Brown Spots Showed Up Today. Help Needed.

[Monster762]

Everything I've read says that ph above 7 or below 6 will interfere with nutrient availability and cause deficiencies. I've seen charts all over the place that show the availability of nutrients at different ph levels and while they vary a little, they all seem to agree that it should be somewhere in the range of 6 to 7.

When I add my nutes, they do lower the ph a little, but depending on how long I've left the water out, it can be as high as 8 and after adding nutes, it's still around 7.5.

Yeah ph goes up as it sits usually. 7.5 too high still. There are other things than ph up n down to adjust ph.

 

[rascali]

HFS, so much nattering.... You are short on Ca, you are not running a low enough ph on feeding to make the carbonates in your soil available. You could go Calmag but that screws the pooch on Mg and nitrates so you might be better off with a little broadcast and cautious tillage of some pelletized gypsum.

and then boost your nutes, cause there's no badges for starving your plants...

 

[Monster762]

where u getting this info

Most of my base info comes from right here. But after I read here I google everything. I cross research everything from just about every source that comes up on google when I type it in. I'm pretty new to this so I figure best way not to mess up is to read a lot. And a lot of different views on same topics. So far it's worked pretty good. But by no means do I know all the answers. I'm just steady trying to absorb.

 

[tinderthumbs]

if the (soil) does not have the right amendments then yes u most def need to ph the soil
been around here now a lil time and never heard any one say do not ph

heck most the time first thing people ask people when they have a problem is what is your ph

 

[Leew421]

It's about dialing in for what's best fitting for your situation. I had a lot of issues when I was phing. I stopped and problems became easier to diagnose and fix quicker. I don't have any of the previous issues. I run soil test and it's a solid 6.0-6.5. I use Royal Kings mix. The pH up and down stay in the soil wreaking havoc on what you already have in a properly amended soil. Causing pH swings and a super low to super high. Again, it's preference to your setup.

 

[Colin21]

Idk what the common thought on this is amongst the cannabis community but I have been doing a form of organic growing called biodynamic gardening, made famous by Rudolf Steiner is a form of growing where you use plants to cure plants. Applied to general farming practices it has huge benefits. Using this way is basically just a way of balancing your ecosystem within your soil and making ur nutrients more available to the mycrobs and your plant. One plant in particular is called stinging nettle, which I included a picture of the details. This plant is an all rounder and helps provide some key nutrients for optimal growth, this plant is made into a tea and sprayed onto the soil/dressed. If your more interested theres a great book called "Biodynamic Gardening" includes more plants and ways you can use them to improve your plants overall health, taste, and yeild. This way of growing is diffrent but it has alot of application towards cannabis.

Happy Growing!

 

[JackD]

imo u need to test run off of each plant that is having problems

I watered this morning with 1/2 tsp of Jack's per 4 gallons. Double what I had been using, but still only half of what the instructions say. I also added 2 tsp of Cal-Mag Plus to my 4 gallons of water, which is 1/2 of what Botanicare suggests for soil. The CalMag seems to have lowered ph a little. Instead of the normal 7.5 after nutes, it was 7.2
Given the mixed opinions on whether or not I should be using ph Down, I still used some, but only enough to get the ph down to 6.8 instead of 6.4 like I had been doing.

I checked runoff of each plant individually.
One Pineapple Haze was at 6.2.
One Blueberry was at 6.5.
All other plants were 6.3 or 6.4.

The plants with the brown spots are my 3 Pineapple Haze and the one Blueberry that was at 6.5. On the Blueberry, it's only affecting one or two leaves.

Since it was mainly affecting the Pineapple Haze and not the Blueberry or Strawberry Kush, anyone have thoughts on what Sativa dominant strains (or Pineapple Haze specifically) might like more or less of vs the other strains?

 

[Rootbound]

Looks like calcium def. Adjusting your ph before feeding is a must imo. Never once has adjusting ph caused problems for anyone I know.

 

[tinderthumbs]

Looks like calcium def. Adjusting your ph before feeding is a must imo. Never once has adjusting ph caused problems for anyone I know.

nice to meet you

 

[Dunge]

You can see the problem starting on many other leafs.
The story I like to believe, from what I have read here, is that Ca is not very mobile, and is thus at times in short supply up at the growing ends. This starts a cascade resulting in early death of the tissue.
The problem can be arrested by spraying with a calcium salt. I use calcium sulfate at 1 tablespoon per gallon.
I was using this same spray for end rot protection in my tomatoes this summer and noticed yellowing on some auto flowers, which stopped progression after spraying.

It's a cheep and safe thing to try.
They even sell ready made sprays for tomatoes.

Good luck fixing this.

 

[JackD]

You can see the problem starting on many other leafs.
The story I like to believe, from what I have read here, is that Ca is not very mobile, and is thus at times in short supply up at the growing ends. This starts a cascade resulting in early death of the tissue.
The problem can be arrested by spraying with a calcium salt. I use calcium sulfate at 1 tablespoon per gallon.
I was using this same spray for end rot protection in my tomatoes this summer and noticed yellowing on some auto flowers, which stopped progression after spraying.

It's a cheep and safe thing to try.
They even sell ready made sprays for tomatoes.

Good luck fixing this.

I had already ordered some CalMag Plus, so I used that in the last watering and also did a foliar spray with just a little CalMag. Since yesterday, the leaves are already greening up a little and the spots haven't gotten any worse, so we will see what happens.

 

[tinderthumbs]

how did u go about the calmag spray I been thinking about trying it my self

 

[JackD]

how did u go about the calmag spray I been thinking about trying it my self

I've been adding it every time I water (about every other day) at 1 tsp for 4 gallons. I did the foliar spray a couple times using that same ratio.
I've also upped the nutes to 1/2 tsp per 4 gallons and I'm using that on every watering.

