Loooooong time smoker, First time grower. Advice and comments appreciated

[Doc39835]

Ive got 3 AK48 auto fem from Sensai seeds about 6 weeks from seed. 3x3 tent CrxSunny 1200W Double Chips LED. Fox Farms Ocean Forest, Happy Frog mix with 30pct perlite. Big Bloom and Tiger bloom every 3rd feeding at 1/4 strength. I didnt use any nutes during veg because I was afraid of burn, and they did pretty good. Now Im getting some dry scaly feel to the fan leaves . Yellow blotches and eventually the leaf turns like the one pictured. Also just started adding some cal mag. PH run off is pretty low at 5.5
Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated. Im a pro smoker but this growing thing is all new to me.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

I myself am a first time grower, but on the main page, there's a forum section dedicated to the infirmary. Wicked smart folk in there. If I had to guess, maybe Cal/Mag deficiency. Maybe pH issue.I am battling the same sort of thing right now.

 

[Proph]

Welcome to AFN! I'm not a plant doc like the souls in the infirmary.. But my two cents based off what I've read.. Its time to start feeding them.. At. more than 1/4th strength. OF and HF have enough goodies in the soil to get you maybe 4 weeks or so.. After that, its up to you. The yellowing on the lower leaves looks like an N deficiency.. The upper leaves look like maybe a ph issuemm 5.5 is pretty low for run off.. Even though thats not the best way to gauge ph. You could have a lock out going on causeing the upper leaves to discolor. I'd make a post in the infirmary and have the docs take a look, just to make sure.

 

[EvilScotsman]

wee tip for you aswell mate. see when your posting for issues. if you could hit "full page" wich is just above your pictures before you post, it makes it easier for folk. can be quite tricky trying to jump between photos and compare. ill have a look the now though. trying to work on my diagnosis skills. love this stuff lol.

 

[EvilScotsman]

mate they actually look pretty good. id say bit of a calmag def, presented by the new growth being yellow. there are a few things that cause that yellowing but the rest i believe wouldnt effect the new growth as much, focusing on the larger and lower leaves. if its just bottom leaves that are fully dying then thats pretty normal, nothing to worry about. just the plant redirecting energy to the buds. 5.5 is a bit low im not sure how easy it is to up/down it in soil so ill just assume its easy for now lol. . when you say "dry and scaly" are they feeling a bit on the thin side? i get that a lot when my humidity/temp ratio goes too far off. theres a bit of downward clawing on some of the leaves and it does look a bit dark so maybe a bit too much N aswell.
right, so. what would i do... hmm. id raise the ph a little. 6.2 is my magic number in bloom as the ph drops but im hydro and admittedly dont know if this happens in soil. anyone? . the rate the plant absorbs N will raise a little with that particular 5.5-6 ph range jump so id drop N to maybe half straight away but leave the rest and up the calmag by about 50%. give it 2 days then reasess. if anyone knows any of this is wrong please point it out to me, im still learning too : )

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Looks like you have about 3-4 weeks left. i would feed bloom notes at 50% strength for the next two weeks, maybe add some Blackstrap Molasses, then start your flush in about +/- 2 weeks. Looking decent though and it is normal for the plant to cannibalize some of it's older fan leaves during flower, especially if you have not been feeding them. And, agreed on your pH. It's low and will prevent uptake of certain fundamental micro nutrients. Aim to go in at 6.2-6.3. Sweet spot for soil is 6.5-6.8 in the root zone.

 

[Doc39835]

Thanks to everyone for the input and advice.

Looks like you have about 3-4 weeks left. i would feed bloom notes at 50% strength for the next two weeks, maybe add some Blackstrap Molasses, then start your flush in about +/- 2 weeks. Looking decent though and it is normal for the plant to cannibalize some of it's older fan leaves during flower, especially if you have not been feeding them. And, agreed on your pH. It's low and will prevent uptake of certain fundamental micro nutrients. Aim to go in at 6.2-6.3. Sweet spot for soil is 6.5-6.8 in the root zone.

Thanks for the advice. I have added a little molasses, but not much, maybe a teaspoon per gallon. Enough or too much? To get the ph runoff up do I just ph up my feeding solution after nutes to around 7.5 or so? Thanks again.

 

[Doc39835]

I myself am a first time grower, but on the main page, there's a forum section dedicated to the infirmary. Wicked smart folk in there. If I had to guess, maybe Cal/Mag deficiency. Maybe pH issue.I am battling the same
Thanks.

 

[Doc39835]

wee tip for you aswell mate. see when your posting for issues. if you could hit "full page" wich is just above your pictures before you post, it makes it easier for folk. can be quite tricky trying to jump between photos and compare. ill have a look the now though. trying to work on my diagnosis skills. love this stuff lol.

Will do. Thanks

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Thanks for the advice. I have added a little molasses, but not much, maybe a teaspoon per gallon. Enough or too much? To get the ph runoff up do I just ph up my feeding solution after nutes to around 7.5 or so? Thanks again.


No prob. You should be aiming to keep your soil pH at 6.5-6.8. For me, with a baseline 6.9ph of my soil (basically neutral-I did this over a month of watering before planting) that means I go in at 6.2-6.3 and keep a ph of 6.5-6.6. Do you have a good pH meter, one that runs to 1/100th of value (i.e. 6.75)?

However, i would not necessarily go chasing your runoff pH, i've done it when I was a novice and it really made me nuts, seen a guy ruin a hemp bucket grow by chasing run off as well. Myself, don't really check it too much after I have established the Ph of the soil. I just go in consistently throughput the grow at 6.2-6.3, and I suspect that is generally what you should be doing (but YMMV based on your localized conditions obviously). 1 tsp molasses per Gallon is fine, it's basically to feed the microbes in the soil and make it easier for the plant to uptake it's nutes.