Strange crispy leaves, no discoloration

Hello all, I'm looking for some suggestions on what might be wrong with my plant. Let me preface this by saying this particular plant was not mine to begin with. My other plants, for which I mixed the soil, look great. So please refrain from criticizing. I'm just looking for thoughts on the problem.

Problem: weird crispy leaves, pronounced ridges, no discoloration (see photo)
Growing experience: lots
Type of grow: indoors (10' x 5' x 6.5' grow tent)
Intake: 240 CFM fan w filter drawing in fresh air from outside
Exhaust: 440 CFM fan w filter
Circulation fans: two
Lights: 550 watts of CFLs (mostly 2700k, some 6500k) 4 inches from plant top
Growing medium (for problem plant): miracle grow all purpose soil
Added nutrients: none
Water: tap water (125 ppm) pH'd to 6.8
Watering schedule: once soil is almost dry, plants slightly drooping
Light cycle: 24/0
Temps (w lights on of course): 70-80 degrees F
Humidity: 40-50%

My guess is that the MG soil is too hot for her (my other plants are in custom soil using perlite, happy frog, and ocean forest, and look great). I'm also wondering if there is such a thing as internodal distances being too tight? Thanks for any advice. Ill probably flush the MG soil and start her on light feeding schedule after a week.

-Jnon

the one soil that people complain about for these grows is Miracle Grow. No one ever complains about other soils. (unless they are adding more fert to an already hot soil, but that's a different issue).
for whatever reason, MG doesn't seem to work all that well with this kind of plant. don't know why, but time after time, it's the same story.

Thanks for the reply polishpollack. My guess is it's the soil too. At 3.5 weeks old, she's probably too big for a plant-only transplant. Looks like I will have to do a complete soil flush and put her on a custom feeding schedule. Anyone have experience transplanting only the plant (no soil) at this stage of growth?

I wouldnt flush It the miracle gro has slow release fertilizer all you are going to do is overfeed it. I would just transfer it to good soil. Its not hard.

Should his light be that close?

lio lacidem - do you know of a guide for transplanting 4 week old plants without the soil? I am concerned that would cause even more stress than the hot soil itself. And are you sure that flushing it with tons of water until the run off is clear will over feed her?

buba blend - the light looks closer in the picture than it actually is. It is 4" from the plant and passes the hand test no problem. That particular light in the picture is only 55 watts of 2700k CFL, so I highly doubt it's getting too many lumens. Again, my other plants are in the exact same conditions and are looking fantastic. The only difference, besides genetics, is that the problem plant is in Miracle Grow soil.

Buba Blend said:

Should his light be that close?

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Ya, should the light be that close? Ive done cfl and that looks damn close.

Once again, the angle of the photo makes the light look closer than it is... it is over 10cm away from the top of the plant.

Out of interest why do you ph to 6.8?

R1b3n4 said:

Out of interest why do you ph to 6.8?

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Good question R1b3n4 - I should have said that the tap water has a pH of 6.8. Since I am not adding nutrients at the moment, I decided to keep it as is since I have read that for soil, pH should be between 6.5 and 7. Looks like according to your chart, 6.5 would be ideal for soil. Thanks for the advice/info! Should I pH my tap water down a bit to 6.5 or should I wait to do that until I am adding nutrients to the water?

jnonymous said:

lio lacidem - do you know of a guide for transplanting 4 week old plants without the soil? I am concerned that would cause even more stress than the hot soil itself. And are you sure that flushing it with tons of water until the run off is clear will over feed her?

buba blend - the light looks closer in the picture than it actually is. It is 4" from the plant and passes the hand test no problem. That particular light in the picture is only 55 watts of 2700k CFL, so I highly doubt it's getting too many lumens. Again, my other plants are in the exact same conditions and are looking fantastic. The only difference, besides genetics, is that the problem plant is in Miracle Grow soil.

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Remove plant from buckey lightly rinse old soil off roots (not all off It will come off) gently place in new soil. . Done nice and easy.