I transplanted tonight, and took a bunch of pictures. I'll upload those later on tomorrow.

Oh, and also I figured out what the problem has been all along for the plants. Stay tuned for that tomorrow as well.

MC

Yesterday I decided to get the transplant underway. Using the little knowledge I had about pH fluctuations, I decided to procure some dolomite lime from the nearest hydro store. After acquiring the lime for $20 (which was way more expensive than I was thinking but this is agricultural powdered dolomite lime of the highest quality - or so says the sales guy at the hydro store. I did check at Home Depot and Lowes first, but I couldn't find it and the helpful employees I asked said, "what's pH?") I set everything aside.

My supplies for the task are below:


After setting aside all of my ingredients, I went online to search for how specifically to use dolomite lime with Canna Terra Professional Plus medium, and I found the single most helpful thing I've read all year. Pertaining specifically to me, and addressing my exact same problem, here is what I read. SME, I want to give credit where it is due, so I'm citing the website this came from, but I'm not linking it as it's another forum. I want to post the entirety of it for anyone following along who may be using this soilless soil.

KUNGFUBRU from 420 magazine forums - concatenating for your reading pleasure wrote:
...To be honest I've always been to scared to follow the Canna guidelines, and plumbed for adjusting my feed down between 6.8 to 6.5 but i keep getting the same issues with the plants,, A couple of weeks into the main room around the time of flipping to 12/12 shows the start of multiple nutrient deff's N, Mag, Cal.. Mag seems the most prevalent, and the first to show in veg,,purpling on the branches, and leaf stems, spots on leaves. Pale new growth and yellowing older, although the lower part of the plants do seem to keep there green a little better, finishing with leaf die off in extreme cases.

So been thinking about maybe adding a little extra Dolomite lime to my next soil mix, or maybe even sprinkling some over the tops of the ones on the go right now...

At this point, other forum members pointed out the same nutrient availability chart that SME posted in this thread earlier. Folks thought he was way over-analyzing his soil... and that's what I thought I was doing too. But scrolling a little further down, KungFuBru was kind enough to contact Canna, and post their answers to all of his questions. Below is what Canna replied:

KUNGFUBRU from 420 magazine forums "Soil Conundrum!?" thread - concatenating for your reading pleasure wrote:CANNAS HORTICULTURIST ANSWERS

Nutrient are the best solvable between 5,2 and 6,2. But....
Terra, our potting mix is made of peat which has a pH of 3,5 - 4,0. In that pH your sweet spot will not grow. So we add chalk (lime) to it and make a pH of 6,1 (+/- 0,2)
Giving a lower pH (with the water) will break the chalk down, so don't do it.
A higher pH makes a few nutrient elements less solvable, which means less absorbable for the plant
6,5 is to high.
That means some elements like metals Iron Magnesium Manganese cannot be taken, which are needed to make Chlorophyll, which makes the plant green.
You will see light green leaves especially in the top(Fe), but even yellow spots later on in the middle part (Mg/Mn)

By giving extra N27% often the problem solves, because this nutrient will bring the pH down in the substrate (not in the water)
Some Brands make use of this N27% in their nutrient and do recommend a high pH.
A dangerous recommendation, because later on the plant will take the pH down in the rootzone, when the plant start to flower.
According to us; the mistake was in giving a high or (wrong) pH,

In the first week they get nutrients again of the new soil with a right pH. But you make in impossible again within a week to take it later on by giving a high pH.
If you give feeding (even when it is low) and the plant cannot take it by the high pH, these nutrient will be build up in the substrate.
Again an indication your pH is to high.

early veg pH 5,8
full veg, pH 5,9
early flower pH 6,0,
late flower. pH 6,2 (when PK is given)

So change the pH to 5,8
Give temporarily (2-3 weeks) N27%, to cure the problem

I hope this information makes things clearer for you if you have anymore questions then ping me email and I will get back to you

So to make all that short, and to sum up the answer to all of my problems over the last 3 weeks is this:
This is not SOIL. I was told it was, but nevertheless it is to be treated as SOILLESS. My pH was too high at 6.5, and needed to be 6.0 all along.

Armed then with all this information, I set about my transplant, using extra dolomite lime as I mixed the Canna Pro-Plus into the new containers as an increased precaution. I decided that the Incredible Bulk will be the plant not making the cut this time. Even though I have more seeds of the Money Maker and Pineapple Chunk (but no more of the Incredible Bulk) I will simplify things by growing 2 strains instead of 3. She has also proved to be the least pH fluctuation/nutrient deficiency tolerant of all 5, so she has to go.

