What's wrong here?

[Muddy]

The 5 bigger pots I feed sensigrow a and b. About 1/8th of a teaspoon in a gallon of water each. I wait until the soil is about dry on top. Im growing in 3 gallon fabric pots with happy frog soil. The sensi nutes I have are Ph perfect as well. When I test though the water before nutes is steady between 6.5/7.0

They could be over fed but I'm not totally convinced. Happy Frog does contain worm castings, guano and humus which should be plenty for the first 3 weeks or so. But feeding 1/8 of a teaspoon per gallon is only about .6 ml (0.6 ml = 0.0203 fl oz) (0.6 ml (0.6 ml = 0.0203 fl oz) = 0.0203 fl oz) and the recommended feed is 4 ml (4 ml = 0.135 fl oz) (4 ml (4 ml = 0.135 fl oz) = 0.135 fl oz) per liter or 16 ml (16 ml = 0.541 fl oz) (16 ml (16 ml = 0.541 fl oz) = 0.541 fl oz) per gallon full strength. Since we only feed autos at 1/2 strength, that's 8 ml (8 ml = 0.271 fl oz) (8 ml (8 ml = 0.271 fl oz) = 0.271 fl oz) per gallon. So we're only talking about feeds that are only about 13% of what is recommended. I doubt that much cause a severe overfeeding situation. Have you checked the pH of you water after you add the nutrients? Also, have you checked the pH of your run off? I'd be curious to see what they are as this looks more like pH lockout to me than overfeeding.

Also, if you are watering/feeding when the top layer is dry you are over watering them. Get a feel for your pots when they are almost completely dry and only feed them when they feel that way. Given the size of your pots and plants I wouldn't expect they need watering more often than every 7 - 10 days. That could also be contributing to your problems.

 

[jremines]

Oh wow. I thought I should be watering when the first inch of soil was dry.

 

[jremines]

First time I ever used this soil and the fabric pots too...with these pots I thought I didn't have to worry about over watering

 

[Waximus]

Hey j, I can highly (like, Essential!) recommend this soil moisture probe, off of Amazon. http://smile.amazon.com/Etekcity-Ou...ower-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1411054732&sr=1-3
The difference it has made in my grow confidence-and watering stability- is huge! Its cheap, completely effective, and will let you test moisture throughout the entire soil depth. Can't recommend it more highly heh heh

 

[Muddy]

Hey j, I can highly (like, Essential!) recommend this soil moisture probe, off of Amazon. http://smile.amazon.com/Etekcity-Ou...ower-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1411054732&sr=1-3
The difference it has made in my grow confidence-and watering stability- is huge! Its cheap, completely effective, and will let you test moisture throughout the entire soil depth. Can't recommend it more highly heh heh

Sorry Wax, but those probes are notorious for being inaccurate. Better to put that money toward a Control Wizard Accurate 8 that will not only tests the moisture level but also the soil pH.

 

[Muddy]

Oh wow. I thought I should be watering when the first inch of soil was dry.

The first inch will dry out relatively quickly but the rest of the pot will still be quite wet. When the roots are constantly wet it cuts off needed oxygen to the roots and inhibits the proper uptake of nutrients.

First time I ever used this soil and the fabric pots too...with these pots I thought I didn't have to worry about over watering

They will dry out faster than a plastic nursery type pot but over watering can still be an issue.

 

[Waximus]

Sorry Wax, but those probes are notorious for being inaccurate. Better to put that money toward a Control Wizard Accurate 8 that will not only tests the moisture level but also the soil pH.

Thank you for the heads up, Muddy. I have an Accurate 8-the shorter probe type ( I should just spring for the longer probe), which I use every 2-3 days to test pH (and moisture) but for a quick check of the girls, I use that probe. When I got it, I comapred the results to the 8, and they were spot on.. I think I'll do a recheck, as its been a couple months since the initial comparison. Thanks much!

 

[Muddy]

Thank you for the heads up, Muddy. I have an Accurate 8-the shorter probe type ( I should just spring for the longer probe), which I use every 2-3 days to test pH (and moisture) but for a quick check of the girls, I use that probe. When I got it, I comapred the results to the 8, and they were spot on.. I think I'll do a recheck, as its been a couple months since the initial comparison. Thanks much!

Sounds like you got lucky with that soil probe. I've got 2 or 3 of them out in the garage that all eventually failed on me. No, I don't like the shorter probes either, the Accurate 7s. They don't get deep enough into the pots and are more likely to damage the roots with their width.

 

[Waximus]

Exactly. It was my bad.. Saw the long probe pic on Amazon, added the short to my cart... Derrrrr.... I'm still going to recheck it. I have a pair of EC Diesels that come down on Saturday. I'll stab at the soil after they are "liberated". I appreciate the good word. Best to you.

 

[jremines]

Thanks for the help guys. I have another question. Can I test soil with the Ph kits on eBay? Since it's run off I'll be testing the kit should do it right