3 1/2 Month old plants.. Starting to give up?

[alpha don]

As like any other freshmen to rollitup, I've been viewing lots of these threads via google in order to help me with my plants. Rollitup has become my number one option when looking for support to help my plants, and now that I am officially a grower I feel that I deserve to make an account here.

Moving on, Lately i've been having problems with my 3 baby's.
They are roughly 3 & 1/2 months old, living under 2x4' flourscent tubes.
I feed them nutrients every other day, whilst regular water on the days I dont.
Recently, I've been seeing alot of problems in my plants.
- Lower leaves dying
- Wiltering, Yellowing
- Lack of stems and branches?

I'm not sure. So I did my research.

I found out that this can all be due to lack of nutrients and/or underwatering, which could be caused by rootbound.
When I removed one of the plants from its pot, I noticed the roots were very 'web' looking and traced along the soils outer layer.
I decided to go out and purchase larger pots and transplant them with new soil.
I didn't buy enough soil for all 3, only enough for 1. So I operated on the one that needed the most treatment.
Took it out of it's pot, shook out the roots and transplanted.
Added the leftover fertilizer in the other plants soil for the time being until I run out and buy some today.

But the results still seem to be the same. The leaves are still drooping, yellowing and curling in.
Usually when I water them they dont droop no more, but hours later they are back down.

Also posted some pictures.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[hotrodharley]

Zinc deficiency at the least. Using any micronutrients?

 

[DonPepe]

First thing is "LIGHT" cannabis plants need light to grow to stay healthy, and a fair bit of it at that. Your plants are a little past the point that they needed more light.

when you say "

• Took it out of it's pot, shook out the roots and transplanted.​
  
  

do you mean you actually shook all the dirt out of the root mass? If so expect an extended recovery time during which your plant will be much more susceptible to pretty much everything. I have heard of using a knife to make vertical slices into the root mass but your technique is new to me.

but LIGHT, you need moarrrr light =)! before any of the other problems, if there are any, really matter.

PS: are the bulbs in your light T12, T8, or T5?

 

[alpha don]

Zinc deficiency at the least. Using any micronutrients?

There is some zinc in the formula I use. I'll post pictures below. I add 7 drops per 1 L of water of this stuff, and I water once every 2 days usually.


nitrogen 10%
phosphoric acid 15%
soluble potash 10%
iron 0.10%
Mg 0.05%
Znc 0.05%
EDTA(chelating agent) 1%

 

[alpha don]

First thing is "LIGHT" cannabis plants need light to grow to stay healthy, and a fair bit of it at that. Your plants are a little past the point that they needed more light.

when you say "

• Took it out of it's pot, shook out the roots and transplanted.​
  
  

do you mean you actually shook all the dirt out of the root mass? If so expect an extended recovery time during which your plant will be much more susceptible to pretty much everything. I have heard of using a knife to make vertical slices into the root mass but your technique is new to me.

but LIGHT, you need moarrrr light =)! before any of the other problems, if there are any, really matter.

PS: are the bulbs in your light T12, T8, or T5?

By 'taking out of pots, shook around' I mean I pulled the plant with the soil out of the pot, and tapped around the soil allowing loose or unwanted clumps to fall out. by the end of it, the roots somewhat hung out of the soil . From then on I filled up larger new pot with new soil and transplanted.


Also, I had a feeling there was a lack of efficient lighting. Can I simply add more light fixtures around my system or should I get rid of what I have and substitute with better? I'm sure they are T8's

 

[BleedsGreen]

More light, bigger pots and a moisture meter are needed IMHO.

