Can't figure this out

[LloydChristmas]

This is my 2nd grow and I can't figure out what's wrong. They once looked vibrant but now are all limp and lifeless looking! I'll put stats and info below, but it seems like they've stopped growing and not taking water. I'll wait 3-5 days and put my finger in top inch or so of soil and it always seems to be moist. My cheap water meter always seems to show pockets of REALLY wet and some kinda wet areas...I'm trying not to overwater but feel like I'm waiting long enough. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

BTW, it stays pretty cool in my basement and the RH has been low lately, so I added a cheap veg light that puts off heat in order to raise the temp and got a small humidifier from Walmart to raise RH. I just put those in yesterday, however so may not have had a chance to really do anything. I thought they may be not uptaking water due to low temp/RH...

Strains: Auto Amnesia (Seedsman) and EWOK OG (Mephisto freebie)

Soil: Fox Farms Ocean Forest (sowed seed directly in soil). Top dressed a week ago with gypsum, bone meal, Great White mycorrhisae and worm castings.

Pots: 3 gallon fabric pots

Training: LST starting around week 3 with minor defoliation.

Light: Spider Farmer SF-1000 - about 14 inches away, plus a 75w Philips grow bulb as a heat source

Schedule: 24/0 until I saw signs of flower on the Amnesia last week (EWOK had already started flowering a few days prior) then switched to 18/6.

Water: just tap water, about 0.5 - 1.0 liters per watering/plant. Ph is naturally higher here (around 7.2) but thought this shouldn't be much of a concern when growing organically. Fed a compost tea with the top dress last week. I also let my water sit for at least 24hrs to eliminate the chlorine effects on microbes.

Other notes:
* I raised the pots off their trays a week or so ago and put on an old wooden frame to encourage airflow under the pots, thinking it may help dry them out quicker and be ready for water more often.

* A couple days ago I went to pull out a wire I used to tie down a large fan leaf and it seemed like the root ball was about to come out of the pot so I left it. Kinda freaked me out for a second!

 

[LloydChristmas]

Looking back through my journal, I was wrong about the top dressing and compost tea dates. It was actually about a month ago when I did those, not last week like I was thinking.

 

[Arthur]

My experience with FF. I ran it for several years, until I started having issues with the soil pH sliding off mid flower. When I finally checked, the soil pH was in the mid 5s.

Bonemeal is something I use to bring an initial soil mix down in pH.

I'd start with a slurry test of the soil, 1 part soil 1 part water you use for the plant. Let set about 3-5 minutes and take pH. Should see between 6.2 and 6.8

Organic growing doesn't require pHing normally because the soils balance has been set up by the soil builder, and microbial life helps keep things in check. But...if you chuck a bunch of low pH things into a soil that was low to begin with...

Worth a look.

 

[Proph]

Hello! Sorry you're having issues but collectively we can try to help get them pinpointed and resolved. OF soil should have enough available food to get an auto through the first 4-6 weeks.. Top dresses and teas before the 3-4 week mark can cause issues.. Your watering schedule seems off to me.. One liter for a 3 gal pot is like you getting a sip of water after a marathon. Soil should never dry out.. The soil in the pics looks super dry. The general watering rule is based on the 10% rule.. 1 gallon of water per 10 gallons of soil daily.. Based on that alone, each plant in a 3 gal pot should be getting almost a half gallon of water a day. If you are using 1 liter every 3-5 days, that's way off.. I think this is your main issue. Give those plants a good, slow hand watering until you get some run off. That should perk them up.

 

[LloydChristmas]

Ok cool, I appreciate that info! All of the issues did seem to start right around the time of the preflower showing, so it could be that I'm having the same issue that you had with FF. I'll check the slurry ph later and report back just for info.

 

[LloydChristmas]

Hello! Sorry you're having issues but collectively we can try to help get them pinpointed and resolved. OF soil should have enough available food to get an auto through the first 4-6 weeks.. Top dresses and teas before the 3-4 week mark can cause issues.. Your watering schedule seems off to me.. One liter for a 3 gal pot is like you getting a sip of water after a marathon. Soil should never dry out.. The soil in the pics looks super dry. The general watering rule is based on the 10% rule.. 1 gallon of water per 10 gallons of soil daily.. Based on that alone, each plant in a 3 gal pot should be getting almost a half gallon of water a day. If you are using 1 liter every 3-5 days, that's way off.. I think this is your main issue. Give those plants a good, slow hand watering until you get some run off. That should perk them up.

So it's possible that Im actually UNDERwatering these girls?? I never would have thought that based on the meter/finger in the soil findings.

I was scared from day 1 of beginning this hobby that I would A) over water, since that seems to be every rookie's mistake and B) Struggle with ph issues due to my hard water (which is why I switched from bottled nutes in my first grow to organics).

When you look for runoff, is it through the bottom only? I get it immediately out of the sides of the fabric pots when I'm watering now.

 

[Proph]

So it's possible that Im actually UNDERwatering these girls?? I never would have thought that based on the meter/finger in the soil findings.

I was scared from day 1 of beginning this hobby that I would A) over water, since that seems to be every rookie's mistake and B) Struggle with ph issues due to my hard water (which is why I switched from bottled nutes in my first grow to organics).

When you look for runoff, is it through the bottom only? I get it immediately out of the sides of the fabric pots when I'm watering now.

That's a normal concern..You immediately get water running out of the sides because the soil is waaayyy to dry. It's called compaction. Exactly what you want to avoid. That's why I said to water slowly.. An 8-16oz cup full at a time until the soil is fully saturated. You can also squeeze the sides of the pot to help loosen the soil before you start watering as well.. Once the soil is saturated, the run off will only come out of the bottom. Keep it saturated, and the water will not leak through the sides.

 

[Arthur]

Might pick up some yucca powder or other natural sufactant. Helps get into dry spots if that is an issue.

 

[LloydChristmas]

That's a normal concern..You immediately get water running out of the sides because the soil is waaayyy to dry. It's called compaction. Exactly what you want to avoid. That's why I said to water slowly.. An 8-16oz cup full at a time until the soil is fully saturated. You can also squeeze the sides of the pot to help loosen the soil before you start watering as well.. Once the soil is saturated, the run off will only come out of the bottom. Keep it saturated, and the water will not leak through the sides.

Sweet! That could be a game changer for me because I've been looking at it all wrong up to this point. Appreciate you!!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

When you say your basement is cool how cool before you fixed it? RH to low how low and for how long? Along with the other things already mentioned these environmental factors can stop a plants growth.

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.