MIMedGrower said:

So your soil has become acidic likely from excess nutes. What you need to know is the ec (ppm at .5 conversion). Shows how much is in the soil. Then you will know what action to take.

Also is the runoff yellow or brown? Does it smell bad? Is the lower part of the pot still wet soil?

When you feed too early before the soil is mostly depleted of nutes the roots get blocked and calcium and magnesium is usually the first visual deficiency. If you see this damage it has already been deficient or locked out for a week or two at least.

Adding cal mag to ocean forest is too much calcium and nitrogen if still present in the soil.

Read, read and read more but grow books and gardening and greenhouse guides for a basic knowledge is my best suggestion.

You have to know some before asking on forums because there is all kinds of advice good and bad and you wont know what to do and create more problems.

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Thanks for the advise and now that you mention it about two weeks ago is when I really started feeding them. I wasn’t giving them but half the recommendations and they seemed great so I slowly added more till I was at recommended dose. The bottom of that plant was a bit damp also. So Should I get liquid lime? I cut off most the damaged leaves. I don’t wanna take too much off.
The chaos seems to not be burnt as bad at all.

MIMedGrower said:

Cold roots is a major cause! Good tip. Cold root temps cause soggy drowed roots that dont dry out.

There are so many variables. I should have said look to environmental problems first.


Still want to know the ec of rhe runoff with the ro poured through or the slurry checked.

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So the ppm pen said it was at 356 . And should I flush the plant with just r/o no calmag ? And catch some run off and ph it and ppm it. Also what do you mean by .5 conversation for ppm?

oldskol4evr said:

do you have any wood ash?reg ash with no trash or chemicals,if so add about 1/2 cup to the top of soil and scracth it in ,when you water next it willbring ph up,there is also lime ,i dont use it cause my soil recipe also use bone meal,they clash with each other lime stays in the pot and will bring ph up to 7.0,i run all my plants veggies and meds at 6.5,if you choice to use lime get the liquid it will immediatly get to the plant,ash will take a few days as does your feeds if you dig

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My tap water here is 7.5 could I flush with that in the tub till it runs out the bottom for a minute or so or do I need wood ash or lime?

MIMedGrower said:

Cold roots is a major cause! Good tip. Cold root temps cause soggy drowed roots that dont dry out.

There are so many variables. I should have said look to environmental problems first.


Still want to know the ec of rhe runoff with the ro poured through or the slurry checked.

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The environment should be good about 78 degrees and 75 humidity the pots may need to come off the floor.

Migrower said:

So the ppm pen said it was at 356 . And should I flush the plant with just r/o no calmag ? And catch some run off and ph it and ppm it. Also what do you mean by .5 conversation for ppm?

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Now my ppm with the same slurry is 400 I let it sit about an hour stirred and measured. Is that too high?

Migrower said:

So the ppm pen said it was at 356 . And should I flush the plant with just r/o no calmag ? And catch some run off and ph it and ppm it. Also what do you mean by .5 conversation for ppm?

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ec or electrical conductivity is how we measure the elements as a total in the water or medium.

Nutrient companies use .5 or .7 as a ppm conversion factor to make things needlessly complicated.

If you say the plant has been in the soil for a month and fed half strength two weeks ago and actually worked up to full strength in 2 weeks you have overfed and overwatered.


Like you were advised earlier you should have waited for the pot to dry and then given water only and test the ppm of the runoff and inspect it.

And you keep adding new info that affects all this.

I think that the soil is holding more nutes than came out in the runoff you mentioned. Runoff is good for watching trends. I check it every time i water to see if it is getting darker. If the ppm’s are rising or falling etc.

That is how to manage the medium.

Once you are chasing your tail and listening to advice from growers who are not there to see whats really going on and dont have all the facts things tend to get worse.

You need to learn basic terms and knowledge about gardening.

I will say this. When i see leaf stress and know my temps, humidity air circulation lights etc are all right in the environment i wait till the potting soil is very dry and then water only to runoff with unadjusted tap water to about 20% runoff. I test the first cup out for ph amd ppm’s (ph doesnt matter much because if there are excess nutes the runoff will likely be acidic.

The “flush” or leaching will wash away some excess waste and nutes and basically reset the medium.

But you need to know or show clearly the info and look of the runoff to know what to do next.

If i have overfed and see high ppm and low ph i will run water only unadjusted for ph through until the runoff is clearish and the ppms are lowered.

Then since i just washed out all the nutes i will add a low strength 15%-25% max of directions back in of a complete grow ratio nute. So the plant can continue growing without nute stress or deficiency.


