"Almost ready" to harvest light green plant

[Micro G.]

Hi everybody!
This is my Royal Critical Auto "almost" ready to harvest. Since what you can see is the result of two/two and a half weeks of flowering I suppose she will be ready for the chop within 2 weeks. Brown hair just started to show up about 3 days ago.

As you can see under 6000k light she looks light green colored. She have lost and still is loosing low leaves which turned yellow and then dry out.I'm really not to concern since all I wanted was a tiny plant, and she is just 18 cm(or 7 inch) tall, and a fair yield which it's already looking more then I could hope for.Anyway I'm here to learn so If you guys would like to give me your thoughts about it's light green look, I will appreciate it.I'm giving her Bio Bizz nutrient following this self made schedule:
week1: 0ml bg(bio grow) per water liter
week2: 0ml bg per water liter
week3: 1ml bg per water liter
week4: 2ml bg per water liter
week5: 2ml bg + 1ml bb(bio bloom) per water liter
week6: 2ml bg + 2ml bb per water liter
week7: 2ml bg + 3ml bb per water liter

I've used 3x11W 6000K led bulbs for the growth and 5x10W 3000K led bulb for flowering.

Maybe I should have stopped with bio grow but I've read that you can use it throughout the whole plant life and that's what I've done.
I use just enough water for the plant to stay healthy and for such tiny plant it means that I just need 2 liter of water with nutrient every week( during growing 1,5 liters was enough). For this reason, expecially the bio grow + Bio bloom mix, start to stink after 3 to 4 days...smell fishy. I probably should have done one liter bottle with bio grow and one with bio bloom. Anyway she is looking good...good enough!

If I can make her look better, I'm here to learn from you!

 

[JimmyNuggs]

Hello @Micro G.
All things considered, you've done a great job so far..
Few thoughts if you'd like to hear them.

Your feed schedule: mostly alright, though after the plant has had her 'flower stretch' you can reduce the biogrow over a few feeds - the N is no longer as important, so its wasted, it also affects flavour.
How small is the pot she is in and what medium are you using? (If in coco and a small pot, it maybe worth watering twice a day)
Biobiz nutrients are simple, effective and organic. Good solid choice.

Readiness: its very unlikely it will be ready to harvest in two weeks, regardless of what breeder recommends.
I would say nearer 4+ weeks (fellow members opinion welcomed!) Just judging by these pics.

Lighting: They will get you to a bud at the end, but plants respond differently to different wavelengths at different phases and of course with higher power.
3500k = flower
4500k = veg
(Both IMHO) is around where you want the lights during respective phase and as a "finger in the air" I would recommend 100/150 actual watts per plant (there are ways or working it out exactly but need more info on your space).

Despite my words you will still get some flower so great job. But research will help if you'd like to cultivate better weed.
Good luck and don't be afraid to reach out if you have questions or problems...

 

[Micro G.]

Thank you very much Jimmy for your help!
I'm using a soil mix that is 33% peat moss 33% compost 33% perlite + vermiculite and the pot it's a DIY fabric pot that should be around 4 liters. I was planning for something smaller to keep my plant small but in the end the plant is small anyway! (probably because she was born with only one cothyledon and no leaves...a rough start!)

You suggest to lower the bio grow 'cause she doesn't need much nitrogen in flowering. To be honest i'm confused right now because I did a little reserch an I've just read that probably my plant actually has a Nitrogen deficiency. I found this definition on growweedeasy.com(unfortunately the rollitup guide "Guide to Nutrient Deficiency or Toxicity" has 99% of pics missing so it's hard to find the solution):
"older, lower leaves on your plant turn yellow, wilt away and eventually die. The plant typically appears pale or lime-colored."
This is exactly what is happening to my plant. Some old and low leaves, but even some higher leaves, turned yellow and fell, and the whole plant looks light green/lime colored.
So I don't know what to do because I can't find NPK values of Bio Bizz products to figure out if I should lower bio grow and increase Bio bloom or even stop with bio grow and add something else like bio haven. If it's really a deficiency I don't think I need to flush the soil I should only change the nutrient, but how?

