Nitrogen Guzzling Plants

My plants are all growing really quickly and look relatively healthy. But there appears to be some uniform yellowing of leaves. I've read ICE is a real nitrogen guzzler. But I would of thought as i'm growing in prefertilized soil that there would be enough nitrogen in there at this early stage of growth. (About two and half weeks.) Hence am loathed to add any more fertiliser . Does anybody body know of a water soluble nitrigen fertiliser I can add that will be forgiving if it is a mis diagnosis. Sure the plants will be fine without it but dont want to see them go hungry. (Please don't condemn me for using pre fertilised soil promise I won't do it again.) But in all seriousness any info on nitrogen sources would be helpful.

 

I like Foxfarm Big Grow it's organic

 

You don't find soil indoors a pain?

 

Find soil a bit easier not as much mixing and testing. If I was going commercial would swap to hydroponics. Plus funds were limited will invest in better equipment after harvest.

 

How hot is the growroom, and how often are you watering? If you're letting the soil completely dry out in a warm room between waterings its possible the nitrogen is just getting eaten up by the dryness. I was watering mine every 2 days just before the plants would start to wilt. That seemed to contribute to some yellowing from the bottom leaves up.

I then switched to a daily watering before the dark cycle and began using Iguano Veg growth additive once per week. Plants grew much quicker and the yellowing disappeared.

 

for nitrogen plant beans and peanusts next to them... or get some cow shit and sprinkle it on im in ag education trust me

 

Thanks nolan but i'm growing in a closet no room for other plants and cow shit might not make my house smell to good. Outside the manure would be a good idea but indoors some sort of liquid fertiliser needs to be used.
Since I started using seaweed extract and the root system has matured the yellowing seems to have stoped. Now think it wasn't a nitrogen problem at all. But thanks for your help guys. Pur i have started watering as you said will see how it goes.

 

Yellowed lower leaves could be a sign of under or overwatering.
Sounds like a watering problem to me. As Pur pointed out, plants do better when the watering schedule is more frequent. If the soil is too saturated for too long, the roots will not have a good enough supply of oxygen to process the nutrients. If the soil is too dry, the roots will wither and die, and hence won't be able to take up as much nutrients.

Do you water from the top or the bottom?
Watering from the top tends to be better for the plant in my experience, but it causes salt buildup and rinses the nutrients to the bottom of the soil.

If it were an N deficiency you could expect to see spotty, yellow leaves. They will look like a ripe banana skin.

Remember the KISS principle.
If you are growing in soil, your plants should already have sufficient nutrients without having to add any. You should be able to grow your plants to full term with just water and soil.

 

Ya, i water from the top down, which is primarilly why I add the diluted Iguana Organic additive once per week. I water every night 1-3 hrs before the lights go off, and I water vigorously at that time. The room averages 77-80 degrees with the temperature fluctuating from 80-85 at plant level below the lights at certain times. So after 16 hrs of light (Veg cycle) the soil is fairly dried out by the end. But like Nicklebag says, because I'm watering from the top down the nutrients are getting pushed to the bottom, so I add the Iguana stuff once per week to keep all the soil healthy.

I must note, I only grow my plants indoors to the 5th week, inside 5 x 6 peat cups, and they are then transplanted outdoors. I'm trying multiple indoor/outdoor sativa strains, and I'm averaging 15-18 inches height with no topping at the 5 week mark. Transplants have been very successful, I basically just bury the peat cup in the ground and water hard. Come back 3 days later and water and place a 1 gallon water container with a tiny pin prick in them at the base. Takes 2 days to fully drain out. Outside temperature reaches highs in the mid 80 and low 90s from April to October. But it's windy here.

 

I water daily about one and half litres. Room temp is 75 the plants are four days into flowering. Small problem is next week I am going on holiday and have to leave the watering to a friend who can only do it every two or three days. If a give them a good watering before I go i.e. water runs out of the bottom of the pots how long do you reckon this will keep them going. The pots are two and a half gallons, each with two plants in, like I say at present each pot gets one and a half litres of water per day,do you reckon they will be alright for seven days only being waterd twice during this period.

 

If you saturate your plant, in a 3 to 5 gallon pot...
and if the temps aren't too high, and the humidity isn't too low...
you might be able to leave them for about 1 week, possibly longer.

I feed my mother plant roughly every 10 days, giving her about 3L.
Somewhere between 1 to 2 weeks, she will start getting a little droopy, depending on the weather.
I bottom feed when I use so much water to prevent flushing. I'll pour about 0.5 to 1L from the top.
Also, bottom feeding seems to soak into the soil better and promotes downward root growth making for healthier, stronger roots.

Don't give them more than about 4L MAX, or you will come back to root rot.
Eg, feed them until the soil is fully saturated and water comes out of the bottom,
but do not let water sit in the tray. Don't feed them too quickly or you will flush all
the nutrients and/or too much water will come out the bottom.

The hotter yer grow room is, the faster the water will evaporate.
The dryer yer grow room is, the faster the plants will transpire.

 

Thanks. Reckon I might have been overwatering a bit, they might enjoy a short dry spell. Hoping to sex them before I go, they have been 12/12 for about 4 days. Out of ten plants spotted two with female preflowers so far but the others are hard to tell as yet. Saw what appeared to be male pre flowers on a few plants but they then proceeded to grow into immature funny shaped leafs. Don't want to chop anything to soon but it would be nice to let the females have as much light and growth room as possible before I leave on Sunday. Hoping there will be some more definite signs in the next three days. The plants (ICE) have been growing really short and bushy during veg but since they have gone 12/12 theve started to stretch a lot (not a problem). The fan leaves have the longest thickest stalks I have seen of any strain. This enables them to easily be bend out of the way which is handy. Keep reading growers reports on this strain some say its knockout others say its rubbish. I can't believe if grown healthly a plant with parentage of (Northern Lights,Shiva,Afghani,skunk) can be of poor quality. Will soon find out though. The reports I read of poor quality were from 2003 maybe the strain has been stabilised since then. I know theres a lot of talk about different strains and strenghths e.t.c but I generally find most good homegrown bud does the same thing.

 

You should let the soil dry out before watering again. Takes a while if you water thoroughly and you're not using a mix with lots of perlite.

 

Yes, plants actually need oxygen more than they need water.
The plants will be more vigorous if they are left dry more often than they are left damp.
I like to let my plants get to the point of drooping a little even. Indoors, a little wilting isn't a big deal since most of the water in a plant is in storage for drought periods (between rainfalls). As long as they don't start drying up they will perk right back up within a couple of hours. I find that by droughting the plants, it tricks them into 'survival mode'. As soon as they get water they get a growth spurt. It mimmicks nature better as well, IMO.

 

From what I understand, the oxygen demand is precisely why plants tend to do better with more frequent waterings. New water will have oxygen in it. And the short term of the water in the soil allows plenty of time for the soil to 'breathe' in between.

One of the reasons I feed my mother so much at once is because it retards stem and foliar growth by depriving the roots of oxygen. Oxygen deprivation also promotes aerobic root growth, as the plant strives to get more oxygen. Bottom feeding promotes downward, and healty anaerobic root growth, so in all, my mother ends up being a stunted bush with a super root system, and I can hack that biatch down to nothing and she will grit her teeth and beg me to do it again

 

I am teh slow