Nitrogen Deficiency? Going nuts over this ------------------- > Pics included

noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
Ok, a friend of mine had this problem in the past. A ph test was purchased for the soil, light meter, moisture level reader, NPK test kit for soil, and a water ph test kit.

Lumens: 4000 to 5000 at tops of plants depending on their placement

Moisture level: Medium to Moist

Soil PH: 6.5 to 7.0

Water PH: 6.5 to 7.0

Potassium: High

Phosphorus: Medium

Nitrogen: Low

Heat 75

Humidity Low around 16 to 20%
 
noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
From what I heard my friend is guessing it's a nitrogen deficiency. The test for nitrogen was suppose to turn different shades of pink and at best it was the lightest shade, which is the lowest. Any ideas on what is good to raise just the nitrogen levels?
 
*BUDS

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
should be enough N in soil for that little plant. looks like bad root system from overwatering.
 
noxiously

noxiously

Well-Known Member
The plant was originally in a smaller pot and became a little root bound. That's why I am guessing that it used up all the nitrogen in the small pot. A soil test was done and it showed that the soil that was taken from the soil around the plant showed basically no nitrogen at all.
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Over watering. Immature root system. Low oxygen levels in the media as a result of too many sticks, bark, and mud and not enough aeration material. Funky ass soil for sure.

What you see there is a full blown nutrient deficiency. Namely Nitrogen and Calcium, but also Phosphorus, Sulfur, Magnesium, etc, etc. This is all the result of the root system being unable to acquire the nutrients the plant needs and as a last resort to keep growing and stay alive the plant is consuming itself. The over abundance of water around the roots has not helped anything.

Allow the soil to dry out. Purchase a higher quality organic potting soil, mix in 1 part perlite for every 2 parts soil, and VERY carefully try to remove as much of the funky soil from the root mass while doing as little damage as possible. Place the plant into the new soil and moisten it down. Then allow for a good 5 days or so until the new soil mixture has had a chance to dry out and then you can feed it with some kind of balanced organic tea.

Go from almost dry to wet a few times and the roots will fill out enough for you to push the plant harder. Expect a great deal of stunting. If you plan on this plant being a certain size you'll need to add another 1-2 weeks to reach that goal.
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
I don't have any one soil that I'd suggest that I know you have access to, especially given the time of year when gardening centers are not stocked. Look for an organic potting soil. Anything that is geared towards flowers, roses, orchids, is going to be a good choice also.

There are a lot of options out there. You are looking for a soil that has a very even mixture. It should resemble coffee grounds, or dry snow, in that it is fairly uniform and when you squeeze it, it clumps together but easily crumbles apart. Anything with sticks or that has large chunks in it is not desirable. Remember, you're growing a flower, and not a vegetable, so pick the soil best suited to your needs.

And don't forget the perlite. 25% of the mixture minimum. I prefer 1/3 to be perlite for the extra drainage.

You've got the right idea now though. Stay tough with it and just give her the time to rebound. I've had plants come back from worse. Just takes a while.
 
S

shrap

Member
Looks like its still root bound to me. Did you cut or break any of the roots when you transplanted. That would explain its inability to uptake. I think your getting good advice but i would also take some extra time freeing up the roots. Good luck.
 
S

shrap

Member
When you transplant you need to make sure and bust that ball up if you are root bound. Even when not root bound I always break some roots and scruff everything up real good. Some people actually take a sterilized razor blade and actually cut all the roots on 2 sides of the plant then scruff them up which works. When doing the initial transplant into dirt from a cloner some people twist the roots down into the soil... not the way to go because that will promote the binding of the roots. When its a serious root bind and you have to break them up quite a bit you will get a stall in growth (week or 2) but they will do much better in the long run. Good luck!
 
V

volumecutter

Active Member
Definatly haven't used up your N with that lil of a plant. Stopp watering so much put it into a bigger pot with a few layers of perlite. Also too much calcium and mag can create overly dense soil. So cut those out a lil too. Mainly stop that over watering!!!
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Just typed up this huge thing and RIU ate it...
Gay.

Anyway. Check out ACE Hardware. They have a better selection of soil. Look for Black Gold potting mix. Probably the best stuff you'll find given the circumstances.
Your soil sounds expensive. I paid about $15 for a 1.5cuft bag of FFOF back when I used the stuff, so it's not more expensive than the junk soil. Just need to find yourself a plant nursery or hydroponics store.

You can probably find an ACE, Nursery, or Hydro store within 45 minutes of your house that has something better than what you have now.
 
S

shrap

Member
fdd2blk said:
there is no such thing as "rootbound". you simply over watered.

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I would strongly disagree. My first attempt at doing a larger scale grow I struggled with all of my plants.. they just werent getting enough nutes. The dirt would stay moist for far too long. The flowers never got very big. After I harvested I pulled the dirt off and found that my roots were all tangled in a ball about the size of my fist... well actually the size of a red party cup.. lol. These plants were in 20 gallon pots. If that isnt rootbound then someone needs to correct me and tell me the proper terminology. The mistake was made when we took them from the cloner and into dirt. We had a hole then kind of twisted the roots down into the dirt.... lol dont do that. It creates symptoms like its locked out.. .which in a sense it actually is. One of many lessons I have learned but that one was pretty painful. Playing with bad genetics was also painful lol.
 
F

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
shrap said:
I would strongly disagree. My first attempt at doing a larger scale grow I struggled with all of my plants.. they just werent getting enough nutes. The dirt would stay moist for far too long. The flowers never got very big. After I harvested I pulled the dirt off and found that my roots were all tangled in a ball about the size of my fist... well actually the size of a red party cup.. lol. These plants were in 20 gallon pots. If that isnt rootbound then someone needs to correct me and tell me the proper terminology. The mistake was made when we took them from the cloner and into dirt. We had a hole then kind of twisted the roots down into the dirt.... lol dont do that. It creates symptoms like its locked out.. .which in a sense it actually is. One of many lessons I have learned but that one was pretty painful. Playing with bad genetics was also painful lol.
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well if "rootbound" means "rootball" then i guess i agree.


if you could simply explain the picture i posted i will understand everything.

if your plant didn't get enough food you should have fed it more. it certainly had plenty of roots to take it all up. ;)

root filled pots are not a problem if you know how to work with them. :blsmoke:
 
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