burning factor?

[drtask]

ok. i have a california orange plant that was started on april 20 (sprout date). i live in rural new mexico, which is currently deep into a drought and the temperatures get pretty high up there, normally in the triple digits during the summer. i have been seeing the leaves of this beauty getting what appears to be torched, but the thing is i also apply an immense amount of fertilizer every few weeks. pictures will be up soon, but i was wondering if i should rig up some way to shade the plant during the day and try to prevent some of this burning, which i partially assume is caused by the sunlight just simply beating down on the leaves. once the pictures are up, i am sure that they will help out some more, but let me know if there is anymore info that you may require. thanks

[Spanishfly]

Originally Posted by drtask

ok. i have a california orange plant that was started on april 20 (sprout date). i live in rural new mexico, which is currently deep into a drought and the temperatures get pretty high up there, normally in the triple digits during the summer. i have been seeing the leaves of this beauty getting what appears to be torched, but the thing is i also apply an immense amount of fertilizer every few weeks. pictures will be up soon, but i was wondering if i should rig up some way to shade the plant during the day and try to prevent some of this burning, which i partially assume is caused by the sunlight just simply beating down on the leaves. once the pictures are up, i am sure that they will help out some more, but let me know if there is anymore info that you may require. thanks

MJ is a tropical plant and will take any amount of sunshine.

You sure this isn´t fert burn?? You say you give immense amounts of fert, but what are you doing? Manure that is not well rotted can give problems, as can various other ferts applied incorrectly.

[drtask]

the plant is in a five gallon pot that is filled to around an inch from the top. i give it one cup (US) of 15-20-15 fert that is designed for tomatoes every 4 weeks. i thought nute burn only caused discoloration? please correct me if i am, because if it is nute burn, then what can i do to reduce this?

[Spanishfly]

OK, the fert you are giving does not seem excessive and is an acceptable type, one cup every few weeks is not too much. But I would dilute it and add more often, I am sure the instructions tell you to do that.

I once had a girl die because her roots got too hot, like you I grow in pots. The leaves just curled up and went crisp. Wrapping your pot in aluminium foil helps keep the roots cool.

Just throwing about some ideas here.

[drtask]

ok. the instructions did say something about diluting. i thought about the foil idea, but i was thinking that maybe if i just pile the dirt that i removed from the ground to put the pot in a hole would serve the same purpose of keeping the roots cool? thanks for your help.

[drtask]

ok, i know this should go into another thread, but do you think that the 15-20-15 mix of nutes i am using is going to be enough to pull my three babies i have inside through flowering? or should i get something else?

[Spanishfly]

Originally Posted by drtask

ok, i know this should go into another thread, but do you think that the 15-20-15 mix of nutes i am using is going to be enough to pull my three babies i have inside through flowering? or should i get something else?

Probably adequate if you are cash strapped, but I would buy something with higher K for preference. Fert for fruiting tomatoes is usually good for flowering MJ.

[drtask]

well, i am considering investing in the entire set of foxfarm nutes, but i dont have the experience to mess with those kind of things yet. what would you advise for upping the potassium? would just throwing a few degrading bananas in the pot on top of the soil work? just wondering...something i have been pondering

[Spanishfly]

Originally Posted by drtask

well, i am considering investing in the entire set of foxfarm nutes, but i dont have the experience to mess with those kind of things yet. what would you advise for upping the potassium? would just throwing a few degrading bananas in the pot on top of the soil work? just wondering...something i have been pondering

Put some bananas in a bottle with some water, let them rot for a month, would make a fert with extra K in it, that´s for sure.

Or put a teaspoon of saltpetre - KNO3 - in a gallon of water.

I make a fert from Russian comfrey which is high in K.

I also buy BioCanna which comes in veg and flowering versions - good but pricey.