Here is the family heights directly before my transplant:


I used the Incredible Bulk as a template to mold the holes for transplant in the new Canna Pro Plus substrate (mixed with extra dolomite lime) in the new 10 gallon cloth smart pots.


After making the holes as close to the right size as possible, I removed the template and inverted the plastic root-maker pots keeping my fingers wrapped around the base of the stem at my palm. They slid out easily, required no butter knife and very little squeezing to release. I like these root-maker pots. Here are photos of all of my girls' roots:




After transplant, they looked similar to Money Maker 1, below:



And finally, after transplanting all 4, I placed them back on their table, and gave them a nice watering with 1/2 strength nutrient solution, mixed as below:

8 gallons water total - 2 gallons per plant average
Canna nutrients mixed for 4 gallons
CalMg mixed for 8 gallons
Superthrive @ 2 small drops per gallon
pH: 6.0
Side note: after adding all nutrients and supplements, the pH is automatically 6.0 with no tinkering from me. Thus... affirming Canna's claim that pH doesn't generally need to be adjusted blah blah blah...

As I'm transplanting them into new substrate with corrected pH, I'm not over correcting down to start trying to bring my 6.5 pH'd 1 gallon root balls to 6.0. Instead, I am starting correctly, with the proper pH'd nutrient solution. You might notice that I've kept the Incredible Bulk in the middle. That is simply insurance incase one of the other plants dies from transplant shock.


That photo was taken 24 hours ago, and they are looking quite happy now. I will upload more pictures in a day or so.

Thank you everyone for trying to help me figure out my problem. I appreciate everything that I learned while suffering through the incredible pH debacle of 2014. I am now officially ready to crush it.
MC

Hey MC,

I've been meaning to get back to you about the Pineapple Chunk. I'm glad to see that you decided to keep them both. Over the past week or so I have finally started to smoke it. It is so very sweet, maybe a hint more citrus than pineapple to my palate. And she's a very heavy hitter, don't have any plans to do more than watch TV or sleep for quite awhile!

I wish you the best in figuring out the solution to your PH issues...as a "soilless" grower myself, I struggled for two grows before getting the solution for me...and I still have my challenges....but once you "get it", you will be all set...

That 6.0 seems very hot to me, but I've only got 5 real grows under my belt...I just know what works for me and my set-up (soil, food and strains). I haven't done anything to my growing mixture for over a year now. I flush, harvest, pull out the root ball and start over!

One thing a good friend of mine told me recently that has really helped. Before each watering/feeding, I pour about 1/2 gallon of pure RO through each plant to help mitigate any salt buildup...and then feed on top of that. Also, I do a full flush three times in the cycle...after 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days...or about 1 week prior to flip, right in the middle of the flowering cycle, and a week before the harvest.

Best of luck my friend...I look forward to watching it !

ICB

A soil/soilless mixture with a lot of peat can affect pH so you may be on to something. I think I'd change my medium next time but it's your grow.

The transplant looks like it went well and it was time. Good job!

The other thing to consider (and it could be related to deficiencies) is that when adding CO2 the plants can use more nutrients so don't starve them either.

SisterMaryElephant wrote:A soil/soilless mixture with a lot of peat can affect pH so you may be on to something. I think I'd change my medium next time but it's your grow.

The transplant looks like it went well and it was time. Good job!

The other thing to consider (and it could be related to deficiencies) is that when adding CO2 the plants can use more nutrients so don't starve them either.

Changing medium = absolutely. Positively. I still can't tell you how frustrated i am that Canna didn't spell this out a little better on either their website, feeding instructions, or bag of medium/bottle of nutrients. Simply saying that 5.8-6.2 is optimal would take 1 line of text. Come on guys!

Thank you for your help and feedback!
MC

glad you figured it out.

Hey MC,

If you are going to change mediums, and not to promote any product over another (because I have never used anything else), but....I have had what I consider to be very good results with Fox Farms soilless mixtures...I have blended the Ocean Forest with Happy Frog and never looked back. A quick Google search can show you what ingredients are in their mixtures.. earthworm castings, crab shells, bat guano, etc. .
After some early PH issues, (FFOF can run hot for some strains, which is why I blended it with FFHF) SME suggested I amend the mix with dolemite lime (which you already have done) and I added some more earthworm castings as a top dressing...but again, let me reiterate...I have done absolutely nothing more to this grow mixture in three grows !

