PH Problems?........

[mrgrowmez]

hey all, anyone know what is causing this? i think im having some problems because of ph instability, i live in a place with hard water. ph of the tap water is 8 or close too. i was feeding with bottled water at first and have recently changed over to the tap water amended with PH down. everything was going well, i topped them all and have been waiting a couple of days for them to get over the stress and put out new growth. The new growth has started very slowly and they have all gone a bit wierd as you can see in the before and after picture.

Northern lights from seeds
about 19 days from sprout
soil/perlite/vermiculite 60-30-15
tested soil ph in pots last night and its 7 or a little bit higher / sorry fo the vagueness but im using a colour chart)
fed twice with HESI root complex which i believe is full of micros mostly
400watt HPS about 33cm/12inches from top
27C/81F - humidity is 15%
water when the pots are light...about every 2 or 3 days
in one litre pots and on their 3rd node when topped so the new tops will be 4th node.


a few days ago.....................................................now

everything was going good but now they are getting crinkly like in the photo and also some random yellow spots and burn spots......

thanks

 

[green michine]

i really dont know mate, though it could be a heat issue? im not an expert really but hope
you get help.

 

[green michine]

Though they will most probly be okay, ive had troubles before and always found help on
here, i think its probly too warm in there but im most probly wrong. Anyone else?

 

[mrgrowmez]

thanks green michine,

im stumped if its not the ph causing a lock out......this is my first grow so im just troubleshooting from the sick guides on the net. everything was going really well too and now this is worrying me, although im hoping things will turn out ok in the end, we'll see its a steep learning curve i guess

 

[Nape]

You might want to raise the RH. 15% is very low and with a 400 W HPS 12" away, heat stress can come on fast. Is the light air cooled? In the second pic the leaves are wet. Are you spraying them while they are under the light?this could cause some burning also.

 

[Guest]

Check the bottom of the pot to see if any roots are coming out yet.

 

[Guest]

looks like over watering and ph instability. Cut back on watering to every 3-4 days. That should perk ur plants right up. Plants that young do not need lots of water and I can tell ur overwatering by the way ur leaves are fat and droopy. The twisting of the leaves is caused by ph instability. Probably too high. Try letting ur tap water sit for a day before using it. This allows some of the higher concentrations of chlorine to evaporate lowering ur ph naturally. And ur light is too close to ur plants. If ur gonna foliar feed then u should raise the light to about 18 inches. The closer ur light is to ur plants, the more likely they are to burn from the water beeds concentrating on ur leafs after foliar feeding. Just water them regularly every 3-4 days and u can keep the light at 12 inches. If u insist on foliar feeding then raise the light a bit. hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

why are you not adjusting the ph?i think you mite be over watering..do you wait for the droop before you water?ph is everything and nutrients effect it...ph up not strong enough...ph down to strong..but only when your mix is rite..peace

 

[mrgrowmez]

why are you not adjusting the ph?

i am adjusting the ph, though im still getting the hang of it i guess....i didnt realise how important ph was but im learning quickly (and unfortunatly the hard way)....ive been adjusting it around 6.4 - 6.5 but i think im guilty of a stoner mistake, i was leaving a bucket of water out to let some of the chlorine evaporate and then used that water thinking that i had adjusted the ph, but i hadnt

ok so ill stop spraying, try and get the rh% up a bit, cut back on watering and let the tap water sit out for a while before adjusting and using it.

tokinafaty - they do have some roots starting to poke out the bottom now, i wasnt sure if they were ready to be transplanted as soon as they appeared or if i could wait a bit longer.....they sure filled up these pots quick.

Brinthor, sedated, tokin, nape and greenmichin - thanks heaps for all the advice and anyone else who has any comments feel free to keep em coming....ill take som pics in a few days and put them up to show how it went.

