Hungry, PH issues or heat/pest stress? Outdoor.

[Bogdan]

OK some info on my grow.

These are Black D.O.G from HSO.

I use Gaia Green Dry amendments, 4-4-4 and 2-8-4.

The leaves are yellowing from the bottom up. The leaf serrations seem to be going dark green and yellowing in the middle. New growth seems fine so far.

It has been super hot here in Ontario this year. Last year I watered a total of 2 times. I have already watered 4x that amount! This is where my issues are coming from I think.
I used Dolomite lime to buffer my acidic peat moss substrate just like last year. Only difference is how much I am watering. My water is very hard 500-650ppm.

So my guess is a nutrient lockout due to high alkalinity of my hard water + dolomite lime :( If this is my issue than I think the plants are toast. I don't have access to less hard water and I cant really flush them since they are in 120 gallon holes. Maybe I could try foliar feeding with some liquid nutes?

Hopefully one of you more experienced growers can tell me something from these images.

 

[OldManRiver]

She might be a little hungry, and that might be due to some pH issues, since you are feeding. Fading lower leaves are generally a sign of not enough available nitrogen. Since you are feeding, that shouldn't be happening, which suggests lockout, usually due to pH being out of range.

Get one of the 15 dollar pH meters at your hardware store, water the soil well, stick it in and let it set for 5 min. That will give a reasonable indication. Ideal is between 5.8 and 6.5. 5.5 and 7 are both levels that, if you are there or beyond, will cause nutrient availability issues. If the pH is too low, use Lilly Soil Sweet. Too high, use aluminum or iron sulphate. Bark chips are often pretty acidic, BTW. My bet is that your pH is too low. If it is, try a cup of Soil Sweet, water it in, test in a couple days. Repeat as needed, reducing the amount each time as you get closer. Same program with the Aluminum sulphate, though use half as much or less, if pH is too high.

The holes in the leaf are some kind of critter. Doesn't look problematic.

 

[Bogdan]

She might be a little hungry, and that might be due to some pH issues, since you are feeding. Fading lower leaves are generally a sign of not enough available nitrogen. Since you are feeding, that shouldn't be happening, which suggests lockout, usually due to pH being out of range.

Get one of the 15 dollar pH meters at your hardware store, water the soil well, stick it in and let it set for 5 min. That will give a reasonable indication. Ideal is between 5.8 and 6.5. 5.5 and 7 are both levels that, if you are there or beyond, will cause nutrient availability issues. If the pH is too low, use Lilly Soil Sweet. Too high, use aluminum or iron sulphate. Bark chips are often pretty acidic, BTW. My bet is that your pH is too low. If it is, try a cup of Soil Sweet, water it in, test in a couple days. Repeat as needed, reducing the amount each time as you get closer. Same program with the Aluminum sulphate, though use half as much or less, if pH is too high.

The holes in the leaf are some kind of critter. Doesn't look problematic.

Good idea on the soil PH test. I didn't think of that. I will try that before attempting anything! What makes you think my PH is low? I have allot of limestone in my hard water. That plus the dolomite lime I added makes me think it would be to high +7. The caterpillars have been insane this year! I spray BTK every 3 days and that hardly keeps them down.

 

[OldManRiver]

Good idea on the soil PH test. I didn't think of that. I will try that before attempting anything! What makes you think my PH is low? I have allot of limestone in my hard water. That plus the dolomite lime I added makes me think it would be to high +7. The caterpillars have been insane this year! I spray BTK every 3 days and that hardly keeps them down.

Could be either way, I was going from the bark. Either direction will make nutrients unavailable. I have alkaline water as well, still had a problem with low pH from some soil I added.

 

[Bogdan]

Could be either way, I was going from the bark. Either direction will make nutrients unavailable. I have alkaline water as well, still had a problem with low pH from some soil I added.

True the mulch is cedar, that could be it. Thankyou for the help!