i had been using tapwater for a few months before i realized i could get reverse osmosis water cheaply nearby, and I have a bad case of what appears to be nute lockout, tons of leaves are turning yellow with brown spots and falling off. well, i found the reverse osmosis water bout two weeks ago and you can see all around the bud sites a nice deep green coming back, but im still losing leaves that where previously yellow, though not extremely yellow. my questions is, if they had already perhaps started to die, will they continue until they fall off, or is it possible for them to recover to a healthy green?
It's hard to give a diagnosis without seeing your plants. Some yellowing and leaves falling off is normal, especially for a flowering plant. The problem may not necessarily be with your water... It might be more of an issue of soil quality, pH, the plant food (or lack of) that you're using, or even a bug infestation. Post some more info about your grow, and pics if possible. That would be a big help to some of the more experienced folks around here who can help you.
sorry, forgot to give the details. 10 gallons foxfarm ocean forest soil, been using tap water for about 3 months, the leaves have been going yellow, then yellow with brown spots then falling off in the last 3 weeks or so. the strains are mandalas seeds satori and hashberry. i adjusted the ph of the tap water with a cap full of vinegar per gallon and the runoff would usually come out in the 6-7 range, and i just started to use the reverse osmosis water about 2 weeks ago, you can tell the plants are a lot happier, but the leaves are still dying from where they were previously yellow. its most pronounced in the hashberry plant. i didn't feed much nitrogen all summer since mandala says basically not to with good soil, and ive been giving each plant 1 tablespoon of high phosphorous guano per week since budding began. sorry, but i dont have access to a camera right now, but ill see what i can do
Many many strains drop unnecessary leaves when in flowering. The plants gets rid of all leaves that it does not absolutely need to survive. It begins to focus growth to the buds, rather than focusing energy to grow in size. Dropping yellow leaves is no big deal. I have some Paradise Magic Bud plants that drop almost every single leaf that is not entirely necessary.
How long have the plants been flowering? Are they close to finished? If so, yellowing is natural, and no big deal. Have you been feeding with anything other than guano? If not, there might be a deficiency, or the guano could have an effect your pH. Since I'm not an outdoor grower, about the only thing I can do for you is point you towards this thread I found @ ICmag a while ago... it's helps me out from time to time, so I hope it can do the same for you. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=11688
As per what you have been describing I have had something similar happen quiet a while ago. The plant came back but only to about 1/4 of what it was before, the rest (what already had died off) stayed leafless (naked). Good luck and don't give up on it, these plants often are capable of doing amazing things!
ok, so i tested my runoff today(as i had done it once 6 weeks ago and just kept using the same adjustment of the ph since that initial test) and it was somewhere around 8. So for about 6 weeks i guess its been at about this level,where as I thought it was around 6 to 7. so does the ph of the soil change frequently? if the runoff was 6-7 6 weeks ago, is it normal for the same ph adjusted water to take it to 8? or is it possible the reverse osmosis water is to blame for the 8 instead of 6-7 with tap? If Ive confused you guys let me know, Im just new to it and want to know what to do in the future(and now)
if you want to chech ur water PH get a fish tank PH TEST KIT.... you can get a ph/water meter from homedepot for cheap like 8$ solar power
I was adjusting the ph of my feed Water to 6.0-6.5 and doing this for almost 2 months during veg and this made my soil salty and acidic. I am currently experiencing this and just fixed my issue and plant just started recovery today. I flushed with about 12 gallons of non ph adjusted tap water 7.5-8.0 ph and my runoff ph was somewhere between 5-6. I don't think I'm going to ph adjust my feed water anymore
I was adjusting feed water to optimum 6.5 for soil and it made my soil acidic so maybe you should just water your babies with plain tap after a nice flush if you are having issues. I have read alot saying as long as your tap water isn't of bad quality and your growing in soil (obviously some strains will differ from others) your better off just using your unadjusted tap water rather than using the hydroponic ph up and down solutions
Oh and I use gh gro,micro,bloom trio and only feed at 1/4 strength so it's not like I had lockout from over nute. My lockout was caused by using the liquid ph up and down maybe combined with my nutes at 1/4 strength. But gave it about 12 gallon on tap water ph 7.5-8.0 and she started recovering and actually vigorously growing in 2-3 days