why cant my plants stay green?

[tyler]

here you can see my two 600w, plants are 13 3gal's. 4" x 5".

these are my two 600s over my plants:
is it possible that the reflectors are making the plants lose their nice green color because their crappy selfmade ones?


here are the plants 11 - 14 days into flower (i gave them 17ml and 10ml fox farm grow big during this time). thats 1 1/2tsp and 1tsp.

 

[tyler]

some more pics of the light green plants which are going to be yellow very seen if its going to be as my other grows have been, does anyone have the answer?









and one more pic of the 2 600's with homemade reflectors

 

[metamorf]

Guess they need some more Nitrogen? Light green is what I associate with the early flower stretch.

 

[Kinderfeld]

here are the plants 11 - 14 days into flower (i gave them 17ml and 10ml fox farm grow big during this time). thats 1 1/2tsp and 1tsp.

Think you've got this wrong. One teaspoon is 5ml...so if you only gave them 1 1/2 tsp that is roughly only 7ml (half stength). Once tsp is only 5 ml. A tablespoon is 15 ml. Those babies are underfed man...as long as PH is right I say feed away!

 

[mriko]

Doesn't look much like lack of Nitrogen to me. Yellowing of the leaves due to lack of N usually start at the bottom of the plant then spread upward.
I'm tempted to think it is a macro-element which is lacking. Iron ? Zinc ?

Irie !

 

[Dr. G]

ph probs i say prolly too low

 

[cindysadvocate]

Raise your PH by .1-.2 and up your feeding dosage a tad. If you don't see results in a few days (3-5), it could be the macro-nutrient deficiency mriko stated.

Doesn't hurt to try changing one variable at a time, though; you can narrow down the problem for future reference if you do it that way.

 

[B.C.]

How often are ya watering, how much perlite is in the soil, and is there good drainage? BC

 

[uninformed]

I think the lights are too close. The leaves will be bleached by the intensity of the light if they are too close. I've seen this often in person. It doesn't mean the leaves won't be productive. Try raising the lights 6-10 inches. If you're worried about the intensity invest in some CFL's and run them along the sides of your garden.


Edit: I took a second look at your photos and I definitely think it is the lights. You can notice where the plants are yellowing and it seems to occur where the reflectors are.

I had this same issue when I installed Mylar in a room, the mylar had crinkled and the angle of the light caused a reflection that bleached a part of my garden in a line.

Your bleach issue seems to be from something similar and it has to do with your reflectors.

 

[stinkyattic]

How large are the plants, what is the nominal pot volume, what is the runoff pH, and how long have they sat in those pots?

 

[Kinderfeld]

Yea those pots look small. Low PH, lockout and root bound are all possibilities. First things first though, got to know your PH....

 

[tyler]

yes i myself was 99.9% sure it was the reflectors/lights, because it had happened 2-3 grows in a row. its not a deficiency, ph problem or an air circulation problem because the plants which are not directly under the reflectors's shadow are pretty much dark green. however the same branches of the same plant that are directly under the light are getting more light green each day as flowering begins. is 1200w too much for 4" x 5"? the lights were 40cm/15" till now, i raised them like another 5".

should i just get proper reflectors? (anybody know a site that lets you pay with paypal/western union and delivers to north europe?)

is the light greening/yellowing of the top leaves really a problem? the leaves themselves are pointing upwards to the light and look pretty happy. the plants are also dark green under the canopy where the light cant penetrate well.

btw, i've fed them 17ml and 10ml / 2 gallons. i forgot to mention that earlier.
so its 1 1/2 and 1 tsp of 6-4-4 grow big within 14 days of flowering.

pots are 3gal's, i water every 4-5 days so the rootbound situation is very impossible.

thanks for all the answers you guys, hope you can give me some suggestions on this issue

 

[tyler]

here are some pics from my previous grow. pics were taken 21-28 days of flower. i had less plants last time (9 in 3gals), so i was using only one 600w and all the plants around it were lush green, the plants under the light however got light green yellow very quick. light was about 40-50cm (20inches) from plants.

