Determining cause of problem.

[Brastaman]

Well, i have scoured the Infirmary for reference photos and information that may help with my problem. It seems like every situation i read there were various opinions about the cause so......i decided to start flushing yesterday and to post some pics of my problem.

The problem has been occuring for the past week about, all the affected plants are in week 2 going on 4 of flower. And each picture is a different strain. pH of feed is between 6.2 - 6.6 in a ffof soil/ perlite mix. i haven't flushed them at all since they've been in flower. ppms were under 1100 during all feeding. first few weeks of flower it was Grow formula then Bloom ever since.

i am going to calibrate my meter today, again.







All i could come up with is nutrient lockout maybe due to salt buildup? Please any help is appreciated.

 

[jrosek]

Hey bro, Sorry i missed this!
With as many sysmptoms as your showing i would say you definately have a lock out problem usually caused by ph being off.
A good flush and calbration should put you back on track!
Good luck bro, Jro

 

[smokesalot420]

The pink/purple stems and yellowing/wilting looks like it could be a Phosphorus def. I am no expert, Im just going by what the sick plants guide says and a couple of other reads I have done. Hopefully someone with more experience then me can help! Also, if you go to the guide, cut and post the form and fill it out so people can get more info to answer your problem. Good luck!

 

[stinkyattic]

You know the pH of your feed, which is actually on the low side for the medium, and you will need to check the runoff as well.
With multiple deficiency symptoms and a 1100ppm feed strength, you are certainly locked out. Fill out the form and we will see WHY.

 

[MynameStitch]

You have various problems going on there, but like stinky said you should fill out the form if you want your problem fully fixed.

The tanish color is what is left over after the leaves turn yelllow.

the last picture on the left is heat stress so raise your light up.

The brown spotting can be caused by a number of things, either burn or pH is way too acidic or way to alkaline, one or the other, I am betting too alkaline, got a picture like this in my sick plants guide

 

[Brastaman]

SOIL:

How long has this problem been going on? about 2 weeks
What STRAIN are you growing? multiple, all are affected
What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?) clone
What is the age of your plants? week 2-4 flower
How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now? 5 weeks
How Tall are the plants? various, 20" to 3'
What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in? flower
What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc) uh, single container technique
What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot) 1gal to 5gal
What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?) some are 50%FFOF/50%perlite, some are 100% FFOF
What Nutrient's are you using? FF big bloom, FF tiger bloom, pH down, two days of BigBud with tiger bloom
How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water? *Knowing the brand is very helpful* 1 tsp per gallon of FF products, Quarter tsp of BigBud when used twice
How often are you feeding? uh, every feeding so far 2-4 weeks flower, flushed before flower
If flowering, when did you switch over to using Bloom nutrients?
What order are you mixing your nutrients? (example: veg nutes 1st, bloom 2nd ect)
What is the TDS/EC/PPM of your nutrients used? tds- 750-1100, EC- 1.2-1.5, pH- 6.5
What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"? scared to check
What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen? Hanna TRI-Meter
How often are you watering? Every day
When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding? redundant question
What size bulb are you using? 1000watt HPS
What is the distance to the canopy? 13" - 24"
What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity) > %55
What is the canopy temperature? N/A
What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range) DAY- 75-88 F Night- 55-65 F
What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.) N/A
Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running ? 6" Vortex exhaust, light cooled hood: 4" Vortex intake, 16"wall fan. Intake when lights on. Evrything else at all times
Is the fan blowing directly at plants? kind of
Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist? not when i forget to water
Is your water HARD or SOFT? Very Hard, tap water used is pH 7.7 PPM 550
What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled? Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water? See above
Are you using water from a water softener? Nope
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched? Naw
Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when? Sulfur burn at beginning of flower cycle.
Are plant's infected with pest's? no


these are practices i have been doing since i started growing 10 years ago. the things that are different include: medium (pure soil), pH fluctuation (i usually keep my pH around 6.0 - 6.4), Use of bloom enhancer (BigBud).
Everything else i've been doing for a while, i think......

 

[stinkyattic]

Dood. Grow a set and check your runoff pH, lol! Also check the calibration of your meter against a backup method like drop indicator, or in a known solution [buffer].
Also your watering my be too frequent. Are the pots rather dry after only one day? If so, consider the relation between pot size and plant size- 5 weeks in the same pot and very likely the lime is used up and the soil chem is going to start getting wacky.

 

[Brastaman]

Thanks stinkyattic, i think i just needed a kick in the butt.....

runoff pH was 6.7 for a few plants that are left.

well after i fixed the a/c unit the plants do not dry up for a couple days. but at the time yes they dried after one day, not completely dry but very light pots.

Stinkyattic, thanks for the kick in the butt, as I was checking the runoff pH, I noticed little bugs crawling around the bottom of the pots and in the overflow tubs they sit in. The baby bugs were translucent/light brown and the adult looking ones were almost red or dark brown. When i poured water in the overflow tubs they started floating and jumping around like fleas, popping here then popping overthere. I THINK THEY WERE EATING MY ROOTS. they don't look like beneficial bacteria i'll tell you that. Sooooo....

cleaned out the tubs and rinsed with light bleach solution. then rinsed the outer area of the pots near the root zone and started adding sm90 to my feed.

Is there something else I can add to my feed that will kill off the remaining bugs that might be in my soil?

 

[stinkyattic]

Easier just to get the pots up off the drip trays so that they are never sitting in water, and there is never stagnant moisture underneath- put them on a rack or a pair of rails or SOMETHING to allow excess water to evaporate.

Your runoff pH sounds fine; and your problem may be partially related to the wetness- lockout conditions, root rot, fungal infection, and fungus gnats will both occur in pots that have constantly-wet soil zones. One of your pics shows a pretty fungus-y looking pattern of necrosis.

The last thing I would note is that with tap water as 'hard' as yours, a good flush is probably in order by now. Buildup of minerals and any products of chemical reactions between the tap water minerals and the fertilizer components is another prime suspect for lockouts! Have you considered running a 'hard water formula' nute system? Flush well, even using a very dilute solution of a humic acid supplement if you like, then feed immediately with a fresh batch of [preferably hard water] nutes at 1/2 strength.

 

[Brastaman]

Sweet! thank you stinkyattic.

i think the problem is turning in the correct direction. I have eliminated the stagnant water trap and have gone to a less frequent watering schedule, allowing for more of a dryout period.

any suggestions on where to find information on a 'hard water formula'?
i have seen GH Hard Water Micro, however i am skeptical about mixing GH products with different brand products.

 

[stinkyattic]

There's a whole set of GH hardwater products, but for a soil grow, you might want to keep looking since the GH stuff tends to come in at a lower pH than you'd want.
If I were in your shoes, I would be most inclined to look for a nute system that is very well chelated with humic acids- Pure Blend Pro is a fine example of this. Chelators prevent unwanted chemical interactions among soil/water/fert components. I don't know if there is a HW version of this, but the hydro shop keeper should be familiar with the companies that have HW soil formulas. I'm almost sure I saw SOMETHING from Botanicare that is designed for HW. But I sometimes have a hard time remembering things... :jointsmile: