Crinkly leaves after sordid childhood - Nutes or no nutes?

[mordero]

Strain - Nirvana Seeds - Blue mystic (predominately Indica)

# of Plants - 2

Grow Type - Soil

Grow Stage - Vegetative

Bucket Size - currently in middle size of half a 2-liter pop bottle. moving up to a 3 gallon smart pot.. maybe.

Lights - 24/0- 3x 26w 6500k CFL, 2x 26w 2700k CFL / 300x 5050 SMD leds at 0.24w per diode. (~70w?) = ~200w



Nutrients - only a small epsom salt supplement with the most recent 200mL watering
diluted at a rate of 1Tbsp/Gal

Medium - 60% FFOF/40% generic organic potting mix from joblot, to avoid "too hot" ffof

PPM - I opted to not go with PPM measurements this time around.

pH - ~6.5 I'd say slightly higher, maybe a 6.7.. using liquid indicator.

RH - 45-55

Room Temperature -74 to 84

Solution Temperature - n/a?

Room Square Footage - .67 sq ft.

Pests - saw a single bug the other day, pretty sure he got sucked in through an intake. have been monitoring closely, with no other incidents.



I'm mord, long-time reader, first-time poster; hope it's worthy.
This is my first time trying to grow cannabis apart from tossing seeds in my yard when I was younger.

Due to living arrangements, the plants are growing inside a 5 gallon bucket, modified in a stacking design to allow additional height as it/they grow(s) (#spacebuckets). One of the plants will be moved outside to a guerilla location, allowing the space inside for the other.

My goals for this aren't really for a high yield, though I'd like to fully utilize the space in the bucket. I'm looking more to develop a relationship with the plant, as I enjoy plant medicine studies and ethnobotany, and would like to add this to my list of plant teachers. We're going for potency guys, so here's my lighting..

I'm not sure whether they're growing at a healthy rate or whether they're stunted, I germinated them in plastic dinner cups with some stones at the bottom to assist drainage, but I think I fudged the practice there, stones were too big and the roots were stunted halfway down the cup. They were moved to the bottles 1 week after germination. This is them after the transplant.

4/25-Germination

5/2- transplanted by filling the bottles to within the height of the dinner cups from the rim
I then loosened the sides of the dirt mass in the cup and flipped it gently upside down to slide it out, placing it in to the bottle, and gently adding soil around the edges to fill it in. i added straight tap water..

I feel that the soil was too damp, with no real wet/dry cycle, and they didn't have an opportunity (or need) to stretch their roots, the overwatering continued until after the second set came in, with some purple tints on new growth, at that time it was a toss-up between pH problems, the overwatering, genetics, or a legitimate magnesium deficiency, so I waited until 5/4 for my pH kit to arrive, tested soil samples from both, found A to be 7.0 and B to be 6.5ish, and found my tap water to be 8.0!!!! I took a gamble and pH corrected a gallon of water to 6.5, added 1 tbsp of epsom salts, shook well to aerate, let it sit for a couple hours, shook again gently, checked ph, still more or less 6.5, and I flushed them, intent on now giving them a solid wet/dry cycle, and measuring water from here on out.

5/6- Soil as dry in both as I was comfortable with, bone-dry to my second knuckle, gave both 200mL of the epsom salt water at ~6.7 pH.

5/7- Today, my day off, so I'm making this post and taking all the pictures. Soil is still moist in places, so i'm holding off another day to check moisture and potentially give them another 200mL, also, FF Big Bloom and Grow Big will arrive tomorrow, I'm not sure if they need them though. What do you think?

Here is Lady A-

The droopage is real! Hoping the firm wet/dry cycle helps!

Are these roots on plant A a result of the break in watering after the "flush"? It was the first dry spell they had experienced and I feel like this is a good sign, though I am now worried about them becoming root bound.

Hooray! maybe!

Here's Lady B, significantly less droopy, but her yellow coloration makes me think she was affected by the over watering practices as well.. or ph problems prior to being tested.. or transplant shock.. or everything..
I'm hoping new watering practices and a some FF BB and GB will perk her up and bring new growth in at a great color.

The other ill news aside, I think the lighting is spot on, the node structure seems TIGHT! I intend to top and main-line the one that remains in the bucket, though which one that will be is undecided.


So what do you guys think, do they need to start nutes like I think?
Should I wait longer and see if the watering practices alone will fix it?
Am I just being impatient?
Does growth look good for day 13?
Does the third set of true leaves coming in mean this is Day 1 of Veg?

I want to thank everybody in advance, I've already learned a great amount from reading these forums (and others), and am excited for some personalized advice to help me fine-tune my own technique

 

[Dan Ultra]

Do you have any drain holes in those bottles? It looks like the roots are starving for O2. Either transplant to a smart pot, or get some holes cut and water it with so H202 at a rate of 1 cup per gallon.

Also, it's not a great idea to have the roots exposed to light. So take something and cover up the clear parts of the bottles if you decide to keep using them.

 

[mordero]

Okay dan, I've culled the more wrinkled one, and transferred remaining one too an air pot as you suggested




I used a much much lighter mix, 60% ffof 40% perlite, and she seems to have perked up a bit, i watered a little after transplanting her, but am holding off til it's mostly dry now


-Drainage holes



close-up.. see the mix?

 

[Major PITA]

That mix sounds too light. It should work, but will need more attention.

Those plants have almost certainly been watered nearly to death. In a pot (bottle) that size and with your lights, you could probably go for a month without any water. Any bottle or pot w/o drain holes is certain death to cannabis.

