Interesting week.. good news, bad news
Bad first:
Seems like the sunshine mix bale I got this time is even higher ph than the last bale I bought (8.0), this is the last time I use it thankfully since local nursery was able to restock promix HP.
Combine that with the fact I did not pre cook my soil and it was a recipe for disaster I guess. I managed to get away with no issues mixing soil and transplanting same day last time, not so much on this run.
Zkittles seemed to be the hardest hit, ph locked out and started by showing zinc deficiency (I think its was zinc, super shitty growth and very narrow leaf blades, interveinal yellowing on new growth) right away I figured it was ph since they were perfectly fine with the soil in the solo cups they should have been able to feed just fine on the nutrients left in that soil. And I did not give them a whole lot of water, they dried back out in 2.5 days so it was likely not overwatering causing deficiencies.
Now the good news:
Using what I figured out I hit them with 5.9-6.0 ph watering to try to bring soil ph down slightly (I know there are better ways to drop soil ph, and I may still try them if plants dont recover nicely.) I also reduced light intensity to 10% It seems like it worked, and everything was able to turn around, it appears they are beginning to recover now.
Will give them another couple days of recovery and top them at that point.
*Update*
Majority of plants topped on 29th
Strawberry diesel showing deficiencies on old growth, should be solved now, observing to see if damage continues to spread.
Bubblegum has one plant stunted and deficient. Plant doesn't appear to be uptaking water, I shut off the valve for her on the 27th waiting until she decides to drink up what she's got.
LAOG seem to have recovered, almost look like they regained some green in their leaves.
Zkittles appeared to be having normal growth again before I topped. Hopefully the soil issue is resolved for now.
Will see how well the plants recover and see if we get healthy new growth.
The new container of molasses I bought has mold growing in it. For baking that would be a throw away, but I am curious if that is still usable for making teas. I have seen some soils that add tricoderma and others, just curious? Also can a tea be stored for a week after brewing?
Gnats????? Put sand over the top of soil. You can also use perlite to cover soil....you can even use broken glass.. Let pots dry a bit to keep from attracting them. I always see people in pots water till it starts draining out the bottom that is over watering and just flushing soil of precious nutrients. Water tiny bits but more often....check out "crop steering" if you want to get your irrigation down to a science :) Hope you get stuff sorted out :)
@Ketamine,
Thank-you for the info.
I was tracking topping with perlite to prevent gnats, but i'm running low, and nursery here charges more than I'd like to pay I'll keep sand in mind if this fails.
I needed mosquito dunks for next year anyways (they are fucked out here where I live, like swarms come spring time through to late summer) thought I'd try an experiment using BTI as a larvicide for the gnats, see how effective it is, and if it would be worth trying again.
Experimenting is an issue I have, lol, curiosity always gets the best of me. I tend to move along to something new once I figure something out. That's why i'm running soil instead of DWC (man I miss hydro and the nearly instant response from the plants, might move back that direction soon I dunno though I liked the idea of just having to water make it hard for the wife to kill the plants if I have to leave for work, with the irrigation set up even easier, she just has to make sure there is water in the res. As I have a timer ready to be hooked up if I need to leave) After I dial in and get decent at this amended soil growing style I may move on to something else, I'm not sure what yet. I like to build and play with things, and already have enough weed to last a little while.
Sorry, side tracked, lol, back on topic.
I almost never water till draining. Usually just water enough plants drink it up in two days. (Right now thats about 3 gallons between 17 plants or .66L ea. Give or take)
I think the issue started with the bubblegum plant that stunted after transplant, it decided it did not want any water.
Was lifting the bags to check weight/water content, all were dry day 3 except that bubblegum, closed the nozzle for it and watered everything else. Checked again day 6, was still wet and thats when I noticed fungus gnats.. Threw down the sticky traps and just hit them today with water and a busted up mosquito dunk. Gonna let them dry out for a few days now and see if that helped, next water will also hit them with a mosquito dunk, probably make a tea with it, some molasses, worm castings, and maybe some kelp, was reading about BTI creating spores and reproducing in glucose water solution at around 30g/L so thinking it will pair well with molasses in a tea.
Will take a look at crop steering tomorrow. I hope I get it sorted out too. They already seem to be recovering, but who knows.
Thanks again for info, and encouragement.
@Godesskat,
Thanks, trying a few new things here (Organic nutes, plastic pots and highish plant count. Usually run chem nutes in 5 gallon bags, or dwc with 4 plants) so I will need it.