Oni's 2nd grow. Lessons learned

It wasn’t that saturated, but after a cup of soil I got enough to get to pH pen test

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Here’s the manual for my pen. My uncle gifted me this with the GH pH kit. I’m out of pH up, but I’ll have to grab more.

OK.

Your plants are locked out from most of their food.

I would defintely pH the water to 6.8 for the next watering. If you got that much water out of a cup of soil, the soil is indeed saturated. It also appears that there is a minimum of material in the soil that would help with aeration (perlite rice hulls,coco cubes, anything that permanently holds air below the surface. Roots need oxygen or they drown.

Drain these as well as you can over night and water with pH 6.8 water. Go to the drug store and buy some Epsom salt. Add 1 teaspoon to a gallon of the same water and let’s turn their little motors back on.

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Conveniently my tap water is at the 6.8-7 pH range ATM. Should I mix anything with it or just add straight water to it for the next watering since their seedlings they don’t need extra nutrients anyways. I should have left them alone. While I was digging through the soil I found quite a decent amount of mycorrhizae spread about.

Based off the chart I have I’d say I want a higher calcium, magnesium, and molybdenum levels at 6.8 compared to iron, manganese, phosphorus, boron, copper, and zinc that I now see is what 6.3 favors.

Did I understand that correctly? Also once I clean the diode I’ll test my tap water to see what I’m dealing with.

Those numbers probably correlate to Hydroponic growing. There, you want to be at about 6.3.

Yes, add your water, however you can achieve it, at 6.8 for the next watering. You probably should add some epsom salt to the water to restore the balance of calcium and magnesium first. The plant will then begin to take command of the soil. If you are seeing evidence of microbial life, then this plant might be able to power right through your soil.

That is how I see you fixing this to perfection. The sprouts should be dark green and they are looking just a bit pale from here.

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Here’s my tap pH according to my pen. I waited until it stabilized and then took the pic after noticing it fluctuate up from 6.87 originally

My tap water comes from the Ipswich river. I can get test results, but last I checked it’s at a decent level as far as base nutrients go. I’ll grab some Epsom salts tomorrow as recommended

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This pen, has it been calibrated lately. If not, that is the next mission after epsom salt.

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It has not, but once I can I will. I don’t have ro water, but will distilled I can buy in the store work?

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I don’t know if you can purchase ro water.

If that is the best you can get, go ahead and use that. I would then use some paper pH tests at points down the road to be certain you are not wandering off the mark unknowningly.

Shortly after your excercises with these things, you will get a feel for for what the water needs before you water the plants. generally, they start out weak and get stronger along the way.

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I’ll make sure to get some while I’m out tomorrow

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there’s always LITFA. it’s a seedling; it only needs bright light, water, a place to root, warmer than “room temperature”… then go find another project. :laughing:

:evergreen_tree: takes one to kow one :wink:

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The warmer than room temp part is hard as that room wants to stay cold even when the heat everywhere else in the house is a comfortable to warm 70-75f. I noticed it’s usually sitting at 68 at most in there even if I crank the heat to 75 and see the house at 80. I’ve given up that battle, so if anyone can tell me wtf is going on there and how I can get the room there to shape up and get warm.

No lie that’s why I don’t use it as my bedroom anymore. I was ice cold with the heat cranked every winter.

Sorry about not making much sense. I’m currently dealing with shit IRL rn and I haven’t been able to eat more than breakfast each day as I force it down. No hunger or appetite and no weight loss. Freaky AF and that’s all I’ll say about it without a rant.

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I’ve personally had nothing but bad luck trying to mess with the ph in soil. I just leave tap water out over night to evaporate the chlorine then water, but I let the soil buffer everything else. It does it naturally.

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Fix it then LITFA!!! Autos are very sensitive to hiccups or being fucked with, especially early on.

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Well, hmm. It’s possibly several reasons, but I’d guess it is on the North or North-W/E side, possibly shaded by something(lg tree, bldg.), possibly wind-blown(no fences/hedges/etc), probably less/not insulated, etc. even could have an issue with the heating system like a ducting problem. The ducts for that room could be uninsulated, while the rest are-- cats :cat2: will rip up insulation-- i’ve seen the havoc wreaked.

