Weird looking Malawi

Hey folks, I’ve got a Malawi going here at about 21 days and it’s looking, well…weird. I’ve got a Dougs Varin in the same tent, same dirt, doing fine and a couple of autos in another tent in the same dirt doing just fine as well - that’s all to say I’ve got some controls here for comparison.

Fox Farm Ocean Forest
EWC
Perlite
Dynomyco
Dechlorinated water PH’d at 6.5 (including a little bit of molasses every other feeding)
Spider Farmer sf2000

I’m beginning to suspect it’s either a pheno mutation or transplant shock, but maybe it’s just what the Malawi does? It looks like it’s trying to grow but something’s holding it back…‍ I’ve included a daily (reversed) time line with the attached photos, fwiw.

All thoughts and opinions welcome!

Transplant shock only last a few days
But poor up pot practice aka damaging tiny root hairs too young can be permanent
Just my first inclination

i got the same problem in my current grow it could be a f up seed. got 2 same strain seeds one is wide the other one is like yours midget. roots are massive but it just doesnt want to grow

amneziaHaze said:

i got the same problem in my current grow it could be a f up seed. got 2 same strain seeds one is wide the other one is like yours midget. roots are massive but it just doesnt want to grow
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Was afraid of that…

Looks like a little too much P in the soil or the soil is a touch hot. It will grow out of it no worries. Some sativa's are more sensitive to nutrients than others. Even within the same strain line.

Modern Selections said:

Looks like a little too much P in the soil or the soil is a touch hot. It will grow out of it no worries. Some sativa's are more sensitive to nutrients than others. Even within the same strain line.

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Thanks MS. I may have transplanted a week or two early. Lesson learned.

At this point my tents are full and I don't have the resources to kick off another seed that is so far behind...so I'm going to just wait it out and see what happens. I had some major fuckups with some autos in the fall - I almost gave up on them but gladly didn't and I was surprised to see how well they muscled through my abuse even while the clock was ticking. I'm a bit more relaxed about this since it's a photoperiod so, yeah, we'll see what she does...

I just went through the same thing with an O-Haze. Transplanted 2, one was fine the other looked just like your Malawi. I used the same soil as I normally use for hybrids as I didn't have any plain base mix on hand. One Haze didn't mind, the other did. It took about a week to grow right out of it and it looks killer now, smells like green onions lol.

Good luck with the grow, Malawi is awesome cannabis!

Modern Selections said:

I just went through the same thing with an O-Haze. Transplanted 2, one was fine the other looked just like your Malawi. I used the same soil as I normally use for hybrids as I didn't have any plain base mix on hand. One Haze didn't mind, the other did. It took about a week to grow right out of it and it looks killer now, smells like green onions lol.

Good luck with the grow, Malawi is awesome cannabis!

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That's encouraging - thanks for sharing! I've heard great things about Malawi so hopefully she pulls through

I think I just figured this out. I was having the same issue in the fall with a few autos when they were young. Pretty sure this is wind burn. Same weird distorted look on the leaves that eventually clawed down and dried up along the edges. Same fan aimed directly on them at roughly the same distance. Found some photos on the web of wind burn that look exactly like what I’m dealing with. I thought it was a nitrogen toxicity thing but the timing of this issue starting shortly after i transplanted and aimed the fan on the Malawi has me convinced it’s too much wind.

I’ve adjusted my fan and will follow up to confirm in a week or two…

jimbonorman said:

I think I just figured this out. I was having the same issue in the fall with a few autos when they were young. Pretty sure this is wind burn. Same weird distorted look on the leaves that eventually clawed down and dried up along the edges. Same fan aimed directly on them at roughly the same distance. Found some photos on the web of wind burn that look exactly like what I’m dealing with. I thought it was a nitrogen toxicity thing but the timing of this issue starting shortly after i transplanted and aimed the fan on the Malawi has me convinced it’s too much wind.

I’ve adjusted my fan and will follow up to confirm in a week or two…

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Tbh you’d probably look similar to that plant having a strong wind in your face 24/7 lol