First grow, bit of a problem...

[boolmag]

Info:
Growing Nirvana's Papaya from seed, 52 days still in veg. Growing in a ~70/30 mix of ProMix & Perlite in a 8" pot under 4x2' T5s, LST also. Using Fox Farm Grow Big & Big Bloom as per their feeding chart, 3/4 strength, also some Magical @ 1mL/1.5L. Feed every second watering, ~every 4 days. Tap water used, ph ~6.8 & runoff ~6.2. Ph checked with strips...temps. ~81

Looking at flowering asap, just wondering if I should have this taken care of first or flower anyway & treat in that mode?...

Problem is brown spots taking over the leaves mostly...and yellow tips on all new leaves. This plant has been through some major lack of watering a couple times, some of the older leaves had been sick and the plant suffered compared to it's 2 cabinet mates, but now it just started bushing up & looking very nice, except for the aforementioned browning...
It seems every single new growth has a yellow tip, hope you can see in the pics. (I took a bunch but only a couple turned out well)

 

[ganjaLeaving]

hi man,

they are overfed. reduce strength to 1/3. Make sure u give em nothing in next watering.

They look very nice.

Also some lime would help as it seems that some Mg is missing. They need a lot. Get some ferts with Magnesium or some hydrated lime to correct it faster.

Good luck

 

[boolmag]

Overfeeding eh? I thought I was on the light side, only bumped up to 3/4 strength ~2 weeks ago from 1/2...I guess I'll do that then & water only next time & drop the strength down...

The Magical is like Cal-Mag, so I have been adding that...And unfortunately I cannot get any lime here unless it's summer time...

 

[whatsthatsmell]

honestly, it looks more like a micro nute def, something along the lines of Mg or something. I'm not 100% on that tho. Do you happen to know what your ppm is of the water BEFORE you add any nutes to it and then what the ppm is after you add each nute?

 

[boolmag]

honestly, it looks more like a micro nute def, something along the lines of Mg or something. I'm not 100% on that tho. Do you happen to know what your ppm is of the water BEFORE you add any nutes to it and then what the ppm is after you add each nute?

I'm not too sure what the ppm means & how to check that?

 

[whatsthatsmell]

Do you have a TDS or EC pen?

ppm = parts per million, this gives you an idea of what is in the water that you are feeding your plants. An example of this would be water that is straight from your tap will have a ppm. That ppm is your micro nute (kinda of), there are different micro's that city's will use to adjust, purify, etc etc for town water. The closer to 0 that ppm is straight from the tap, the less micro nutes you have in your mix. This will require you to add something like Calmag+. The higher the ppm straight from the tap tells you that the water has a lot of micro nutes in it and you will either need to use something like a reverse osmosis or purchase bottled water. Knowing this is important, you will know immediately if you need to add calmag+ or something similar or not, spend the $75-$100USD on a ppm pen, you'll be glad you did. Most nute solutions will want to be in a certain range. You will notice that alot of people on here have been putting things like "my nute solution is between 900 - 1400ppm", or something similar, this allows the farmer to dial in the nutes that the plant needs in a more effecient and stress-free (most of the time) environment.

 

[boolmag]

Thanks for the explanation...

No I don't have one, guess I'll have to invest again...

So I test ppm for plain water & solution...What range are you supposed to be in? Or is it all based on what strain/growing medium etc...

***I see there are combo tester for both tds & ec, also separate ones for each. Is the ec important as well?

 

[whatsthatsmell]

The difference between TDS and EC is the linear equation that they use. I dont know where you live, but if your in the US, then most of the products that you will purchase will be in the form of ppm or otherwise known as the TDS equation. Both will give you the same result.

The range that you need to be in is gonna vary on the stage that you are in and how much that strain can uptake or handle. Most farmers will start out at a low range, somewhere around the 500-600ppm range and work their way up to around 1200-1500ppm's. I have seen people get as high as 1700ppm's but that is strain dependent and that strain LOVED nutes. Since this seems like its your first grow (doing pretty good for a first grow if it is) start out small and work your way up. The stage that you are in, right before flower, the plants should be able to handle that 1200-1400ppm range, but do yourself a favor and make a mix that you would normally use and see where you are, you could very well be light on the mix, which is what i am thinking along with some micro nutes missing.

 

[boolmag]

Fair enough...So the higher the ppm, the more total nutes or is that only micro nutes? Even then, how can you tell if you're not overloading one & too light on another? Or maybe you try to get withing proper range and the if there's a problem it's easer to diagnose? ganjaLeaving seems to think they're overfed, while if I understand correctly you may be thinking I might be on the low side?

Forgive my ignorance, I haven't read up much on TDS ppm & the finer arts of nutrients, just trying to understand a little more...Thanks for your help

 

[whatsthatsmell]

Ignorance is only an issue when one doesnt want to learn....i applaud you in learning more...keep asking questions!

There is a little bit of a fine art to it, but once you understand what you are starting with, you can better understand where you need to go and how to get there. There have been alot of resources and places that people have placed the same article, but i like one more than another, take a look at this:

http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/articles/profiles.htm

That should help in the understanding of what i am talking about here and possibly help you in your nute schedule, what your using, etc, etc...

I'm not 100% on your current issue, but not knowing all the stuff that i have asked is kinda hard to be 100%, and all it is is a guess. If i turn out wrong, then so be it, but you will be able to walk away from here with more knowledge that i would hope you would return to someone else or many others later.....why does that sound so much like the movie "Pay it forward" or something like that.... You are correct in saying that the more you know about what is going into your plant the easier it is to diagnose the issue. Another reason i am saying that is that i see the start of what possibly could be a Mg def. The reason i say that is if you look at your pic, you will see that some of the leaves have a darker center and light on the edges, but it could just be the pic and not a real problem.

 

[MynameStitch]

Ya a tds pen is important; but when growing in a soiless mixture it's not as important. How often are you watering your plants?

Looks like they need a little big of magneisum........ your pH is off for your mixture; your ph is supossed to be 5.5 to 6.3

Did you add lime to your mixture?

You will need to recheck your pH and add ph adjusting elements to bring it down like coffee grounds..........

the amount you need to use depends on the size of the pot.

 

[boolmag]

Stitch I water/feed usually every 4 days, alternating each time...

And no I didn't add any lime, although I would have if I could find it, seems almost everyone was telling me to add some to raise ph...So you're saying because it's Pro-mix & not soil my ph should be lower, like hydro?

I think Fox Farm makes Grow Big for hydro as well, should I have used this instead?

*******************************************************
Ok I just watered them now, water only. Water ph = ~7.2, runoff = ~5.5
Last time I checked ph (see first post) I was feeding...Not sure if that tells you anything?