Shrivelled/curling leaves and buds

Hello, this in my third grow but first in a few years and first outdoor, I used to post a bit on the old overgrow forum but seems that is no longer with us.

I have 3 plants, 3 months old they don't get all day sun as they are hidden a little. They've all been fed intermittently with seaweed emulsion, blood & bone and potash. one is in a pot and seems to be doing well and flowering nicely:

The other two are planted direct into a flower/herb bed of garden mix & mulch overlaying the natural clay soil, they've always been less vigorous than the potted plant & have generally progressed the same but recently have begun showing problems I can't diagnose: shrivelled and twisted leaves and buds on the upper most growth:



I did have a problems with the plants getting dehydrated over midsummer when I couldn't attend to them, I'm quite lucky they survived really, spider mites, caterpillars and passion vine hoppers had taken advantage of the weak plants so sprayed with potassium salts and weak neem oil solution which has helped, although the hoppers keep coming back due to the sheer numbers in the garden.

Weather has been hot and dry, watering has been regular though. The potted plant is doing well (luckily I've got a couple of clones from her) but the other two I'm not sure about. I haven't tried anything too drastic other than flushing them with water so far, any help appreciated.

Overgrow is back BTW, dunno if it's the same owner or anything. Good to see another old member, I used to be on there back in the early 2000's (Snaps)

The fact that the potted plant is doing better leads me to think you have issues with the soil or drainage. Have you tested the pH using a slurry?

Renfro said:

Overgrow is back BTW...

Click to expand...

I obviously didn't look that hard! Rollitup kept popping up so here I am.

Checked the pH of the clayey soil underneath the mound the two are planted into, looks like it is around pH 6, possibly a bit low?

I have done another thorough spray for the mites and vine hoppers, no neem oil in the mix this time as I read it can affect the taste of the buds and they're starting to flower.

ninefingers said:

I obviously didn't look that hard! Rollitup kept popping up so here I am.

Checked the pH of the clayey soil underneath the mound the two are planted into, looks like it is around pH 6, possibly a bit low?

I have done another thorough spray for the mites and vine hoppers, no neem oil in the mix this time as I read it can affect the taste of the buds and they're starting to flower.

Click to expand...

"Clayey" soil indicates a possible drainage issue.

Renfro said:

"Clayey" soil indicates a possible drainage issue.

Click to expand...

OK thanks, yes the original soil is very tight fine clay and sticky, I've been improving it all over the place (took me 3 or 4 years to get my vegetable patch humming) that was originally why I popped them in a raised bed, but it is only 200mm high though so I suppose the roots have gone down into the clay.

I'll lay off watering them for a few days, I might try gently loosening the clay with a pitchfork too.

They've only been beginning to flower for a couple of weeks as the days shorten here, would digging them out carefully and potting them do much damage?

ninefingers said:

OK thanks, yes the original soil is very tight fine clay and sticky, I've been improving it all over the place (took me 3 or 4 years to get my vegetable patch humming) that was originally why I popped them in a raised bed, but it is only 200mm high though so I suppose the roots have gone down into the clay.

I'll lay off watering them for a few days, I might try gently loosening the clay with a pitchfork too.

They've only been beginning to flower for a couple of weeks as the days shorten here, would digging them out carefully and potting them do much damage?

Click to expand...

Digging them up would definitely shock them but if done carefully they should recover and the benefit of having good soil to grow in would outweigh any temporary stunting IMO.

When you see weird problems like this, it's often root health related. With the soil you have described they are definitely at a disadvantage. The roots are likely very shallow if the soil is this hard to penetrate. Cannabis likes soil with good drainage (high porosity).

If you do dig them out and repot, give them some shade while they get through the shock and establish some roots in the new media. Perhaps even tent them with clear poly if the humidity is low.

Misting them will also help. Id even hit them with a foliar feed every 3 days or so to help them get some food.

You may even consider a good microbial drench, I like Tribus. This will help the roots a lot, especially if they have been subjected to poor drainage and therefore perhaps a little pythium.

Thank you for your insight. The plants were planted out in a hurry when I had to go away for work for awhile, so drainage wasn't thought of, not that I would've had time to do anything about it, very limited to the location for the plants outdoors too.

I think I might take the risk and lift them out and pot them up. Mercifully due to the watering I've been doing the clay underneath has softened so it shouldn't be too difficult (it gets seriously hard when it is dry, they actually used too quarry it and fire it into house bricks) Decent weed costs $US270 an oz here so worth saving them!

I've found a microbial additive available locally online Nutrifield Myco Thrive, looks like it is different to Tribus but will check the local garden stores too.

Thank you once again.

Eased these ladies out with the pitch fork and soaked them in a mycorrcin & seaweed formula while I mixed up a compost, vermiculite and pumice soil mix.

They took it quite well, one week later and the new growth is looking much better.