Worsening leaf problem - another deficiency vs. burn question (pics)

[tenesmus]

I've had this problem since nearly the beginning of the grow and can't seem to get it worked out:

I'm growing white widow in a dwc bubbler setup
Distilled water, changed every 1-2 weeks, 500 ppm dynagrow nutes
temps mid 80s daytime, high 60s-70ish nighttime.
230 watt HPS 18/6
pH 5.7-6.0
humidity 20% (best I've managed - I live in a near desert)
4 plants in an 8 gallon reservior - each plant has the problem
I've examined the leaves with a loop and have seen no bugs

The nutes are kind of old - Dynagrow bought about 4 years ago.

This is my 3rd grow - 1st with WW. First grows (Blueberry, C99) were uneventful Any advice is appreciated!
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I can't seem to insert pics into this post. They are the only ones in my gallery.

 

[MynameStitch]

Hello Ten, welcome to ICmag!
How big is your plants? your ppm's you need to add with how big your plant is or how small..... so depending on how big or small your plant is; this could be too little or too much.

Dude, get rid of those nutes; you can't use nutrients like that.... they break down over time and 4 years is too old.

First I would get new nutrients before anything and change out the system.
What is your water temps?
You running all these with a res or just in there own buckets?
Who was the breeder of that blueberry? Blueberry is a very touchy plant to grow and very picky when it comes to nutrients, not a new grower strain unless a green thumb runs in the family!

Ya, that looks like they are getting underfed and need phosphorus.
But, I would most definatly get new nutrients first before fixing the problem.
but, if your pH is not stable the plants won't be able to take in enough. Have you been testing your pH often and is your meter calibrated every 2 weeks if you are using one?

 

[tenesmus]

Stitch- i typed a long reply but the system won't let me post it. I'm not sure what's up....

 

[tenesmus]

Stitch,

Thanks for both the welcome and the advice - I've just reordered new nutrients and will toss the old when the new ones arrive. The plants are 10-12 inches high right now and bushy with 8-10 internodes. I had read that WW was nute sensitive. With my Blueberry and C99 grows, ppms were at 8-900 or so at my current plant sizes. I initially thought the discolorations might be nute-burn so I was trying to stay on the lower end. Water temp is at 74 F right now - the plants are all in a common reservoir. I think I might have a calcium deficiency from using only distilled water. I'm switching to a blend of tap and distilled to see if that helps. That should add some phosphorous as well....I've got continuous indwelling probe pH and TDS meters (Hanna) and have kept the pH between 5.7 and 6.0. It normally is 5.7 in the morning and I base it back up to 6. In the evening it will be back at 5.7 and I do the same again. Hopefully, adding the tap water will add some natural buffering too so maybe I won't have to spend as much time adjusting after that change.... Ironically, the blueberry (Dutch Passion) was my very first grow and that stuff grew.....well, like a weed! Of course, my nutes were brand new back then! I'm a cheap dumbass for trying to still use them!

 

[tenesmus]

The previous was my problem post - but without the line spacing. I guess that throws in an html tag that is forbidden at my newbie level - the editor kept telling me to remove all html tags before I could post - even though I hadn't put any in! (Although it didn't seem to be a problem on my first post.) Regardless, thanks again for your advice and sorry for the poor legibility of my reply(ies)...

 

[MynameStitch]

Oh ya dude, your killing them, 10 12 in tall plants need around 400 Ppms to start out with..... 2100 is frying them like in a deep fryer! I would flush them out if I were you, distilled water is fine as long as you have something like earthjuice microblast to supplement all the micronutrients that us not available in distilled water.....

I bet you have all kinds of problems, plants that size don't need much nutrients; they can only take in as big as the plant and there leaves are, it's like tryin to make a baby eat a fried steak when he does not have any teeth.

It's just not going to happen! The kids system is not ready for meat like that, and the babies are not ready for high nutrient levels like that....

Are you adding more and more nutrents to keep the pH low?
I would first take the PPM of your tap water first, sometimes high levels of cal mag in the tap water interfere with the nutrient absorbtion of the plant. You also have to take in account for the PPMs that is in the tap water and add that with your ppms of your nutrients. You need to get some pH down and not use anything else for a buffer, adding more nutrients to keep pH down just does damage and does not benefit whatsoever.

You want to keep PPMS Stable, AND INCREASE IT slowly as they get bigger.

Flush out you system and add around 300 ppms right now until they recover, if they ever recover....

I need to see pics to tell you if the plant is ever going to recover though.....

You got lucky for growing out DP blueberry without any issues, blueberry is a touchy plant when it comes to adding nutes.....

Congrats on that btw!

 

[Kr@kEn]

I looked at your gallery and judging by the looks of the one plant in the pic I'd say 500-600 ppm should be good for now if they are all about that size.
Also remember that when you use a shared reservoir, that you have to feed according to the smallest plant's needs or you may burn the smallest plants. It's tough feeding different plant sizes with one reservoir.

 

[MynameStitch]

You don't want to start out with the correct ppm amount when they just got done being fried; you want the plants to be able to recover first before you hit them with the proper dose; give a few days give or take.

 

[Guest]

Listen to Stitch...He's the MAN you want to fix your problems