[NovaStriker]

Hi everyone, first-time grower here and I’d really appreciate some help diagnosing what’s going on with my plants.


I’m currently growing three photoperiod plants:

• Gorilla Zkittlez
• Jealousy (sativa-dominant)
• Purple Haze

The main problem is with the Purple Haze. Some of the older/lower leaves have developed brown/rust-colored necrotic spots, yellowing, and quite a lot of curling/twisting. The newer growth looks better so far, but I’m worried because the plant seems to have slowed down after transplanting.


The Jealousy is the taller, lighter-green plant. It looks healthier overall, but I noticed green growth/algae/moss starting to appear on the surface of the soil. That made me concerned that the substrate may be staying wet for too long.


The Gorilla Zkittlez is the larger and more developed plant. It generally looks healthier, although some leaves also show slight curling/drooping at times.


Setup

• Spider Farmer 90 × 90 × 180 cm tent
• Spider Farmer SF-G3000, 300 W LED
• Light currently around 45% power
• Distance from the canopy approximately 40 cm
• BioBizz Light-Mix soil
• 4 L fabric pots
• Oscillating fan + exhaust/carbon filter
• Temperature currently around 26.5°C / 80°F
• RH fluctuates around 60–65%
• VPD approximately 1.38 kPa

I don’t have a reliable PPFD reading yet, so I don’t want to guess the exact light intensity. The lamp is simply running at 45% from around 40 cm above the plants.


Watering / transplant history


I transplanted the two smaller plants into the 4 L fabric pots on Saturday.


After transplanting:

• Purple Haze received approximately 500 ml
• Jealousy received roughly 400 ml because I stopped early when I saw a little runoff

The Jealousy has not been watered again since Saturday. The pot is now noticeably lighter and my moisture probe is showing that the substrate is getting close to the dry zone, so I was planning to water it tomorrow.


However, I noticed green algae/moss-like growth on the soil surface today. That is confusing me because the pot itself already feels fairly light, while the surface apparently stayed wet long enough for this green growth to appear.


Today I watered:

• Gorilla Zkittlez: 500 ml
• Purple Haze: 500 ml

Jealousy was not watered today.


Water / nutrients


Today the nutrient solution was around:

• pH: 6.28–6.30
• EC: approximately 1.2–1.3 mS/cm
• This would be roughly 600–650 ppm on a 500-scale meter, although the exact ppm depends on the meter conversion.

For the 500 ml feeds I used approximately:

• 1 ml BioBizz Bio-Grow
• 2 ml BioBizz Root-Juice

For the Purple Haze I additionally added approximately:

• 0.30 ml CalMag

I added the CalMag because I was wondering whether the rust/brown necrotic spots could be related to a calcium or magnesium deficiency, but I’m not sure whether this is an actual deficiency or whether the roots are simply having trouble taking nutrients up.


What I’m worried about


I’m trying to work out whether I’m dealing with:

• overwatering / the root zone staying wet too long after transplant
• uneven moisture distribution in the pot
• transplant shock
• pH-related nutrient lockout
• calcium/magnesium deficiency
• light or heat stress
• wind stress from the oscillating fan
• or a combination of several of these

One thing I noticed is that the plants previously started drooping before watering and then perked up after receiving water. That made me think they may actually have been getting too dry in parts of the root zone rather than simply being overwatered.


At the same time, the algae/moss on the Jealousy soil suggests that at least part of the surface has remained wet for quite a long time.


The fan also makes the plants move quite a lot. The leaves and stems are constantly twitching/moving in the airflow, so I’m wondering whether the airflow may be too strong and contributing to the leaf curling.


Since transplanting, growth also seems to have slowed down somewhat.


What do you think is the most likely cause of the necrosis and curling on the Purple Haze?


And regarding the Jealousy: if the pot is already light and the moisture meter is close to dry, but I had algae/moss growing on the surface, would you water it again or let it dry for longer?


I’d also be interested to hear whether you think my EC is too high for plants of this size, and whether adding CalMag was appropriate or whether I should stop adding nutrients until I know what is actually causing the symptoms.


Thanks — any advice from people who have seen similar symptoms would be appreciated.

 

[Bigalmoby]

What medium are you in looks like it’s not getting watered properly

 

[GNick55]

What medium are you in looks like it’s not getting watered properly

exactly incorrect watering method,.

