I seem to be having issues with white tips and darkening leaves.

[WickedMichelle]

Hello everyone.

I am trying to see what I am doing that might be causing some issues.

Issue 1. I am getting white tips on new growth. I am getting this on all 4 plants. I am not seeing this in the older leaves.
Issue 2. I am seeing some darkening on a couple of leaves. This is really noticeable on this leaf. I am not sure if I am starting to get this on any other plants.

My light is

Mars Hydro FC3000-EVO 300W LED Grow Light Running 75% power at 26" from the canopy. They get 10 min IR light before lights on, then base light with the deep red, then 10 min UV light at lights off. Total 16 hours light - 6 hours dark. I could not get rid of this bold. Cut and paste from Amazon. LOL.​

Soil is Mostly Ocean Forest but I have some Happy Frog in the mix. I mixed in the rest of the Happy frog in equal parts in all 4 pots.

Nutrients: (Advanced Nutrients)

PH Perfect (Bloom, Micro, Grow)
Cal/Mag - not AN
B 52
Voodoo Juice (not last feeding)

I have been using 1/2 formula for week 1.

2ml each PH Perfect
2ml Cal/Mag
4ml B 52
4ml Voodoo Juice

Being I am well past week one, I increased to full strength week one.

4ml each PH Perfect
3ml Cal/Mag
8ml B 52
8ml Voodoo Juice

My last feeding was full strength week 4, I am preparing for flower next week. This was within a week of the jump in strength. Maybe I needed to go up gradual.

16ml each PH Perfect
5ml Cal/Mag
16ml B 52
No Voodoo Juice until Flower week one.

I started seeing these not too long after I starting adding CalMag to the mix. This is the cal/mag I am using. Instructions say 3-5 ml per gal.

PH Perfect Micro is 2-0-0. This is 4-0-0? Am I at 6-0-0 now and Is this why I am getting white tips?

They look much brighter in person. The phone cam is not showing what I am seeing. They are more yellow in the images.

This next image is something that I am just starting to see. So far it is just this one leaf that I can tell and it's hard to tell if any other plant is getting this yet. The plant is Watermelon from RQS. Maybe they are suppose to change to that color, IDK. But they are much darker than the rest of the leaves. I know the deep red additive light adds a little richness to the leaves, this is more than a casting of the red light, this is much darker than what the red changes in in the photos.

Overall they look healthy and I am trying to prevent anything tragic.

I bought a soil meter but it's not good. Sending it back.

This is the reading from the watermelon if this means anything. Reading was taken shortly after feeding. All plants fed the same but this one is in the 900's for fertility, two are at 700 and one is at 690. The ph is reading the same for all plants but may not be accurate. The reviews are not great on any of these.

And I feed with every watering correct? That is what I have been doing. Maybe too much nutrients. Maybe feed one, water one... feed one, water one.....


Thanks in advance.

 

[HerbalEdu]

slightly white/yellow/brunt leaves tips is something rather common with some phenotypes, i have never seen it getting worse or having a signifiant impact with the final result and harvest, so i personnaly wouldn't worry about it.

same as with the slight interveinal discoloration on the leaf photo,while also posssibly early sign of magnesium deficiency i had leaves like that many time and it never get any worse, and i don't feed any cal mag.

not symptoms i personnaly worry about

 

[WickedMichelle]

posssibly early sign of magnesium deficiency

Do you think my Cal/Mag is too strong being used with the ph perfect micro?

 

[HerbalEdu]

the plants seem just fine to me, just keep doing what you'r doing i'd say.

 

[WickedMichelle]

the plants seem just fine to me, just keep doing what you'r doing i'd say.

Sorry if I seem paranoid. 1st grow in a very long time and last grows were total crap. Crappy seeds, crappy soil, no nutrients... just planted and grew. All tall and skinny. Horrible. These actually look like they may turn into something good so I worry. Maybe over worry. LOL

I appreciate your help. Thank you!!!

 

[Phyto]

I think if anything it's a bit hot for N, but as said, nothing to be concerned about.

 

[WickedMichelle]

I think if anything it's a bit hot for N, but as said, nothing to be concerned about.

Which of the above that I am using would control nitrogen? I can back that off a little. Yesterday was the 1st time at 100% full strength... I may not be seeing all the damage as of yet. Yesterday was the 1st time with exact measurements as well.... I bought syringes as the plastic droppers were too inaccurate.

 

[Eledin]

They look fine, its very hard to fuck up if you follow AN instructions. If anything the PH seems too high. For organic 7 is considered fine but youre using bio-mineral nutrients so youre aiming for a ph of 6,2 veg and 6,5 flower. The PH perfect line (micro and sensi) decreases the PH of the water, usually its around 6,5 at maxium dosage. Even the organic line, Iguana Juice, has phosphoric acid so your ph is around 6,5 aswell with the maxium dosage. (This is using tap water left sitting for 2 days so the chlorine evaporates. If youre using osmotized water the PH might go even lower). Meassure the PH of the runoff with droplets or something more accurate, if there's some magnessium deficiency its definetely the PH causing it, PH above 6,5 is not good for absorving minerals unless youre going organic and even then its better to lower it for minerals. Also, dont use calmag you will be adding too much N and the PH perfect line already has calcium and magnessium. If youre using tap water, youre also adding more calcium and magnessium.
I use 100% organic ammendments and liquid nutes and despite that I still like to keep the PH of the water at 6,2 veg and 6,5 flower. 7 will be fine because most of what they need the microorganisms will assimilate for them but not all of it. There's a reason why Iguana Juice has phosphoric acid, to make the nutrients inside easier to assimilate by the microbes and the roots.

