Guinea Pig for a new soil mix, not going so well but I suppose it could be worse!

A good friend of mine is known for working with various companies on soil mixes. He started working with a new facility and was excited for me to try their particular mix for cannabis he was has been working on. So I'm the first to have a go with it. Can't say I ever thought anything other that things would go well, he is a legit person and knows his shit, always comes through.

But I have a problem, something is not going right. The mix is coir based, I have never had any bad luck or severe issues in coir.

I sprouted seedlings in rapid rooters and let them get a few nodes, then put them outside in 2 gallon smart pots with the mix. They seemed to do ok, only one died under the June sun. At first my buddy had no objection to this but after I started asking about my issues, he said I should have went to a cup sizes container etc, which I'm just not about. Rooter, to 2 gallon, to the 25 gallon smart pot is my thing but maybe I'm being pigheaded.

In any case growth was slow and the help from my buddy, bless his hippie soul, is just not that helpful to an analytical like me.

Slow growth, but they are upright, reaching for the sun. Getting more lime green by the day. Seems like N deficiency, I don't know, the coloring is consistent across the plant, not bottom up. Maybe sulfur deficiency? I flushed today with 7.0 water and that is where I am so far. Wondering what my next steps might be? I have never had real issues in dirt or coco so I'm ignorant on the situation.

I am attaching some photos. This is 3 weeks in. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Looks like poor drainage, and the yellowing leads me to believe it needs Nitrogen. Can you get the soil mix from your buddy? Be nice to know what's actually in it to better diagnose.

Woyaboy said:

Looks like poor drainage, and the yellowing leads me to believe it needs Nitrogen. Can you get the soil mix from your buddy? Be nice to know what's actually in it to better diagnose.

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I accidentally deleted my txt history with him but I recall 30% coir, nitrolized wood, some kind of organic composted green waste (that's what they're all about), guano, chicken manure, some things I'm missing, I'll ask him to resend that info.

For what it's worth:
The straight 8 cucumber loves the mix.
The basil also seems to be doing well with it.

The tomato is significantly lighter green compared to its healthier neighbor of the same type, but in a Hempy bucket with coir, perlite and the cheapest hydro nutes from the shop.

The jalapeño looks ok, just much smaller than its neighbor with the Hempy, coir, perlite and cheap nutes setup going on.

By what measure would I determine poor drainage in a smart pot?

Route 420 said:

I accidentally deleted my txt history with him but I recall 30% coir, nitrolized wood, some kind of organic composted green waste (that's what they're all about), guano, chicken manure, some things I'm missing, I'll ask him to resend that info.

For what it's worth:
The straight 8 cucumber loves the mix.
The basil also seems to be doing well with it.

The tomato is significantly lighter green compared to its healthier neighbor of the same type, but in a Hempy bucket with coir, perlite and the cheapest hydro nutes from the shop.

The jalapeño looks ok, just much smaller than its neighbor with the Hempy, coir, perlite and cheap nutes setup going on.

By what measure would I determine poor drainage in a smart pot?

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I'm thinking time would be an indicator. If you find that it's taking a long time to need water again, most likely poor drainage. All I know is, cannabis loves good drainage, and in every soil mix I ever read, the aeration amendment is 1/3 of the mix. So it goes 1-1-1 of peat moss or coco/ aeration like pumice or perlite/ compost or EWC or both.

So in my opinion, and I ain't no scientist, but just going off what I am seeing and the ingredients in the soil, I would say maybe poor aeration since looking at your pic it looks like NOTHING is in there.

ironically that compost looks more like weed suppressing mulch i used to use as a landscape contractor,
why the chunks of wood, looks to me like it should have been left another 12 months to rot down

Route 420 said:

I accidentally deleted my txt history with him but I recall 30% coir, nitrolized wood, some kind of organic composted green waste (that's what they're all about), guano, chicken manure, some things I'm missing, I'll ask him to resend that info.

For what it's worth:
The straight 8 cucumber loves the mix.
The basil also seems to be doing well with it.

The tomato is significantly lighter green compared to its healthier neighbor of the same type, but in a Hempy bucket with coir, perlite and the cheapest hydro nutes from the shop.

The jalapeño looks ok, just much smaller than its neighbor with the Hempy, coir, perlite and cheap nutes setup going on.

By what measure would I determine poor drainage in a smart pot?

Click to expand...

bobtokes said:

ironically that compost looks more like weed suppressing mulch i used to use as a landscape contractor,
why the chunks of wood, looks to me like it should have been left another 12 months to rot down

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I thought it was chunky as well.

bobtokes said:

ironically that compost looks more like weed suppressing mulch i used to use as a landscape contractor,
why the chunks of wood, looks to me like it should have been left another 12 months to rot down

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absolutely. the uncomposted wood is doing two things, increasing ph, and sequestering all the nitrogen.
not to mention I don't like the look of the mix in regards to aeration.
too much water, too much wood chunks, sequestered nitrogen, increased ph from the wood AND water retention, and to top it off the root system on the plant is too small to help out with those issues.

Route 420 said:

I thought it was chunky as well.

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you are right man, if it were me i'd dig those girls out carefully and repot before it's too late.

Route 420 said:

I thought it was chunky as well.

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only ever seen chunks of wood in cheap supermarket compost and i would think its only there to bulk it out

Drainage......anybody who doesnt add perlite to theyre mix in pots......i would NOT take advice from.

I dont see any perlite in those pots.

Lacedwitgame said:

Drainage......anybody who doesnt add perlite to theyre mix in pots......i would NOT take advice from.

I dont see any perlite in those pots.

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This was going to be my comment as well. No perlite in that type of mix means poor drainage.

Also, I'm not impressed by the wood chunks. The mix looks like it needed a lot more time to break down.

Yeah i hate woody mixes also.....

greasemonkeymann said:

absolutely. the uncomposted wood is doing two things, increasing ph, and sequestering all the nitrogen.
not to mention I don't like the look of the mix in regards to aeration.
too much water, too much wood chunks, sequestered nitrogen, increased ph from the wood AND water retention, and to top it off the root system on the plant is too small to help out with those issues.

you are right man, if it were me i'd dig those girls out carefully and repot before it's too late.

Click to expand...

Damn! Runoff PH is higher than water going in! I'm a dummy who never would have expected such a thing. Thank you so much for this insight, I really appreciate it.

There is very little perlite in the mix, but there is some.

Weed suppression mulch lol, yes, ironic.

Dug them out and repotted them all. Realized that I had added perlite to everything that was doing ok on the mix.