So I made it though the VEG stage and I'm about 30 days into the Flowering stage with my OG Kush Clone (Or maybe it was Tahoe OG, I can't remember as it has been forever since I started this.)... Everything has gone well so far except for the fact that all my leaves are starting to turn yellow and crunchy. Im feeding this plant every 36 hours about two quarts of water. I stopped giving nutes about 5 days ago as I was getting red rusty spots on the fan leaves. The PH on the water I'm giving is 6.5ish. (It never goes below 6.5 and never goes higher than 6.6.) My question is, is the yellowing normal? If not, what am I missing? I'm using GH flora trio. I started this whole thing as a hydro setup but started losing clones because I couldn't keep the water cool. I was able to save this last plant by moving to a 70/30 blend of FF Ocean Forest and Perlite. I kept with the GH nutes as that's all I had and it said it was OK on the bottles to use with soil also. I have been dosing a 2ml per gallon of the Micro, Flora, and Bloom as well as cal mag. When I used the dosage on all 3 by 2ml per gallon, I started getting red spots on the leaves and so I stopped dosing all together and started flushing. Lighting is provided by a 600watt HPS bulb Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi TreDizzle. Overall, doesn't look like you're in too bad a shape. I suspect some nute burn going on. Do you use a ppm tester pen when you mix your nutes so you know for sure what the concentration is? If not, it's a wonderful little piece of equipment to have, rather inexpensive and helps you prevent burning your plants with nutes. I want to give mine enough to thrive and no more. Everybody has their own way of doing things and their own opinion about how to do it, but I hate burning my plants up and don't like to put anymore chemicals into my weed than absolutely necessary, so that is my way. You're about a month into flower and you have some really pretty bud going there. My suspicion is that you're not letting those pots dry out completely before you water or feed and they've just been getting too much...combined with the fact that you say you've been feeding every 36 hours??? You only feed or water (whichever it is time for) when the plant tells you it's time. You don't get to choose. The only time you put anything into that plant is when it has completely dried up...almost to a crisp. The container will feel light as air but the plant will still be standing up nice and tall praying to the light...if it's a healthy plant, but it will seem there is absolutely NO water in the pot. THAT IS WHEN IT'S TIME TO WATER OR FEED AGAIN....AND NOT BEFORE. Continually adding liquid only keeps the roots saturated and can lead to fun things like root rot or fungus gnats or other totally unnecessary problems. Do not give it anything else until you're sure and certain that you have dryness all the way down to the bottom of the pot. Then, water with straight pH'd water until you get a little runoff and then quit. Leave it alone until it DRIES OUT COMPLETELY again. You have to maintain defined wet/dry cycles with this plant to keep it healthy and force the roots to cover the entire pot/container. If you water this way and make sure any liquids going into the plant have been pH adjusted, you should be fine and it'll straighten out. The damaged leaves are not going to repair themselves, so you're looking for healthy new growth as a sign that all is well and she's happy again. As you get to the end of the flowering cycle, some yellowing and dying off of the leaves is natural. At that point, the plant is only putting energy into making nice juicy buds so the leaves go lacking for nutrition and will yellow and die off. But if you've got brown tips and crispiness, that's a pretty good sign of nute burn. Do some reading in the new grower threads here. You'll pick up on the basics you need to know and understand to grow these things and keep them healthy. Good luck! TWW