 

[Oldchucky]

IMO they look pretty good! Those lower leaves are gonna die anyway! Maybe they were laying in the dirt for a time! I agree with the watering diagnosis! That’s what it is 90% of the time at that stage! If you can raise the pot an inch so air can circulate underneath them they will dry out a little quicker and more evenly! Maybe your meter is wonky! These other guys don’t use them, but I do! I vote too wet, too long!

 

[WinJr63]

exactly incorrect watering method,.

I agree and also i would scrap off that algae/moss growing on the surface if you have more soil scrap some in on top

 

[NovaStriker]

What medium are you in looks like it’s not getting watered properly

I’m using BioBizz Light Mix as the growing medium. I mentioned it in the post. Do you think the issue could be that the substrate isn’t getting watered evenly? If so, what would be the best way to fix it and make sure the whole pot gets properly and evenly watered?

 

[NovaStriker]

IMO they look pretty good! Those lower leaves are gonna die anyway! Maybe they were laying in the dirt for a time! I agree with the watering diagnosis! That’s what it is 90% of the time at that stage! If you can raise the pot an inch so air can circulate underneath them they will dry out a little quicker and more evenly! Maybe your meter is wonky! These other guys don’t use them, but I do! I vote too wet, too long!

I already scraped off the algae/moss from the surface.


I’m not fully convinced that I overwatered them though, because I’ve been trying to water quite carefully and not give them too much at once. You can also see in the video where the fan is positioned and how much airflow the plants are getting. I actually raised the fan a little higher now because it seemed like it was blowing directly on them too strongly and making them shake quite a lot.


I also recorded a video so you can see how much the plants are moving. Do you think that amount of airflow is too strong?


The part that confuses me is the watering. When the pots get drier, the leaves start drooping, and after I water them, the leaves usually lift back up and look better again. That makes me think they may actually be getting too dry at some point rather than staying too wet all the time.


I’m also starting to get a bit worried about the Jealousy. I’ve noticed a necrotic/rust-colored spot appearing on one of the newer upper leaves now as well — you can see it in the photo. Until now most of the damage was on the older/lower leaves, so seeing something starting on the newer growth makes me wonder if there could be another issue going on too.


The Jealousy hasn’t been watered since Saturday. The leaves still haven’t drooped very much, but the medium has dried out quite a bit by this morning, so I was planning to water it today.


What would you recommend I do at this point? How can I solve the possible overwatering/uneven drying problem without letting the plants get too dry? Should I change the amount of water, water more slowly and evenly across the whole pot, wait longer between waterings, improve airflow underneath the pots, or do something else?


And regarding the new necrotic spot on the Jealousy, would you still suspect watering/root-zone issues, or could this be something like a nutrient, pH, calcium/magnesium, or other problem?

 

[NovaStriker]

Could you please explain what the correct watering method would be?


Normally, before watering, I lightly spray the top layer of the soil with a spray bottle first, and then I slowly water the pot with regular water.


What exactly am I doing wrong, and how would you recommend watering instead?

 

[GNick55]

that’s alot of questions, i’ll answer tomorrow if no one’s else does,.

 

[NovaStriker]

that’s alot of questions, i’ll answer tomorrow if no one’s else does,.

No one answer

 

[GNick55]

No one answer

oh crap i’m sorry, i forgot,. hopefully i get to this sometime today,.

 

[WinJr63]

Remember u always have AI to help in further detail
First u mentioned transplanted, hopefully these 4l bags are not ur final bag, 400-500 ml water might be to much for the smaller plants. Thers alot to explain here lots of time scrolling up and down. Be patient all kinds of help coming

 

[GNick55]

a one gallon bag will easily take 1000-1500 ml to water properly covering all the surface of the medium,. try giving 500ml at a time with 20 mins inbetween each watering until you given 1500ml,.
no need to be using ph stuff with that soil,. quite using it,.
what is the temp and humidity?
are there fans in there for airflow?
raise your lights like 10 inches,..

 

[NovaStriker]

a one gallon bag will easily take 1000-1500 ml to water properly covering all the surface of the medium,. try giving 500ml at a time with 20 mins inbetween each watering until you given 1500ml,.
no need to be using ph stuff with that soil,. quite using it,.
what is the temp and humidity?
are there fans in there for airflow?
raise your lights like 10 inches,..

