Hey guys, I fertilized my plants for the first time about two weeks ago and water about once a week or when needed. I'm growing under 2 CFLs (not ideal, but the most my budget can afford right now), and I'm about 8 weeks in. This is my first grow, so I'm not entirely sure what the issue is. Most of the leaves are curling downward just at the tips and exhibiting some yellowing across the fan leaves. A couple of the leaves that receive less light toward the bottom are even turning brown (expected, I suppose). Is this nute burn, or is something else going on? Everything's growing fine for now, but is this something I should worry about?
It doesn't really look like burn to me. Fertilizer burn is usually in spots all over the leaves, not just on the edges. I don't know what it is. A deficiency of some sort.
First of all your plant is wayyy small for 8 weeks. I think you waited too long to fertilize her and then when you finally did, you gave her too much. I coukd be wrong but that is my guess from the info you gave...
Does the distance between the light and the plant affect growth rate? My lamp is about 7 inches from the top. Otherwise, would transplanting into a bigger pot help?
[quote name='"Bucket"']Does the distance between the light and the plant affect growth rate? My lamp is about 7 inches from the top. Otherwise, would transplanting into a bigger pot help?[/quote] Yes, it does affect it. The farther away the light, the more the plant will stretch. Depending on how bright your light is and such
How many watts are the cfl u got? And what spectrum? the light or light distance is not wat is causing that yellowing tho
What kind of soil is that? What kind of ferts are you using? What light schedule have you been following? *crosses fingers that you aren't using Miracle-Gro and then added some other garden ferts on top of that*
I am using two 100W equivalent "daylight" CFLs for lighting. She is planted in a 1-gallon pot using a 2:1 ratio of generic organic potting soil to perlite. I used 1/4 strength of Miracle Gro during the watering two weeks ago (NO SHAME ).
[quote name='"Bucket"']I am using two 100W equivalent "daylight" CFLs for lighting. She is planted in a 1-gallon pot using a 2:1 ratio of generic organic potting soil to perlite. I used 1/4 strength of Miracle Gro during the watering two weeks ago (NO SHAME ).[/quote] Don't go by the equivalent. You should go by what they use. So that's what, 26ish watts? So you have about 50 watts. A rule of thumb is 100 watts for the first plant and at least 50 for every plant after that.
Yeah i'd use at least 6 100w eqv bulbs, that's what I ran and got some pretty good veg results. Were 23 actual watts, but each bulb had a lumen output of 1600
Thanks for the feedback, everybody, and sorry for the late follow-up. I gave my plants some nutes this week and added an 1/8 tsp dose of Superthrive to the gallon. Plants perked up quite a bit but kept their coloring. New nodes are growing without any signs of discoloration, so I'm going to dismiss the weird coloring issue since nothing has gotten any worse (for now). I should also note that I topped this one a little over a week before the first nutrient cycle. She's growing magnificently. I water about once a week, but I generally go by the dryness of the soil. If the first three inches are dry, I give it about a liter of distilled water, or at least until water slowly drips out the bottom. I give them nutes about every other week in light doses. For light, I'll definitely invest a bit into some larger bulbs and fixtures. I was a little dismayed at how slowly she was growing, but I realize now that the lack of sufficient lighting may have been the culprit. Right now she's about 8.5 inches tall, and I'm shooting for at least a foot before I give her the final flush and induce flowering. She seems to be slowing down in vertical growth, but I think that may be in part due to the topping. Thanks for all your help, everyone. This is my first grow, so I'm happy that it's going as well as it has been.
Looks like a Mg deficiency to me, I get it every grow about 6-8 weeks in. The plant will drop lower leaves if they aren't getting enough light as well. I use epsom salts in light doses or top-dress with dolomite lime if I'm a ways from harvest and some growers use cal-mag. Any of these are useful for Mg deficiencies, epsom and lime might run you $5 or so. If you're strapped for cash and you want the most light for your dollar, just wire your own sockets with an extension cord. Cost me a few bucks to run 8 sockets, and they ran for 2 years with no problems. Pics in my first blog. Of course, I'd recommend just about anything over that if you can afford it, T-5's, HID, LED... cfl would be my last resort but it will get the job done. Cheers!!
do not use distilled water as all the minerals have been eliminated. use tap water that has 24hr sit time to eliminate any chlorine. adjust ph to 6.5 be4 watering. don't over water, new growth will show no more yellowing, what is yellowed will stay that way, don't try to feed them back to health. when she begins to flower, start 1/2 strength nutes, for 2 wks, full nutes for 4 wks, hpk only during bud till harvest.
great advice!!!! follow it to a T.... i personally thought it was nute burn!!!....im almost sure of it