LancelBracken Grow Log 09/10

LancelBracken · Oct 4, 2009

AlabamaJack said:
Lancel...have you checked the pH of your soil? If the pH is not right, it could cause the plant not to take up the nutrients...just a thought..

I haven't tested the ph yet no. I shall definitely look to checking it out.

The ph of my tap water is 7.9 on average, according to a government website. Maybe watering with this over the months has made the soil too alkaline? This may explain why adding dolomite lime didn't seem to help things...

chilliman said:
Are you taking em outsdie ?

Yea i've taken about 6 plants outdoors 2 weeks ago as an experiment. They seem to be going ok, not markedly better or worse than the ones in the tent.

chilliman · Oct 4, 2009

your PH should be between 5.5 and 5.8 (RELIGIOUSLY)

You have PH problems champ ! And I would consider watering more.

LancelBracken · Oct 5, 2009

chilliman said:
your PH should be between 5.5 and 5.8 (RELIGIOUSLY)

You have PH problems champ ! And I would consider watering more.

Thanks chilliman. I'm going to start watering with rain water. According to google sydney rain water has a ph of about 5-5.5, whereas the tap water has a ph in the high 7's (and chlorine).

I'm not sure if my soil ph would be too high or too low. It's a cheapish amgrow 'pot n peat' mix, with perlite and a small amount of egg shells mixed in.

Guess i'll test it and find out!!! Something certainly ain't right.

Should i try flushing a few of the unhealthy ones and see what effect that has?

chilliman · Oct 5, 2009

Have you got a PH pen reader ? About $30 from ebay, a very worthy investment.
Test the run off after you have watered and tell us what your at ?

And what soil have you got them in ?

If it were me, I would just take everything outside. And start with re-potting and PH` ing your water and feed to OUTSIDE conditions @ around a PH of 6.

Start again inside with ONLY coco fiber, moving to soil when you get outside.

ian

SeeYouJimmy · Oct 5, 2009

Damn man, sorry to see your plants aren't doing well. Unfortunately I have no advice, I'm an amateur too.

stillmanz · Oct 5, 2009

cocco fibre and out side Amen.
they'll come back a treat. you don't need a Gunja closet to grow chilli, the sun is free and you got nothing to hide.

LancelBracken · Oct 8, 2009

Ok guys, i tested the ph of my soil. It came out at i think 6-6.5

I also tested my tap water, and rain water. The tap water was about 8.0 (i have been watering with that for the past 5months, up until last week), and the rain water (which ive been using for the past week) is about 6.0.

So would i be correct in saying i should keep using rain water, and try to lower the ph of my soil? How would i do that?
I also did an experiment a few days ago, taking two similar plants, flushing one with rain water many times, and the other ferting with a fair bit of full strength seaweed fert. Just to see if it's too much or too little fert. So far they look the same but the ferted one looks a tad greener... still yellow as though.

Ahhhh

chilliman · Oct 9, 2009

LancelBracken said:
Ok guys, i tested the ph of my soil. It came out at i think 6-6.5

I also tested my tap water, and rain water. The tap water was about 8.0 (i have been watering with that for the past 5months, up until last week), and the rain water (which ive been using for the past week) is about 6.0.

So would i be correct in saying i should keep using rain water, and try to lower the ph of my soil? How would i do that?
I also did an experiment a few days ago, taking two similar plants, flushing one with rain water many times, and the other ferting with a fair bit of full strength seaweed fert. Just to see if it's too much or too little fert. So far they look the same but the ferted one looks a tad greener... still yellow as though.

Ahhhh

Are you still indoors ?

How did you test the soil ? The way I test is capture the water run off from the bottom of the pot after watering, this will give you a better indication of where you are at.

Rain water in Hydro is not recommended ! Unless you filter it. As it contains many algae & microbial bits and pieces that will grow in your medium & tank. That will be detrimental to your situation.
I would use tap water here in Sydney and let it sit for 24 hrs for the chlorine to evaporate, then PH it (with UP or DOWN hydro additives) , then add it to system.
If your decided to use rain water and RO & PH` it you would still need to cover from ALL light, as you wont get it all.

What ventilation have you got ?? It may be also a lack of Co2.

LancelBracken · Oct 9, 2009

chilliman said:
Are you still indoors ?

How did you test the soil ? The way I test is capture the water run off from the bottom of the pot after watering, this will give you a better indication of where you are at.

Rain water in Hydro is not recommended ! Unless you filter it. As it contains many algae & microbial bits and pieces that will grow in your medium & tank. That will be detrimental to your situation.
I would use tap water here in Sydney and let it sit for 24 hrs for the chlorine to evaporate, then PH it (with UP or DOWN hydro additives) , then add it to system.
If your decided to use rain water and RO & PH` it you would still need to cover from ALL light, as you wont get it all.

What ventilation have you got ?? It may be also a lack of Co2.

Yea i've still got most indoors, i'm moving them gradually outdoors.
I tested the soil with a csiro soil test kit, it says you mix some of the soil with a few drops of ph indicator, then dust it with barium stuff and the dust changes colour.

No hydro at the moment, all peat though im going to start some in coco soon. Would rain water be better in non-hydro than tap water? It's ph seems better for peppers, and no chlorine problems

Ventilation wise i have a 170m inline extraction fan which pumps 55L/second, attached to ducting which ends near my light. I then zip up the tent completely and the vacuum sucks fresh air in through the ventilation slits at the base of the tent. Do you think this is sufficient? Would a small oscillating fan placed inside the tent help to circulate some air inside?

Thanks chilliman.

LancelBracken · Oct 9, 2009

I put one of my bolivian rainbows outside 2 weeks ago. Here is a comparison shot between him and one of my indoor rainbows that was the same size 2 weeks ago. Outdoor guy on the left, indoor guy on the right.

