New Colorado Grower - Need some advice

[englishmuffin]

Hello All,

Since it's a New Year I decided I needed a new project therefore I decided to try my green thumb at cannabis growing. I got some clones from a trusted friend which have been in soil for about three weeks. So, here is my issue:

Strains - White Widow, Silver Surfer Haze, Blue Dream
# of Plants - 3
Grow Type - Soil
Grow Stage - Vegetative
Bucket Size - 3 gallon?
Lights - Currently two 85 watt CFL 5500K - two 23 watt 2700K (added last week)
Nutrients - Jack's 20-20-20
Medium - Mushroom compost mixed with 10% vermiculite and 10% coco coir.
PH - Don't know
RH - 40-50?
Room Temperature -75-82
Room Square Footage - 5 X 2
Pests - None Known

Problem: During the first week my cat barged her way into the grow setup and managed to ravage my White Widow completely and part of the Silver Surfer Haze. Since then they have recovered a bit but are starting to show signs of stress, which I suspect is light burn.

Initially I applied two feedings with jack (1/4 teaspoon per gallon) and thought I had nute burned the white widow. Therefore I flushed with water over the last two waterings (once every 5-6 days - basically when dry). During this time I noticed the Silver Surfer Haze started to show issues but I'm not quite sure what it is. During this time I had one 85 watt and one 65 watt cfl about 1-2 inches from the top of the plants. I'm thinking that was too much light for the clones?

I swapped out the 65 watt for another 85 watt on this past Monday (also added the 23 watt 2700k lights just for some diversity) and raised the lights to 3-4 inches from the top of the plants but this didn't solve the issue. I have since turned off one of the lights and resumed feeding 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. I'd appreciate any advice! (I know I need a ph monitor)

White Widow (Savaged by the Cat. It was never a strong looking clone anyway)

Blue Dream

Silver Surfer Haze

Overall view:

Light Setup:

I added a mylar last weekend as I hear that reflects more light than the reflective tape was using previously. I'm not sure if the mylar is causing hot spots on the leaves but I can't recall this issue before the mylar. I also added a small fan blowing directly into the lights to remove any excess heat that was building up. This air comes down and runs over the plants. Looking forward to your responses! Cheers.

 

[alexcnd]

Hi man the only thing I noticed is the size of the pots you have started in brother maybe try a smaller one first then transplant into larger ones. I went small to 1 gallon, 4 gallon then 7 And everything was good.

And don't even bother with nutes for a few weeks let them develop cause they don't need it straight away.

Hope it helps buddy.

Good luck.

 

[budstud]

Go here and click link and download ph manifesto:

ph manifesto - Google Search

 

[CronicHempHog]

you have some deficiencies going on make sure your not getting nutrient lockout before you try to keep feeding it more

 

[budstud]

You should flush those girls if you want to save them, or at least shoot enough water through to do a run-off measurement and get us the run-off ph, it looks very low and your girls are very sick. If you don't have a ph meter you should at least run out and purchase some ph strips and do the run-off so you'll know approximately where the root-zone ph is at for correction.

 

[englishmuffin]

You should flush those girls if you want to save them, or at least shoot enough water through to do a run-off measurement and get us the run-off ph, it looks very low and your girls are very sick. If you don't have a ph meter you should at least run out and purchase some ph strips and do the run-off so you'll know approximately where the root-zone ph is at for correction.

Hm, I flushed with plain water for the last two weeks hoping that would solve the issue (Letting water drain through the bottom). I am using plain tap water that has been sitting in the watering can for 4-5 days. I guess I'll hit up Lowes for a some PH strips. Thanks!

 

[Marzbadrock]

They need to eat! It could be lockout but I'd say with all the flushing its lack of feeding. Yellow leaves, purple stems, brown spots. Check your soil pH, if its below 5.5 its lockout, if between 5.5 and 7 you need to feed them

 

[englishmuffin]

They need to eat! It could be lockout but I'd say with all the flushing its lack of feeding. Yellow leaves, purple stems, brown spots. Check your soil pH, if its below 5.5 its lockout, if between 5.5 and 7 you need to feed them

Just fed them yesterday I'd never heard of nute lockout before but now I suspect that my be the cause. About the same time I started flushing I also moved the lights closer and disconnected the heater in the grow space. Previously I had let it get to 78-80 while my house temp is 65 max but under the lights the temp was showing 75 or so. I suspect the temp was getting too low (possibly low sixties) so I just plugged the heater back in.

I did a bit more searching and it looks like this might be a potassium deficiency most likely caused by the lockout. I'll definitely get a ph strip today to test the runoff and initial water. Blue dream doesn't look too bad so hopefully I can save her.

 

[Marzbadrock]

You have nitro deficiency too. PH lockout is very common, it is usually the source of the problem. For veg I'd keep my temps 75 to 80 lights on, and 65 lights off.
Check the pH of your water
Check pH of runoff water.
Get the average number of the two and this will be roughly your soil pH. Check ppm on runoff to if possible.
A good digital soil pH tester is $10, not a bad investment.

 

[Marzbadrock]

When my pots are saturated my pH is 6.0
When dry my pH is 7.0
Keep in !mind moisture content will make your readings flucuate

 

[englishmuffin]

I assume then I should be fine if I plug the other 85 watt cfl back in?

 

[Marzbadrock]

I have no experience with cfl. I'd place the back of my hand over the canopy to check heat, if its comfortable for you its prob good for plants

 

[CronicHempHog]

you can run comfortably in soil to about 85 f
id try to keep it at least 75

 

[englishmuffin]

Well what a difference two weeks can make. I did some emergency foliar feeding twice a week for the first two weeks plus slowly increased the fertilizer per gallon from 1/4 teaspoon to 3/4 and now almost a full tablespoon. I'm going to try and SCROG these later this week.

Silver Surfer

White Widow

Blue Dream

Edit: Should say thank you for all your previous advice about nute lockout/deficiency. I still haven't gotten a PH monitor (Lowes/HD didn't have a good selection and I can't find one with good reviews on Amazon for a decent price) but I plan to make the investment soon. I'm hoping for another 3 weeks of good veg growth before switching over to flowering.