Slow growth sick plants

[Twist90 15]

Hi all can anyone give me an idea what could be wrong with her, if there is anything wrong? From first look can you see signs of any problems please let me know, I feel it’s very light green. I can defiantly say she is a slow grower. she is 3 and half weeks, any help greatly appreciated,

Started with 100w full spec led and saw leggy seedling so bought 600w full spectrum (eBay cheap)

80x80x160 tent

using John innes no2 soil and plastic pots with like 5 to 6 drain holes below (soul at the bottom always wet need help with this if anyone can)

been feeding it fish mix at half ml per litre for the last week and half but been seeing mostly outdoor growers use fish mix? Should I continue or switch to bio grow instead? Anything else you need to know please ask, really feel something is wrong with them, thanks all

 

 

[HippyHair 1,235]

Try keeping the medium wetter, the plant looks ok, give it a chance.

[Slippy One 11,665]

Try a smaller pot next time.  

[SkyRider 8,976]

How often are you watering that plant?
Is it an Auto?

You say above that the bottom of the pot never gets dry, that's not a good thing and it's not going to be solved by watering it more. Using just John Innes as your soil is going to be very heavy and harder for roots to grow. I've tried it before and the results weren't amazing. Less roots will give you a smaller plant that drinks less and is easier to over water.

If your plant is a photoperiod, then as Slippy says you should have started it in a smaller pot. If it's an auto, then the pot size is fine but you need to be very careful with how much you water it to begin with.

[HippyHair 1,235]

I thought it was coco.

[Twist90 15]

12 hours ago, Slippy One said:

Try a smaller pot next time.  

 

Yh I will be starting it in cups next time and using the transplanting method, I didn’t want to get into transplanting as I read about causing it stress , but I have also read and watched videos and it’s said it’s not as bad as it sounds as long as your fragile with it, thanks slippy one

Edited February 26, 2021 by Twist90

[Twist90 15]

12 hours ago, SkyRider said:

How often are you watering that plant?
Is it an Auto?

You say above that the bottom of the pot never gets dry, that's not a good thing and it's not going to be solved by watering it more. Using just John Innes as your soil is going to be very heavy and harder for roots to grow. I've tried it before and the results weren't amazing. Less roots will give you a smaller plant that drinks less and is easier to over water.

If your plant is a photoperiod, then as Slippy says you should have started it in a smaller pot. If it's an auto, then the pot size is fine but you need to be very careful with how much you water it to begin with.

 

Iv got no set schedule for watering right now due to the bottom being wet all the time, I’m a little afraid of watering to much, I have been watering it every 2 days lightly, sometimes spraying and sometimes pouring but pouring only enough where I believe it won’t run to far down to the bottom where it’s already wet. Haven’t watered it for 3 days now and bottom still wet and too dry, iv made a lot more extra holes today to hopefully help air it out, 

 

yes it is an auto blue cheese, I have ordered some bio Bizz light mix as I use their nutrients too, is it possible to transplant out of this 10L pot or would it be to much stress for the plant?

 

this will all be a learning curb for me being first time but need to find a way to make it through this one!  thanks skyrider 

[SkyRider 8,976]

@Twist90 I was talking to someone else about this earlier who was having heat problems, but this is another reason I use these....



All my trays are lined with heat mats. Especially with Autos that have big pots without the roots to use up the water, having the heat mats there ensures that the pots dry out more frequently for me. It's much harder for me to over water my plants.
Might be something worth looking into for you?

As far as transplanting the plant now, I personally think it is too late.
With autos you can plant into smaller pots first (I do) but you need to be careful that the roots don't really hit the sides and that means transplanting them 'early' which is very hard as there is little holding the soil together.
Putting your plant into a smaller pot now isn't going to achieve much imo.

