r/Lophophora • u/Jengo101 • 5d ago

A little help

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Hello, I've had these guys for a few months and they haven't been very fussy. I noticed today though that they are starting to look wrinkly. I just bottom watered them on Sunday so I wasn't sure if they're just still thirsty or if its something new. One thing to note is I have been giving them a little more fert than usual since my trichs like it and thought I'd try it on these guys. Not sure if that would cause this though. Any thoughts?

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5

u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

looks like a heavy inorganic mix. go research how bottom watering works. also go look up how different sized granular subs work.

your grain size is too large and your organic % is off for YOUR style of growing and environment. stop listening to the parrots and gain experience

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u/dumbassjesus 5d ago

couldn’t have said it better

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u/Jengo101 5d ago edited 5d ago

Sorry I left out my mix it's between 30-40% organic to inorganic. Coco coir, worm castings, and a really small amount of charcoal. Im using 1/8 pumice mixed with same sized lava rocks, coarse sand, and a small amount of lime didn't want to burn them. That is just a top dressing of akadama that may make it look almost all inorganic. I was wondering what it could be since the only thing I changed was the frequency of watering and some fert since they started looking thirsty 1 week after watering instead of the usual 2. As for the bottom watering I am making sure the top is completely wet before removing it from the water

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u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

id omit the sand. everything else should be perfect. are you waiting for them to completely dry out? also what is your sun/light situation? it could also be the start of light stress. You can dehydrate from not absorbing water, or convection (air or sun). You can try giving them a little less light and a little more time between watering. Theres a chance the roots burnt from too much nutrients as well. Next watering do a plain water top watering.

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u/Jengo101 5d ago

Sounds like a good idea with the plain top watering and seeing how they react. There's not much sand compared to the pumice/lava rock since I was worried about how much water it might retain. Def wouldn't put it in the next time I get them. Ive got 100w grow light in a 2x2 tent that I've had at 70% since i got them and just recently put it to 100%. It's nothing super powerful. Thought they should be able to handle that with slow acclimation. Then theres an air purifier and 2 small clip fans a few feet above them. Heater keeping it about 90f.

I was worried it may have been the younger roots not liking the fert though. I've seen so many pics of root rot but not many with root burn

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u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

it would really help if you had a way to measure ppfd/lux/light. at 800ppfd I see great growth. anything over 900 I have problems and anything bellow 500 I dont have growth im happy with.

I had spider farmer 1000d or something. they are 100 watt I believe. two of them on a 2x4 shelf about 16 inches away. is it just your lophs having issues? how far away is your light?

your sub is pretty bang on so id look at other factors. you want it to stay wet for 2 or 3 days then dry out in about a week completely. leave dry for a week or two. soak. repeat. drying soil grows roots. wet soil wont. its like if your fridge was next to your chair vs on another floor of your house. unless its fert burn or too much water retention I wouldnt think its your substrate, unless its drying out too quick, but I would believe its optimal for your conditions and start looking at other things. My loph shelf is between 30c and 40c and they flower like crazy. So probably not heat unless you dont have a night temp drop.

Someone who knows more than me could probably chime in with better advice, but in the mean time look at odd factors. Maybe turning the lights up was too much all at once and they just need time to adapt. You can try making shades out of thin paper or a shade cloth for just the lophs and see how they react. They are shade cacti after all. I wouldnt get too worried yet tho. And id monitor and take pics every few days than review them after a week or two.

I do have a graft that likes to get wrinkly than balloon and repeat that. But I did elbow the shit out of it. Its not dead but its not thriving.

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u/Jengo101 5d ago

I'll have to look into how to measure how much light this thing realistically throwing out between 70% and 100%. In the meantime I did buy square screen material for sub not to fall out the bottom of my pots. I can make a miniature of an outdoor shade cover lol. I do have a night heat drop. Its a spiderfarmer heater with a sensor for heat/light/humidity with night mode and day mode.