I don't know if it will be ready in 2 or 4 weeks I'm willing to wait what ever it takes!

My grow room is 1x1 foot, 35x35 cm I've read that around 45 watt for every square foot it's ideal for grow room that uses common led bulb because the light it's strong but not too strong so you can keep it way closer to the plant and have a real micro grow room(I'm planning to built a 20x20cm super stealth grow room for the next grow, I'm aiming for tiny plant with decent yield. even 10-15 g it's fine for me) with plenty of light. My plante is under 55W and 5250 lumen.
My guru for this type of light is Blynx on ICmag forum. He has a 226 pages thread on this topic, 10 years of experiments with micro grow from cfl to led lights. He even did grow one plant under only 3x 10watt 3000k led bulbs and he got 33,5g of dry buds. But that was an experiment he usually use 6 to 8 10watt bulb depending on the dimension of the grow room.
Here are two pics of the 3x10 watt plant

 

[Micro G.]

Just found this in the "Guide for Diagnosing Plant Problems" here on this forum:
Nitrogen: Entire plant is light green in color; lower leaves are yellow; growth is stunted....

The only thing different is that my plant is growing well, not super fast but is's not stunted at all.

 

[JimmyNuggs]

That set up is great...

The N thing is tricky for you, given the flower has started the potential for diagnosing issue incorrectly is v easy.

Of course your diagnosis maybe correct, some plants exhibit a need for more of what's recommended, inc N.

But from what you say there are a couple things to mention first... If only to discount them;

Are these 'lower leaves' getting any light?
- possibly the condensed space is not allowing light past canopy?

You don't feed to 'run off', at least you suggest bare minimum.?!
- are you sure all of your medium IS being replenished: is she being fed enough?
- run off will confirm saturation (20/30% is avg)
If plant is hungry she will usually eat from lower leaves first.

In flower the plant will eat itself at some point.
- when flower phase begins nutrients are important 'in correct doses' but the plant will eventually ignore the nutrients and use stored (leaves) instead.

Just to clarify, am not suggesting you're wrong about N, only there are other considerations before dosing a flowering plant with Nitrogen..

 

[Micro G.]

Let me take some other pictures!

 

[Micro G.]

Are these 'lower leaves' getting any light?

Not direct light but there are little buds growing down there without any problem...

are you sure all of your medium IS being replenished: is she being fed enough?

As I said right know I water her with 240 ml of water every day with the mixture of 2ml bio grow + 3ml bio bloom(in every liter of water)
It doesn't look poor to me but I'm not an expert.

run off will confirm saturation (20/30% is avg)

You are suggesting that I should give her more water? I can do that. I haven't done it yet because as you see in the pictures the leave doesn't show any over/under water stress.

In flower the plant will eat itself at some point.

As I've just learned this is the same that happen whit N or P or K deficiencies. They are mobile nutrients so if there is any deficiency the plant starts to move nutrients from lower/older leaves to newer one. It sounds like the plant is eating leaves to feed the buds.

I've just ordered a PH meter from amazon because I've read that incorrect PH can block the plant to absorb nutrient. I think I'm going to use bottled water till the end of the flowering to avoid other problems. And feed the plant with bio grow in the morning and with Bio bloom in the evening...and prepare the water-nutrinent mix every day so that it doesn't sit for one week transforming it self in something else.

Here are the new pics.

 

[JimmyNuggs]

Not direct light but there are little buds growing down there

Buds form regardless. Leaves always accompany budsites: this could be adding to issue .

I water her every day

Feeding everyday maybe an alternative issue but when in soil you gotta let it dry. Coco is safe to water everyday but soil needs drying time (oxygenation is lost around root structure)

You are suggesting that I should give her more water? ...*A
I haven't done it yet because the leave doesn't show any over/under water stress.*B

A.I'd suggest 500ml per feed once every 2 days to begin with, again soil needs to dry.
B.Well the paling of leaves 'could' be from over watering (do you ever see the leaves droop before or after feeds?

