Large outdoor plant in earth starting to turn very yellow

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Phate008

Phate008

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I have a massively large sativa plant (11 ft tall 9ft around) directly in the ground and it's been turning more yellow by the day. It's a little late to the flower party and judging by the buds Id say it's around 2-3 weeks into budding. It started with lower leaves yellowing and dying and now more and more are going yellow including some top ones. I never fed the plant as I assumed the microbes in the ground would be enough but maybe because it's been a dry summer there isn't enough food in the soil? I brewed a simple tea with some compost and molasses around 10 days ago, but it didn't seem to help. Maybe I'm just not watering enough though. I'm watering every 3 days.

I know that they naturally yellow as they bud but it was doing this before it hit flower. There are hundreds of branches and shoots. It's a really full plant. I'm going to guess that I should probably be watering every day with it's size so maybe that's it.


Any thing else I should try or ideas what could be causing it?
 
TSD

TSD

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Pictures would help. Just because it's outside doesn't mean you don't need to feed it, unless you made a super soil, even then, they can use that up. Plus you have to feed the microbes in the soil if that's the route you're going. What climate are you in? How long do you have? We need more info.
 
G

Glomus

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I have a massively large sativa plant (11 ft tall 9ft around) directly in the ground and it's been turning more yellow by the day. It's a little late to the flower party and judging by the buds Id say it's around 2-3 weeks into budding. It started with lower leaves yellowing and dying and now more and more are going yellow including some top ones. I never fed the plant as I assumed the microbes in the ground would be enough but maybe because it's been a dry summer there isn't enough food in the soil? I brewed a simple tea with some compost and molasses around 10 days ago, but it didn't seem to help. Maybe I'm just not watering enough though. I'm watering every 3 days.

I know that they naturally yellow as they bud but it was doing this before it hit flower. There are hundreds of branches and shoots. It's a really full plant. I'm going to guess that I should probably be watering every day with it's size so maybe that's it.


Any thing else I should try or ideas what could be causing it?
If your going to do a living soil grow you still need to amend your soil. It sounds like its hungry for NPK. The plant uses a lot of nutrients right before flower so it may have become depleted. I would suggest using a soil moisture probe, very cheap, to make sure you are watering enough. A tea with compost and molasses isn't going to cut it and you really shouldn't be feeding with molasses until late flower, teas are actually better as a foliar to protect the plant and for plant health. You want to add inputs that feed the soil microbes that are already in there. If you can, get some high phosphorous soil amendments and do a top dress. Earthworm castings, high phosphorous bat guano, bone meal, liquid kelp, fish hydrolysate, fish can correct deficiencies fairly quickly and kelp will add some potash and trace minerals. Also check for bugs, they can sometimes be the cause for worsening yellowing.
 
Phate008

Phate008

53
8
Pictures would help. Just because it's outside doesn't mean you don't need to feed it, unless you made a super soil, even then, they can use that up. Plus you have to feed the microbes in the soil if that's the route you're going. What climate are you in? How long do you have? We need more info.
I will try and update some pics today. It's surround by other plants so its very hard to photograph. I am North Eastern US so realistically I have somewhere around 5-7 more weeks, give or take, till first frost.
 
Phate008

Phate008

53
8
If your going to do a living soil grow you still need to amend your soil. It sounds like its hungry for NPK. The plant uses a lot of nutrients right before flower so it may have become depleted. I would suggest using a soil moisture probe, very cheap, to make sure you are watering enough. A tea with compost and molasses isn't going to cut it and you really shouldn't be feeding with molasses until late flower, teas are actually better as a foliar to protect the plant and for plant health. You want to add inputs that feed the soil microbes that are already in there. If you can, get some high phosphorous soil amendments and do a top dress. Earthworm castings, high phosphorous bat guano, bone meal, liquid kelp, fish hydrolysate, fish can correct deficiencies fairly quickly and kelp will add some potash and trace minerals. Also check for bugs, they can sometimes be the cause for worsening yellowing.
I don't know a lot about teas and microbe activity in the soil. Indoors I do FFOF soil and top dress with Dr Earth Dry Amendments twice during flower. I tried top dressing my outdoor plants with Dr Earth and the fish smell attracted skunks to dig near the roots. I figured that some microbes in the soil were probably hurt from the extreme droughts around here so I took some of my compost from my compost bin, added dechlorinated water, a tablespoon of molasses's, and let it sit for a day and watered the plants with it.

I have lots of earthworm casting and Dr Earth amendments. I could make a tea with those that may be more readily available then a top dress.

Bugs should be under control for the most part. I have seen the occasional leaf cutter, but I have been treating the plants once a week before flower with neem and monterey BT. Then once flower hit I have been spraying with ZeroTol and Monterey BT. Haven't seen any thrips, mites, catepillars, boring insects.
 
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