Never add anything else to the soil unless you know it is needed. I grow with bagged potting soil, unadjusted 8.0 ph 150 ppm well water and one bottle of grow nutes to the end. No additives at all.

Read a grow book instead of ask for directions. You will keep going in circles until you learn basic gardening.


Sorry if i come off harsh. We all go through this learning curve. Its frustrating for sure.

Migrower said:

The environment should be good about 78 degrees and 75 humidity the pots may need to come off the floor.

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If the pots are on a cold floor that could cause all these problems like posted above by a grower with the same issue he said.

Your not coming off harsh and I appreciate it all. Basic gardening I do have a good grasp on in fact a horticulture degree lol. I guess you forget a lot I remember about phloem and xylems photosynthesis the conversion of sugars and some other very useful info. I’ve never grown my own cannabis before and I’m doing all the research I can and I guess hearing from people who sound like they know what’s going on is comforting. I knew I had burned them I just didn’t understand how. My other two plant One of each strain are beautiful and they are all on the same feeding schedule. And I haven’t done anything yet except took a bit of soil off the top like the thread you mentioned said to do. It was like I said 5.6 -5.5 ph and 400 ppm.
I’m sorry if I irritated you at all with noob questions. I hope to be able to laugh at myself a grow or four in the future. Thank you though your advise is well taken and if I understand correct I can just feed unfiltered tap water? And I will test the runoff for you if you’d like. That is after I go through the rest of the thread.

Migrower said:

Your not coming off harsh and I appreciate it all. Basic gardening I do have a good grasp on in fact a horticulture degree lol. I guess you forget a lot I remember about phloem and xylems photosynthesis the conversion of sugars and some other very useful info. I’ve never grown my own cannabis before and I’m doing all the research I can and I guess hearing from people who sound like they know what’s going on is comforting. I knew I had burned them I just didn’t understand how. My other two plant One of each strain are beautiful and they are all on the same feeding schedule. And I haven’t done anything yet except took a bit of soil off the top like the thread you mentioned said to do. It was like I said 5.6 -5.5 ph and 400 ppm.
I’m sorry if I irritated you at all with noob questions. I hope to be able to laugh at myself a grow or four in the future. Thank you though your advise is well taken and if I understand correct I can just feed unfiltered tap water? And I will test the runoff for you if you’d like. That is after I go through the rest of the thread.

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with all the back and forth and confusing info i really dont know how to advise.

Your ppm’s are pretty low assuming they were measured correctly in the slurry. But i dont think you can re test slurry after it has sat too long.

And without knowing your water quality and alkalinity and your watering habits and now cold floor possible you have to get this all straight before any outside advice should be taken.

I dont even know if you ever flushed out the soil and what the immediate meter results were.

I would just use a simple complete base nutrient and water to minimize variables. In fact i still do.

And i dont feed or water in any schedule. I give only as needed from watching the plants. Schedules can work but with a known clone that has been dialed in from a few runs.

Best advice i ever got was to err on the side of light fertilizing and to not adjust ph in buffered potting soil. Also only water when very dry.

Little yellowing much better than too much nutes.

Additives are not needed at all. The potting soil already has enough.

I keep it that simple still.


You will figure it out. There is nothing special about growing weed than tomatoes. The myths run wild like the silly products in this industry.

@MIMedGrower Good advice, nothing good comes from a panic, take a step back and look at everything logically.

I would like to chime in because this happened to me every crop I fed nutrients going into flower, while I already had an adequate organic soil mix.

It seems wierd that such a low PPM could cause burning, but it's not. The plants here already have everything they need. And the different strains that didn't show damage, are simply heavier eaters.

@Migrower Save your money, and calm down for a minute. No need to by all the remedies. The plants will take a couple weeks to get back on track without anymore damage, and things will be back to normal. Feed water, keep it simple and don't overthink it.

Liquid fertilizers in adition to a fully fortified organic soil is just asking for plant burn, let's not get too technical here.

We can all agree the plants have been overfed. Regardless of how many ppm's were added, you could add 100ppm's and get burn when adding to an already hot soil mix.

Also when the plants drink up water from the pot, there is less of a dilution, and the plants take up a stronger solution of nutrients.

Keep up with waterings, maybe increase himidity a bit to prevent to much nutrient uptake, and don't feed anything but water until the new growth comes back to its original state.

