Are These Plants Hungry?

[Savage]

this is my second run in coco. i have four different strains this time and they all are looking like the two pics posted here.

Im not finding it easy to read the plants like i was in compost, my question here is.. are these plants just hungry or is there some something else that is wrong?

These cuttings started looking pale almost luminous green after being transplanted into 10cm pots after being fully rooted in rootriot cubes. They started being fed 2ml/L hesi veg nutrient for 7days and i upped it to 3ml/L for another 2 days as i thought they might be showing signs of hunger.

They have just (yesterday) been transplanted into 13x13x13cm pots and given 4ml/L veg nutrient and i added some Plant Magic granules.

The root systems look very healthy and white on all the plants. The plants look pale green with red veins on leafs, red leaf stems and main stems and branches than others.

The ph is 5.8 bang on every time i water (with feed) which has been a little every day keeping the coco moist. Light on temps are 24C and lights out are 22C after dipping to 18.5C for a few days just after being placed into coco from rooting in the root riot cubes. I do not know the ec as it does not show up with the Hesi veg nutrient though full strength is 5ml/L going by the Hesi chart.

To early to tell yet but the new growth seems not have purple stems but the leafs look a shiney pale almost luminous green still though slightly healthier than the older growth.

any comments or advice is appreciated.

[Guest chr0nicsxs]

They do look hungry but id be cautious about giving more nutes, I use Hesi and stay at 3ml/litre all the way till 4-5 weeks into 12/12. Stick witht he 4ml your feeding them now and watch for nute burn in the next few days.

[Guest p&q]

Morning Savage

Hows tricks fella,hope your well.

See your having some teething probs with the tnt! had the same myself fella on my first run,see this link.

Give them 5ml mate & see how they are in the next few days.Dont forget rootsim aswell.

Keep your chin up fella..you,ll get it right.

p&q

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...93476&st=30

[Casey Jones]

Get some autopots mate, it will make your life much easier.

[Savage]

thanks for the reply chrOnicxs, yeah im very cautious about giving them more feed i thought 5ml/L on my last run for veg was a little to much although there wasnt any leaf burn only dark green leafs.

hiya p&q mate, all is well here but yes i am having a few probs starting out in coco though i am determined to crack it, hopefully before my stash runs out. I have smoked some of my first coco buds last night night for the first time and though they are quite scrappy looking they are caked in resin and deffo more potent than the same plant grown in compost, from my first impressions at least. oh yeah forgot to add i have been using the Hesi rootstim with every watering at 2ml/L. i will stick to 4ml/L Hesi veg nutrient for a few days to see how they get on as i dont want this run to fuck up and i have become quite timid with it after my first coco run went a bit tits up at the end.

Thanks tywyn, but i will have to leave the autopots idea for now untill i can at least crack the basics in coco with a couple of runs hand watering.

edited because i seem to have lost the ability to form proper sentences.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Savage

[Guest papaduc]

What temp is the water you're feeding them, and how often are you watering?

When is the last time you calibrated your ph pen?

[Savage]

hi papaduc,

I am not sure of the temp of the water, I let it stand overnight before adding the nutrient, i would say its room temperature maybe a little less. I will go pick up a thermometer today to be sure.

They are being watered a little every day with nutrient added but when i repot in to bigger pots i dont water for a couple of days ( after the initial watering in ) to let the new roots work into the new coco.

The ph pen is a new one, i checked the calibration on it when i first used it ( about 3 months ago) and it was fine so i havnt adjusted anything.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Savage

[Guest papaduc]

Ok, first, check your PH pen again, make sure it is reading properly in a buffer 7 solution.

Second, no need to let your water stand overnight, don't do it.

Third, are you ph'ing, then letting your water stand? What order do you do this in, ie: standing, nutes, ph?

Do you let the coco dry out before you water it again, or does it tend to still be wet when you next water?

And finally, what wattage of bulb are you using?

[Savage]

hi papaduc,

i have just checked my ph pen in a buffer 7 solution. it read 7.2 so i calibrated it to read 7.

the water temp is 19C currently, i have been letting the water stand over night and then just before i need to water the plants i mix in the nutrient and then ph it.

i dont let the coco dry out before i water again and its always moist/damp before the next watering.

the plants are currently sat under a 400W growlux bulb.

cheers

[Guest papaduc]

Ok, over the next couple of weeks, don't let your water stand. make sure it's tepid by putting some warm water in. Then add nutes and then ph, as you're doing.

Also, stop watering every day. When your plants are healthy and growing fast, then start watering more frequently. You'll notice when you've got a hungry healthy plant it will drink much more, especially as it gets bigger. At the moment, your plant looks waterlogged, and, despite what some people say, and whilst I agree it is harder in coco, it is still possible that if you keep your medium saturated and your plant isn't drinking much because it is still establishing itself, it can happen.

