my plant needs help please help!!

J

jonathanoaks

Member
this is my first grow ever and i really need some help
the plant is about 7 weeks old and looking eh
it is mostly nice and green some of the leaves are drooping down and curling inward
when i touch the ones that are curled inward they feel crunchy sort of but they are still really green and long, i have some sort of flys in the soil and flying around it but they dont seem to be doing anything so idk if to use a spray or just leave em
i have the plant surounded by white walls and 4 flouresent fixtures 2 at the top and 2 on the sides they are 2 warm whites and 2 cool whites emiting 60 watts in all
i have transplanted the plant to an about 6 gallon pot, i water it with BOTTLED water every other day and feed it with water mix mirical grow fertalizer once every week, right now the plant doesnt have any bud just a long stem and leaves the side leaves that sprout where the leaves meet the stem have just started to come in but it has COMPLETELY stopped growing upwards idk why ???
the plants has all its life..... exept for the first week or so..... been on 12/12 light
please help me!!!
 
Antigen

Antigen

Well-Known Member
You are going to need more light as soon as you can. It is best to use cool whites in the veg stage and then switch to warm whites for the flowering stage. You just need more wattage. If you could add 2 more to the top and 2 more to the sides, maybe get all 4 sides and the top covered with tubes, that should work well. Fluoro tubes also need to be REALLY close to your plant, like 1-2 inches away. If you don't have them that close, move them in. You should be able to hold your hand right next to the fluoros for a whole minute and not have it get hot, which means you can put the plants that close. You should have to move your top lights up every other day or so to keep your plant tops from growing up into them.

You also are watering way too often for a 6 gallon pot. You don't want to just give it a little water every day or every other day, or you will overwater it. When you water, make sure you thoroughly saturate all the soil in the pot, so that you get some water coming out of the drainholes in the bottom of your pot. Then don't water it again until at least the top 2 inches of soil is completely dry. You should also be able to feel the weight difference between your pot just after you water it (heavy) and when it is dry and needs water (light). After a few times, you will easily be able to tell when the pot is light and needs water.

Be careful with bottled water, a lot of them contain sodium for taste, which is not good for your plants. It should say on the water what 'minerals' it contains. Bottled water can also become very acidic if it is exposed to the air for prolonged periods. You need to check the pH of your water before you water your plants with it as well. It should be between pH 6.5-6.8. It is usually easier to just use tap water that has been sitting out for at least 24 hours to let chlorine evaporate, then adjust it to the correct pH. That way you know it doesn't have sodium or other harmful additives in it, plus it usually contains a little Calcium and/or Magnesium which your plant uses.

When you add fertilizer to your water, like you are doing every week, that lowers the pH of your water by a lot. You need to make sure you measure and adjust the pH of the water after you add the ferts to it. Make sure it is 6.5-6.8 right before you water with it.
What is the NPK of that Miracle Grow you are using? The 3 numbers on the bottle/box? Like 10-5-5 or something.

Are you saying this plant has been on 12/12 lighting for its entire life? You should have it on at least 18 hours of light for the veg period, then switch to 12/12 to make it flower. I don't know if you meant to or not, but here is an interesting page about growing 12/12 from seed, which it sounds like you did: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51760.
 
darkdestruction420

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
Antigen said:
You are going to need more light as soon as you can. It is best to use cool whites in the veg stage and then switch to warm whites for the flowering stage. You just need more wattage. If you could add 2 more to the top and 2 more to the sides, maybe get all 4 sides and the top covered with tubes, that should work well. Fluoro tubes also need to be REALLY close to your plant, like 1-2 inches away. If you don't have them that close, move them in. You should be able to hold your hand right next to the fluoros for a whole minute and not have it get hot, which means you can put the plants that close. You should have to move your top lights up every other day or so to keep your plant tops from growing up into them.

You also are watering way too often for a 6 gallon pot. You don't want to just give it a little water every day or every other day, or you will overwater it. When you water, make sure you thoroughly saturate all the soil in the pot, so that you get some water coming out of the drainholes in the bottom of your pot. Then don't water it again until at least the top 2 inches of soil is completely dry. You should also be able to feel the weight difference between your pot just after you water it (heavy) and when it is dry and needs water (light). After a few times, you will easily be able to tell when the pot is light and needs water.