KISS.

oldskol4evr said:

do you have any wood ash?reg ash with no trash or chemicals,if so add about 1/2 cup to the top of soil and scracth it in ,when you water next it willbring ph up,there is also lime ,i dont use it cause my soil recipe also use bone meal,they clash with each other lime stays in the pot and will bring ph up to 7.0,i run all my plants veggies and meds at 6.5,if you choice to use lime get the liquid it will immediatly get to the plant,ash will take a few days as does your feeds if you dig

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HEY...That's MY trick!! :) I mix wood ashes in with my growing medium as it helps to buffer your soil (keeping the ph from having wild swings), provides micro and macro nutrients, and will help to correct the overly acidic Ph of your soil. Most nutrients are acidic, which can lower your medium over time. I prefer keeping mine at 7, but down to 6 is OK (although 6 is getting a little acidic for my tastes). There is a chart on the forum somewhere that shows the Ph ranges that affects nutrient uptake, both for acidic and alkaline Ph's.
One problem you might run into when you correct your Ph issue is that all of the nutrients that weren't being taken up by the roots are suddenly going to become unlocked, potentially making the problem worse before it gets better. You might need to flush them once or twice to remove excess nutrients before correcting the Ph, but 5.xx is too low in my opinion, the wood ashes are a great and natural remedy...just make sure that the ashes aren't from old telephone poles or wood that has been treated...your fireplace is your best bet. Like @oldskol4evr said, try to mix it into the top of the soil a little...it can be a little caustic if water hits a pile of it without it being mixed up a little. It's nothing major, but you don't need any more problems to add to the mix.
As @MIMedGrower said, keep it simple. I have been growing for decades and the only things I used were Promix, composted manure, wood ashes, and some time release prills mixed in. Fertilizer is regular ol 20-20-20 until flowering, when a blooming fertilizer is used. I water every day and fertilize as needed, usually about 10 days after things get rolling. iiquid lime and stuff can be pretty strong and cause too big of fluctuations in Ph.
Go slow, have patience, and enjoy the grow

Jimster said:

HEY...That's MY trick!! :) I mix wood ashes in with my growing medium as it helps to buffer your soil (keeping the ph from having wild swings), provides micro and macro nutrients, and will help to correct the overly acidic Ph of your soil. Most nutrients are acidic, which can lower your medium over time. I prefer keeping mine at 7, but down to 6 is OK (although 6 is getting a little acidic for my tastes). There is a chart on the forum somewhere that shows the Ph ranges that affects nutrient uptake, both for acidic and alkaline Ph's.
One problem you might run into when you correct your Ph issue is that all of the nutrients that weren't being taken up by the roots are suddenly going to become unlocked, potentially making the problem worse before it gets better. You might need to flush them once or twice to remove excess nutrients before correcting the Ph, but 5.xx is too low in my opinion, the wood ashes are a great and natural remedy...just make sure that the ashes aren't from old telephone poles or wood that has been treated...your fireplace is your best bet. Like @oldskol4evr said, try to mix it into the top of the soil a little...it can be a little caustic if water hits a pile of it without it being mixed up a little. It's nothing major, but you don't need any more problems to add to the mix.
As @MIMedGrower said, keep it simple. I have been growing for decades and the only things I used were Promix, composted manure, wood ashes, and some time release prills mixed in. Fertilizer is regular ol 20-20-20 until flowering, when a blooming fertilizer is used. I water every day and fertilize as needed, usually about 10 days after things get rolling. iiquid lime and stuff can be pretty strong and cause too big of fluctuations in Ph.
Go slow, have patience, and enjoy the grow

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Thanks for the input. I knew I made a fertile soil with the fox farm ocean and happy frog mixed with extra Malibu’s and peat along with Alaskan humans. I guess I just thought along with that they still needed nutrients because (the lady at the hydro store said) we’ll lesson learned. You guys are awesome . Time to get to my ladies.

Jimster said:

HEY...That's MY trick!! :) I mix wood ashes in with my growing medium as it helps to buffer your soil (keeping the ph from having wild swings), provides micro and macro nutrients, and will help to correct the overly acidic Ph of your soil. Most nutrients are acidic, which can lower your medium over time. I prefer keeping mine at 7, but down to 6 is OK (although 6 is getting a little acidic for my tastes). There is a chart on the forum somewhere that shows the Ph ranges that affects nutrient uptake, both for acidic and alkaline Ph's.
One problem you might run into when you correct your Ph issue is that all of the nutrients that weren't being taken up by the roots are suddenly going to become unlocked, potentially making the problem worse before it gets better. You might need to flush them once or twice to remove excess nutrients before correcting the Ph, but 5.xx is too low in my opinion, the wood ashes are a great and natural remedy...just make sure that the ashes aren't from old telephone poles or wood that has been treated...your fireplace is your best bet. Like @oldskol4evr said, try to mix it into the top of the soil a little...it can be a little caustic if water hits a pile of it without it being mixed up a little. It's nothing major, but you don't need any more problems to add to the mix.
As @MIMedGrower said, keep it simple. I have been growing for decades and the only things I used were Promix, composted manure, wood ashes, and some time release prills mixed in. Fertilizer is regular ol 20-20-20 until flowering, when a blooming fertilizer is used. I water every day and fertilize as needed, usually about 10 days after things get rolling. iiquid lime and stuff can be pretty strong and cause too big of fluctuations in Ph.
Go slow, have patience, and enjoy the grow