All I do now is simply feed and flush!

Good luck my man!
ICB

ItsCurtisBaby wrote:Hey MC,

If you are going to change mediums, and not to promote any product over another (because I have never used anything else), but....I have had what I consider to be very good results with Fox Farms soilless mixtures...I have blended the Ocean Forest with Happy Frog and never looked back. A quick Google search can show you what ingredients are in their mixtures.. earthworm castings, crab shells, bat guano, etc. .
After some early PH issues, (FFOF can run hot for some strains, which is why I blended it with FFHF) SME suggested I amend the mix with dolemite lime (which you already have done) and I added some more earthworm castings as a top dressing...but again, let me reiterate...I have done absolutely nothing more to this grow mixture in three grows !

All I do now is simply feed and flush!

Good luck my man!
ICB

Hey ICB,

I've been meaning to say thanks for the updated Pineapple Chunk report! Reading that has got me so excited for this strain, and really happy that I kept both of them instead of the Incredible Bulk. I'll be sure to get some good pictures of them for you as I flower. I still have 3 seeds left of that strain too, so that's great also. Citrus and a contemplative couchlock... sounds pleasant... in addition to alliterative! I should write the marketing for these seed companies. Seriously though thank you so much for the continued info on the Pineapple Chunk!

Also I appreciate the soil info! I was thinking about an activated mix, something along the lines of (obviously scaled down):

Soil mix from Subcool, a marijuana breeder - posted from growweedeasy, "How do I grow organic marijuana" wrote:

• 8 large bags of high quality organic potting soil with coco coir and Mycorrhizae (30 pounds each bag or ~240 pounds total) - Roots Organics Soil or Sunshine Mix is ideal
• 25-50 lbs. of organic worm castings
• 5 lbs. of Blood meal 12-0-0
• 5 lbs. Bat guano 0-5-0
• 5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal 3-18-0
• ¾ cup Epsom salt
• 1 cup Sweet lime (Dolomite)
• ½ cup Azomite (trace element)
• 2 Tbs. powdered Humic acid
• Perlite to your liking - not more then 25%

(Recommended) 4 oz Mycorrhizae beneficial bacteria - Roots Oregonism XL or Great White Shark work perfectly - these adds additional bennies (beneficial bacteria) to get your soil composting so it produces the good stuff

(Optional) 2 lbs Coco Coir - (use a wheelbarrow to rehydrate this brick - it expands a lot!) only add extra coco coir if you chose an alternative organic potting soil not listed above, and your chosen soil does not already contain coco coir, such as Black Gold organic soil
*** If using an RO (reverse osmosis) system add in 1/2 cup powdered Cal/mag

• Step 1: Mix ingredients
• Step 2: add water to activate microbial process
• Step 3: Allow the mixture to cook covered 30-60 days to activate
• Step 4: Fill bottom of bucket, bag or soil-container 1/2 full with above super-soil, fill the rest with un-amended soil
• Step 5: Maintain with organic compost tea

But I'll admit, your mix sounds a lot easier. So I'm reading it like this:
1/2 Fox Farms Ocean Forrest
1/2 Fox Farms Happy Frog
some dolomite lime
earthworm casings for good measure

And then you just water with normal tap? I forgot, are you in the RO camp? Do you use any kind of compost tea or additional nutrients? Sounds pretty bueno, thanks for the info!

For now though, I'm obviously locked into the Canna mixture I have now, and I do have some good news from that front. The plants are very much improving after transplant, and being watered with nutrients at 6.0 pH. I've removed all of the damaged foliage, and the new growth looks much healthier than before. We are still showing slight yellowing in the leaves, but they are recovering from the pH lock induced chlorosis. And I'm breathing easier, which is worth quite a lot. Be sure to note the difference between the transplanted plants and the Incredible Bulk (pulled just after the photos below).

Three days ago, I installed the SCROG screen at approximately 8-10" above the soil-line in the pots. The plants have grown to the level they will be at already, and I am beginning the lateral push as much as possible. I am feeling like I might want to raise the screen a *tad* more, but for now I will see how we do. In the last two days, the plants have grown up above the screen a little, so here is a photo before I pushed them back under:



I also grabbed a few (read: 4) clip on fans from Target because they were on the clearance shelf for $4.50/each, and installed them around the perimeter of the grow space, providing air circulation from above the canopy now in addition to from below and to the sides.



