I will post some pics but first a description: This is bag seed, I'm 23 days into flower and hadn't been using nutes. I figure there are still several weeks until harvest so I think I'm loosing too many leaves to whatever this is. I think it looks most closely to phosphorus deficiency, so under this assumption I began using some FF Tiger Bloom 6 days ago a 1/3 dose and 1 day ago a 2/3 dose. I haven't seen any improvement and it occurred to me that I hadn't tested the run-off for a while so I did and found it at ph 6.1. So now I think it may still be phosphorus deficiency but caused by nute lock out. So I need some advice I'd like to water with some ph 7.3 (maybe higher?) water in an effort to counter the 6.1. What I don't know is should I wait, because I watered yesterday or do immediately. I know what I think I should but I need to act wit restraint so I don't cause a bigger problem. I thought I'd add, I would like to add some lime to the water to bring the ph up. Pics: (the clawing in the pics is old damage (different issue) and the new grow seems to not be clawing. Also after the last water with nute the leaves seem a little saggy) (last note, the pics don't seem to reveal just how wide spread the issue is) Photo Album - Imgur PS sorry for the long post just very concerned. \t\t\t\t\t\t
They have a serious Calcium deficiency and it may be accompanied by a mild Phosphorus deficiency as well, like you thought. Keep in mind that even after fixing the problem, the damaged leaves won't heal. The problem just won't spread any further. You probably already corrected any P-def as the Tiger Bloom is a good high-P fertilizer. It may have also fixed the Ca-def but there's no way to know for sure from the pics. I don't know off hand what the Tiger's Calcium content is.
So a follow up question; my soil is still quite moist form the last watering should I water tonight? I'm worried about over watering but I think it's more important to raise the ph and get some calcium into plant right?
^ I was worried about overwatering when I had plant problems last. As such it took me FOREVER to troubleshoot anything, as I'd have a shot at fixing then wait for it to dry. IMO, as long as your soil is aerated fine you should water to fix the issue tonight.
Well I just finished up for the night, had a bit of an ordeal... I preped up some water with lime because it would seem to meet both my needs, adding cal and upping the ph. I didn't measure the ph because I wanted to let it sit a while and come back and adjust it. But I had a complete mind fart and when I went back I just started watering about 1/4 to 1/2 a gal in I realized what I has doing so I stopped and adjusted the ph down to 7.5 (it was around 8.9) and continued with about another 1 gal to 1.5 gal until run-off. So now I'm a little worried that I hurt things however since the run-off was still at 6.1 so I think there may be some more adjustment needed. Tomorrow will tell the tale I guess.
To me, a 6.1 run-off doesn't sound bad. If your watering in @ 7+, I think the water takes time to change to the final pH of 6.1 before exiting; all the acids in the soil build up as the water leeches them resulting in the final pH. If the root zone and watering works like that, your good; portions of the root mass get different availability of nutrients, but the whole plant has available to it the whole range. The only reason I say this is because IM prone to over-correcting, which results in issues X.x. If you really want to adjust to perfection, you can top-dress with powdered dolomatic lime and water it in; itll take a while to work, but itll eventually fix it, and your issue isn't so bad that you need immediate results. Just be careful not to over-lime! Also, the calcium in limestones isn't as readily available as other sources; liquid nutes, or hydrated lime, are readily available upon watering.
Realistically I should have caught this whole thing sooner but 2 Friday nights ago the cops came knocking at my door, I didn't answer and they went away but the whole situation shook me for the week and I did the bear minimum to keep her alive. Now the good news I found out, depending on how you look at it, is that my neighbors had a break in that Friday and the police were just wanting to talk all the neighbors. So now I'm taking new security precautions and my confidence is back so its time to fix my neglect.
I just wanted to revive this, I seem to have at least slowed the progression. I do still seem to be getting a few more dead spots each day but this perhaps damage done revealing itself? I will say the number of leaves turning completely yellow has definitely decreased. I've come back here for some thoughts on how I should proceed, the leaves that continue to show dying spots are in the upper canopy however the lower leaves seem to be looking pretty good. I'm wondering if I should trim some of the upper leaves to let the light to the healthier vegetation? Also my run-off after the last watering was testing at 5.8 - 5.9 I'm not sure if I should continue putting lime in the water or use PH up and try to raise the PH of the soil this way? An other though any chance a flush would be in order? Pics:
To test runoff, first get some pure water & verify its pH as 7. After watering, allow the soil to sit for at least an hour before squeezing some water out for testing. This can usually be accomplished by pressing on the soil surface and collecting the runoff. The runoff that occurs right when you water hasn't had time to accurately take on the pH of the soil.
Anyone think there might be a Mag deficiency here? What about my idea to trim the less healthy leaves to get light to the better looking ones? Many thanks
Magnesium deficiency presents with light necrosis only between the leaf veins. Removing leaves that are shading major budsites is ok but don't remove more than a leaf or two from each stalk per watering cycle.