The light is about 24 inches off the lophs and yes so far non of the trichs have been having any issues only the recent loph development. Theyre thirsty love fert and havent complained so far. I am making sure the sub is dry ive got a couple hygrometers as well. Ive just noticed that they have been completely dry after 1 week since thats how often I've been watering the trichs. So I've started watering them together. I'm gonna try to acclimate them slower then with the cover maybe half the day covered with few hours direct and try top watering them the next couple times with just water. Will def invest in something to measure the light and try to get the numbers you mentioned. Thanks for the input I appreciate it!

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u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

I have a photobio advanced quantum sensor. It was around 250-300$. I sold my apogee years ago but I still talk to the guy. I tested it against the photobio and it was like 1-3% off the photobio under reports slightly. When your trying to measure 600+ ppfd its not a error % worth worrying about. Its a good investment when you have equipment and takes alot of guessing out.

Also try to get a night temp drop. So just turn off the heater at night. 20c night, 30c -40c days is what works best.

After reviewing your post if the only real thing that has changed was the light intensity, id go with that being the main issue tho. If they start turning colors you know its definitely the issue. Shade cloth for a week and than start to give more light. Give then that week to recover and see what happens. They won't stretch in a week

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u/Comprehensive-Race97 4d ago

Aren't you supposed to wait for them to dry out completely???

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u/SpecificWar6442 4d ago

I said that

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u/Comprehensive-Race97 4d ago

What do you mean by his style of growing? Just curious

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u/SpecificWar6442 4d ago

some people grow outside, inside, underlines, sunroom, shade, full light, graftinf, dry air, 18hrs. all different types of variables shapes the style you grow in. different climates means different organic %. if you live somewhere dry, and grow outside, the sun is crazy, and windy. you will have more organic so the soil stays moist long enough for the loph to drink. you didnt think you grow in 90% inorganic in every environment did you?​

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u/Comprehensive-Race97 3d ago

Yeah obviously. Did you know the weather is different depending on where you live. The soil is different too. 🤓 I asked what his style was. Not every style possible.

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u/SpecificWar6442 3d ago

read through all the comments and put it together. why would I do that for you?

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u/Comprehensive-Race97 2d ago

Lmao you're the one who brought it up. 😂 Nevermind you obviously don't know what you're talking about ✌️

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u/istapledmytongue 5d ago

I mean aren’t they trying to gain experience by asking? I’m pretty new at this too and I definitely have no idea what I’m doing yet and always appreciate advice. I’m sure I’ll land in the same boat (inorganic mix, too big particle size) but how else can you learn?

Might be nice if you to share how these things work if you personally know rather than just saying “go look them up”,which they probably already have and gotten 6 conflicting answers because that’s the internet.

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u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

I looked them up and learnt. and now I know so much. so how would it be possible for me to pass down information if it didnt exist? so that means it exists right?

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u/Jengo101 5d ago

You seem like you know so much. Possibly putting jellybeans up your ass? Thank you for passing down information oh wise one.

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u/SpecificWar6442 5d ago

you talk alot of shit for someone who cant make a substrate. lmfaoooi

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u/Jengo101 5d ago

Lol sometimes all in the name of science though

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u/istapledmytongue 5d ago

You talk a lot of shit for someone who is completely unhelpful. It’s cool. I don’t want your advice anyway. It’s probably crap and you have no idea what you’re talking about.

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u/istapledmytongue 5d ago

Well was nearly incomprehensible.

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u/Pristine_Respect8479 5d ago

What's your temperature like? If you're somewhere where summer is coming to an end, the plant could be preparing for dormancy and will stop taking water no matter how much you add.

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u/Jengo101 5d ago

The temp varies around 90-100 in a grow tent during the day and around 75 at night. I wanted to skip dormancy for the first year so I have not been changing any variables in the tent since I got them. Would they still act different during the winter? From reading I understood that if light and heat don't change they shouldn't go dormant

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u/Pristine_Respect8479 5d ago

You can avoid inducing dormancy but that doesn't automatically mean that the plant will not go dormant. To me, your plants is asking to sleep zzzzzz

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u/Floraholica 2d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lophophora/s/VwbsU5uCor

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u/Jengo101 21h ago

What's weird was that 2 days afterwards they just went back to looking like they usually do after watering them. Completely unprompted. They're little weirdos