You should always water-in a transplant really well. Then leave it alone. Don't wait a day...or five. Wait until the plant will actually benefit from more water. If watered properly, a plant in that new, bigger pot should be able to go at least a month. You probably won't see much growth for quite a while. It has to fill that pot with roots before it spends a lot of its energy above ground.

 

[mordero]

Thank you guys for your words of guidance, for some reason "water when the plant will benefit" just made so much sense.. haha

Here she is, she hasn't received any water yet, i guess i'm waiting for the leaves to thin out and lift up... but i'm not sure if I should be watching all leaves for this change or just new growth

 

[Growlow]

I have some info to share with you once I can upload photos. For some reason I'm encountering an error and am waiting for it to be addressed by the 420MAG webmaster magicians to do there crafty work. I'll be sure to post as soon as I can mate I think it will help ya a fair bit

 

[mordero]

I had to host on a third party site this morning

 

[Growlow]

So the info that UltraDan and the Major told you is great. You can find a bunch of photos on this forum and through google that will give you a great idea of whether you are deficient or in excess. But to save you the time and effort. I find these photos more helpful than most.

Put these into your arsenal my friend and you'll be way better off. At least you'll be driving in the dark with the lights on

 

[Major PITA]

So the info that UltraDan and the Major told you is great. You can find a bunch of photos on this forum and through google that will give you a great idea of whether you are deficient or in excess. But to save you the time and effort. I find these photos more helpful than most.

Put these into your arsenal my friend and you'll be way better off. At least you'll be driving in the dark with the lights on

A great reference! Somehow Boron got in there twice and Iron is missing.

 

[mordero]

Thank you much growlab! i'm gonna laminate them and make a flip book. The collective support is really making this more of an adventure than a task, so thanks again to PITA and Dan

I've got some work to do on the bucket, higher cfm fans came today, so i'll be able to affix the carbon filters on the exhaust and the hepa filters on the intake. Will post more pics in one week (or sooner if problems) to show progress!

 

[Growlow]

A great reference! Somehow Boron got in there twice and Iron is missing.

Opps you're right lol

 

[Growlow]

Might need to do yourself a little bit of cut and paste. It's all there though hehe. Sorry bout that mate

 

[mordero]

after the transplant she didn't receive any water for 4 days, i waited til the soil was good and dry about half a finger in, the new growth is much softer, and she seems to have worked her roots in to a stronger mass, as the up-top growth seems to be picking up.

2 days ago she got about 600mL of water (my drainage is insane now) with 1/4 str FF big bloom and grow big, I think I see the tiniest signs of nute burn, but i'm leaning on heat since she's getting close to the light and it's on the upper leaf tips. time for another spacer I'm gonna add another 5 meters of led strip in the next section of stacker, to keep up with her bulk.

I am going to get some BioAG VAM inoculant and the best way to colonize is contact with the roots during a transplant, but since she's already in her final container and i missed the boat, do you guys have any ideas?

 

[Major PITA]

I"m surprised it needed water after 4 days. Your FF/perlite mix must not be holding moisture. Even with "insane drainage" I would have expected it to go two weeks with all that new soil. Prior to transplant your plant looked like it was drowning. I hope you aren't heading down the same path. Over-watering often mimics under-watering and nutrient deficiencies. I would not judge when to water by sticking your finger in the top of the pot. It tells you nothing about how much water is left in the pot.

 

[mordero]

so here we are now, i had begun to top and trim to set up 4 equal colas, but when bending the first of the two branches down, i snapped it, and overbent the other one, effectively super-cropping it by accident. so i snipped the dangling one and decided to just let it be and grow in its traditional shape. i swapped to 12/12 about two weeks ago, and last sunday saw the first pre-flower. there are more now on each node, and the lower brances are coming up seeking the side-lighting.

I was a day late throwing another spacer in, and she seems to have grown 3-4" almost overnight, So i singed a couple fingertips when the lights came on this morning.

Also, in one of the pictures, you can see a singed tip and a rusty spot on one of the middle leaves. it's the only spot I see anywhere. at first I thought it was burnt from touching the led's on the side, but it wouldn't have been the only tip touching them, or close.

Judging by the booklet, a sulfur deficiency says young leaves turn lime-green to yellowish, yellowed veins, the tips burn, and purple streaks along the stem, AND the stem turns woody, which pretty much fits the bill. check it out.

 

[Islandgrow]

so here we are now, i had begun to top and trim to set up 4 equal colas, but when bending the first of the two branches down, i snapped it, and overbent the other one, effectively super-cropping it by accident. so i snipped the dangling one and decided to just let it be and grow in its traditional shape. i swapped to 12/12 about two weeks ago, and last sunday saw the first pre-flower. there are more now on each node, and the lower brances are coming up seeking the side-lighting.

I was a day late throwing another spacer in, and she seems to have grown 3-4" almost overnight, So i singed a couple fingertips when the lights came on this morning.

Also, in one of the pictures, you can see a singed tip and a rusty spot on one of the middle leaves. it's the only spot I see anywhere. at first I thought it was burnt from touching the led's on the side, but it wouldn't have been the only tip touching them, or close.

Judging by the booklet, a sulfur deficiency says young leaves turn lime-green to yellowish, yellowed veins, the tips burn, and purple streaks along the stem, AND the stem turns woody, which pretty much fits the bill. check it out.

How did they finish up. I have 3 myself and wondering about the stretch?

"carpe diem"