 

[tyler]

and here are the plants right now 5min ago 16 days into flower:

 

[B.C.]

Hi Tyler

Hi Tyler

After lookin again, I think yer right. It seems ta be isolated under the reflector. I think raising it the extra 5" will help. It's not gonna take much ta find the safty zone. You could also try bending the reflectors <out> alil bit so it doesn't focus so much in one spot..... As long as it doesn't turn em plum white from bleaching, they will make bud. Although, the more chlorophyl ( green ) the better. Were these plants vegged under these lights or floro's? jus wondering. BC

 

[mriko]

anybody know a site that lets you pay with paypal/western union and delivers to north europe?)

There's a French growshop on ebay, they of course accept paypal and ship all over the world.

Irie !

 

[Skipload]

Buying a reflector that is better means increasing the light intensity of the bulbs other misguided radius. You are already complaining about light intesity, this may only aggravate the problem. Put one of the yellowing plants into a larger pot and see if you like the results. It is the cheapest solution. Reading about root bound plants may help you see why this is not an impossibility and why your doing everything correctly with a nute looking problem. Remember the plants under the light have to work harder, they so signs sooner.

 

[uninformed]

I do think 1200 watts under reflector is too much in your small room. It would stand to reason that you might have better success having the bulbs hang freely in the room if you want to use them.


Otherwise, sell one of the 600w and buy yourself the nicest CFL's you can find and a UBV light. And try to get 400watts of pure CFL power - not the equivalence rating, but true 400w of CFL. Depending on what you choose you might be using as many as 16 lights or as little as 6.

Hang the lights strategically over the garden where you feel there is less light penetrating the canopy. Get the best spectrum for your strain - if you're positive of the genetics try to recreate the the UBV light cycle from wherever your strain originated and then apply the lighting according. It's not a light you would use all day, maybe 5 hours tops.

Running the HPS with the CFL's should produce the yield and quality you're looking for without running the risk of burning your garden.

Again, so would hanging the two 600w's freely.

 

[Rifman]

you seem to have some experienced growers up in this thread so i'll watch my words carefully.


the plants directly under the light will get more light (ofc) and thus have a higher metabolism then the others.

having a higher metabolism, they absorb nutes faster, we all know the plants directly under the lamp grows faster right?!

as you can see on the pictures the plants looked fine as long as they were in veg, they are green in the lower half. the upper half shows classic mag def signs. green skeleton, yellowing leaves. problem arrives in flowering. classic.

i explain the fact that the problem is local under the lamp by the raised metabolism and increased need for mag.

and i would like to make a strong suggestion that this is ph lockout. too low ph! like half the problems in the infirmary.

you say very little about what EC values and PH values you have had in the feeding solution and in the run-off. that would explain a lot.

hope you can resolve your problem. but i dont think light is it im afraid

peace

 

[Gangabiss]

For your setup personally I would position the reflectors end to end or back to back rather than right next to each other.
The way they are hung now the light from each bulb will cross over into the others path making the light intensity problem even worse.

Your reflectors do look quite poor. The sides droop way too low and do seem to be focusing all the light on one spot in the middle.
I'd buy 2 decent reflectors and brand new bulbs.

Also it looks like they could do with a bit more food...I would increase the ferts slowly until the ones in the middle have bounced back, just make sure you keep an eye on the plants around the sides as they will be the first to show signs of burning (look for brown leaf tips). If you have any seaweed or calmag product I would try using a bit of that first. If you have none of these then buy some epsom salts and give the yellowed plants 1/2-1 teaspoon per gallon next time you water them. Make sure you dissolve it in warm water first.

I bet once you've done these things you'll be able to hang your lights a tiddly bit closer with all of them staying nice n green.

If you are growing in a good soil then you can ignore the pH as it shouldn't be an issue unless you're adding some freaky chemical hydro nutes or something.