Note the bigger growth, healthier, moister looking leaves. Does this give any hints as to what's wrong with my indoor setup?
Also, the outdoor one has dropped almost no leaves since it's been out. The indoor one continues to drop several leaves daily... faster than they are growing!

chilliman · Oct 11, 2009

By the looks of that, you need to look at how much co2 is available to the plants ? They may be suffocating, as you seem to have everything else dialed in ok.
I would do one of two things or both ;

a. Do you brew anything, beer, cider etc ? Stick your carboy or frementer in the room

b. Maybe pump ALOT more air in from outside . Is your IN FLOW of air vented from the room it sits in or outside? .

You are narrowing the list of potential problems, you will find the issue eventually !

LancelBracken · Oct 11, 2009

chilliman said:
By the looks of that, you need to look at how much co2 is available to the plants ? They may be suffocating, as you seem to have everything else dialed in ok.
I would do one of two things or both ;

a. Do you brew anything, beer, cider etc ? Stick your carboy or frementer in the room

b. Maybe pump ALOT more air in from outside . Is your IN FLOW of air vented from the room it sits in or outside? .

You are narrowing the list of potential problems, you will find the issue eventually !

Hey chilliman
No beer brewing unfortunately

, the in flow of air (that is sucked in from the vacuum caused by exhaust fan) is from the loungeroom the tent is situated in. The room is pretty big i guess, maybe 8x10metres and opens up into another room + garage.
So i'm not sure if it's consuming all the CO2 in the room.
Maybe a small oscillating fan would help to circulate the air a little in the tent?

I'm going to try some DWC maybe this week and coco soon as well

. May as well keep the soil plants outdoors and experiment indoors with other mediums, since i have had trouble with soil indoors

. I may try a few plants in good quality soil though indoors.

LancelBracken · Oct 11, 2009

Bit of an idea... could it be low humidity??? The leaves of the indoors do seem kinda dry and a bit 'crisp' all the time.

http://www.umanitoba.ca/afs/hort_inquiries/house_plants/low_humidity.html

Symptoms / Characteristics:
Younger leaves begin to dry up, beginning at the leaf edges and progressing inward. Lower leaves may turn yellow and fall from the plant. Flowering is inhibited and existing buds shrivel and drop. Open flowers exhibit marginal browning and are very short-lived. Overall growth and vigour are greatly reduced. Plants suffering from low humidity are extremely susceptible to spider mites and may exhibit the characteristic symptoms of injury.

chilliman · Oct 11, 2009

IMO you would of had better Humidity inside the tent , than outside in pots !

I would suggest you are suffocating, plants need ALOT of carbon to grow, they get this from the air

Try venting your IN FLOW of air from outside, giving your plants more carbon (co2)is what I would do.
If all of your plant recover like that once outside for a week, you know it was co2

LancelBracken · Oct 15, 2009

Bit of an update. I went shopping, got a cooltube, some canna terra fert and rhizotonic to use as a root stimulant, ph pen, jiffy pelets, and a few other bits and pieces. Going to try the jiffies to germ some more seeds as i am not happy with seed raising mix in a tray, it's a pain in the ass to transplant and just in general.

I have started using a new potting mix (pictured below) consisting of 60% good quality 'vegetable potting mix', 30% coco coir, 5% perlite and 5% vermiculite. It has a good feel to it.

I have moved most of the plants outside, here is all i have left indoors. New transplants today are in the bottom right tray. They include tobasco, hot wax, bishop's crown, fatali, oregano and basil, and marigolds. I have moved the light a lot closer now that i have a cooltube. I still need to sort out the air circulation issue, i dont think i'll be able to vent in new air from outside of the house, so i may have to settle for a small oscillating fan inside the tent.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/bracken2656/chillioct14th20092.jpg

Here is the big family outside. Today i potted up the three leftmost red bucket peppers(sick jalapeno, trinidad scorpion, bolivian rainbow), as well as some jalapenos from bunnings.

Here is a close up of my new soil mix (described above). It feels better than the old cheap stuff. The green spheres are slow release fert which was in the potting mix. The seedling here is a tobasco i potted up today to his new 80mm home.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/bracken2656/OUTDOORTOBASCOchillioct14th20099.jpg

Here is a marigold that has just started to flower inside the tent. I like them and will germinate more when i can.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w193/bracken2656/MARIGOLDchillioct14th20094.jpg

In general the outdoor ones are getting healthier by the day, some are stunted though. The indoor ones are happier but still some issues.

SeeYouJimmy · Oct 15, 2009

Good to hear they're improving Lance.

LancelBracken · Dec 22, 2009

Xmas update!

They are going much better. All in the new soil are doing better. Ones in the old crap soil are bad still with minimal growth, i will see if they can be repotted in the new year.

I HAVE PODS! Lots of jalapeno pods and bolivian rainbow pods.

Family Pic

Recent sprouts from seed. Grown in jiffies and transplanted recently. Just moved out of the grow tent to outdoors. I haven't had a chance to harden them off well, hope they will be alright.

Jalapeno pods on! Plant is fairly lanky but considering it was almost dead a few months back...

Bolivian rainbow with plenty of pods. These have all been set for about a month and don't seem to be changing colour. The plant is also thinning out slightly. Oh well

LancelBracken · Dec 22, 2009

Trinidad scorpion that was dying in the old soil. Repotted to new soil and growth explosion. Nice healthy green

Bonus Marigold Macro. From seed. I like these, still experimenting with how to grow them, i really have no idea.

Noshownate · Dec 22, 2009

Nice work Lance looks like you ar eno longer a newbie plants are looking great especially your scorpion nice foliage. and nice selction of plants.