Wonky leaves, PH? Deficiency? Environment? Please help!

Ganjaface · Jun 27, 2021

Lights: HLG 550v2
Soil: Promix hp.
Nutrients: Mills

A few weeks ago my leaves started dying off, I thought it was a pH imbalance or nutrient lockout. I flushed my plants at 6.0 pH.
Things got way worse.

I then thought it might be a macronutrient deficiency, so I fed heavy, things seemed to be getting better, than again took a turn for the worse.

I am now day 15 in flower and my leaves are all dying.

My runoff pH last watering was 6.0
My runoff ppm was 1300

My room is about 82°F during the day,
And about 72° F at night.
I keep the c02 at around 1300 ppm during the day.

This has never happened to me and this is my fifth cycle. I am loosing my plants and can't seem to figure out why. Very frusterating.
I would love some feedback or ideas from those more knowledgeable and experienced than myself.
Thank you.

Habosabin · Jun 27, 2021

Looks kind of like a potassium issue but I'm not real good with diagnosis yet.

GNick55 · Jun 27, 2021

Ganjaface said:
Lights: HLG 550v2
Soil: Promix hp.
Nutrients: Mills

A few weeks ago my leaves started dying off, I thought it was a pH imbalance or nutrient lockout. I flushed my plants at 6.0 pH.
Things got way worse.

I then thought it might be a macronutrient deficiency, so I fed heavy, things seemed to be getting better, than again took a turn for the worse.

I am now day 15 in flower and my leaves are all dying.

My runoff pH last watering was 6.0
My runoff ppm was 1300

My room is about 82°F during the day,
And about 72° F at night.
I keep the c02 at around 1300 ppm during the day.

This has never happened to me and this is my fifth cycle. I am loosing my plants and can't seem to figure out why. Very frusterating.
I would love some feedback or ideas from those more knowledgeable and experienced than myself.
Thank you.

overwatered..
using promix? no need to ph etc.

Aqua Man · Jun 27, 2021

Looks like a lockout and nutrient buildup. Flush 3x pot volume then light feed like 300-400ppm 1x pot volume.

Reduce your feed to 400-500ppm.

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 27, 2021

To me (living soil) this is that guy on the freeway that speeds up then slows down then speeds up... You know the guy.
This plant was fed, then starved, then fed, then ... you get the point.

Ganjaface · Jun 27, 2021

Thanks for the input guys, I could definitely see the guy on the highway analogy, I believe they were starved then fed, then I don't know what's happening now. Another thing I thought of was possible heat stress? I backed my lights off a bit just in case.

Also one doesnt need to pH with Promix hp?? I've never heard this before. I know it has the d.lime to balance but I though we still had to pH water/feed?

I will try what was recommended with a flush and then starting back with a slow feed. Thank you

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 27, 2021

Ganjaface said:
Thanks for the input guys, I could definitely see the guy on the highway analogy, I believe they were starved then fed, then I don't know what's happening now. Another thing I thought of was possible heat stress? I backed my lights off a bit just in case.

Also one doesnt need to pH with Promix hp?? I've never heard this before. I know it has the d.lime to balance but I though we still had to pH water/feed?

I will try what was recommended with a flush and then starting back with a slow feed. Thank you

ProMix is an organic soil. You are feeding it non-organics. That kinda defeats the purpose of getting quality soil in the first place.
A correctly balanced organic system adjusts it's own pH. we just check it weekly to head of any problems.
And organics never flush. but we might soak.

Aqua Man · Jun 27, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
ProMix is an organic soil. You are feeding it non-organics. That kinda defeats the purpose of getting quality soil in the first place.
A correctly balanced organic system adjusts it's own pH. we just check it weekly to head of any problems.
And organics never flush. but we might soak.

Promix is peat moss. Not organic soil but it is prebiffered so no need to PH usually. Mills is not an organic nutrient. So imo flush is absolutely needed here

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 27, 2021

Aqua Man said:
Promix is peat moss. Not organic soil but it is prebiffered so no need to PH usually.

Gotcha. I have'nt used it, but that's what I had heard about it. My mistake.
We use FF OF because all it needs is some recharge and it's off the organic races!

Ganjaface · Jun 28, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
Gotcha. I have'nt used it, but that's what I had heard about it. My mistake.
We use FF OF because all it needs is some recharge and it's off the organic races!

What do you use to "recharge" ocean forest blend ? I would like to try an organic run soon. I've read the nutrients present in OF only last 3 weeks. You use general organics and just feed according to chart?

Also I'll update this thread when I solve the problem for anyone else who experiences this in the future. Going to water heavy today, and two days from now I'll give a light feed.

jguit · Jun 28, 2021

You definitely do not have to pH your water when using ProMix but you should get a soil pH pen to periodically check the pH of the ProMix itself. Depending on the nutrients and water source you use, the pH of ProMix will change over time. In my situation, since i use water with low alkalinity and a potentially acidic fertilizer, the pH of the Promix tends to dip below 5.5 later in flowering (it starts around 6.5 and slowly drops over time). I counteract this by using a potentially basic fertilzer and after a few feedings, it bring the mediums pH back in line. ProMix is almost foolproof once you get your routine dialed in. With a proper water source and the right fertilizer you may not have to do anything. It's just that my tap water absolutely sucks.

Ganjaface · Jun 30, 2021

Okay guys what do you make of this:

Since initial post and feedback
I backed my lights off about 3 more inches (currently sitting 22 inches from canopy)

Then I flushed my pots with water and dripclean, and finished with a light dose of week 3 nutrients.
My final runoff came out to 5.8-6.0 pH at around 1000 ppm.

