dying leaves - help

[mrsoft47]

Hi, The leaves on my 21 day old babies are starting to lighten and then die.... i think it's either nutes or heat.........

my thermomiter says it's only about 30 celcius with a 65watt CFL and a 30 watt cfl

both plants are displaying this and i tend to think it's nut burn because they both got watered off of the same mix......

but it feels like it's hotter than 30 celcius... so i'm not sure......


please help

[5starfarmer]

I see the start of a magnesium deficiency and possibly potassium as well. You'll need to provide more info about your setup. type of soil, amendments, nutrients used, ph runoff, ph of nutrient solution etc...

You plant doesn't look THAT bad, just needs a little attention. There are stickies in this forum with nutrient charts etc etc. Check em out.

[mrsoft47]

o.k,
well i'm winging it thus far, i'll be honest....

I'll get to my PH tommorrow when i buy a PH testing kit really dumb not to have one...

anyways the temp is more like 33 celcius so far...I honestly only just got a thermometer in there and i don't know the humidity.

The soil is generic potting mix and the nutes are an all round nute guy at the shop said it would be good for all round.....

I just read how important the PH level is and i'm wondering if this is the problem.......

also i only have a small fan that barely pulls in any fresh air just really pushes the old air round (don't know if that's a problem)

and also I don't think it's a heat from the lamp problem because all the new growth is green (for now) it's the older leaves that are affected....

do you have any suggestions from here?

[mrsoft47]

o.k i've got a water testing kit and it tells me i'm putting in water about 7.5 ph so should i add some sulphur to the soil?

would this help?

or should i add the sulphur to the water? how many grams per litre?

[oscar1984]

use ph up or down comes in liquid form near the fish section of pet stores/wally world. Adjust the water to 6.5 and flush with this three times the amount of soil you have you need ph down. Take it down little by little will take more then one flush before it is steady. Space your flushes out so that the soil and roots have time to dry out, this should prevent root rot. Flushing is hard on a plant but you need to get the ph down to 5.8-7.0. Vinegar can also be used but haven't used this someone else can probably comment on that though. If you need to bring it up soaking egg shells in water will also bring the ph up. Good luck you will be fine!

[sailsinthesun]

Originally Posted by oscar1984

use ph up or down comes in liquid form near the fish section of pet stores/wally world. Adjust the water to 6.5 and flush with this three times the amount of soil you have you need ph down. Take it down little by little will take more then one flush before it is steady. Space your flushes out so that the soil and roots have time to dry out, this should prevent root rot. Flushing is hard on a plant but you need to get the ph down to 5.8-7.0. Vinegar can also be used but haven't used this someone else can probably comment on that though. If you need to bring it up soaking egg shells in water will also bring the ph up. Good luck you will be fine!

I've found that pH up and down that is meant for aquariums is a lot less concentrated or something that hydro specific pH adjusters. For about 6 gallons of water I had to use over half of a probably 16oz bottle($9) of pH down to get the water from 7.75 to 5.8

[oscar1984]

"get-r-done"!

[mrsoft47]

Does this level of PH sound like the culprit then?



ok well i will get something from the hydro store, but i've actually repotted my plants because i suspected there might not be sufficient drainage........ there was no root rot though so i think i was wrong......

anyway i will head to the hydro store later this avo (australian for afternoon)

cheers

[sailsinthesun]

I can't say whether the symptoms make it sound like a pH problem, but I can bet that your pH isn't anywhere near ideal since you haven't been testing it at all. My filtered tap water is 7.75 and 170ppm so if I used that water without pHing it I would definitely have problems, as I'm sure most would.

[mrsoft47]

Originally Posted by sailsinthesun

I can't say whether the symptoms make it sound like a pH problem, but I can bet that your pH isn't anywhere near ideal since you haven't been testing it at all. My filtered tap water is 7.75 and 170ppm so if I used that water without pHing it I would definitely have problems, as I'm sure most would.

so then, getting some PH down is not going to hurt either way..... and your filtered tap water sounds like my filtered tap water high 7's

So I guess i'm aiming at 6.5 - 7.0 yeah? this is for water

but one last thing - if the water going into the soil is high PH, will that affect the soil's PH?

Is the PH of soil very sensitive and likley to need a close eye kept on it?

or this a seperate issue

[mrsoft47]

ok, i think i found the problem....

I transplanted them into a bucket and they already look healthier.... this is probably because the whole lump of soil was water logged --- saturated ---- like the flood of Noah

They look better already..... Also I prepared some water for when they dry out in a day or two or maybe three. has a PH of about 6.8

but i think it was a really poor drainage problem and all the new soil has help to absorb the excess so...........

Problem solved & a valuable lesson about PH learned

Thankls all