Sudden issue.. please help guys!

Hey everyone

So I had this issue with my previous grow.. see pics attached.. I thought it was my shitty grow light... Well! LOL we learn. This is my 5th or so grow, and only in my previous grow did i start to have this issue

So quick obvious pointers:

Humidity - around 50 to 60%
Temps - 18 - 25 degrees Celsius on average. So none of these I suspect are the problem.

I have been watering once the soil dries out almost completely and the soil drains well, so cant imagine its too much or too little water?

My water comes out the tap at around 8.2 on the ph scale (Bluelabs soil pen) so I know that is an issue..

What i started doing was adding liquid kelp meal to the water in order to drop it to 6 for the ph.. Im not sure if its that combined with this strong soil which is causing the issue or what?

I am now using PH Down in a 25 litre drum of water to ph the water instead.

So I suspect this is either the water PH issue or the soil is too hot?

The question is what do I do to save my babies. I have been advised I must pot them early into their final fabric pots - 10 Litres which is 2.64 gallons and simply water them with the plain water that has PH down in it.

Thanks in advance guys

Medium looks wet and drainage is questionable. Styrofoam? Not even. Transplant and raise your light a few inches. Those are waterlogged I’ll guarantee in styrofoam.

Thanks for your response man really appreciate it! Those are plastic cups - white solo cups but perhaps their shape/ amount of drainage holes arent enough?

Joncoh101 said:

Thanks for your response man really appreciate it! Those are plastic cups - white solo cups but perhaps their shape/ amount of drainage holes arent enough?

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They look like they’re sitting in a plastic container. Let the medium dry more before watering and what kind of soil are they in?

They’re possibly rootbound considering the feeding they’ve received already.

Yes they are in a tupperware just to hold them together, probably best to take them out?

They are in a mix of coco, compost, sphagnum moss, perlite etc. Its all listed on that picture of the bag

Transplant to bigger pots or final pots.

Probably overwatering...I literally dampen the soil in my cup before planting seed and have gone as long as 14 days with no watering lol

3 days old been on bottom feeding since day 1 soil is drenched, but they love it

Make sure your ph meter is good and check run off ec (?)

I personally think to not transplant till you get them going better . Easier to make adjustments in smaller pot but if you could put them in a nice soil with ~organic nutes and only need water, that could be good

You get a lot of PH/deficiency symptoms when overwatering. If you aren't sure, fill up another cup with totally dry media and use it as a comparison to test your seedlings for when to water. You want the cups to get light.

Rurumo said:

You get a lot of PH/deficiency symptoms when overwatering. If you aren't sure, fill up another cup with totally dry media and use it as a comparison to test your seedlings for when to water. You want the cups to get light.

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Great technique and good advice. Overwatering kills more plants kept by man than all other reasons combined. If it looks dry water it. If it’s been a few days water it. Drooping really bad? Give it lots of water.

Can confirm I transferred them into their final fabric pots! Each plant was quite rootbound in the bottom of the solo cup, and at the bottom there is this recession where the roots had wrapped around. Pretty sure this could contribute to the bad health of the plants as well as water gathering there.

Will report back when they start improving!

On a side note - have re calibrated the PH meter and still get the same readings - 6.2 for my PH'd water and for the medium once put in a cup with water to test!

So i reckon the issues were either over watering/ root bound seedlings and/ or that kelp meal mixed into the water

people do whole grows in solo cups, I'd pay attention to everything in the root zone because I think something else may be going on

tap water ppm's (and whatever else goes in), can build up in growing medium each time you water. I.e. you water with 200 ppm tap, and the plant uses 100 of it(?), next water you don't have much or any run off, now you have 300 ppm's of tap who knows what in your medium.

multiply that over 10 waterings, give/take or not

this can also contribute to the mediums ph changing and you will not have an idea unless you test the medium or the run off from the medium. ph and ec, for some reason in my last post I only said ec, need to see ph also

Joncoh101 said:

Can confirm I transferred them into their final fabric pots! Each plant was quite rootbound in the bottom of the solo cup, and at the bottom there is this recession where the roots had wrapped around. Pretty sure this could contribute to the bad health of the plants as well as water gathering there.

Will report back when they start improving!

On a side note - have re calibrated the PH meter and still get the same readings - 6.2 for my PH'd water and for the medium once put in a cup with water to test!

So i reckon the issues were either over watering/ root bound seedlings and/ or that kelp meal mixed into the water

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Your soil ph determines what input ph would be ideal. So the choice to ph down to 6.2 does make general sense, but depending upon the ph of the medium 6.2 could be low.

ComfortCreator said:

Your soil ph determines what input ph would be ideal. So the choice to ph down to 6.2 does make general sense, but depending upon the ph of the medium 6.2 could be low.

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The medium is 6.2 when I add the above water to it. This is with testing with a blue labs soil pen. Recently calibrated too

Joncoh101 said:

The medium is 6.2 when I add the above water to it. This is with testing with a blue labs soil pen. Recently calibrated too

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Ok that makes sense. You should check it in a day or 2 and see how it moves.

I often think ph gets to much thought in soil grows.

instead of adding ph down. Maybe think about a high ph as a symptom and not the disease.

high ph water can mean a lot of things.

Phosphoric acid is not helpful to living aspects of soil. And a super soil like that is so buffered that the water ph really isn’t going to cause huge problems.

What’s your water ppm??
do you have drainage??
Is your environment dialed in?

If I were in your shoes I would buy a small boy or sufficient water filter to remove extra minerals which act as alkaline buffers in the water which Always bring ph up. You remove some of those buffers (limestone from bedrock) from the water snd you should naturally have a lower ph.

use castings as topdress. They are neutral ph. Also the bacteria in your soil naturally changes the soil ph based on plants needs.

the plant will manufacture specific exudates to attract certain bacteria which manage ph MUCH more efficiently than any gardener every can—- in living soils at least. This advice might. It apply to other styles of gardening.
Good luck!

Ok so I thought that was a different brand of soil I was familiar with. But a secound look and I don’t recognize it. What’s the brand??

Its called Organsoilux


Its a newish soil that has come out on the market here in SA

Joncoh101 said:

Can confirm I transferred them into their final fabric pots! Each plant was quite rootbound in the bottom of the solo cup, and at the bottom there is this recession where the roots had wrapped around. Pretty sure this could contribute to the bad health of the plants as well as water gathering there.

Will report back when they start improving!

On a side note - have re calibrated the PH meter and still get the same readings - 6.2 for my PH'd water and for the medium once put in a cup with water to test!

So i reckon the issues were either over watering/ root bound seedlings and/ or that kelp meal mixed into the water

Click to expand...

Kelp meal tends to be high pH (it grows in saltwater). Definitely take readings after a good mixing.

Yeah this could very well be it