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Thread: Please help - my cannabis plant looks like it's dying and I can't figure out why

  1. #1

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    Default Please help - my cannabis plant looks like it's dying and I can't figure out why

    I just got my Michigan medical marijuana permit, so I bought some Afghani strain seeds online. I originally intended to grow them hydroponically but ran out of funds just as my seeds were germinating. So I quick went out and bought some Miracle Gro potting mix and Miracle Gro all purpose liquid plant food and a 5 Gallon pot. This is my first time growing so my initial method was a mix of different suggestions from different sites and friends. I didn't mix the soil with vermiculite or anything like I probably should have, I just planted the germ in the pot and put a 35 watt Fluorescent studio bulb over it and stuck it in the closet with a small desk fan for circulation.

    Everything went great for the first few weeks, the plant was perfect and green and symmetrical. As the plant got bigger, I added an 85 watt Fluorescent bulb (these studio bulbs are specifically calibrated to be almost exactly the same bandwidths as sunlight and cost a hell of a lot more than regular fluorescents, so I'm pretty sure the light is at least adequate. I'm a professional photographer and I have a dozen or so lying around so that's why I use them.)

    A week later the plant was looking great but it was getting to difficult to move around in the closet so I moved it to the bedroom, which is the same room I use only for storage and now for growing; no one goes in except me, and then only to water and check it out. I also added another 85 watt lamp when I moved it. Anyway, a day or 2 later, nearly all of the older, larger leaves started to turn yellow around the edges. I looked up possible reasons online and the answer I got most was nitrogen deficiency. I had been fertilizing the plant every other watering, so I started fertilizing with every watering. I mix the water according to the directions on the bottle. After about a week I still saw a slow steady decline in the look of the plant. I figured that since the extra fertilizer wasn't helping, it might now be getting too much fertilizer, so I flushed the soil with water.

    A couple days later it looked no better, the wilting of the older leaves got worse and seemed dead and dry. By this time even the younger leaves had a ring of yellow around the edges, and the older larger leaves have some yellow, brown and light/dark green discolorations going almost to the center of the leaves. I figured I might not have much time before the plant dies so I put it on a 12/12 light cycle to flower it. That was a week ago. So far I haven't seen a major decline in the health of the plant, but I don't think it's gotten any better either. Right now only the newest of leaves (2-3 days old) are free from discoloration, but it seems like they only live a few days before turning yellow.

    I was wondering if anyone out there might have any ideas about what's wrong with the plant? I've looked everywhere and can't seem to find a straight answer about what I should do. The plant is about a foot tall now and doesn't seem to have grown much since I started flowering it. It's about a month and a half old, and it's had this problem for maybe 3 weeks. All I know is that everything was perfect until I moved it out of the closet and added another 85 watt bulb. Is there such thing as too much light? They are cool fluorescent bulbs, 205 watts altogether, I keep them a couple inches away from the plant, with white reflector umbrellas to beam stray light back at the plant. Temp is kept at around 75 degrees, possibly a little warmer when the lights are on.

    I'm a rookie at this stuff, but I plan to keep growing after this so I want to make sure I get everything right. Also, sorry about the novel post, I wanted to give you guys as much info as possible and I didn't want to leave anything out. I have some photos that I just took of the plant that I will attempt to post. If anyone out there has any ideas, your input will be greatly appreciated.

    Also, I was wondering if anyone could tell yet if this is a male or female plant? I took a photo of what I believe is the spot to look for differentiating the 2. If you need more info or photos let me know and thank you for the help.

    -Steve






    This is a macro photo of what I believe is the spot to look to determine sex.

  2. #2

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    firstly mate , miracle grow is no good for our type of plants buy some proper cannabis nutes or even tomato food with the correct npk ratio , also you do not need to use any nutes for at least the first four weeks if you are growing in soil and even then never follow the label on the bottle start off weak and work your way up. miracle grow soil is also a bit too strong for seedlings , try and get a actual seedling compost to start them off in .
    cant advise you on your lights as i dont know anything about them.
    as for sexing your last photo is looking at the wrong place - look where the branches meet the main stem . on the second photo just below the uppermost branch on the right looks to be a white hair which would indicate its a female but cant be sure with that pic.
    have a good read of the novice section mate - it will answer all your questions on the correct nutes , temps etc.

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    you mentioned a few things that are wrong .
    1/ the soil as bergkamp said is probably too rich to start seeds in
    2/ you mentioned watering when the soil is still wet.let the soil dry out between waterings.
    3/ you started feeding the plants before they needed to be ,again re berkamps answer
    with the dark leaves and the burnt edges looks like nute burn
    if you're retired or you ain't got a job and you ain't growing and smoking weed ,i don't know what the fuck you are doing!

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    Quote Originally Posted by wert View Post
    you mentioned a few things that are wrong .
    1/ the soil as bergkamp said is probably too rich to start seeds in
    2/ you mentioned watering when the soil is still wet.let the soil dry out between waterings.
    3/ you started feeding the plants before they needed to be ,again re berkamps answer
    with the dark leaves and the burnt edges looks like nute burn
    Hi Guys, started my first grow with four plants. They are now about 10cms and looking v. healthy. I haven't started feeding them yet - they are about 4 weeks old. Can you recommend a one feed i can buy to see me through to the end. I live in the UK and will be growing outdoors once they are sturdy enough....and no more frost.

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    Hi Guys, started my first grow with four plants. They are now about 10cms and looking v. healthy. I haven't started feeding them yet - they are about 4 weeks old. Can you recommend a one feed i can buy to see me through to the end. I live in the UK and will be growing outdoors once they are sturdy enough....and no more frost.

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    So I switched to flowering fertilizer with more phosphate and less nitrates and have been watering the plant very sparsely. It's not getting worse, but it's still not getting any better. I just want this plant to survive long enough to make clones from it, assuming it's a female plant and it smokes good. I think the problem was nutrient burn. A friend who grows told me what to buy and use, but come to think of it his weed has never been that good...

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    Correct in saying nute burn, thats why the guys said not to use the miracle gro.

    I am very new to all this, only 6 weeks in to my 1st grow. But I think once you are using the right nutes or none at all then the new growth will be fine, the leafs won't heal from the burn and that gets cut off.
    Correct me if I'm wrong anyone though please

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    when the leaves get nute burn or damaged in any other way then usually die off but can still last for weeks and weeks before doing so so no,the leaves will not heal



    Looking for New Pastures

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    Its still small if you get your feeding right it will recover not a problem as i have tortured plants
    worse than that lol and still flowered them till the end with a no bad yield considering how bad
    they looked before flowering.Happy growing and good luck.

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