The temperature is usually around 26–27°C now. It can occasionally reach 28°C, but that has become pretty rare.


Yes, I have a circulating fan in the tent. You can actually see it in the video — it oscillates and keeps the air moving around the plants.


The light is a Spider Farmer G3000 300W. At the moment it’s running at around 50% power and is approximately 45 cm (about 18 inches) above the canopy.


Based on the available G3000 measurements and PPFD maps, I would estimate the PPFD to be somewhere around 450–550 µmol/m²/s in the center at that distance and power level. That’s only a rough estimate though, since I haven’t measured it with a proper PAR meter.


The pots are 4 litres, so they’re about 1.06 US gallons.


My main concern with giving 1–1.5 litres is that the medium already seems to dry quite slowly. The last time I gave one of them only 500 ml, the soil still stayed moist for quite a while. On another plant I even started getting some green moss/algae on the surface again, which I removed. So I’m a little worried that giving 1.5 litres could keep the medium wet for too long.


Regarding pH: the reason I’ve been adjusting it is because my tap water comes out at around pH 7.8, which seems quite high to me.

 

[WickedMichelle]

Welcome to the wonderful world of growing. :)

My 1st grow did not go very well at all. I went all out. Additive nutrients, additive lights, bla, bla, bla..... I was so green.... LOL.

The best advice I received here is keep it simple. I am on my 6th grow now, and things have been going very well and getting potent buds and a good size harvest.

I like to pop my seeds in soil. I use these little pots and water from the bottom but still spray the tops with a lite mist to keep the seed in place but soaking with the mist. Downside is that they start very close to the surface and need support until the roots take. I let them sit a week or two until they get a nice root base then put in final pots.

The images are my newest grow(6). They just went into their final pots 9/16. They will get topped tomorrow 9/19. Seeds are Ice Cream Castle, Fruit Machine, Blueberry and Sour Lime Haze. This is my 1st grow not using Royal Queen Seeds. I also went very fruity this grow LOL

So like the advice given me... Keep it simple. All you need are base nutrients and good light. My tent fluctuates heat and humidity that I cannot seem to control too well but it does not seem to have harmed any of my plants. The last photo is ICE from Royal Queen Seeds and my last harvest. I do not do anything special at all.

Some could say I could get my buds bigger or get more buds with additive nutrients but it's just the two of us that are using the harvest and my last harvest produced 8 smokable oz's. More than we need to make it through the next grow. I say "smokable" as there was also a lot of smaller flower that works well for butter.

Good luck and happy growing :)

Oh - I just use happy Frog soil for the seeds then when in final post I put into Ocean Forest. I use GH base three nutrients.... Micro, grow, bloom with tap water. Nothing more.

 

[Sustenance.Farmer]

pH: 6.28–6.30

From what I read, Biobizz light mix is a soilless peat based medium. The medium also has added nutrients, which can steepen the learning curve for a new grower...

The necrotic spots and pale leaves appear to be nutrient lockout (to me), typically caused by pH imbalance. Peat based media are very acidic, I'd raise the pH of the water to ~ 6.5 before applying.

The green algae-like growth on the moist medium is just a microbial bloom. Stir it up and aerate the medium to break up the bloom, redistribute the microbes, and help dry things out.

A hefty breeze in the tent is a good thing, RH of ~ 60% means there's plenty (maybe a bit too much) moisture in the air - the leaves aren't curling because of the breeze drying them out, it's more likely an absorption issue.

They don't look too unhappy.

 

[NovaStriker]

Guys, I think the issue is finally sorted out.


I still wasn’t completely sure whether the soil was drying out properly or not, but now I’m watering much more thoroughly. I recently transplanted them into 19-liter fabric pots, which is roughly 5 gallons, and I’m giving each plant around 2.5-3 liters per watering.


My moisture sensors usually read around 10-15% after watering, and within about 1-2 days they already drop to around 7-9%, so the plants seem to be drinking quite a lot and drying the medium pretty quickly.


I also think the root-zone temperature might have been a factor. It’s possible that the soil temperature was getting too high because the medium had dried out too much. So maybe a combination of over-drying and higher root-zone temperatures contributed to the problems I was seeing.