 

[Phyto]

Which of the above that I am using would control nitrogen? I can back that off a little. Yesterday was the 1st time at 100% full strength... I may not be seeing all the damage as of yet. Yesterday was the 1st time with exact measurements as well.... I bought syringes as the plastic droppers were too inaccurate.

Sorry, Im not familiar with any of those nutes, tonics.

 

[WickedMichelle]

If anything the PH seems too high.

So Ph Perfect is imperfect LOL. I assumed it just balanced everything out.

I was thinking mixing that Cal/Mag in with AN might be a bad idea but was told I need it. The issues started when I added that. Maybe I do not need the full recommended strength. I was using 2ml like AN then bumped it to max, 5ml, when I went full strength with AN. I will leave that out next feeding. Thanks for the tip.

The meter is reading 7.5, the box claims that it can be off .5 +/- so I will say they are either a Ph of 7 or 8. I do let the water sit for two days and I use hot water not cold. I sent that meter back today. I need to get another one but none of them have any real accuracy so why bother. The readings were fun though.... I like stats.

 

[Budtirement]

I am getting white tips on new growth

My own girl started to show some white tips mid-veg when I had her at 60% light intensity and then I was reading CaptSpaulding's advice to someone else and so I backed her off to 40% and the tips disappeared. 40% turns out to be 300 PPFD for my setup. I've since been upping intensity slowly to 350. So green and happy now.
Less could be more for you too. It looks like you have some serious light there and you would need to have light, water, nutrients, humidity and temp all well balanced or she's gonna protest the only way she can. From your posts it seems you might not be sure. I was just watching this gold mine about how to use tools to balance the environment. It's a little beyond my abilities right now by I enjoyed the overview.--

 

[Eledin]

So Ph Perfect is imperfect LOL. I assumed it just balanced everything out.

I was thinking mixing that Cal/Mag in with AN might be a bad idea but was told I need it. The issues started when I added that. Maybe I do not need the full recommended strength. I was using 2ml like AN then bumped it to max, 5ml, when I went full strength with AN. I will leave that out next feeding. Thanks for the tip.

The meter is reading 7.5, the box claims that it can be off .5 +/- so I will say they are either a Ph of 7 or 8. I do let the water sit for two days and I use hot water not cold. I sent that meter back today. I need to get another one but none of them have any real accuracy so why bother. The readings were fun though.... I like stats.

For me it works, it lowers it to 6,5 almost precisely but something in your soil might be rising it. But we dont know if your PH is okay or not, maybe that blue is from the strain but it could indeed be a magnessium deficiency aswell so checking the PH is just for clearing doubts. Maybe your PH is okay, and if its not its something in the soil rising it probably. Youre using soil that is usually used for organic growing as far as I know when it comes to fox farms (we dont have it here, might be wrong) so maybe its related to that. You said that the tool you were using wasnt reliable, it showed 7,5 PH I dont know how far off that might be from reality and I think the best way to check it is after you water with nutes and take a runoff sample just to be safe since the reading was so high.
What water are you using? Osmotized? Tap water? Do you lower the PH when you use only water with a PH down? Its not very advisable to use calmag if youre using tap water and a base that already has calcium and magnessium too. Maybe a little bit in late flower as they also use calcium to fatten the buds? But I wouldnt be adding it now if youre using tap water. The reason AN has it in the chart is because without it, you might have deficiencies using osmotized water since all the calcium and magnessium is removed from the water.
Also I agree 100% with @Budtirement it might be the light causing them to be more pale but sometimes when they grow up they get a nicer color. Still I see the yellow tips you mention aswell in the already formed leaves so yes it seems to indicate that it might be light related. Check if you can see yellow tips in the lower canopy, if theyre only on top its light, if theyre on the bottom could be nutes as light stress doesnt affect the leaves that are far away from the light as far as I know, at least thats how I know when its when Im pushing too much with nutes or I might have a PH problem or when I have the light too close/strong.

 

[WickedMichelle]

Its not very advisable to use calmag if youre using tap water and a base that already has calcium and magnessium too.

Yes, tap water. Are those meters that Vivosun sell accurate? The ones that test the water.... I have seen those on Amazon, I think I can get those local.

They are looking better this morning. Lights on since 10:30pm, it's 6am now. Tips not as white/yellow. Have not checked the darker leaves yet but I did not really notice them when I was checking them today.

I will back off the Cal/Mag next feeding and see if that helps things.

My own girl started to show some white tips mid-veg when I had her at 60% light intensity and then I was reading CaptSpaulding's advice to someone else and so I backed her off to 40% and the tips disappeared.

