The nodes are very close and this could allow for a short bushy plant, that would work well in my small grow area. Here is my analysis of why she is small, based on the 420Mag Thread "What are some causes of slow plant growth?":
Overwatering — Do not think this is the cause, I've been extremely cautious about watering, because of all the reading I have done on this site. When I replanted last week, the roots looked healthy.
Soil with too much bark content — Definite possibility. Looking at the soil last night, I noticed that there really is a lot of bark in the organic mixture that I used. My seeding soil contained 75% vermiculite with 25% organic soil. The soil in the new pot has more of the organic mixture with a 50/50 mixture. It never occurred to me that bark could inhibit growth, but I was already thinking that she looks sort of like a bonsai tree.
Light deprivation — (Min 50W/m2) Considering that I have a 300W LED and I know that it is pulling at least 120W and that I am keeping my lights low due to limits in my grow room and my plant is only about 4 inches square, the light deficiency is not something that I am worried about.
Low nutrient strength — May be a possibility, but I am using a high organic mixture and rain water which has natural nitrogen that makes my yard grow like crazy. I may look for some good organic nutrients, but this won't be my first thing to try.
Nutrient lockup — Considering I haven't added much of anything, this is not a concern. (Maybe I should try more fertilizer?)
Light Spectrum — I am using an LED light from an unknown provider, but the ratio of red to blue looks to be alright, based on what I have read. However, with the abundance of inexpensive LEDs now days, yesterday I went ahead and added a white LED. Maybe this will help, it is an easy thing to try.
pH — I'm growing with soil, so the target is 6.5-7.0. I have a pH meter with a needle instead of
digital readout, so it is hard to tell exactly, but I read it to be 6.9. I really think my pH is OK.
Low Temperatures — (Target 77-86F) Looking at my records, my extremes were 72 and 88, with most days ranging 73-85, so I think this is alright.
Low soil temperature — The soil feels warm on the surface and pushng my finger in, it is not cool to the touch.
Some plants just don't grow well — Next time I will be growing more than a single plant so that I can weed out any runts. I may go ahead and plant my last four seeds now, to see if any grow quicker and to more easily/quickly fill a screen.
My conclusion — Based on what I have read and observed with my grow, I think that the most likely culprit is the bark in my organic soil. I do not want to transplant just yet and having my own Bonsai Pot Plant could be nice, but if I grow the rest of my seeds, I will either filter the bark out and use more vermiculite or try some new soils altogether. Adding another light to make sure I have a good spectrum is easy and I have already started this. I am looking for a good organic fertilizer, to potentially stimulate more growth.
If there are other things that I should consider or try, let me know!
Alright, my girl is smaller than I expected and it sort of concerns me. She lost a little height when I replanted last week, due to putting soil around the base, but not that much and right now at three weeks, she is only 2" tall. She does have two nodes and is very symmetrical with nice color. (See pictures.) The nodes are very close and this could allow for a short bushy plant, that would work well in my small grow area. Here is my analysis of why she is small, based on the 420Mag Thread "What are some causes of slow plant growth?":
Overwatering — Do not think this is the cause, I've been extremely cautious about watering, because of all the reading I have done on this site. When I replanted last week, the roots looked healthy.
Soil with too much bark content — Definite possibility. Looking at the soil last night, I noticed that there really is a lot of bark in the organic mixture that I used. My seeding soil contained 75% vermiculite with 25% organic soil. The soil in the new pot has more of the organic mixture with a 50/50 mixture. It never occurred to me that bark could inhibit growth, but I was already thinking that she looks sort of like a bonsai tree.
Light deprivation — (Min 50W/m2) Considering that I have a 300W LED and I know that it is pulling at least 120W and that I am keeping my lights low due to limits in my grow room and my plant is only about 4 inches square, the light deficiency is not something that I am worried about.
Low nutrient strength — May be a possibility, but I am using a high organic mixture and rain water which has natural nitrogen that makes my yard grow like crazy. I may look for some good organic nutrients, but this won't be my first thing to try.
Nutrient lockup — Considering I haven't added much of anything, this is not a concern. (Maybe I should try more fertilizer?)
Light Spectrum — I am using an LED light from an unknown provider, but the ratio of red to blue looks to be alright, based on what I have read. However, with the abundance of inexpensive LEDs now days, yesterday I went ahead and added a white LED. Maybe this will help, it is an easy thing to try.
pH — I'm growing with soil, so the target is 6.5-7.0. I have a pH meter with a needle instead of
digital readout, so it is hard to tell exactly, but I read it to be 6.9. I really think my pH is OK.
Low Temperatures — (Target 77-86F) Looking at my records, my extremes were 72 and 88, with most days ranging 73-85, so I think this is alright.
Low soil temperature — The soil feels warm on the surface and pushng my finger in, it is not cool to the touch.
Some plants just don't grow well — Next time I will be growing more than a single plant so that I can weed out any runts. I may go ahead and plant my last four seeds now, to see if any grow quicker and to more easily/quickly fill a screen.
My conclusion — Based on what I have read and observed with my grow, I think that the most likely culprit is the bark in my organic soil. I do not want to transplant just yet and having my own Bonsai Pot Plant could be nice, but if I grow the rest of my seeds, I will either filter the bark out and use more vermiculite or try some new soils altogether. Adding another light to make sure I have a good spectrum is easy and I have already started this. I am looking for a good organic fertilizer, to potentially stimulate more growth.
If there are other things that I should consider or try, let me know!