So far, it doesn't look like the brown spots have spread any more and the plants seem to have greened up a bit. They've all grown 2 to 3 inches in the past week and seem to be doing well. I plan to switch to HPS and 12/12 in the next day or two.

I also took some clones to get ready for the next round. I took 4 of each strain and plan to grow 2 of each if they survive.

 

[JackD]

So I found some water test results online for our local water supply and it turns out our tap water is soft (low Ca and Mg), but has fairly high sodium levels. I've read that too much sodium can block absorption of Ca, Mg, and K.

Seems to me like that explains the issues I had, since some all 3 of those were mentioned as possible deficiencies that could cause my problems. I've been using the CalMag and higher levels of nutes (3/4 tsp per 4 gallons) with every watering (which is every other day). But I've also been giving about a gallon for each plant, instead of the 1/2 gallon I was using before, so I'm getting alot more runoff and basically doing a mini flush on each watering/feeding.

I switched to 12/12 and HPS about a week ago and plants are looking pretty good. I'll post some more pics when I get a chance.

All my clones are still alive and 9 of the 12 have roots that have made it to the sides of the clear cups. I'm going to wait a little while, then pick the 2 of each strain to keep vegging.

 

[JackD]

So I'm a little over 2 weeks into flower. About a week ago, I started transitioning from the Jack's all purpose (20-20-20) to the bloom booster (10-30-20). A few days ago, I started seeing the brown spots, brown tips, and yellowing between the veins again on my Pineapple Haze. Looks almost the same as it did when it first started happening. For awhile after I first started this thread, there were no more signs of the issue getting worse.
I was doing more reading and found some info about high P locking out Zinc, along with calcium, copper, iron, and magnesium. I found some pics of Zinc deficiency and they also look a lot like the symptoms I've had.
So now I'm suspecting excess P is causing lockout of Zinc or something else.

What do you guys think?

 

[Monster762]

So I'm a little over 2 weeks into flower. About a week ago, I started transitioning from the Jack's all purpose (20-20-20) to the bloom booster (10-30-20). A few days ago, I started seeing the brown spots, brown tips, and yellowing between the veins again on my Pineapple Haze. Looks almost the same as it did when it first started happening. For awhile after I first started this thread, there were no more signs of the issue getting worse.
I was doing more reading and found some info about high P locking out Zinc, along with calcium, copper, iron, and magnesium. I found some pics of Zinc deficiency and they also look a lot like the symptoms I've had.
So now I'm suspecting excess P is causing lockout of Zinc or something else.

What do you guys think?

Not sure but I’ll be looking into that cause I had spotting. I think this run I’m running low low numbers. Gonna see what letting the plant grow on its own does. Just light nutes.

 

[JackD]

My plants should be due for a watering tomorrow, so I think I'm going to flush, then do a very light feeding with just the 20-20-20 and CalMag and see what happens. I've been reading a lot of info saying that the high P bloom/flower nutes really aren't good. Quite a few people swear by Dyna Gro Foliage pro from start to finish, and that's a 9-3-6.

Though it definitely seems to be strain dependent because my Strawberry Kush and Blueberry plants are looking great with no signs of any deficiency or toxicity. Maybe my Pineapple Haze are just very sensitive to too much P.

 

[Monster762]

My plants should be due for a watering tomorrow, so I think I'm going to flush, then do a very light feeding with just the 20-20-20 and CalMag and see what happens. I've been reading a lot of info saying that the high P bloom/flower nutes really aren't good. Quite a few people swear by Dyna Gro Foliage pro from start to finish, and that's a 9-3-6.

Though it definitely seems to be strain dependent because my Strawberry Kush and Blueberry plants are looking great with no signs of any deficiency or toxicity. Maybe my Pineapple Haze are just very sensitive to too much P.

Yeah they say some strains like different things. On the dyna grow foliage pro. I’ve read a lot on that too. It is mainly a veg nute. I can’t remember the bud nute name that runs with it. I read so much stuff half of it gets mixed up.

 

[JackD]

Yeah they say some strains like different things. On the dyna grow foliage pro. I’ve read a lot on that too. It is mainly a veg nute. I can’t remember the bud nute name that runs with it. I read so much stuff half of it gets mixed up.

Dyna Grow Bloom is the one marketed for flowering. It's a 3-12-6.

But I've read stuff from several growers who disagree with the common advice about going with lower N and higher P during flowering, at least when growing in soil. Some of them use the foliage pro all the way until harvest and seem to have great results. Like everything else, there are as many differing opinions as there are people posting them. :)

I'm also thinking that since I have to use ph down (phosporic acid) on every watering to get my ph down to 6.5, that may be contributing to excess P.

 

[Monster762]

Dyna Grow Bloom is the one marketed for flowering. It's a 3-12-6.

But I've read stuff from several growers who disagree with the common advice about going with lower N and higher P during flowering, at least when growing in soil. Some of them use the foliage pro all the way until harvest and seem to have great results. Like everything else, there are as many differing opinions as there are people posting them. :)

I'm also thinking that since I have to use ph down (phosporic acid) on every watering to get my ph down to 6.5, that may be contributing to excess P.

Yeah might be. That’s one thing about the nutes I picked for my last run is just mix n the ph was 6.2 every time. But I didn’t like the lack of k in flower. So I need to figure a different approach. I really think I’m going to try an almost no nutes grow. On my few seeds I have left. If it looks to go south I have nutes to give it but I’m going to make the plants ask for them instead of just feeding regularly. I was feeding every water or every other water. Then towards mid flower I got spots and then hit with k to try n balance thinking it was a k deficiency and started getting nute burns.