Why are the leaves on my plant looking yellow and stained?

[Emilya Green]

but is it a fungus gnat, am i now going to have little larvae worms crawling through my soil and eating my roots?

Not if you let the soil dry out every time... they hate that.

 

[GrowInTheDark]

what about some sort of insecticide as well, cause its bugging me, i can go to home depot tomorrow and get something, I think these things are what are killing my plants,

How Fungus Gnat Larvae Cause Damage to Cannabis Plants

Larvae attack tender new plant roots and root hairs, which cause these problems:

“Damping off” - seeds or seedlings are weak for no apparent reason; sometimes stems weaken and seedlings can even just fall over and die
If the fungus gnat infestation gets out of hand, even adult cannabis plants start looking unhealthy, showing many symptoms such as wilting, yellowing, drooping, spots
Cannabis leaves may show signs of nutrient deficiency (or deficiencies) which seem to be unrelated to pH, nutrients, or any other identifiable nutrient problem
Plants will start growing slowly and may even stop growing altogether
If the infestation hits in the flowering stage, yields can be reduced

 

[GrowInTheDark]

I have 2 cfl 23 watt bulbs and have my pants 2 inch from them and look just fine wet

how old is that plant, because it looks the same size as mine but mine is going on 23 days

 

[Thehalobluntm]

1 week sprout then 3 weeks Tuesday

 

[GrowInTheDark]

Here is an update, my girl, is doing much better, after a repot, new soil, and some foiller feeding, here is a pic, thx you guys for the help.

 

[growchick]

Looking better! Keep on it, your new growth looks great and I see green trying to come back as much as it can into the damaged leaves. The dead parts of the leaves will most likely not come back, but that is ok. Leave those damaged leaves alone and let the plant take them if she wants to, and that will give you a clear indication as to whether she is responding to your actions. If you pluck these leaves, she has no other way to talk to you, and if she gets in trouble again, she will have no choice but to pick another set of leaves to cannibalize. Let her work... she knows what to do, and if you watch very carefully, she IS communicating.

Such good advice - your plants really do try to talk to you!

 

[simplyme]

Dear Emilya,
I have read some of your posts on watering and I am very thankful for so much valuable info, but I have a question for you regarding the watering of autoflowers: due to the fact that autos usually are planted in their final pot, how would you then proceed to water the small plant in such a big container?
Sorry Growinthedark for the intrusion

 

[Emilya Green]

Dear Emilya,
I have read some of your posts on watering and I am very thankful for so much valuable info, but I have a question for you regarding the watering of autoflowers: due to the fact that autos usually are planted in their final pot, how would you then proceed to water the small plant in such a big container?
Sorry Growinthedark for the intrusion

My apologies also to Growinthedark,

Simplyme, you have hit on the big reason why planting autos in the final pot is such a problem. It can be done, but watering normally is out the window when you have a very small plant lost in an ocean of soil.

This "usually" that you speak of, I think is a modern myth too and over time I believe it will go away. Growers of weed are always getting better at their craft, and I believe that just like so many other things in the garden, we will understand more about how to deal with autos in the future. The first fallacy driving this myth is that transplanting is stressful. Done correctly, a plant barely notices that it has been transplanted and I almost never see signs of stress. I suppose we are to assume that somehow an auto is more aware of its surroundings than other plants?

Anyway, I digress... you asked a specific question. How to water correctly. The key to this is to understand that there are 2 sets of roots, the upper roots that tend to turn into a fine mesh of laterally growing roots all throughout the upper half of the container, and the lower roots, the tap and feeder roots that go as deep as they can and then wrap back up and around the lower part of the rootball, and which are designed to be able to handle being under water for extended periods of time.
Also, it is important to understand what happens to the water itself as you apply it to the container. If you water as in a normal situation, saturating the soil and producing runoff, this will put a LOT of water in that container... way more than your tiny plant could possibly use. The plant will suck and suck and try as hard as it can, but eventually the lower roots will realize that they have been underwater for too long, and they will begin to shut down to protect themselves from the flood. This is when your lower leaves will start to turn yellow, showing you that there is now a nutritional deficiency.
At this point your plant will be surviving on its upper roots, but since the plant can only use a portion of that water, and even less now that the lower roots have shut down, the water table drops very slowly throughout the top of the container. This causes another bad situation in the upper roots since the lower portion of the upper roots (stay focused ) remain underwater, and the very upper portion start to dry out, and drying out for more than 4 or 5 days causes them to die back a bit too. The only happy place in the entire container during this watering fiasco is a small region just above the water table... the rest is either too wet or too dry.

So in this situation, one must be creative... and one must always pay attention to whether the water is starting to collect at the bottom... if it is, you are watering too much. One must water with small amounts at a time, attempting to tease out root growth laterally in the container, by watering slowly and with small amounts, just around the outside edge of the container. Your goal is to wet the upper half of the container, mostly at the edges, but all over too... but with just enough water that it will only drop a small ways into the container. You should do this every day or two... keeping that top moist down below your first knuckle.

This keeps the top alive and growing outward, but also you can not neglect your lower roots... They need water too. To supply them in this large pot, you have to understand where they are... and using about 1/2 as much water as it took to lightly water the top, slowly apply this water right at the base of your plant... right down the middle. Take your time and make sure that most of this water goes straight down.

The key to this is to use the right amount of water. It is not easy to determine. If water weight builds up, you are using too much. As you do this for a few water cycles, you will notice that because of your careful watering, your root system is actually being enticed to grow all throughout that container and that your plant is wanting more and more water. There is a point, especially with an auto as fast as they grow, that you will be able to abandon this targeted watering strategy and begin to water normally, by saturating the soil to run off and waiting for the plant to use it. You can test to see if you are at this point any time you like by doing it... if it takes more than 5 days to become light again, it was too soon.

Hope this helps... I think it would be a lot easier just to up-pot successively, just understanding that with an auto, as fast as they grow, everything is accelerated... so you might end up transplanting several times in just a few weeks... but with the above discussion in mind, which is easier?

Emmie

 

[growchick]

I've learned so much in this thread today my brain is buzzing. I've never been able to keep a houseplant alive. I grow really great veggies and flowers in my yard, and I grow hydroponically for my meds. But I can't keep a damn thing alive in a pot in my living room or on the kitchen counter (except my herbs which are growing hydroponically).

I re-read Emilya's posts like 3 times over, and I finally get it! I just don't have the first clue (well now I do, actually) how to water a plant in soil. Super cool!!

Also - your new leaves look really healthy and pretty! Good job.

 

[simplyme]

I love learning new things, especially if explained so thoroughly and clearly, thx Emilya! I will test both methods on two plants and see where it gets me.
Good luck to OP!

 

[GrowInTheDark]

Sorry Growinthedark for the intrusion

It's ok, we are all here to learn

 

[GrowInTheDark]

Here is another update on my girl, she is doing great, (she even showed sex ) She has had no further problems, and I thank everyone in this forum for their support and advice you all helped me alot.

 

[Emilya Green]

Looking great! Good job!