Plant Moisture Stress - Symptoms and Solutions

jpknowmad said:

Uncle Ben,
First, thanks for all that you do for the forum. Second, I have read some of your posts related to spinout and am curious as to what you think of SmartPots? Thanks

Just thought of second question, what do you think of this fert?

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bob h said:

iv tried to flush but it took along time for the water to drain through, maybe the soil is too compacted, the plant is reasonably fine and seem to be growing alright but dose have burnt areas on some of the leaves, could the plant come right if i just give it water no nutes. is using only a air extractor fan be alright.

please help out mate first time abit lost on what im doing cheers

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metroplex said:

Good Day Uncle Ben

hope all is well, been along time since you helped me..... suffering from a little paranoid android syndrome as far as watering my seedlings goes...

would you say this plant needs water, or should i hold off.... thing is the top3 inches seem dry last watering was 150ml almost 2 days ago
pots are 5 inches high 12 cm round
lights are 4x 36 w cool daylight flourexcent tubes
plants are no more than 2 inches from the light source
finally the temps are around 25 degrees 79f
here is a picView attachment 1090960

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Uncle Ben said:

It appears that the neem oil product burned them (drew moisture out of the leaf tissue), most likely the carrier was the culprit. Safer Soaps are notorious for doing that, reason why I won't use 'em. The damage has been done, and most likely those leaves will not recover. Might have to put it behind you and focus on the condition of the new growth only. You could always blast them with some distilled or rain water and see if that helps.

canadiancracker, using hydroton to open up a soil is like dropping a handful of marbles in a big bag of flour. Use vermiculite and perlite to open up your soils and save your money regarding the hydroton. Or if you're skittish about overwatering, use a 1" layer of the hydroton in the bottom of the pot.

I am a commercial grower (farmer of niche crops) and use a slow release fertilizer on everything, we're talkin' thousands of plant material. It's an excellent way to provide plants with what they really like, a slow release source of food on a continuous basis. If those encapsulated granules were green, then you have a Polyon, a Harrell plant food product which I buy in 50 lb. bags. I believe that is what Schultz uses. DO mix your own custom soil, just add some slow release foods like blood and bone meal and Osmocote or any other encapsulated slow release food.

Good luck,
UB

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jjfoo said:

There is a suggestion to add hydroton to the bottom of the pot in a quote from an old post. Why would you add hydroton to the bottom of a pot? Correct me if I'm wrong but water stays in the pot because of surface tension and capillary action, not because lack of hydroton on the bottom.

For a deeper explanation check: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0321395926870.html

Instead of adding something to raise your medium up, consider using a wick to actually lower the perched water table and in doing so fully drain the pot. Having a small wick that comes out a drain hole will give the water a way to run out. It is not staying there becaues it can't find the drain holes, so adding something to the bottom wont do away with the water. There will always be an aculumlation of water as the water tries to climb up the soil and finally succumbs to gravity.

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warnerwh said:

Uncle Ben I owe you a ton of gratitude. There have been many times I have been puzzled as to what is wrong with my plants (even though I thought I knew sometimes) and what is the proper reaction to retain as much health as possible. You've answered very many questions for me. I've only used GH's 3 part flora series and a little peroxide for some time. Before that I used Peter's but I still have found many ways to get into trouble even keeping things simple. I always wondered why I would need any "extras" so I just ignored all the extra stuff that started filling the shelves over the years. It appears like I'm lucky to have been stubborn. This thread has taught me much of what I have been doing wrong and how to react correctly. I'll be sticking to Dyna-Grow and water. Ph, temps and humidity are in control. Anyway thank you for taking the time to help us. We owe you an awesome party.

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riddleme said:

to keep the soil from compacting at the drain holes and slowing drainage down (or stopping drainage altogether)

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DaveCoulier said:

Would you care to give a more detailed reason as to how clay balls prevent soil compaction at the bottom of the pots? I dont see how they would prevent compaction, as the pore spaces between balls will get full of dirt thanks to compaction from over head watering, as well as break down of soil particles.

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riddleme said:

well my experience has been that I never have a drainage problem, so I do it and I also mix the balls in with the medium instead of perlite
don't think it stops compaction but does seem to keep the drainage holes clear and functional

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DaveCoulier said:

Just because you have never had a drainage problem, doesn't necessarily mean the hydroton actually improved the situation. We humans have a bad habit of seeing a connection between X and Y when there is no such connection.

Im not sure hydroton in your soil would help either. Its too large. They'll just get swallowed up by the smaller soil particles, and wont really improve drainage in anyway I can see.

Did you read the article from Tapla before?

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