Lime green leaves

Discussion in 'Coco Coir' started by Mosuko, Jun 3, 2012.

  1. So I'm doing a side by side comparison of soil vs coco to help decide which to choose for my next grow. I've made a few mistakes, but I think I have everything back on track now, except that the coco plants leaves are lime green compared to the soils.

    I'm using canna coco a+b @ 300ppm (0.5 scale) and making sure to get decent runoff.
    I measure the runoff's ppm and try to make sure it's ppm is slightly lower
    Ph is 5.8 give or take 0.3
    60/40 mix of coco/perlite
    Watering once per day, always with nutes, and add some epsom salts every second feeding

    First pic is the soil, second the coco, third is both side by side.

    Cheers
     

    Attached Files:

  2. At first I thought deficiency, but then I saw the burn on the leaves... so now I don't know...

    To cover some basics here. The reason Cal-Mag Plus works so well with Canna A+B isn't the Calcium, or the Magnesium. The real benefits come from the "plus" which includes chelated iron. An element unfortunately deficient in the Canna system simply because they expect everyone to have the right amount of iron in their tap water. While this may be true in and around the UK, there are many local water supplies that are total trash in other places and as a result many people turn towards filtered water.

    If you are using filtered water and Canna Coco A+B the supplementation of iron is basically non-negotiable. I like to use Cutting Edge Solutions Micro. which is about 3x the concentration as the Botanicare Cal-Mag product. CES Micro also includes a variety of forms of chelated iron which may improve the uptake of this element that is required in such low quantities, but when lacking results in yellowish/green new growth.

    Looking at your plants I cannot determine if filtered or "soft" tap water is your issue here. It may be, and this is fairly common among many growers on the particular nutrient system you are running when the right circumstances mess with the proper mix of elements.

    The purple stems indicate stress, rather than any particular nutrient deficiency. Typically this stress starts in the root zone and you can see the manifestation of it in the stems. Commonly phosphorus deficiency and purple stems coincide but this can be a result of phosphorus being so important to healthy root development and the plant simply "prioritizing" the element where it is most needed.

    The daily watering's, even with the perlite, at this point might be the real issue here. Over watering can result in yellow foliage and purple stems, and that's basically all we have to work with here. I don't think the problem has progressed to a stage of root death, or rot, but it is probably the source of your issue. Perhaps scaling back to an every other day, or 4-5 times a week, might improve the health of the roots and result in better performance in the parts of the plant you can actually see.

    Then again... Perhaps the container is too small for the age of the plants... Or, maybe the phenotype is just this color. Or, maybe there is a phosphorus deficiency or Nitrogen overdose in your soil plant that is causing such a dark green color...

    As you can see there are many sides to this problem that must first be addressed before moving on to the next one and I do not have a definitive guarantee for you at this point. Personally, I would start by ensuring I have at least a few ppm of iron available in my water supply. Then I would cut back on the waterings a little and check to see if it needed to be transplanted. If the water is good, and the planter is good, and the plant continues to get worse with fewer waterings, then the problem is actually quite simple. More food!

    You can safely run the Canna A+B in veg up to 1.8ec (or 900ppm on your meter) when they are big and healthy later on down the road. I think that perhaps an increase to 1.0ec (500ppm) would be a great benefit. Especially because the plant is going to continue to grow and need more food anyway, and because you have been watching the runoff and you know there isn't a buildup that is contributing to the problem any.

    Really... I bet more food, and the right watering schedule, is the best bet for a solution here. But I'd wait and see if anyone else has a better idea and go from there. The growth on your coco plant is great, so if she stalls out a little here as you get things dialed I still think it will out perform the soil plant when it comes to the final size.
     
  3. Cheers, always appreciate your input SCMC.

    Just checked my water supply analysis, and there is next to no iron <0.1 ppm. All up, the water ppm is only around 90. I guess I'll need to find an iron supplement that isn't cal-mag+, or any porpular brand really, as I can't get a lot of the popular brands over here.

    Yeah I burnt her a week or so ago when I had the ppm up at 450, she seems to have recovered after the drop though. I'll try backing off on the watering too. From what I can tell though, the roots seem alright, but she will need a transplant in a few days.
     
  4. Try alternating full strength and half strength feedings with the coco. This will help you manage the retained elements quite a bit easier and probably save you cash with the runoff over the long haul. I don't think there's anything drastic to do here. Just a minor tweek and you'll get it.

    The real trick with coco is not to over feed it as you transition from veg to flower like you did earlier in the grow. Nutrients are more like vitamins than food to plants so don't push them too hard and it will stay easy if a problem does show up. Don't spend more than $12 per liter on whatever you do choose as a supplement for iron. The stuff should be available relatively cheap.
     
  5. Update: Added some chelated iron to the mix and upped the ppm to 370 (no burn), but she seemed to be showing a phosphorus deficiency.

    Today I gave her a feed at 400, base with some added pk and runoff ppm was at 220. Means she's getting pretty hungry right? Looks like she'll be okay though. Cheers for the help.

    Side note, the soil baby is looking great and I'm starting to see pistils pop up all over the place :)

    Peace
     
  6. My nutrient directions have me mixing Grow and Bloom (and a Base) throughout the entire plants life cycle - in different proportions of course.

    So I would say no - in fact it is recommended to add both Grow and Bloom during the 1 or 2 week transitional phase between veg and flowering. You should also be reducing the PPM of your nutes to about 1/3 of the current when you start the switch.
     

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