 

[Guest]

Well, pH is nothing more than a chemist's shorthand for describing the amount of hydrogen in the soil. The capital letter "H" is the chemical symbol for hydrogen and pH is a figure describing the concentration of hydrogen in the soil, which in turn determines the acidity of the soil.
A simple numerical scale is used to express soil pH. The scale goes from 0.0 to 14.0. The midpoint, pH 7.0, is the value for pure water, which is called neutral--pure water, is neither acid nor alkaline. Figures below 7 on the scale indicate acid or 'sour' soils and the lower the number the more acid the soil. Each whole number drop in pH denotes ten times the acidity. For example, a soil having a pH of 5 is ten times more acid than one having a pH of 6. Numbers above 7 indicate alkaline or 'sweet' soil. Again, the higher the number the more alkaline the soil.

Most plants have a range of tolerance to pH. Plant nutrients are generally most available in the pH range of 5.5 to 6.5. This is also a good range for soil bacteria. And, most important, this is the best range for most plants.

 

[mrgrowmez]

good info brainthor

 

[mrgrowmez]

ok update on my problem....its gotten quite a bit worse.
here are a couple of pics......they are now 7 days older then last time and have some brown spots, general browning and yellowing on the older leaves...all the same info still applies except -
ive raised the light up to about 16inches
humidity is now about 30%

i cut back on watering and they have perked up and the new tops are growing well, its just that they are yellowing like fuck.....
i also have some bubblegums growing and they are starting to show the same symptoms

 

[FlyvAgaric]

maybe the humidity is too high? From over here it looks like underwatering, but i can't really see because of those hydroton*things* on the top.

maybe pick up some superthrive, or some Dr. shultz.
hope things get better.

 

[gattorama]

you are feeding them way TOO much!!! Just stop! All the browning and yellowing is just overfert!

PH: you are growing in soil. Soil is a great ph buffer. That means it requires a lot of additives to change ph. So, normally, if you let you tap water sit for 24 hours and bring its ph below 7.0 with some phosphoric or nitric acid, that's just fine.

Nutes: in soil your plants are going to find all they need for at least 3/4 weeks. Then you'll have to repot in bigger pots, where your plants will find more nutes. In other words, you should start using a very weak concentration of nutrient soultion when you are in the flowering stage, when the plants start asking for it.

Now, you should flush your plant ASAP. A lot of tap water, with some ph down. After that, just let them grow.

I would also keep the plants not to close to the light.

Mary Jane is a very strong plant, that does not need a lot of nutriens. Let it grow and she will grow.

Take it easy and grow safely.

 

[mrgrowmez]

gattorama - i dont think they are over fed, yesterday was the first time they had recieved any new fertiliser besides what was in the soil already, and that was only 1/4 strength...they have been in that soil for two weeks and the problems started before yesterday, actually it started not long after i topped them.

ive just transplanted them and trimmed off the dead and dying leaves....the ones who had it worse had filled their popts up with roots so maybe it had something to do with that......we'll see.

cheers for the help gattorama and flyvagaric

 

[gattorama]

gattorama - i dont think they are over fed, yesterday was the first time they had recieved any new fertiliser besides what was in the soil already, and that was only 1/4 strength...they have been in that soil for two weeks and the problems started before yesterday, actually it started not long after i topped them.

ive just transplanted them and trimmed off the dead and dying leaves....the ones who had it worse had filled their popts up with roots so maybe it had something to do with that......we'll see.

cheers for the help gattorama and flyvagaric

first of all take for granted that I could be wrong, also because I'm judging just from some pictures....

... and those necrotic spots lead me in that direction (in the first post you also said you fed them twice with something, that makes 3, and they are just 2-3 weeks old AFAIK).

another possibility that comes to my mind is dinstance from light. 30 cm from a 400 watt bulb seems to me pretty close, and I believe that over transpiration could be the problem. This is my perception by looking closer to the pictures (overfeed should be visible also with necrosis in new leaves).

anyway, in soil I would start chaising ph problems only in case of some previosly mess with ferts or soil preparation.

hope this helps.