I'm sure you know this but... Autos flower based off age/environment rather than light period. If you put an auto in a smaller pot it will flower quicker but in turn produce less bud as it has had less chance to grow. So knowing that pot size affects plant size, you want to ensure that your auto is growing in the biggest pot it can be. Some people plant straight into their final pot and water very carefully until the plant is established, others start in smaller pots to begin with but quickly transplant to bigger pots and still need to be careful with their watering. This is where autos are a bit trickier than photoperiods as you plant those into small pots, let them root out and then put them into a slightly bigger pot, rinse and repeat until you've got them in the final pots you want to flower them in.

Personally I think the heat mat may be exactly what you need for a bit of help.
I've just got a few auto seeds I'm about to transplant from a small pot to a big one in a couple days. I'll document my process a bit more in my diary for you to see how I do it. Might give you some ideas as to where it went wrong?

[Twist90 15]

2 hours ago, SkyRider said:

@Twist90 I was talking to someone else about this earlier who was having heat problems, but this is another reason I use these....



All my trays are lined with heat mats. Especially with Autos that have big pots without the roots to use up the water, having the heat mats there ensures that the pots dry out more frequently for me. It's much harder for me to over water my plants.
Might be something worth looking into for you?

As far as transplanting the plant now, I personally think it is too late.
With autos you can plant into smaller pots first (I do) but you need to be careful that the roots don't really hit the sides and that means transplanting them 'early' which is very hard as there is little holding the soil together.
Putting your plant into a smaller pot now isn't going to achieve much imo.

I'm sure you know this but... Autos flower based off age/environment rather than light period. If you put an auto in a smaller pot it will flower quicker but in turn produce less bud as it has had less chance to grow. So knowing that pot size affects plant size, you want to ensure that your auto is growing in the biggest pot it can be. Some people plant straight into their final pot and water very carefully until the plant is established, others start in smaller pots to begin with but quickly transplant to bigger pots and still need to be careful with their watering. This is where autos are a bit trickier than photoperiods as you plant those into small pots, let them root out and then put them into a slightly bigger pot, rinse and repeat until you've got them in the final pots you want to flower them in.

Personally I think the heat mat may be exactly what you need for a bit of help.
I've just got a few auto seeds I'm about to transplant from a small pot to a big one in a couple days. I'll document my process a bit more in my diary for you to see how I do it. Might give you some ideas as to where it went wrong?

Thanks a bunch sky, Yh them heat mats sound like it’s defiantly worth a try, I’ll be looking to get one or two, I’m only doing two plants at a time so...

 

I’m trying Biobizz  lightmix next and I’ll try one using transplant method and one straight in final pot, this first run has put me off putting it in final pot due to the soil, so gonna try it 2 different ways whilst still using the final pot method and using different soil, helps me kill two birds with one stone and see which I prefer.

 

Cool will keep eye out for your diary man thanks! 

[SkyRider 8,976]

I'm guessing by your soil choice that you are trying to avoid grow shops?

Can I make a suggestion for a better mix?

Mix in peat moss at a 2:1 ratio of soil to peat moss (so you put in twice as much soil as you do peat moss).
Add some perlite/vermiculite. I add about half a scoop to a scoop for an 18L pot. Doesn't have to be exact.

If you are feeling saucy, then add in a handful or two of worm castings, but they aren't essential.
If you want to be EXTRA saucy, then instead of getting just John Innes, buy a couple different brands of soil and mix them together.

The peat moss and perlite/vermiculite you should be able to get from local garden centres when they are open. Worm casting I order off amazon/ebay.

That mix will be a lot lighter than your current straight John Innes mix. You should be able to get it local and overall (Depending how heavy you are with worm castings) it is cheaper than buying soil from grow shops.

A couple years ago I got fed up of having to make an hour + round trip to get soil and having to fight thrips on EVERY single grow I did. So I pretty much did what you did. I grabbed a bag of Jacks Magic for a fiver and grew in that. It worked, but there were obviously issues with it. So with some experimenting over the next couple of runs, I come up with the mix above. It's not perfect, but works well enough for me

....It's also quite therapeutic mixing your own soil by hand