But waaaay easier to deal with than all of that :smile: is getting/making something small like a “cloning dome” or a clear plastic roast :chicken: container from dinner :fork_knife_plate:. I have clear storage bins that work but are bit too opaque. Even plastic/saran/cling-wrap can be put to use if you’re careful & creative/crafty. :tools: :scissors: At that size it’s easy & cheap…but when they’re trees it’s different. :wink:

As to your personal ailments… I know we all have varied ailments so I won’t suggest a solution, per-se, but in my experience dealing with that(assuming you’re not a tobacco/nicotine monkey like me)… find a way to get some exercise & wear yourself out. (Well I guess I did just suggest).

:laughing:

:v:

:evergreen_tree:

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It is threads like these (hundreds of them, spread accross the various sites) that pushed me far away from using chemical nutes in soil. pH testing/adjusting all the time, flushing, testing EC…

Oni, you are getting great advice and I am sure you will eventually figure this out and grow some sweet bud, but it could have been so much simpler (and more enjoyable?) for you. You’ve spent money on the nutes you have so it makes sense to put them to good use if you can, but in the future you can make choices that radically simplify things for you.

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Yeah I know. I added the nutes originally just because the rain before I used the soil was brutal and I wasn’t sure if there was enough to feed all the seedlings at once. I wish I had a supersoil, but eventually I’ll make one.

As for the exercise suggestion I have severe asthma. I have the lungs of a lifelong smoker. Short bursts are fine though. Lately my exercise has been in the form of walking at my baseline pace thanks to ADHD. I walk 5 miles an hour LoL. If I decide to speed up and walk faster I almost pass out unless I start running. I walk for a hour to Salem usually and I walk back after I’m finished over there.
I do smoke tobacco as well though. Same thing with cannabis. People ask me why I started to smoke. The nicotine. I lucked out so far and all I have is the constant desire to smoke, but it’s a indiscriminate craving. Just the habit of inhaling smoke and expanding my airways is what I enjoy. I regularly quit cold turkey if I feel I’m wanting more than smoke or nicotine. So far it’s just as bad as caffeine for me. I’m a freak for it, but if I had to leave it I won’t freak out.

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I’ve been planning on making a box for it, but money has not lined up to make it happen. Same issues as last time like it’s reliable. I hate USPS

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I’m making my list now. I have 12 to spend ATM, so I’m prioritizing Epsom salts and distilled water before I grab the rest of what I need.

Not in order, but all needed this grow:
Plywood
Carbon scrubbers
Intake fan
Exhaust fans
Hinges
Paint
Magnets
Drill
Various drill bits
Saw
Rubber seals
Rope hangars
Latches

Optional items I can get are:
Cobs
Heatsinks
Drivers
Ballast

I found a fairly inexpensive build that has better par rating than most lights off Amazon that list par and costs less than the ones that it matches. It’s somewhat expensive on my current budget, but I know I’ll like it. I love diy. I keep thinking I should disassemble my corncob lights to let them stop wasting light. On the Amazon reviews one of the common issues was them falling apart anyways. My splitters are more fragile tbh as I’ve already had to force a socket back in.

If I forgot to add anything to my grow box list lmk?
The low electricity bill is stealth enough on its own. I don’t use more than $3 a day if I’m wasteful that day.

Oh yeah!:man_facepalming:t2:
The soil is drying out today. It seems they drank a lot last night. The pot is half as heavy as it was yesterday. I checked it at 3am and it was still 2x as heavy as it was at noon. It almost seems as it the plants and soil are telling me to fix the soil pH today or they’re all thirsty plants

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“Older brother” says: yes. :slight_smile: prioritize taking care of your self & health needs, not fidgeting & fussing over a seedling/plant. If you really can quit cigs, do it ASAP, please. If you can be that anomolie and have one a month like a treat(I’ve known 1 person), then OK, you’re human & here to enjoy your time. :smile: But it’s terrible shit and only part of it is alleviating suffering. I’d do it if I could without worse issues arising.

Try Lemon Balm. 9.99 at my grocery, vitamins/supplements aisle. @gordongecko recommended it to me and I am so grateful. Next year I hope to grow my own. :herb: :lemon:

Do you have a place outdoors to make a compost heap & turn it every few days? It’s pretty good exercise that you can self-regulate easily, and you can’t “over-do” it(helps the pile break down). When I stop that particular activity I really notice. :muscle:

And free of charge :grin: there’s always a dumbell (HA!), situp/crunches, pushups to burn off some energy.

So glad you didn’t have to breathe the air out here the last few weeks…it was straight :skull_crossbones: death… approaching 500 AQI PM2.5

Gnarrrr-leeeeeEEE!

:evergreen_tree:

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