And finally I have a photo of the plants, under the LED, after I pushed out the limbs under the SCROG again.


Besides the updates on the plants... I've also decided that while I love the Solar Storm, and I love CLW even more for letting me provide feedback on it, I will not be keeping the unit after this grow. I have nothing but respect for the product, the fact that it's made in the US, the warranty or how they stand by the product. I think I'm just going to wait for 10w diodes, and a true and complete 1000w HPS replacement - equal for equal. In my fantasy world though, I'd love to see a LED efficient enough to outperform a 1000w HPS at 500-600w draw. That's the holy grail of LED though, isn't it? The SS880 is darn close though. As far another downfall of the light, it does put out way more heat than I was expecting. I have battled heat more in my 8x4x6.5 tent more than I would have though... though that was more of a problem in the summer, and was offset by the fact that I'm using CO2. Without it though, I'd have been screwed.

Having said that I'm going back to HID, I have a caveat: I have to be able to control the temperature again. I have the hood, ballast, lamp, and fans, so I'll be installing them prior to flipping (probably), and test to make sure I can maintain the temps I need. I should have no problem, but I can't remember the last time I thought that and it ended up being true.

Thanks for watching!
MC

I'm not sure that even 10w diodes will make LED compete with large HID lights but it'll be closer. I wouldn't ever expect a 500-600w LED to keep up with a 1000w HPS, that's just marketing hype and wishful thinking. Perhaps a 1000w LED will keep up with a 1000w HPS, someday, but I'd have to see it.

Well, it's a good thing I decided to replace the Solar Storm with a 1000w HPS, because when I went down to check everything this morning, I found that 2 of the modules on the Solar Storm have no functioning blue or white diodes.


Here is the last photo of the garden I took under the Solar Storm. It's difficult to distinguish in the photo, but standing in front of the garden the difference between the light side and the dark side of the fixture was quite noticeable.


And for reference, here is what the tent looked like with the Solar Storm installed, just prior to removing it.


I was so disappointed to see this. I'm absolutely sure that California Light Works would make this problem right if I wanted to keep the fixture, but since I am not I will simply be ending my GFP period early. Luckily, I had already purchased the 1000w HPS equipment that I would need, so this little snag only caused me to move up my timeline on changing the fixture out. So without really wanting to at all, I set about changing light fixtures. This, as it turns out, was a remarkably complex process, requiring me to remove the entire PVC grow module, scrog screen, fans, auxiliary lights, all existing ducting, and wiring. So that was fun.


While I had everything taken apart, I took the opportunity to examine the garden and really get in there to see if everything was improving from the nutrient deficiencies they were having. Everything looked to pretty good, so I defoliated all of the damaged foliage, as well as a little more to open up the inner canopy too. You can see that the Money Makers are quite a bit smaller and bushier than the Pineapple Chunks. Also the Pineapple Chunks are showing very Sativa like leaves.


After finally reassembling everything, I installed the 1000w HPS fixture. I got this second hand from a dispensary, and it is an 8" hood. Everything else I have is 6", including the inline fan, ducting, and holes in my house. So I adapted the fixture to 6", which had the unfortunate side effect of elongating the fixture. This is ultimately what forced me to remove the entire PVC grow module, and twist it 90 degrees to accommodate the ducting and 8" -> 6" reducers. The good news is that I can now access my plants much easier from the sides than I could before.


Annnnnddd finally, I had to cut all new panda fabric, and duct tape it to the sides of the module, which I hate, but I have no more sticky-back Velcro left. I might spring for some more later on, but for now it's duct tape to the rescue. Again.





While putting the scrog screen back into place, I accidentally dropped it onto Pineapple Chunk 1, and broke one of her branches. It was hanging by a thread. So guess what I used to fix it. Duct tape. I went through an entire roll of the stuff today. Only time will tell if the branch will heal up. As for me, it'll take at least a few days. All the labor I hadn't anticipated today took roughly 6 hours, with no breaks. I'm going to be one sore MF'er come tomorrow morning.

Thanks for following me so far. I hope it will be okay if I finish up at least this grow journal on here.
MC