back in biz after 12 years.need help...

hi all
i am no expert but have grown more than 50 jack herer plants from seed successfully 12 years ago without any issues.
this is my second grow since then...

10*40watt t5 vho 6500k lamps app 2 inches above the plant tops.
20 bagseeds sprouted in 1 gallon pots 3 weeks ago. the seeds are coming from the same good weed that is pure indica,a local variety that grew outdoors.
soil i got from a store is i guess prepared for roses and have some slow release nutritients. i added perlite and kitty litter to the soil.
temps around 75f, humidity around 50,a small oscilating fan blowing and have intake and exhaust fans in a 4*4 foot space.
i am guessing i overwatered them past weeks and 9 of them are stunted,the fan leaves are almost dead.no new growth.
10 of them have rusty colored leaf edges but also have growing shoots which appears lime green at first and turns to normal green afterwards.these almost lost two sets of fan leaves.
1 of the 20 plants looks very nice compared to others.no burned leaf tips etc.
last time i watered them with rain water,used tap water before.dont have a ph meter.
no feeding yet.
i know a pic is more than words but i cant post pix at the time.
any help and ideas are welcome.

sounds like the slow release soil is burning the plants, probably due to over watering.
a good flush and let em dry out 5-6 days should perk em back up.
pics help alot tho.

I would have to agree with him...i had two plants in a slow release soil...still do 6 weeks in flower and they just arent what they should be....but a ph meter would do you wonders in the end....i bought a cheap one that kept saying my soil was at 7 even though i knew better.....went out and bought a oakton...was like 180-200 retail...but its so worth it. good luck buddy!

Welcome back to growing! Lol. But I feel ya, I just started again after 5 years.
But it is probably the slow release nutes.

here are some pix...

IAm5toned said:

sounds like the slow release soil is burning the plants, probably due to over watering.
a good flush and let em dry out 5-6 days should perk em back up.
pics help alot tho.

Click to expand...

NO DONT DO THIS!!

with time release nutes (such as MG) its the water that releases them. flushing with 3gal of water will just release the nutrients 3x as much

i also agree that it could be the soil causing your "rusting"(i havent checked your pics yet, thought it was important to warn you before you flush)

yeah so my diagnosis is that they are over watered(lighter than normal droopy leafs), which has also caused the plants to get far more nutrients than they need(the curled up tips and burns). next time you begin get the plainest simplest soil you can find and manage the nutrients by hand/eye. it seems hard to grasp, but when you know what your looking for the plant tells you what kind of nutrients it is craving. certain plants have different needs as well

just a few Qs out of curiosity; do you check the PH of your runoff water? how often do you water? and have you heard of the finger of weight methods of checking to see if a plant needs to be watered?

i cant check the ph of the water. i will try to find a ph meter but not too soon.
i was watering twice a week since the seeds sprouted,was using the finger method to decide to water or not, but i guess even if the top couple inches of soil was dry,bottom of the pot may have been kinda swamp.
now i know about the weigh the pot method and was watering once for the last ten days.at the time the pots feel very light and i believe they need water.

i too was not sure bout flushing the pots so halted waiting for some more help from experienced growers.do you think it may be a good idea to transplant them to 5 gallon pots with a nuts free soil?

twice a week may not seem too often but these specialty soils also have moss and water crystals to keep the soil more moist longer

it may help but i foresee several problems. 1) you will only be able to fit about half as many or less plants in your growspace 2) there will still be about 1gal of nutrient soil and it will be closest to the current root system. trying to remove that soil from the rootball will cause more stress than a typical transplant

if your down with the risks then go ahead and try the transplant. but i would wait a little to see if watering less often helps at all

thank you and rep+
i will wait and see if they recover without flushing or repotting.

can you please give me an estimate for the amount of water to water them? i will be away for 3 days and plants need water at the time...

i washed all the plants with fine spray and gave 100ml of rainwater to each healthier plants.
didnt water the smaller sick plants,just sprayed the soil top a little.
we will see when i come back few days later.

i believe if they can survive a couple more weeks they will get better when transplanted to 5 gallon pots and sit under the 400watts hid for the last couple weeks of their veg stage.

happy growing to you all.