Hello all, This is my first post here though I have studied here a lot and enjoy it. So, inexperience led to overwatering, and over-watering turned to fungus gnats. I only water/ feed my 2 girls every 5-7 days( though now that will be only when they let me know they are thirsty) I have been using neem oil to combat the gnats and have been having marginal success, but upon soil inspection, and discovery of more larvae yesterday, I decided to try topsoil replacement. when I removed the top 1-2 inches of soil, I noticed my medium(Mir. Grow org. soil) to be in a word, soggy. Also, yesterday my plants began drooping like the stereotypical over-watering pictures I've seen. The curiousity is that these signs came 5 days after the last watering. Why all of the sudden? Why healthy almost daily inch growth 'til today? Why was it not showing signs earlier? Was it a bad idea to add 2 inches of new soil on top? Would a light pruning(3 leaves per plant) make the girls sad?Many questions I know, but I know after seeing many good ideas from a lot of you out there, someone can help me too. Thanks for reading this rant, and again any input is appreciated. Pax here is my set-up: 150HPS 18/6 78f day / 69f-71f night 40%avg humidity 2 plants, one huge pot( miracle grow organic soil) BOtanicare ferts. all org.(grow,bloom, liquid karma) Alaskan Fish Emulsion super-thrive cal-mag boost
sounds to me like you don't have very good drainage...I've used the MG organic soil, but I added in things like lime, specifically placed gravel, and some soil from some premixed stuffed I was reusing that already had some perlite in it. My advice is to 1. Check the roots for root rot. 2. Drill some bigger holes on the bottom of your pot....Since you have two in one large pot (How big is it by the way?) You may want to think about transplanting into some remixed soil with better drainage in two separate pots. As for now, I would stop watering until the first few layers are dry (some people say use a pencil, stick it in, if it comes up with nothing, good and dry, soil stuck on it, still too wet)....Others will chime in I am sure.
thx i appreciate it. I will begin transplanting today with new soil and perlite as well as some rocks for spacing. Thank you much! pax!!!
Droopy AND curious (me) You're right, I'm gonna chime in~! I'm really new to grows as well, and just use my intuition a lot, and here goes! Were I faced with the problems you describe, yes, I'd be replacing that soil/providing way better drainage, to start. After I got them out of the saturated soil I would probly lets em sit out, mist em to keep whatever roots are showing moist and finish drying out some before putting them into new soil. Then I'd just water lightly with NO nutes/additives for at least a week. I'd then look at my watering schedule, and adjust it by what the plants tell me, not some formula. Again, just chiming in: I am NOT a pro by any means! Be well!
