Not sure whats wrong here.

[jeffadies]

I noticed this on one of the tips of my bonsai mum. This was a cutting taking about a month ago. Happy frog soil, only had one feeding of 1/4 strength Fox Farm big bloom and grow big. Temps are between 75 and 80 consistently. I dont have anything but a cheapo PH meter and it is saying 7..dont know if i trust it though.

 

[BCrocker]

One tip on one leaf?

 

[Elite Nugs]

Maybe if you aimed a little lower on the PH, it might fix it.

How big is the plant?? And is the leaf towards the top or bottom of the plant??

 

[jeffadies]

Yeah one tip one leaf. The plant is about 8 inches tall. Its on one of the fan leaves about two nodes from the top.

 

[Seamaiden]

It would be helpful to see more of the plant. Initially the tip becoming necrotic resembles a P deficiency. But there would also be other signs to watch out for first, like reddening of the petioles.

 

[jeffadies]

Thank you I will get some more pics today after my physical therapy session. Not looking forward to that by that way.lol

 

[Seamaiden]

Yeah, I'm supposed to do PT for my knee, and I'm not very eager to get started on that, either.

 

[jeffadies]

Yeah, I'm supposed to do PT for my knee, and I'm not very eager to get started on that, either.

im going for my knees and my neck.. i broke my neck when i was 17..been paying for it ever since.

 

[jeffadies]

Ok so while setting up for pics my FU%^&ng cat chomped off the leaf in question. Glad i have pics of that part. So here are more pics of the plant minus said leaf. Noticed that some of the new growth is a bit deformed.

 

[jeffadies]

I didnt trust the PH meter i had so i went and got the cheapo drops and my PH is lower than i thought. New test is showing between 6 and 6.5 . I do have some Dolomite lime but i will wait and see what the pro's say i should do. I did flush the plant lastnight just in case i possibly overfed.

 

[Elite Nugs]

You only did a quarter strength feeding. So you definitely didnt over feed. Plus its hard to overfeed with the Big Bloom since its organic. With my experience with Happy Frog and Ocean Forrest soil... the organic nutes that come in the soil dont last for long at all. Im sure they put some in it, but I dont think FoxFarm puts much at all. My clones dont last more then a couple weeks in it, before they start to turn light green from a lack of nitrogen.

In my opinion, I think your under feeding. Its been a month and you've only feed 1/4 strength nutes one time. That and like you said, your PH meter was off, so the PH of your soil is probably off as well. I would give it a nice dose of nutes, maybe half strength or more and make sure your PH is correct. I could be wrong, but thats what I would do.

 

[jeffadies]

Thank you Elite nug's. So if i wanna bring up my soil ph would i be ok mixing a teaspoon of lime with a gallon of water every other watering until my ph is 6.5 or 7? I have been reading that i need to do this slowly to avoid shock and would just like to know that i didnt get to high and totally misunderstand this..lol

 

[Elite Nugs]

Thank you Elite nug's. So if i wanna bring up my soil ph would i be ok mixing a teaspoon of lime with a gallon of water every other watering until my ph is 6.5 or 7? I have been reading that i need to do this slowly to avoid shock and would just like to know that i didnt get to high and totally misunderstand this..lol

Im too high right now, so I'll have to respond back to this tomorrow. But 6.5 is a good PH to shoot for. Kinda hard to go wrong there. 7 is a little high, but then again, different strains like different PH's.

 

[Seamaiden]

I didnt trust the PH meter i had so i went and got the cheapo drops and my PH is lower than i thought. New test is showing between 6 and 6.5 . I do have some Dolomite lime but i will wait and see what the pro's say i should do. I did flush the plant lastnight just in case i possibly overfed.

I was just gonna ask about the feed/water pH. I see very slight petiole reddening, so if it's a P problem then it's mild (which is odd, leaf tip necrosis is usually one of the later stage signs).

Very slightly overfed (burnt tips, nicely green), nothing to worry about at this point IMO. But, they do seem to be asking for a bit more light.

Dolomitic lime will help drive up pH and will provide CaCO3 and MgCO3, but take some care not to use too much at once. What do you have on hand that's got a good bit of phosphorous in it? Or, do you have seaweed/kelp?

For soil you want the pH to be between 6.5-6.8. Top-dress the dolomite lime and you'll be ok, it will break down a little bit with each watering/feeding.

 

[jeffadies]

I was just gonna ask about the feed/water pH. I see very slight petiole reddening, so if it's a P problem then it's mild (which is odd, leaf tip necrosis is usually one of the later stage signs).

Very slightly overfed (burnt tips, nicely green), nothing to worry about at this point IMO. But, they do seem to be asking for a bit more light.

Dolomitic lime will help drive up pH and will provide CaCO3 and MgCO3, but take some care not to use too much at once. What do you have on hand that's got a good bit of phosphorous in it? Or, do you have seaweed/kelp?

For soil you want the pH to be between 6.5-6.8. Top-dress the dolomite lime and you'll be ok, it will break down a little bit with each watering/feeding.

I dont have any kelp or seaweed but i do have some 0-5-0 guano. I dont know if that would do the trick or not. I think im gonna have to get a real ph tester though since these cheap ones are not very accurate. Thank you for giving this a look for me.:)

 

[Seamaiden]

It will help, for sure. I think Elite may be onto something as well, even though I regularly use FF BB at about 1/4 strength or less, I've never used any other FF product.

 

[jeffadies]

Do you think i should avoid using the Grow big and the Tiger bloom?
im not using the tiger bloom on this little plant but i do use it in flower.

 

[Seamaiden]

Well.... the only reason I use Big Bloom is because it's organic, so if it were up to me I'd be going 100% organic at this point. But lots and lots of people get great performance using those other products, I think you should take the advice from those who've used the products. In other words, I've never used those products so don't know how good they are or aren't.

Maybe a shot of one of those could be just what that gal needs, too.

 

[jeffadies]

I feel ya. I have been wanting to go organic so maybe its time to find a new nutrient line to go with.. thanks again for all the help.:)

 

[Elite Nugs]

I feel ya. I have been wanting to go organic so maybe its time to find a new nutrient line to go with.. thanks again for all the help.:)

Roots Organic is a good line. General Hydro just came out with an organic line called General Organics. I've heard good stuff from that line as well. If you use nothing but that Big Bloom, your going to go through that very fast. It calls for 4 table spoons per gallon at normal veg strength. If you only have a few plants then your good, but the Roots Organic is probably a better route to take.