Be careful with bottled water, a lot of them contain sodium for taste, which is not good for your plants. It should say on the water what 'minerals' it contains. Bottled water can also become very acidic if it is exposed to the air for prolonged periods. You need to check the pH of your water before you water your plants with it as well. It should be between pH 6.5-6.8. It is usually easier to just use tap water that has been sitting out for at least 24 hours to let chlorine evaporate, then adjust it to the correct pH. That way you know it doesn't have sodium or other harmful additives in it, plus it usually contains a little Calcium and/or Magnesium which your plant uses.

When you add fertilizer to your water, like you are doing every week, that lowers the pH of your water by a lot. You need to make sure you measure and adjust the pH of the water after you add the ferts to it. Make sure it is 6.5-6.8 right before you water with it.
What is the NPK of that Miracle Grow you are using? The 3 numbers on the bottle/box? Like 10-5-5 or something.

Are you saying this plant has been on 12/12 lighting for its entire life? You should have it on at least 18 hours of light for the veg period, then switch to 12/12 to make it flower. I don't know if you meant to or not, but here is an interesting page about growing 12/12 from seed, which it sounds like you did: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=51760.
Click to expand...
Good post, btw, I'm 99.9 percent sure those flys your talking about are fungus gnats. They are a HUGE problem, I did not write this next info. I'm just passing it on since its very helpful and such.
Adult fungus gnats are tiny black flies which spend time running around on the surfaces and sucking sap from the leaves. After the adults lay their eggs on the soil (medium), the young worm-like larvae hatch out and begin to feed upon the roots. The larvae initially eat the fine root hairs before moving on to burrow throughout the larger roots and even up into the stems. After feasting on the roots the larvae will pupate before hatching out as adults and repeating the life cycle by laying their eggs. The larvae resemble little worms. They have clear or white bodies with black heads.

Life cycle: Adults live about 7 to 10 days and deposit eggs on the moist soil surface or in soil cracks. Females lay up to 100 to 300 eggs in batches of 2 to 30 each in decaying organic matter. Eggs hatch in 4 to 6 days; larvae feed for 12 to 14 days. The pupal stage is about 5 to 6 days.

Damage from the fungus gnat larvae feeding on the roots shows up in the leaves as overfertilization and nutrient deficiency symptoms: yellowing, browning, burning and curling leaves.

Three fungus gnat larvae biocontrol agents:

Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) bacteria which can be purchased as mosquito dunks or gnatrol. Bti is the most appropriate anti gnat biological control agent for DWC systems.

Hypoaspis mites.

Steinernema feltiae nematodes.

Occasionally a dry layer of sand is recommended as a deterrent to fungus gnats. This technique should be discouraged as the close packing nature of the sand particles reduces the quantity of oxygen which penetrates down into the root zone.​
 
Antigen

Antigen

Well-Known Member
I like that info except for the part about adults 'sucking sap' from the leaves. They might lap up some water if it is on the leaf surface, but I don't think the adult gnat feeds at all, it just mates and lays eggs and dies.

Most of the time fungus gnat larvae are not bad enough to cause damage to the plants. You may have some larvae feeding on your roots, but unless your infestation is so bad that you have them flying all over the place around your plants, they shouldn't be more than an annoyance. I would also get some of these yellow sticky cards:
YStickyTrap2.jpgYStickyTrap.jpg

The adults are attracted to the color yellow and it will trap and kill them without having to use any poisons. You can hang them up or place them sticky side up on your soil where the gnats will be flying close to them. The info in the post above about the B.I. bacteria is a good way to get rid of the larvae. Hydrogen peroxide can also be used to kill the larvae, but it will also kill any beneficial fungi or bacteria you have in your soil, so the B.I. treatment is a better option if you can get it.
 
B

buraka415

Active Member
hey OP>. how much bottled water are we talking.. a 6 gallon pot is a decent size pot.. are you putting in a gallon jug? a liter? etc// please elaborate. The every other day of watering might be alright. The other advice about light is also true. Can you get more lights and/or get an HPS (high pressure sodium) setup?

how big is your space? can you even do more lights? like antigen said, you will need to make sure those types of lights are close to the plant. With HPS that is different, you would want to leave space so it doesnt burn the plant and/or bleach it.

I presume you are in soil. What is the exact Miracle Gro product you are using. what is the recommended dosage? Do you have access to some better products per chance? if not, you can order some JR Peters offline. Jacks Classic. Its really cheap and they have been in the horticultre biz for 50+ yrs

how long ago did you move to 12/12. you wont see flower sites for a bit. Depending on the type of strain you wont harvest for 50 - 80 days. Go get a Mel Frank book, Indoor Guide (? I think thats the name). Or get to reading here on RIU based on what you're doing, soil, hydro (h20, coco, bark,etc)..
 
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