Is this some sort of Lockout? Twisted, Yellow leaves

[Greengrass]

JMO fella but I'm going to take a stab at under developed roots
Forget what the plant looks like above the soil for now
Imagine just for a second if soil was transparent what you would see at 18 days is a mass of roots going down and winding around all happy
With drenching the pot at the start I'm guessing you've got a small root ball compared to the plant above the soil
So you could be correct that lack of nitrogen is your problem because the roots can't be arsed to going looking for it so your leaf colour is fluctuating because its not getting the nutrients at the speed the plants trying grow at
Thats why even though I grow seed to weed 60 day autos I still use a 10 litre pot just so I can water further enough away from the stem that my roots got no choice but to spread out as fast as possible
With auto's your growing roots for the first two weeks and not plants
Atb and just my baked oppinion

[ShamanShiba]

JMO fella but I'm going to take a stab at under developed roots
Forget what the plant looks like above the soil for now
Imagine just for a second if soil was transparent what you would see at 18 days is a mass of roots going down and winding around all happy
With drenching the pot at the start I'm guessing you've got a small root ball compared to the plant above the soil
So you could be correct that lack of nitrogen is your problem because the roots can't be arsed to going looking for it so your leaf colour is fluctuating because its not getting the nutrients at the speed the plants trying grow at
Thats why even though I grow seed to weed 60 day autos I still use a 10 litre pot just so I can water further enough away from the stem that my roots got no choice but to spread out as fast as possible
With auto's your growing roots for the first two weeks and not plants
Atb and just my baked oppinion

Hi bro, I think you're definitely onto something there.
Since adding the nutrients yellowing seems to have stopped but also growth has exploded and I don't think that's really supposed to happen for another couple of weeks, so there's no denying she was nutrient starved.
The quality of the soil is also pretty bad... It's a vegetable growing mix from the store but it's full of clumps and sticks and stuff, most of which I removed by hand.

I have been watering at the edges and avoiding pouring the water straight over the stem but the soil was pretty drenched each time so the roots not needing to grow very much would make a lot of sense. I wonder if it may actually work out for me by keeping the final plant size really small. That would be perfect, but not if It's going to cause all these other problems.

Full disclosure... my pot is only 10cm deep and my grow space is only 35cm tall. It's a tiny PC case grow. Now I'm sure you're shaking your head but it was the best option for me at the time and my point of view was that an ounce or even half an ounce would still be better than nothing, and would teach me the basics of growing. Heck, about 5 years ago I grew a bag seed in a cup on my window ledge using shitty clay soil from the garden.
So the plant becoming root bound is basically inevitable, the challenge is trying to make the best use of my tiny grow space.

If she doesn't survive, I'll pull the soil from the roots and post some pics as it might help other users who might be having similar problems. Now that I'm thinking about it my last 2 plants had a pretty small root system when they died and I pulled them out.

I'm currently looking for a full tower pc case (65+ cm tall) but it's hard to find one for a good price without windows in the side or anything. For my next grow I'm definitely going to use some better soil, I've heard "Multi-Purpose Compost With Added John Innes" is pretty good and it's easily available when I live. But this larger case will allow me to grow in 15 - 20cm deep 5L pots or better.

Check out the attached picture of my grow space, the wooden beams are just to keep her closer to the light until she grows, the tub is full of water and rags to increase RH and above that is my homemade carbon filter. I was pretty impressed with what I could fit in this space... and most importantly from the outside you wouldn't suspect a thing.

Thanks for all the help and info provided in this thread guys, If there's one piece of advice I'd give to noobies reading this it's that trying to cut corners and save money here and there can end up being pretty expensive when you have to re buy everything cause the stuff you bought won't cut it. Can't fault me for being ambitious with my tiny space though!

Peace!

[Greengrass]

If possible matey see if there is a hydroponics store near you or online and try a cannabis friendly soil like plant magic soil supreme plus around £12 a bag so it costs a bit more than the usual store bought dirt and when you see it you'll know why.. Its lighter as anything just add some perlite and you should never have a problem with poor drainage in future
Try not to completely drench your soil before hand again
Soil is usually moist anyway so I just slightly damp around where I drop the seedling in and then control the water from then on starting from about 100ml and 3 inches from the stem when the seedling breaks the surface and next watering I go further out until I'm at the edge of the pot, and only around day 20 will my pot get its first full pot soak by then my auto has exploded
I've used some cheap soil before and I could never get the pot to dry out evenly, with the dead branches and mulch holding on to the moisture and don't get me started on the shredded carrier bag in it