When I use a soil pH meter the top of my soil is reading close to 7.5, and when I push the meter all the way to the bottom it reads 6.0 (check included pictures. First picture probe is 3 inches deep, second picture probe is near the bottom of the pot) so my soil is completely different pH depending on the depth of the probe.

Now after doing all this my plants look even worse. It's crazy the leaves are browning and falling off like a tree in fall time. This is my first time having a serious issue with a cycle that I can not seem to solve after many weeks. From my knowledge I've done nothing different from my previous runs. Feeling stumped here

Noobstar · Jun 30, 2021

Ganjaface said:
What do you use to "recharge" ocean forest blend ? I would like to try an organic run soon. I've read the nutrients present in OF only last 3 weeks. You use general organics and just feed according to chart?

Also I'll update this thread when I solve the problem for anyone else who experiences this in the future. Going to water heavy today, and two days from now I'll give a light feed.

Not 100% but pretty sure the recharge comfortably numb was talking about is this:

Aqua Man · Jun 30, 2021

All the old damage will get worse and die that's normal. You flushed and the go back to feeding 1000ppm? The flush was to fix the overfeeding to begin with. Light is still to close imo because of the plant health.

Have you looked for mites?

Back that light off... not 3" but back it off to like 30" and let then recover... when plants aren't healthy and you keep pounding em with light the only thing you gonna do is make it worse.

Aqua Man · Jun 30, 2021

Misread the ppm feed. But look at your leaves they are ALL damaged... damaged leave do not get better. Seeing all sorts of light stress on them and that means they are only going to get worse unless something is done.

I dont mean to be harsh but your yield and quality are going to suffer greatly no matter what at this point. So honest advice is lower the light intensity and expectations.

This is a classic example of a new grower trying to do to much. To many nutrients to much light etc etc. The most important thing with a new grow is to learn and if you do that it's not a waste.

Ponky · Jun 30, 2021

When in doubt. Flush it out. Promix is supposed to be very forgiving. I would be angry and then change my foods. Switch the last nutrients I used that went well.

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 30, 2021

Noobstar said:
Not 100% but pretty sure the recharge comfortably numb was talking about is this:
View attachment 1141335

Yep, that is the one.
You have a serious pH problem and your meter is no where near accurate enough to tell you that.
RAISE light 6 inches or DIM it by 25%.
How big is each pot? If it is 5 gallons, then flush 15 gallons of clean water through each one.
DO NOT FEED
Remove all damaged leaves and then lets have some pix please.

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 30, 2021

Ganjaface said:
You use general organics and just feed according to chart?

We never 'feed' our plants anything that is not already in the soil.

Hot or Not? Soil Myth.

I have seen may people say that Fox Farms Ocean Forest or other soil is 'Hot', and I used to think so too until I looked at what's it's made of. The soil is pretty much exactly what your plants need. The only thing it is missing is the full MBE package. (Microbes, Bacteria, Enzymes) If you add...

www.thcfarmer.com

Watering for Soil Growers Only

Watering in Soil Watering plants gives many new growers anxiety issues. Because we want our plants to do the best they can, we over water and some even underwater. To help relieve the stress and confusion, this is sort of a step by step of what to do and look for when you grow in soil...

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Aqua Man · Jun 30, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
Yep, that is the one.
You have a serious pH problem and your meter is no where near accurate enough to tell you that.
RAISE light 6 inches or DIM it by 25%.
How big is each pot? If it is 5 gallons, then flush 15 gallons of clean water through each one.
DO NOT FEED
Remove all damaged leaves and then lets have some pix please.

Imo meter is accurate. Ph in soil changes and you want to go by the numbers in the saturation zone where the most water is. Ph is a measure of h+ ions in water and only dissolved elements will affect it.

growsince79 · Jun 30, 2021

Ganjaface said:
Okay guys what do you make of this:

Since initial post and feedback
I backed my lights off about 3 more inches (currently sitting 22 inches from canopy)

Then I flushed my pots with water and dripclean, and finished with a light dose of week 3 nutrients.
My final runoff came out to 5.8-6.0 pH at around 1000 ppm.

When I use a soil pH meter the top of my soil is reading close to 7.5, and when I push the meter all the way to the bottom it reads 6.0 (check included pictures. First picture probe is 3 inches deep, second picture probe is near the bottom of the pot) so my soil is completely different pH depending on the depth of the probe.

Now after doing all this my plants look even worse. It's crazy the leaves are browning and falling off like a tree in fall time. This is my first time having a serious issue with a cycle that I can not seem to solve after many weeks. From my knowledge I've done nothing different from my previous runs. Feeling stumped here

I have that same meter and the ph part is worthless.

Wonky leaves, PH? Deficiency? Environment? Please help!

Wonky leaves, PH? Deficiency? Environment? Please help!

Ganjaface

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Habosabin

GNick55

Aqua Man

ComfortablyNumb

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Noobstar

Aqua Man

Aqua Man

Ponky

ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

Hot or Not? Soil Myth.

Watering for Soil Growers Only

Aqua Man

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Wonky leaves, PH? Deficiency? Environment? Please help!

Wonky leaves, PH? Deficiency? Environment? Please help!

Ganjaface

Attachments

Habosabin

GNick55

Aqua Man

ComfortablyNumb

Ganjaface

ComfortablyNumb

Aqua Man

ComfortablyNumb

Ganjaface

jguit

Ganjaface

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Noobstar

Aqua Man

Aqua Man

Ponky

ComfortablyNumb

ComfortablyNumb

Hot or Not? Soil Myth.

Watering for Soil Growers Only

Aqua Man

growsince79

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