If a plant is fed too much nitrogen earlier on in the grow--

[PhoenixFlower]

And it develops darker green leaves as a result.

If one were to 'starve' the plant of nitrogen later on, would/could those dark green leaves turn a lighter hue of green? Or do those leaves always stay a dark green no matter what?

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Nitrogen is a mobile nutrient. That dark shiny green should fade into a more healthy vibrant color as things balance out. If it's horrible then consider a good flush followed by a very light nutrient feeding and then adjust nitrogen levels downward going forward. A good practice is using half the amount of nutrients the manufacturer suggests. Their recommendations are usually on the high end of what a typical plant needs. There's 2 reasons for this: 1) Some strains are absolute pigs and will eat everything you give them and not bat an eye. Others prefer a leaner diet. 2) If the grower use$ more product, they buy more $ooner ... which help$ their bottom line $$.

 

[PhoenixFlower]

Nitrogen is a mobile nutrient. That dark shiny green should fade into a more healthy vibrant color as things balance out. If it's horrible then consider a good flush followed by a very light nutrient feeding and then adjust nitrogen levels downward going forward. A good practice is using half the amount of nutrients the manufacturer suggests. Their recommendations are usually on the high end of what a typical plant needs. There's 2 reasons for this: 1) Some strains are absolute pigs and will eat everything you give them and not bat an eye. Others prefer a leaner diet. 2) If the grower uses more product, they buy more $ooner ... which help$ their bottom line $$.

Okay, so yeah. I got lots of dark leaves, but I'm noticing on ONE of my plants (I got 4 going on) the dark green foliage that was there is now turning to a very light lime green. Looks a LOT better imo. The nitrogen I had in there was near the limit, not n toxicity levels, but close.

I don't think I need to flush the plant, but I was soaring pretty close to the sun, if you get my drift. I do need to add more granular fertilizer to the medium here pretty soon, but I just wanna make sure I'm accounting for all available forms of nutrition my plants might use. I think it might be a good idea to wait for the rest of these leaves to 'lighten' before I go and add more.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Okay, so yeah. I got lots of dark leaves, but I'm noticing on ONE of my plants (I got 4 going on) the dark green foliage that was there is now turning to a very light lime green. Looks a LOT better imo. The nitrogen I had in there was near the limit, not n toxicity levels, but close.

I don't think I need to flush the plant, but I was soaring pretty close to the sun, if you get my drift. I do need to add more granular fertilizer to the medium here pretty soon, but I just wanna make sure I'm accounting for all available forms of nutrition my plants might use. I think it might be a good idea to wait for the rest of these leaves to 'lighten' before I go and add more.

From reading what you just posted, you're probably right. Carry on and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[steamroller]

Waiting truly depends on type of fert you are using.
Organic ferts need to be installed before they are needed. Timming is important IME.
Synthetic/salts can be used as needed with less harm. They work faster IME.
As stated N is mobile so if you just go lighter [ if possible] on future feeds the plant will balance it out.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Waiting truly depends on type of fert you are using.
Organic ferts need to be installed before they are needed. Timming is important IME.
Synthetic/salts can be used as needed with less harm. They work faster IME.
As stated N is mobile so if you just go lighter [ if possible] on future feeds the plant will balance it out.

Although I think salts, overly done is more harmful than organics overly done because organics take more time to become available.

Bottom line is the plant will respond best when things are kept in balance.

 

[PhoenixFlower]

Waiting truly depends on type of fert you are using.
Organic ferts need to be installed before they are needed. Timming is important IME.
Synthetic/salts can be used as needed with less harm. They work faster IME.
As stated N is mobile so if you just go lighter [ if possible] on future feeds the plant will balance it out.

I'm somewhere in the middle.. I'm using granular fertilizer from Walmart, OMRI kind of ferts. They're not synthetic salts but they're not exactly 'organic'

 

[PhoenixFlower]

This photo is kind of hard to tell, the plants on the left of the photo are the ones with excess amounts of nitrogen whereas the ones on the far right to the top corner are the lighter coloured plants. It's almost like looking at two entirely different species of plants! My camera does NOT do the eye test any justice!

The ones on the right are vibrant and lime green looking and the ones on the left are just dark, I think they're actually reflecting a lot of the light back.. which is why they 'look' bright (I can assure you they're dark looking).

 

[Homesteader]

Doesn't look like excess to me. You will know if it is excess N. The leaves curls and become dark brittle.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Doesn't look like excess to me. You will know if it is excess N. The leaves curls and become dark brittle.

They can also become shiny and have almost a waxy like appearance.

I'm thinking despite the claims of "a poor picture" that your plants are fine. There will be some individual variations in expression even amongst seed grown plants of the same strain. I could be wrong because the picture may really be a poor representative of your garden ... but what I'm seeing looks pretty normal.

 

[PhoenixFlower]

They can also become shiny and have almost a waxy like appearance.

I'm thinking despite the claims of "a poor picture" that your plants are fine. There will be some individual variations in expression even amongst seed grown plants of the same strain. I could be wrong because the picture may really be a poor representative of your garden ... but what I'm seeing looks pretty normal.

Okay, thank you for the kind words.