micro grow problems, help needed

[Kap 9]

Hello everyone, it's my first run, my girl is not looking good, please help.
Grow space: very small and short (38x38cmx 75cm high) and the plant is at the end of week 4. 
Light schedule 18/6, XS1000 100W @50%, actual distance to canopy around 30cm
Temp: Night 22° C, Day 27-28.8°C (since yesterday I dialed the light back at 45% and have 27.3°C during the day)
Pot: 6-7L, 28cm diameter, 10-12cm high, diy Airpot
Substrate: 2 parts Lechuza-Pon (Zeolite Mix), 1 Part Soil
Water: reverse osmosis +0,3mg/ CalMag from BioBizz, 1-2L each 2 days
Nutes: BioBizz Grow, Bloom, TopMax, each 1mg/l

My girl was always a little droopy, but I thought maybe it s the strain. Week 2 and 3 she grew very bushy and very low. Since middle of week 3 up to now I've been doing LST and cut 2 fan leaves.
Yesterday I noticed that almost all leaves are droopy now, even more than before and that some of the lower leaves turned yellow. Also, 2 leaves have have brown spots on them.
Usually I water until I have 2-3cm under the perforated bottom of the pot and the Lechuza substrate is sucking that back over 1 day (the pot bottom has 3-4 feet with substrate in it, which are sitting in water at the bottom of the outer container). Yesterday I took out the pot and saw there were some pretty long roots (even 10cm long) sitting in the water. I cut the longest ones and watered only with Calmag and less than usually (only 1liter), so there was no water on the bottom.

 

Needless to say I am very worried and would like to hear your advice.
Is it a nutelock? Is it overwatering? Is it a light burn?  I can t tell, please help

[GSZZ 26,077]

Just now, Kap said:

Usually I water until I have 2-3cm under the perforated bottom of the pot and the Lechuza substrate is sucking that back over 1 day

 

Just now, Kap said:

Is it a nutelock? Is it overwatering?

 

Don't let them sit in and suck back up the waste water. Once you've watered you need to make sure that you mop it all up.

[BilgePump 11,689]

Lechuza Pon for dope? Interesting 

 

Deffo looks like a case of the damp and droopies ,as @GSZZ said you don't want plants sat in water for more than a couple of minutes or they'll re uptake it and this will happen.

Get something to act as pot feet so runoff can't re enter the media (an upturned pot saucer would be more than adequate) 

 

[BilgePump 11,689]

Also yer airpot has been put together upside down 

 

[Guest]

I am not an expert, mate BUT looks like its overwatering issue.

 

Google search overwatering comes back with pics like this

 

Follow  @GSZZ  advice and it should solve the problem. 

 

I would suggest to lift pot from the ground a bit and no need to mop as it evaporates itself. 

 

You could water her with hydrogen peroxide 3% to give more oxygen and help to recover. Proportion is 2 drops per litre and water so try from small amount like 0.5l of water with one drop JUST before lights off (that` when plant requires oxygen).

 

Hope this helps!

 

ATB   

Edited November 7, 2021 by Canna Denfour20

[Kap 9]

Just now, BilgePump said:

Also yer airpot has been put together upside down 

 

I m not sure if I understand, but it s a diy airpot. I took the bottom of a Lechuza pot (so I have the substrate reaching into the water) and added perforated hydroisolation foil on top of it, similar to the airpot walls.

But yes, I realize now it s a mistake having runoff water sitting on the bottom, I never thought the roots were reaching so long under the bottom.

I think it s too late to transplant now, I ll water less but often.

[BilgePump 11,689]

Next time flip the pot so the solid strip without holes is the top edge , and maybe move the mesh disc up a run or two , should eliminate any over watering issues in future without needing pot feet 

 

Ah if it's a DIY root pruner ignore the above

 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by BilgePump

[BilgePump 11,689]

@Kap on a slight tangent do you rate the lechuza self watering houseplant pots? 

They feel flimsy af for the price they command.

 

Elho do self watering inserts for decorative pots for like 4 quid each and they're much more robust.

 

[Kap 9]

Many warm thanks for the quick and helpful replies!

One more question, please: should I continue with the regular feeding? Of course, watching out for run-off water now

Edited November 7, 2021 by Kap

[Kap 9]

Just now, BilgePump said:

@Kap on a slight tangent do you rate the lechuza self watering houseplant pots? 

They feel flimsy af for the price they command.

 

Elho do self watering inserts for decorative pots for like 4 quid each and they're much more robust.

 

well, I use several of them, bought cheap or used, for different house plants over 3-4 years and so far the plants were doing very well. Due to the encapsulated fertilizers in the substrate (I used lechuza substrate with very little to no soil) I feed them scarcely any nutes and didn t have any problems with root rot. But again, they were Calathea and Areca Palms and so on.

I thought it will be a good idea to use the system for my first grow, but now, of course, I see that it s not, I should have stick with the classic airpot :(.

I don t care so much about yield or potency now, I just want that my girl doesn t die

[BilgePump 11,689]

It's all a learning curve buddy 

 

And I can see calathea doing alright in Pon , everything marantaceae is a fucking drama queen.

 

[Thai Stick 2,406]

Looks like lockout caused by over watering.

I would let her dry for 2-3 days, then start with a gentle minimal watering just enough to wet the top few inches.

Let her recover for a couple weeks and then resume with more water and more feed.

 

[9inchbigbud 37]

looking at the grow= a small space with a small plant low humidity and over watered combination of the to 46% humidity with fans so close they are not big enough to deal with that humidity yet, hold back on watering turn the fans off for a few hours so the humidity as time to build up and the plant will pick up providing they are not also over watered.  also turn the lights off will help 12 hours then take a look you will see them standing up saying thank you.

 

if that is the problem then you need to add humidity try adding wet towels around the pot and put the fans on a time for as bit untill the plants can cope once in flower you will not have the problem at all, I used to have the same problem was humidity 

 

I see a lot of posts this time of year why are my leafts brown black ewith these spots ect its more than likely from cold conditions search for pictures of cold damaged plants before thinking its a nutrient def if you give the plants the recommended   amounts e.g 4ml per L they are more than likely getting everything they need its then  most likely down to environment  or over watering or not enough water.. start from the top lights to close is very much under looked 

Edited November 8, 2021 by 9inchbigbud

[Rhubarb & Flustered 1,264]

@Kap as others have said,you shouldn't leave it sat in the run off for any more than 10-15mins.I have a large syringe & a couple of vileda dish cloths to soak up any remainder,so maybe look into adding something like those to your grow tool collection.

[9inchbigbud 37]

how to tell over and under watering left picture  is under watered notice how the plant just falls over no life =limp the leaves are almost   vertical to the floor to the floor, the leaves will some time turn dark green almost black and roll in on them self trying to conceive water.

the plants on the right are over watered or have root problems seen in hydro if water is to warm notice the plants look sick yellow brown spots or both they look like nutrient deficiency's NPK and Ca or>>> calcium  <<< everyone thinks this. the plants also do not drop leaf's vertical to the floor they sort of flop but its  more of a droop than fall over.

 

I dont know why something is put as a sticky that tells new growers to keep a daily grow log so they can spot when the problems first start,  it will be much easier to diagnose if something goes wrong i.e a sudden drop in temp or or some other f%^&  up happens along the way  I used to get a ruler out 3x a day when i first started growing   honestly you will learn better the next run