 

[alpha don]

a humble opinion is more then appreciated

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

first off stop feeding it that fertilizer.

second invest in either a decent amount of 6500k (daylight) CFL's or just spring for the motherload and buy a decent HID light, cheap chinese ones are getting better and better now

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Electronic-Dimmable-Reflector-Hydroponic/dp/B00521B894/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357856207&sr=8-4&keywords=600w+apollo

3 year warranty on the ballast and 1 year warranty on all thier bulbs. im currently using a 100w apollo rig and im pretty happy with it.

like the other guy said you need more light...3 1/2 months old for plants that small can mean only 1 thing and thats lack of lighting. add the light the plants will grow, canabis is a fast growing plant.

 

[alpha don]

Completely agree.
I live in an apartment and can't have too much 'heat' if you know what i mean.
More watts, more suspicion. I need a light that will keep me under the radar.
How's the 100W apollo? all purpose?

As for the fertilizer, what should I feed the plants?
Canada doesn't have much available tbh.

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

oh and your overwatering them big time. mor elight...stop watering..this will help you considerably

and when i say stop watering i mean stop watering. not skip 1 day.....they probably can go almost a week without water right now. also make sure your pots are allowing excess water to drain out the bottom

in your post you say you have been researching. not sure where but this thread here is a great place for you to start.

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/937-how-grow-marijuana.html

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

Completely agree.
I live in an apartment and can't have too much 'heat' if you know what i mean.
More watts, more suspicion. I need a light that will keep me under the radar.
How's the 100W apollo? all purpose?

As for the fertilizer, what should I feed the plants?
Canada doesn't have much available tbh.

nothing, just water when the pot is light when u pick it up

 

[alpha don]

I'll go with the 400W apollo ballast and use the HPS light right?
less watering it is.

 

[Thundercat]

That will be good steps in the right direction. HPS to flower, MH to veg, but I've flowered with great results under a 400w MH.

Finish the transplanting you are doing, and be gentle with the roots. I personally would trim off the crappy looking leaves that are not healthy in the first place, when I transplanted them. Then be patient, its gonna take a couple days for them to relax and start growing again.

Peace TC

 

[TrynaGroSumShyt]

In reality your true problem is over-watering and leeching nutes out. You shouldn't water everyday.

 

[alpha don]

Just ordered the 400w apollo ballast. should arrive in the next week or so. We'll see how this goes from there.
Hope to keep this thread up to date

 

[Thundercat]

Just make sure you listen to retired and trynagrosumshyt, water them less frequently!

 

[Ilovebush]

As mentioned...less water, less nutrients, and more light. I see some clawing and new growth tip burn...over fertilization. BTW...I'm Cannabian too and don't agree with the lack of selection comment when it comes to nutes...search and you shall find.

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

Just ordered the 400w apollo ballast. should arrive in the next week or so. We'll see how this goes from there.
Hope to keep this thread up to date

did you order just the ballast or a kit? the ballast isnt going to do you any good without a socket and bulbs. the 600w kit is the same price as the 400w and its dimmable to 400w thats why i suggested that one, gives you the option to kick it up a bit if you need to and you can run it on 250w, 400w or 600w

for right now the 250w would be fine and as they get bigger you can turn it up, just remember if your going to dim the ballast make sure your using the appropriate bulb. if its set to 250w have a 250w bulb in it, 400w need to have a 400w bulb in it and 600w need to have a 600w bulb in it.

its not a huge deal if your running the ballast at 250w with a 600w bulb but you absolutly do not want to run the ballast at a higher rating than whats on the bulb.

so while your at spending money you might as well pick up a 80$ grow tent too. just a thought

 

[alpha don]

i ordered the kit obseevs
already got the 400w, its fine cos i cant exceed it.

no grow tent for me. I have a room closet thats the perfect size. As you see in pic, came refurbished with the walls done and everything.
I think the last owner was a grower too, great minds indeed >: ]

 

[Guitar Man]

The number 1 problem I see with your grow: water is not leaching out of the bottom of your pots (I only see 1 plant with a dish below it). Number 2 is you are watering WAY too much, with WAY too many nutrients.

For an experiment, try growing a tomato plant in a pot that doesn't drain, and you find the exact same problem that you are having.