It sounds like the plant is eating leaves to feed the buds.

A possibility I mentioned previously...

And feed the plant with bio grow in the morning and with Bio bloom in the evening...*A. And prepare the water-nutrinent mix every day so that it doesn't sit for one week transforming it self in something else *B

A. I totally recommend NOT doing that. Of course you can but refer to my earlier point about oxygen around the root structure: 2 feeds a day won't help at all.
B.That is a great idea, and follows on from previous point, if its sat it will lose its oxygen content unless you have an air stone or similar bubbling away: make a litre at a time. Easy peasey.
Just for info, Biobiz can be mixed in the same feed without issue so no need for sep feeds anyway.

 

[Oakiey]

Most likely rotted the root hairs off over watering

 

[Micro G.]

Feeding everyday maybe an alternative issue but when in soil you gotta let it dry. Coco is safe to water everyday but soil needs drying time (oxygenation is lost around root structure)

Before I water every day I check the soil and it is always dry at least 3 to 4 cm deep, and again with a fabric pot it's almost impossible to over water a plant.

Well the paling of leaves 'could' be from over watering (do you ever see the leaves droop before or after feeds?

The leaves are always in a good healthy position. Never ever saw them dropping down before or after feeding. This is why I give small amount of water every day, to keep her, as much as I can, at a constant level.

Just for info, Biobiz can be mixed in the same feed without issue so no need for sep feeds anyway.

Ok, I'll just make sure to prepare the water-nutrient mix fresh every day.

Most likely rotted the root hairs off over watering

Oakiey, I don't know, but I don't think so. As mentioned before I'm using a fabric pot made of a breathable fabric, more then the commercial smart pot. And again, I've never seen the leaf drop before or after the feed and the grow room is where I work. I go to say hello to her several times a day.

My plan for tomorrow is to wait for the PH meter and use bottled water for preparing the nutrient mix. I don't know what PH I need but I will search some info. Before watering I will dig deeper with my finger to check if the soil id dry enough and if it's not dry enough I'll try to skip one day and see what happen. Anyway I just checked and I was giving her around 280ml every day at least for last week. But still I don't think that I'm over watering her. The grow room is around constant 28°C and the fabric pot made of very breathable fabric make me think that it's really hard that she is suffering for too much water...There is also a fan blowing air around 24/7
A chemical change in the nutrient solution, after let it sit for days, is much likely or maybe the use of tap water. We have a preatty hard water where I live which may cause PH problems too...

Let's tackle this problem step by step

Agiain, thank you very much for helping me!

 

[Micro G.]

I don't know why I didn't think about it yesterday but I should have checked the weight to see how it change before and after the watering.
I've just check it and it is 1928g right now. The soil through the edge of the pot is already dry, a dig with my finger about 6/7 cm deep. Next to the plant stem the soil is too compact to really dig with my finger(also I don't want to do any damage) but it looks like 1 cm deep the soil is not wet but moist. I will check the weight several time today. I will be here for the next 8 hour, we'll see what happen.
I think I'll try to wait until tomorrow before watering again just to find out what is the weight when the soil is totally dry, so that I have a better idea of when is time to water and when is time to let the roots breath.
Anyway I still have never seen the leaves droop before or after feeds or in any other moment so it still looks strange to me that watering is the problem.

 

[JimmyNuggs]

Weighing pots is a time honoured way of checking moisture content.

 

[Micro G.]

And we are down to 1879g, -49g since this morning
I'll check it again 3 hours from now.

I also bought the bottled water and checked the tap water. I have almost exactly the same result around 220 ppm and 7,4 PH.
So about the PH I've read that it should be lower, about 6 and 6,8 for in soil cultivation.
Unfortunately I don't know what the PH of my water+nutrient was and How it was changing day by day letting it sit.

So for all my next watering I'm going to check the PH after adding nutrients to the water and then make sure it is between 6,0 and 6,8. Is that right?

