It's a no grow

[dontinhale]

Been growing indoors for 5 years or so. 2x4x5 tent with 400 watt HPS. Buds have always been small and fluffy. Currently growing Blackberry and Gods treat. I usually have 6 plants growing. Currently have 6 plants all of which are on their 2nd crop. (re vegged). About Christmas I noticed a slow down. I have been wanting to switch to LED lights so I tried the mars hydro 144x3 reflector light panel. After 3 weeks no growth and no trichromes. These plants have been in same soil for close to a year now. They are really heavy too. Just checked and some of them have drainage problems which I corrected. I tried the LEDs up close to the plants and 20 inches away from them. Now that I think about it.... The slow down was before the LEDs so perhaps the lights aren't the problem? Any help would be great.

 

[JohnnieJC3]

I see you posted in the LED thread so I have questions(past call center experience). What kind of soil, pots, exhaust setup, intake, revegged clones, are they droopy, you mention drainage issues, easy to overwater with bad drainage. I remember years ago I was in a pinch and used black gold without adding perlite to it, the clones roots wouldn't/couldn't penetrate the soil(droopy sad babies). As soon as I repotted with better soil, the clones were back on track within a week. They drooped with virtually no growth. Those are a few questions, let's figure this out.

 

[dontinhale]

Ok thanks so much. I feel more confident already. I always used a grow mix called pro mix in a green bag. Can't find any so switched to another pro mix in an orange bag. Didn't really look too close at ingredients but made sure it didn't have time released fertilizer. This is what plants are in and they are heavy. 3 gallon containers. I use joy juice. Tonight I took 2 of these plants and yanked the entire plant with root ball out of the pot. This was attempt to get air to roots. Put back in pot and gave full gallon of water and nothing came out bottom. Soil acts like a sponge. Last night I lowered the LEDs from 20" away from canopy to 10" away. Tonight I can see some clear trichromes on 2 plants. This is 144x3 reflector light from mars hydro. They recommend 18" to 24" distance from canopy. Plants are about 18" tall. Very bushy as in thick. You mention droopy. I wouldn't say they are droopy. They reach up for lights. Really small fluffy buds. Thanks again..

 

[ChanandlrBong]

Yeah, I think that orange pro mix is less than ideal for cannabis. I'm sure you could just add some perlite or growstones to increase drainage and gas exchange. Sand should do the job too. Was the other pro mix in a purple bag?

 

[Dutty Panty]

White and orange it's hp and it's perfect for cannabis. if its bx and you will need to add perlite.

 

[dontinhale]

No the bag was more green in color. There's another brand of pro mix that has a purple bag. Can I just repot the whole plant? I'll have to sacrifice some roots that will fall off. One of these weighs about 35 lbs. I started mixing my own peat, perlite, and vermiculite.

 

[ChanandlrBong]

I have re potted small to medium sized plants. The oldest I've done was maybe 3-4 weeks old. I dumped the plant out and removed a lot of soil with my fingers. I then rinsed of the roots in the sink. Lastly, I dipped the roots in a Neem solution before re-potting. Most of them survived and started growing again without much delay.