thought it was chemical burn now i'm stumped (pics)

[dr.worm]

Ok, so i know i'm a newb here but i'm no stranger to forums. I know newbs that dont search first are always hated. i searched and searched and thought i had my answer but i must be wrong cause i'm still having problems. about 4 weeks ago my plants leaves started to curl and the edges turned brown. after reading a bunch of threads i came to the conclusion that i had chemical burn. made sense, i mixed my nutes to 1/3 strength instead of 1/4 and my plant was unusually thirsty so i had to water it alot. i gave it nutes every 3rd watering which ended up being about once a week. so i thought, "from what i can tell, i have chem burn so i'll just flush with distilled water". well 4 weeks later with no nutes and not only has it not improved, it has gotten much worse.

pics here ImageShack -

my ph is right at 7, maybe a little below. i have 2 theories. i tested my soil and i have medium to high levels of P and K but low N. i have some nitrogen rich sea bird guano i'm gonna try adding tonight. But could just having low N cause this much damage?

Also, i know the ideal temp range is mid 70's during the day. mine gets to the mid 80's. from what i can tell this is not ideal but the plant should still be healthy. could temps of 85 cause this much damage?

any input would be much appreciated. if i left out any info or you want more pics just let me know

oh yeah, forgot to add that i am 16 days into flowering. do those flowers look ok to you or are they small looking?

[dr.worm]

forgot to add something. this is my second grow. during my first i noticed that near the end the older larger leaves were dying and from what i read this is normal. as you can see from the pics, all the leaves are slightly curled, but only the older ones are dying and turning yellow and brown. could part of the dying be attributed to the fact that tahts natural during flowering? i know that doesn't explain the curled leaves so i guess there is an actual issue that needs to be addressed but is it possible part of my problem is just natural dying? of all my plants this was the only female so i am desperate to keep her alive. my first grow was a disappointment with a hermie so this will be my first actual female.

[ironlung253]

When did you start your plants on added nutrients? If you are reading your pH correctly, that isn't a problem, and is not low for soil. It would be high for hydro.

[dr.worm]

Originally Posted by ironlung253

When did you start your plants on added nutrients? If you are reading your pH correctly, that isn't a problem, and is not low for soil. It would be high for hydro.

I have used nutes for the whole veg phase. i stopped about 2 weeks before i started the flowering and have not started using flowering nutes yet. i hear everyone say taht its important to have higher N than anything else, so you you dont think my N deficiency while being high with P and K is an issue?

if not any ideas why my plant looks so unhappy?

if it were chem burn it would have started to improve by now right?

[ironlung253]

Adding nutrients in the seedling stage is a big no no. You don't have to add ANYTHING that early. Not for at least three or four weeks. Your plant might be recovering slowly due to lockout. That is an excess of nutrients, which will make it very hard for your plant to take in the stuff it needs. during veg you want nitrogen to be the dominant one. That is what keeps your plants nice and green. Have you tried flushing with a large volume of water yet? This is not a problem you want during flowering.

[dr.worm]

Originally Posted by ironlung253

Adding nutrients in the seedling stage is a big no no. You don't have to add ANYTHING that early. Not for at least three or four weeks. Your plant might be recovering slowly due to lockout. That is an excess of nutrients, which will make it very hard for your plant to take in the stuff it needs. during veg you want nitrogen to be the dominant one. That is what keeps your plants nice and green. Have you tried flushing with a large volume of water yet? This is not a problem you want during flowering.

i didn't add any nutes during the seedling stage and it looked fine all the way through the veg stage until the last week or so.

i haven't straight up flushed it cause i know thats a last resort. but when i water it i water it until it leaks out of the bottom of the pot. i could always put it out back and run a hose in it for a few minutes while its still in teh pot. should i give that a shot? i swear if i lose this plant before harvest i'm gonna cry like no grown man has ever cried before.

[ironlung253]

I still think it's excessive nutes. There is some yellowing on older growth, but the brown looks necrotic. The flush will not hurt your plants. Give that a try. When did you start it on nutes?

[dr.worm]

Originally Posted by ironlung253

I still think it's excessive nutes. There is some yellowing on older growth, but the brown looks necrotic. The flush will not hurt your plants. Give that a try. When did you start it on nutes?

i wanna make sure we are on teh same page when you say "flush". i read a method that involves removing the plant and flushing it with water and rinsing off all the soil but i assume you dont mean that because thats got to be traumatic and used as a last resort. are you talking about leaving it in teh pot and just running fresh water through it? if so how long should i let the water run through and is there any chance of me damaging the plant by doing this?

i'm like you, i feel like its excessive nutes but i just wanted a second opinion. i started nutes during veg so 5 or 6 weeks after the plants first broke soil. they've been on nutes for the last 2 months before i stopped, which was about weeks ago. when will it be safe to add flowering nutes after i flush it?

[FenceWalker]

Flush with 3x your container size (so 5 gallon bucket would be 15 gallons of water), if you decide to flush. I would also look into getting your pH down a bit more.

Mid eighties shouldn't be a problem as long as the light isn't too close and then the problems would start from the top and work it's way down, not from the bottom up.

If you add the nitrogen rich solution, whatever happens should give you a better clue, but I'm guessing either low nitrogen or nute lockout.

But it's just a guess.

[DcDano13]

I dont know if i missed it somewere but what kind of nuts are you giving it now? and strength? Lol i feel bad for those plants those leaves are crazy. Your pH is fine and i dont think that would be the problem. What soil are u also using.

P.S. A good flushing of your girls I think will only help it at this point. You mind as well flush the shit out of it and let it dry for like 1-3 days depending and then go from there and see what happens. I hope this helps man

[ibjamming]

What would "I" do?

I'd top dress with dolomite lime, mix up a weak mix of veg ferts once...then switch to flower ferts at 1/8-1/4 strength and see how the new growth was coming in.

[TexarkanaTim]

It is some form of nute burn....the course of action is to flush them well, and let them dry out for a couple of days. Depending on what stage you are in, start adding the appropriate nutes (veg or flower) back at 1/3 strength about once a week, and just plain water in between. It may take a week or more to see any results, but they will come. THe big key here is to add mild nutes and only as much water as they need. Don't overdo either one.

[ironlung253]

Good idea, you should let that soil get pretty dry before you start watering again. Not letting it dry could lead to root rot. Don't give it anything until you flush and start to see some new growth. That growth should be yellow if you did a proper flushing and give it a couple days to dry. Wait to see that before adding anything, you want to make sure if it was an excess nute problem you have all that out of your soil.

[Nonexistium]

one thing i heard in regards to using avian excrement was that it has to be aged or else it will burn your plant like no other. A friend of mine ages his chicken shit for three years prior to use, and he never has this problem that i am aware of.