PC grow, deficiency problem, first time grower

J

johnparker

New Member
Hello! First time grower here :)
I am growing one AK-47 and one Wappa (both fem, auto) in my PC grow box.
I am giving each of them 37w CFL 6400K for vegging. They are now on their 16th and 17th day above soil.
I have four 200mm fans blowing - and the temperature is usually 22 - 25 degrees celcius, which I suppose means something like 72 - 76 fahrenheit :)
Wappa raising taller, but the AK-47 looks like a cute kiddo. The AK-47 is the only one that smells when you put your nose down to it though.

Anyways! The Wappa have started showing signs of what I suspect, after some googling and doodling, is calcium defiency.
As with humans, magnesium helps absorb calcium, and I have some magnesium supplements - not designed for plants, but humans. Still - it is magnesium, and of course the different things making it a tablet.
Anyways - i was planning on boiling up some eggs, taking the eggshells, grinding it up with the magnesium and adding it to water to nutrient my plants.

Do any of you have experience with this? Does it sound like a really bad idea, or do you think it is better than nothing?
I don´t have much money now and can´t wait for the time it takes to buy something online, I think. Also, I have some general veggie-nutrient, organic.
Could this help? Is it too early to add?

I tested the pH, which appears to be at least 6, maybe even 6.5! So I guess that would be normal enough?
Anyways, here are some photos of my ill beauty. Any general comment on how she looks would be great, by the way. First time grower.

johnparker.jpgjohnparker3.jpgjohnparker1.jpg
 
Mellodrama

Mellodrama

Well-Known Member
You have four 200mm fans in a PC grow box?? Wow, that's a lot of blade in one case...
Yeah, 6 to 6.5 is right there for soil. Are you testing by pouring water through the plants and testing the effluent?
Everything I've read says don't fertilize seedlings too soon. One guy said he waits until the cotyledons start to shrivel away, which I thought was a good rule of thumb. Your soil - store-bought or DIY? If store-bought, what's the brand? If it's a sterile seedling soil then fertilizer recommendations are gonna be different than if it's Fox Farms Ocean Forest or some other bulked-up soil.

I'm not experienced enuf to diagnose from a couple of pictures so I won't try.
 
SableZen

SableZen

Well-Known Member
By the way the edges of the leaves are curled up and the canoe shape to the leaves, and necrosis along the edges - I'm going to vote for wind burn since you say the temps are in order. Are you having to water frequently and are they constantly under a flow of air?
 
J

johnparker

New Member
Thanks a lot for answers.

You say it is young for a def, GrowinDad. Do you mean that I should just wait, and ride it out?
The new leaves that are coming up seem fresh and fine.

It is store-bought. I don´t live in the states, but i can tell you what is inside. It is 30% cow manure, 60% peat/turf and 10% sand[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif].
[/FONT]This soil is also mixed with about 10-15% perlite and 10-15% vermiculite.

Wind burn! Very interesting. Do you think those spots could be wind burn?
They are under constant airflow, yes, SableZen. When they were younger they were shielded from the air because of their pots.
And one of them, the damaged one, is the one getting most air. I try not too water them too often, usually when its dry halfway down the pot.
The wind does dry up the soil at the top very fast, yes.

Note: the fans don´t ride at a superman strength, and two of them are just taking air out. But there is definitely a lot of air flow inside, yes.
Anyone else have an opinion about this? I suppose I might try to turn one of the fans off if I find that it is the case.
 
Mellodrama

Mellodrama

Well-Known Member
Our two little plants are about the same size as yours. Maybe a little taller, but not more leaves. A closet grow, so way more room than inside a PC. I have one 140mm Corsair PC fan at about 9V blowing on them. Just enuf to rustle the leaves a little. I don't know how to diagnose wind burn. Not sure I've even heard of that one since joining the forum. But it wouldn't hurt to tone down the jet blast and see what happens.
 
SableZen

SableZen

Well-Known Member
johnparker said:
Wind burn! Very interesting. Do you think those spots could be wind burn?
They are under constant airflow, yes, SableZen. When they were younger they were shielded from the air because of their pots.
And one of them, the damaged one, is the one getting most air. I try not too water them too often, usually when its dry halfway down the pot.
The wind does dry up the soil at the top very fast, yes.

Note: the fans don´t ride at a superman strength, and two of them are just taking air out. But there is definitely a lot of air flow inside, yes.
Anyone else have an opinion about this? I suppose I might try to turn one of the fans off if I find that it is the case.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if the leaves can't transpire fast enough, either from heat (which you said was not the issue) or constant airflow, you can get necrosis on the leaves; usually with the tissue along the edges dying first. I've done it to a branch of a plant that was right next to a fan in my tent when the plant as a whole over-grew my area - and the leaves being blasted by the fan looked exactly like that.

And I'm not 100% sure of course and other problems could look like that or there could even be multiple problems in addition. Just something to consider and look at before trying to give the plants a bunch of stuff they might not need at their age/size.
 
J

johnparker

New Member
I don´t have possibility to buy CalMag, so that is why I was wondering adding the magnesium nutrient (originally for humans) and eggshells!
I have some new photos now, what do you guys think? The leaves at the bottom have started to go yellow.

It is very young, but you still think I should feed it?
20140226_163923.jpg
I also have some organic fertilezer with living microorganisms... could that help?
 
CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Member
I'm no chemist, but I think that Mg supplements for human consumption are not as soluble as those for plants. As far as I know, they're made of all kinds of organic acids with huge molecules, which don't break easily in H2O solution. I had similar problems, and since calmag+ is prohibited (WTF?!) to import into my country, I went to a pharmacy and bought epsom salt - MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate). It is highly soluble, and breaks to Mg+2 and SO4-2 ions, both of which plants can use. I used it for foliar feed and the deficiency looks to be decreasing.
IMO when using proper soil mix it's hard to achieve a deficiency of Ca only (unless you do something really stupid like adding baking soda to your water). I didn't encounter problems with exclusively Ca...

Try some Epsom salt, it's very cheap and effective.
 
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