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I believe I will light a fire today even if I don’t use them now it’ll be on hand.

MIMedGrower said:

with all the back and forth and confusing info i really dont know how to advise.

Your ppm’s are pretty low assuming they were measured correctly in the slurry. But i dont think you can re test slurry after it has sat too long.

And without knowing your water quality and alkalinity and your watering habits and now cold floor possible you have to get this all straight before any outside advice should be taken.

I dont even know if you ever flushed out the soil and what the immediate meter results were.

I would just use a simple complete base nutrient and water to minimize variables. In fact i still do.

And i dont feed or water in any schedule. I give only as needed from watching the plants. Schedules can work but with a known clone that has been dialed in from a few runs.

Best advice i ever got was to err on the side of light fertilizing and to not adjust ph in buffered potting soil. Also only water when very dry.

Little yellowing much better than too much nutes.

Additives are not needed at all. The potting soil already has enough.

I keep it that simple still.


You will figure it out. There is nothing special about growing weed than tomatoes. The myths run wild like the silly products in this industry.

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Your a great help. Don’t lose your kindness.

Migrower said:

Can someone please give me some feedback on the issue I am presenting. I am currently in a grow that presently is in veg. and my plants are under a hipargero light staying it pulls 400 real watts but I’m skeptical never tested it. And for supplemental light 2 65w plant bulbs from Lowe’s until my new light arrives this week.
My plants were doing fine it seemed until I mixed a new batch of nutes. I ofcoursed ph’d it checked the ppm’s I was needing and all was correct. Infact I mixed the nutes the exact ppm as the last batch and all was fine last batch. Mixed nutes in a 5 gallon purified r/o water with cal mag added 1 Tsp. per gallon. Then added the nutes.
So on this new batch after feeding I noticed what I thought to be nitrogen toxicity. So the last feeding all I gave was water of course cal mag’d . Thinking maybe my fox farm and happy frog + humus earthworm castings and some added peat and perlite. Oh plus the water had a tsp of azos for the roots. So anyway after watering I’m still noticing some issues on some of my leaves. I’ll send pics . On the chaos girl it almost looks like rust on some of my bigger fan leaves. On the Gorilla glue x Bluedream it looks like a burn of some kind. Well I raised my light to about 20” (they were about 14”and all was fine since young.) Because I’m thinking maybe it’s light but when I-put my hand under the light it’s not warm. I could really use some help as I’m planning on flipping to flower as soon as my new light and flowering nutrients arrive. I would love some advise as this is my first grow. (and yes that is tinfoil it’s coming down. I realize my white walls would be much better. I know about the hotspots and low reflection compared to white walls. And I know my options.waiting on light to rearrange room. So please anyone who truly may diagnose by the pictures feel free to help out a noob.

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Those shiny dark green leaves make me think it's way over fed and locking out. Also some seem to have a strange shape or deformity which I've seen with ph fluctuations; what is your usual feeding PPM & pH?

Damn, sorry dude. Just another reason I prefer outside. All

Migrower said:

I believe I will light a fire today even if I don’t use them now it’ll be on hand.

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Be careful how much ash you use as it can change pH. I add it to my composter in small amounts as well a a handful in each plot along with horse manure and dirty chicken straw where I'll be planting in the spring as I have hard clay soil.

Beachwalker said:

Those shiny dark green leaves make me think it's way over fed and locking out. Also some seem to have a strange shape or deformity which I've seen with ph fluctuations; what is your usual feeding PPM & pH?

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I flushed them all and the runoff was clear and not over 6.47 and not under 6.33 for any of them. And yes I believe over feeding was the case. I’m only gonna give them straight r/o for a watering or two. .

Migrower said:

I flushed them all and the runoff was clear and not over 6.47 and not under 6.33 for any of them. And yes I believe over feeding was the case. I’m only gonna give them straight r/o for a watering or two. .

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It's also a good idea to start your newts at half or even 25% strength, particularly on smaller and younger plants, good luck