I’m still using Root Juice and Bio-Grow, and I’ve also started adding CalMag to rule out a magnesium deficiency because one of the plants was showing some symptoms that looked like it. So far everything seems to have stabilized.


Yesterday I switched the light schedule to 12/12, so today is basically day 1 of flowering.


I also did some LST, some branch pruning and tied the branches down to open up the canopy. I’ll add some photos as well.


Thanks again for all the help, guys. If you notice anything in the pictures or think I should change something, let me know. Otherwise, wish me luck with the flowering stage!

 

[Galgrows]

Guys, I think the issue is finally sorted out.


I still wasn’t completely sure whether the soil was drying out properly or not, but now I’m watering much more thoroughly. I recently transplanted them into 19-liter fabric pots, which is roughly 5 gallons, and I’m giving each plant around 2.5-3 liters per watering.


My moisture sensors usually read around 10-15% after watering, and within about 1-2 days they already drop to around 7-9%, so the plants seem to be drinking quite a lot and drying the medium pretty quickly.


I also think the root-zone temperature might have been a factor. It’s possible that the soil temperature was getting too high because the medium had dried out too much. So maybe a combination of over-drying and higher root-zone temperatures contributed to the problems I was seeing.


I’m still using Root Juice and Bio-Grow, and I’ve also started adding CalMag to rule out a magnesium deficiency because one of the plants was showing some symptoms that looked like it. So far everything seems to have stabilized.


Yesterday I switched the light schedule to 12/12, so today is basically day 1 of flowering.


I also did some LST, some branch pruning and tied the branches down to open up the canopy. I’ll add some photos as well.


Thanks again for all the help, guys. If you notice anything in the pictures or think I should change something, let me know. Otherwise, wish me luck with the flowering stage!

Looking much better

 

[WinJr63]

Guys, I think the issue is finally sorted out.


I still wasn’t completely sure whether the soil was drying out properly or not, but now I’m watering much more thoroughly. I recently transplanted them into 19-liter fabric pots, which is roughly 5 gallons, and I’m giving each plant around 2.5-3 liters per watering.


My moisture sensors usually read around 10-15% after watering, and within about 1-2 days they already drop to around 7-9%, so the plants seem to be drinking quite a lot and drying the medium pretty quickly.


I also think the root-zone temperature might have been a factor. It’s possible that the soil temperature was getting too high because the medium had dried out too much. So maybe a combination of over-drying and higher root-zone temperatures contributed to the problems I was seeing.


I’m still using Root Juice and Bio-Grow, and I’ve also started adding CalMag to rule out a magnesium deficiency because one of the plants was showing some symptoms that looked like it. So far everything seems to have stabilized.


Yesterday I switched the light schedule to 12/12, so today is basically day 1 of flowering.


I also did some LST, some branch pruning and tied the branches down to open up the canopy. I’ll add some photos as well.


Thanks again for all the help, guys. If you notice anything in the pictures or think I should change something, let me know. Otherwise, wish me luck with the flowering stage!

Yes I totally agree very nice LST very healthy looking

 

[NovaStriker]

I’ve just switched my plants to the 12/12 light cycle to start the flowering stage.


I’m also planning to introduce additional BioBizz nutrients, such as Bio-Grow, Bio-Bloom, and Top-Max. I’ll gradually increase the light intensity (PPFD) and continue some LST (low-stress training) to encourage the plants to grow wider and develop a more even canopy.


I wanted to ask for some advice from more experienced growers:


What problems should I expect during the flowering stage, and what would you recommend doing to prevent them?


Are there any common mistakes I should avoid, especially during the first few weeks after switching to 12/12? What should I pay particular attention to in terms of lighting, humidity, temperature, nutrients, watering, and plant training?


Here in Germany, the weather is starting to get colder and rainier, which means higher humidity levels. Luckily, I have a portable air conditioner with a dehumidification function, so I can control the humidity in the room. I’m barely using my humidifier anymore because autumn has arrived and the outdoor humidity is naturally increasing.


I’d really appreciate any tips, recommendations, or personal experiences you could share about managing the flowering stage successfully and avoiding potential problems.


Thanks in advance for your advice!