That may have been me. I was given that advice too. Seeing how these are photosynthesis, I would assume that a strong light would get them greener, not bleach them out. As they get taller I may have to lower the power, I cannot get my light much higher without moving the fan. As I hit flower and have to boost to 100% power... I am concerned.

However as I look at a sample bud from RQS, I should expect to see a little yellowing and brown tips in the buds, but not sure about the rest of the plant.

But that may not apply to the other 3 strains I have growing.

EDIT: I dropped the light power to 60%. It does not look different.

 

[Eledin]

However as I look at a sample bud from RQS, I should expect to see a little yellowing and brown tips in the buds, but not sure about the rest of the plant.
View attachment 2222828
But that may not apply to the other 3 strains I have growing.

EDIT: I dropped the light power to 60%. It does not look different.

That yellow you see in the leaves in that picture is from the end of flower. When you flush your plants last 1-2 weeks they take the nutrients from the leaves, its a totally different thing. The brown tips its probably from pushing nutes as its the only way to know when they are at maxium dosage, when they show a few burned tips. Could also be light stress if they wanted to push the light to the max. 1200umols is the max that a plant can take and some strains cant take more than 1000umols. If you dont have a method to read how many umols are reaching the plants the manufacturar usually mentions what distance and/or potency you need for each stage. But again, every strain is different, even every seed from the same strain can be quite different. Eat more, eat less, taller, shorter, more light hungry, less light hungry, etc...

 

[cannafarmer420]

slightly white/yellow/brunt leaves tips is something rather common with some phenotypes, i have never seen it getting worse or having a signifiant impact with the final result and harvest, so i personnaly wouldn't worry about it.

same as with the slight interveinal discoloration on the leaf photo,while also posssibly early sign of magnesium deficiency i had leaves like that many time and it never get any worse, and i don't feed any cal mag.

not symptoms i personnaly worry about

Agreed, let it ride

 

[Eledin]

Agreed, let it ride

Its not something that happens just because, its pheno related because some phenos are more sensitive to light or nutes than others. That said, everyone has yellow tips because youre not gonna make a special badge of nutes for that plant or lower the light intensity for all just because of that one, as long as its only a few yellow tips its fine. When it evolves to burnt tips you know its not fine, and since her PH might be very high as the reading showed I think its worth checking just in case. Sometimes I burn a few tips finding the max dose they can take but I have it very controled, as soon as I see a few I go to the previous dosage and nothing bad happens.

 

[WickedMichelle]

I will get a PH meter before the next feeding. AN does say to use distilled water. Maybe my tap water is adding something extra to the mix and I need to adjust things.

This is where it gets confusing. PH Perfect needs to be mixed in an order. How can I assure the proper PH? If I mix all 3 and it is off, I am not sure if I can add more of the needed ingredient. Then to try to figure out which of the 3 I would need to adjust. I recently trimmed them all so I want to make sure they are getting what they need to heal properly.

 

[Eledin]

PH the water with nutes and then water til runoff and PH the runoff aswell yes, that way we know if its the tap water or the soil. If both are correct then there's nothing to worry about. Its just to make sure but if you plan on growing more you should have them at hand anyway. In my opinion the best PH down is from General Hydroponics, a mix of most acids used as PH down so there's not too much of one. As PH up I use potassium silicate instead of a PH down liquid, because potassium silicate not only rises the PH of the water but also provides your plant with more silica which makes their inmune system stronger (Only ingredient on Top Barrier from Top Crop) and also make your stems thicker (Main ingredient in Rhino Skin from AN). Its also found in some PH ups like the one from BAC which uses potassium silicate and potassium carbonate.
You might have to add PH up or potassium silicate if you add too much PH down, thats why its good to have both until you figure out how much you need for your ammount of water and mix of nutes. You will also be able to PH down the water when youre only using water and not nutes.
Make sure that the PH meter is well calibrated if its a digital one, I use the PH test kit from General Hydroponics, droplets and test tube, lasts very long and it wont lie to you ever.
If you wanna feed them potassium silicate after hearing the wonders it can do, you can also add potassium silicate to the feedings and then just add more ph down, thats fine, just dont go past the recommended dosage.
For anyone who might wonder why a bottle of potassium silicate from AN (Rhino Skin) is way more expensive than other potassium silicates its because it also has silicium dioxide which is assimilated faster by the plant, but its still mostly potassium silicate. I buy several liquids from AN but thats not one of them but its probably slightly better than just potassium silicate.

 

[Eledin]

Sorry if my posts are too long I feel the need to explain the how and why of everything, if youre not interested just keep the info you need but you never know who might wanna know all of that and be appreciative of it. I dont mind if people tell me "just go straight to the point" so feel free to do that aswell if you have any other question and you dont want extra information.

 

[WickedMichelle]

Sorry if my posts are too long I feel the need to explain the how and why of everything, if youre not interested just keep the info you need but you never know who might wanna know all of that and be appreciative of it. I dont mind if people tell me "just go straight to the point" so feel free to do that aswell if you have any other question and you dont want extra information.

I like information and appreciate the time you are taking to type it Are you using AN also? Are you in soil?