 

[JimmyNuggs]

That's about right fella.
Generally the pH will rise. Will in all likelihood increase a point by the time its gone through and sat an hour.

Your tap is same figures as mine - here it comes from highly mineralized Dartmoor, so no need for calmag.

I tracked all pH increase/decrease with each of my nutrient lines for first 6 months. Enables me to no longer use my pH meters and I can also make the most of run off as I can reuse veg/bloom excess with small amendments, saves a fortune. Ha.

Incidentally a tiny splash of lemon juice or bicarb for pH -/+ respectively (never both at same time though)
Another few bucks saved. Ha

 

[Micro G.]

Thankyou, you just gave me another answer!
I was looking for "how to increase and decrease PH level" without buying special stuff on the web.

 

[Micro G.]

I weighted the pot an it is now 1852 g. So since this morning we have at least 76 ml of water now gone.

76g in 10 hours means about 182 g of water in 24 hour so 280ml every day was too much...even if I don't know if water absroption and evaporation is constant during 24 hour. I have a 18/6 light schedule.

So, no water for today and tomorrow after another weight check I can make a better idea of the right daily amount of water and prepare a water nutrient solution with the right PH.

Can't wait to see any change...for the better I hope!

 

[Micro G.]

Here we are 26 hours after the first weighing and we are now at 1784g which is a total of -144g since yesterday morning. So we are talking about 134ml of water every 24h. If that is accurate I was giving her twice as much every day in the last 7-8 days.

So over watering is now clearly the problem or one of the problems.

Anyway I did my research and find out that incorrect PH is considered one of the main cause of plant's problems. As I've learned you can give to your plant everything she need but the soil is to acidic or too basic the plant simply can not use all the nutrient you are giving to her.

So if the PH range for cannabis in soil is 6,0 to 6,8, lets say that 6,4 is the sweet spot, I've probably watered my baby with 7.4 PH for all her life. I haven't yet tested what happen to my water PH when I add Nutrient. It might even go higher than 7,4 or it might bring the PH more towards the 6,4 sweet spot and if that is the case, over watering was 100% the only problem because even when I was giving her less water in the last month it was 210ml or even 240ml.

It's strange that leaves didn't show any sign of suffering....

Jimmy, now the we...hem hem...I know that my plant needs less water, about 140 ml of water per day, do you suggest to give her 140ml every day or 280ml every two day? Anyway I'm still going to wait until this afternoon to weight her again an see if there is still a weigh loss so that I have a reasonable weight that I can consider the "zero point".

 

[Micro G.]

Ok here is what I've done.
I took the water, 130ml, and checked the PH that was 7,6.
I've added 0,26ml of Bio Grow(it's about 2ml/L) and the PH dropped to 7,4.
I've added 0,39ml of Bio Bloom(it's about 3ml/L) and the PH dropped to 6,9

So if the PH doesn't change over time if you let the water-nutrient mix sit, than 6,9 it's not bad. Some guides say that the PH range is 6,0 to 7,0.

For this reason i've prepared 2 water-nutrient mix in the exact same way and I will let sit one them and check the PH day after day.
For the other water-nutrient mix I've dropped the PH to 6,35 with some drops of fresh lemon juice. Ready for the next watering!

If the PH doesn't change than the problem was too much watering, that's it.

 

[Oakiey]

Dry time is important to...

 

[Micro G.]

I just checked the two water-nutrient mix just to see if anything has changed....

The first one that I've prepared for today watering it was PH 6,35 and 5 hours later its PH has risen to 6,80(+0,45).
And the second one that was PH 6,91 has risen to 7,20. (+0,29)

That's a lot...I had no idea...

I'm going to correct the PH of the first one to 6.35 for tonight watering, and leave the other one as it is to see how much more it can rise.
I've always prepared the water-nutrient mix at least 15 hours before and used it until i finish it 7 days after...

By the way the weight it is still decreasing, -23g in the last 5 hour. The weight is decreasing more slowly compared to yesterday, about 4.6g / hour today and abut 5.6g / hour yesterday ... It's now 48 hours since the last watering.