Severe leaf curling

[jakethesnake]

Hi All

My 3 mo old plants were doing great until they missed a couple waterings and got very dry. I soaked them with my normal nute mixture (PureBlend Pro Gro 3-2-4) and the next day noticed what looked like severe nitrogen burn.(see first picture). So, i flushed with a very mild PureBlend Pro Bloom (1-4-5) mixture. Now, another day later, im seeing severe curling (see second picture).

I looked thru Stich's Complete Guide and closest I can see is phosphourous defecieny, but I dont know. Hoping the experts can help as I dont want to make things worse than they are. Im just about to start the flowering phase.


How long has this problem been going on?
"just a couple days"

What STRAIN are you growing?
"Indica, Kish Afghani X Blueberry from Van Seed Bank"

What was the establishing technique? (seed or clone?)
"seed"

What is the age of your plants?
"3 months"

How long have they been in the soil mixture they are in now?
"3 months"

How Tall are the plants?
"4-5 feet"

What PHASE (seedling, vegetative or flower) are the plants in?
"vegatative"

What Technique are you using? (SOG, SCROG etc)
"not sure what this means...i grow them in my garage, under 2 400 watt metal halide lights..i have 6 plants"

What size pots are you using? (Include how many subjects to pot)
"3 gallon"

What substrate/medium are you using? What brand of soil mixture are you using?(percentage of perlite, vermiculite...etc?)
"80 percent organic potting mix, 20% wormcastings, 10% perlite"


What Nutrient's are you using?
"Botanicare Pureblend Pro Grow"

How much of each nutrient are you using with how much water?
"8 tablespoons per gallon"



*Knowing the brand is very helpful*
How often are you feeding?
"2 X week"

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?
"not sure...i dont have a PPM meter...but, these guys have been doing great until the missed watering"


What is the pH of the "RUN-OFF"?
"between 5.5 - 6.5"

What method of pH test was administered? Using Strips? pH pen?
"drops of a substrate into sample water and comparing color to a chart"


How often are you watering?
"2 x per week"

When was your last feeding and how often are you feeding?
"last normal feeding was about 1 1/2 weeks ago"

What size bulb are you using?
"2 x 400 watt"

What is the distance to the canopy?

"about 2 feet"

What is your RH Factor? (Relative Humidity)
"40-50%"

What is the canopy temperature?
"between 65 - 80 farenheit"

What is the Day/Night Temp? (Include fluctuation range)
"between 55 - 70"

What is the current Air Flow? (cfm etc.)
"not sure, but i have a fan running continuously to provide circulation"


Tell us about your ventilation, intake exhaust and when its running and not running ?
"really small grow, so dont have anything established...im growing in a small 5 ft x 9 ft section of my garage, walled off with canvas with plenty of ventilation"


Is the fan blowing directly at plants?
"no"

Is the grow substrate constantly wet or moist?
"yes, and good drainage...except for the last week where they got completely dry"

Is your water HARD or SOFT?
"hard"

What water are you using? Reverse Osmosis (RO)? Tap? Bottled?
Well water? Distilled? Mineral Water?

"well"


Are you using water from a water softener?
"no"
Has plant been recently pruned, cloned or pinched?
"i pinched off severely dead , damaged leaves in the lower section"

Have any pest chemicals been used? If so what and when?
"no"

Are plant's infected with pest's?
"aphids on one plant, but with cooler weather, those have died off

 

[HeadyPete]

Do you have a fan blowing directly on the plants? That upcurl is either air blowing direct and drying them out (they curl to slow transpiration and conserve moisture) or heat stress from a light too close.

That burnt leaf in the first pic looks like too close to the light.

The other problem is the severe dose of food you gave, if that isn't a typo. The down clawed lower leaves, plus the dark green is sure sign of overfeeding. Overfeeding messes up your ph which cause other problems. You may have a zinc lockout happening too. You are feeding 30 ml / L of (8tbsp to gal) water if my conversion is correct and that is insanely high. I veg under 600w sometimes and the most I feed iss 3 ml / L and that was a lot. Do not follow the directions on the bottle, the are always too strong. Start with half of what they say, and adjust from there.

The drying of your soil compounded these problems because as moisture disappears the nutrients in suspension become more concentrated and burn your plants.

 

[jakethesnake]

Thanks, Pete .. I think you have it....This is my first time growing with just organic tea and i kept upping the mix waiting for burn to show but it never did and they all seemed to be doing just fine...Until the big dry out...Lesson learned!

Ive since done a serious flush and will get them back on a more "sane" mix in a day or two...

no fans blowing direct and the lamps dont appear or feel to be too close to the canopy, but ill check that again..

again, thanks for responding and giving me a second opinion!

 

[HeadyPete]

Cool hope things are better.

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

Overwatering and underwatering follow each other around like dogs. Letting the plant get too dry kills roots, which then join the 'sour' part of the soil that has too much nutes in it already and you have overwatering/overfeeding at the same time. Leaf curl is a great indicator of overwatering.

 

[HeadyPete]

Overwatering and underwatering follow each other around like dogs. Letting the plant get too dry kills roots, which then join the 'sour' part of the soil that has too much nutes in it already and you have overwatering/overfeeding at the same time. Leaf curl is a great indicator of overwatering.

very true