You can/do water coco every day, but as with everything, these things are within reason. I'm watering a big 30L pot every other day, and It's drinking it all. If I leave it til the third day, it's dry as a bone, so I don't. But when I was getting it established, I watered much less frequently.

For now, let the coco dry out. When the plant gets bigger, it will have a bigger rootball, it will be growing and feeding more vigorously, and it will drink more water. Until then, adjust accordingly. Let your coco dry out more in between watering. Don't water it if it's still damp.

Do this for the next week or so, starting now, and let me know how it goes.

Edited March 12, 2010 by papaduc

[GreenNinja]

Hi mate - lots of good advice already given.

It's weird that your Hesi veg mix isn't showing up on your EC meter. Life is a lot easier with a working EC meter...

To me they look a touch overfed, as witnessed by the droopy leaves which should be pert. I'd drop your feed down a bit and see how they fare.

Don't worry about the purpling...some strains do that. If the leaves are happy and healthy everything else should be.

GN

[Stan909]

Hi

The plants look pale green with red veins on leafs, red leaf stems and main stems and branches than others.

The leaves on the plants are also looking more droopy than I would expect. The plants look like mine have done in the past when I've overwatered... it's taken a week or so for them to pick-up... (and there's a risk of root-rot starting )

Also, stop watering every day... Let your coco dry out more in between watering. Don't water it if it's still damp. Do this for the next week or so, starting now, and let me know how it goes.

- Excellent advice IMO...

I realise that you've only just potted-them-up, but I've found it very easy to over-water (and overfeed) newly-potted plants in coco due (I think) to the fact that the root system is underdeveloped in relation to the pot-size. I'm now very careful to only use damp (not wet), weakly-nuted coco when potting-up... the first full-water & feed happens after a few days once the roots have settled a little...

I know folks say it's nigh-impossible to over-water in coco, but I do think it's possible when the plants are small and in big pots (eg when they've just been potted-up). That's just my experience...

ATB

Stan

(E2A - I find the same thing has happened the couple of times I've rooted cuttings directly into coco... if the coco is too wet then I'm likely to lose more cuttings due to damping-off)

Edited March 13, 2010 by Stan909

[Guest p&q]

Hi mate - lots of good advice already given.

It's weird that your Hesi veg mix isn't showing up on your EC meter. Life is a lot easier with a working EC meter...

To me they look a touch overfed, as witnessed by the droopy leaves which should be pert. I'd drop your feed down a bit and see how they fare.

Don't worry about the purpling...some strains do that. If the leaves are happy and healthy everything else should be.

GN

Heres some info on why tnt dont show up on your truncheon Gn...

Hesi TNT Complex is a very powerful growth supplement, which is easy on the plants. The nitrogen that is used in TNT is 100% organic. Organic nitrogen compounds have no EC value because they are not salts, but they do contain a high percentage of nitrogen. Therefore young plants are loaded with a minimum of salts, which creates ideal growing conditions. So, it appears that TNT Complex has a low EC value, but its degree of effectiveness is very high. TNT Complex contains all necessary nutrients and has been enriched with many vital components (vitamins, amino acids, plant active sugars) which guarantee successful growth. Plants that are treated with TNT Complex develop a large number of growing points and become strong and powerful with a healthy green colour.

[stixx]

As a first time grower my advice / suggestions might not be relevant, but i've found that sticking my finger into the coco about 1"1/2 if its dry i watered, if it was still damp i left it a day and my girls are coming on fine.

Just my two peneth

[Savage]

Thanks for the comments and advice everyone,

the plants are slowly starting to green up now, new growth from the lower developing branches appeared to be the first part of the plants to show improvement.

Im still feeding 4ml/L Hesi TNT with 3ml/L Hesi rootstim and 3ml/l Hesi powerzyme.

I have been leaving the plants untill the pots are light/dry before watering, infact im treating the coco like soil so far, which i was always under the impression it should not be..

The plants showed roots at the drainage holes within 2 days of repotting into the pots they are in now and they are now needing water almost every day. The repotting from 10cm pots to 13cm pots was in my opinion not a big jump at all and all the plants were fully rooted in the 10cm pots before potting on.

I still cannot help thinking they are/were hungry, but i will continue to follow the advice given so far.

I am convinced the problem was not over feeding as they are responding well to upping the feed to 4ml/L it seems.

I would really like to know the ec of this TNT im using, i can see now how it helps in finding out what is happening to the plants. Hopefully if i can crack this 2nd coco run and once i use up the nutrient i have bought i can then change to another brand where the veg nutrient shows up on an ec meter.

the pics here are the two same plants from above .

again thanks for the help everyone, it has been invaluable.. i will update in a few more days.