Nutrient problem(zinc maybe?) or pH problem ?

[dbonics]

hey guys, ive got 9 little ones growing in 5 gallon buckets. they are 9 weeks old, grown from seed. They were doing well, until i ran into some heat stress issues first. then once i dealt with that, it seemed to develop what looks like a zinc deficiency. but, as ive seen others say before - it could be a zinc issue due to my pH being too high or too low.

im waiting on my pH testing material in the mail atm, so before i could get my pH tested, i was hoping to post a couple pictures and see what others had to say.

if its most likely a pH problem, or another nutrient other than zinc etc. please let me know what you guys think!










thanks for any suggestions!

[SmknVTEC]

I don't see that. They look fine to me.

[dbonics]

well, its kind of hard to see from the pictures. but im sure there is something wrong. it seemed to have started in the younger leaves. mostly the ends wisping/getting real thin. happens first. then more of the leaf gets distorted.

on the shade leaves, it looks like chlorosis. im almost 100pct certain, its not actually a lack of nutes on my part. they are kept between 67-78 degrees 24 hours a day. at around 45pct humidity(hard to keep the hum. up with the ventilation, and dry air coming into the room via heat duct.

im only using straight from the tap, city water - and i have no idea what the pH is of the local water. so i assumed, even despite me lowering/increasing nute dose, the issue is continuing. that itd be a good idea regardless to check the water. i wish i had a better digi to take the photo's. its kinda hard to see with the cool white/daylight flouros fixtures over top of them.

[dbonics]

please, does anyone else have any opinions ?

[SmknVTEC]

What do you feed it, NPK, and how much?
You also need to check pH. Hopefully your pH meter will come soon.

[dbonics]

NPK 12-4-8 with microblast every 2-3 weeks 1 tsp NPK per gallon of water. 1 tsp MICRO per gallon of water

i managed to borrow a cheap fish tank pH test kit today. ran test on my tap water. was at least 7.5 lol, so yeah i think that may be causing me problems. ill water with pH balanced water at next watering. i chemical flushed this morning, as to start trying to head off the nute problems.

ill lower pH down to 6.5 and go from there. i usually water, every other day - or two. im using 5 gallon buckets with 6-8 half inch drainage holes with great dirt (fox farm happy frog) by the time i water, the first inch of soil on top is dry. or should i water every 2 days instead just incase. although i dont see any signs of overwatering with the every other day watering schedule.

(thanks for taking a second look at my thread SmknVTEC, appreciate it)

[SmknVTEC]

Try a run-off pH test next time. You could very well be ok for run-off pH if your soil is slightly more acidic than 7.5. If the run-off is out of 6.2-6.8 range then I would say pH is your problem.

If not then maybe you should feed once ever week to every other week; not 3 weeks. However to be honest I think you are doing everything just right because I see no leaf trouble.

I think your watering is fine to because an inch deep dry is a good sign when ready for h2o

[dbonics]

its kinda hard to using a cheap color pH test. due to the disacoloration of the water after it passes through the bucket of dirt. but when guessing the color, trying to take in account of the dirty water. i think the soil isnt acidic/not affecting pH

[SmknVTEC]

I know exactly what you mean, matching the vague color to the vague color chart is a joke. The pH could very well be too high/alkaline locking out nutes as well. More likely I think would be under feeding but, since we do not have an exact pH we can't rule that out 100%.

[dbonics]

yeah, thats why ill use my cheap pH testing garbage for a few weeks till im able to pick up the truncheon tester i want to get.