New Grower Mystery problems with my Day-20 plants -- any idea what this is?

[Archer]

It's hard to say if it's still progressing, but I assume it is. It's not on new-new growth, but it's migrating upwards from the bottom. The spots are definitely starting to appear on leaves just beneath the newest growth.

I'm going to do another top dressing with lime this week and see how that goes. I know that acidity has been a problem with my soil throughout my grow, and that a calcium lockout is the most likely culprit.

But it's strange that the spotting only seems to be happening with two of the plants. The other two plants, the unaffected ones, are in the same type of soil, and have been receiving the same overall treatment. Maybe they've just been lucky up to this point?

 

[Muddy]

I wouldn't get too carried away making changes until you get your new pH meter and know exactly what your run off is reading. How much lime did you give them and what size are the pots. If you gave enough the first time, giving more could create a new set of issues. As to some plants having the problem and others not, it's possible that it's a difference in phenotypes of the White Widow. Photo White Widow is not a stable strain and I would have to assume that has carried over to the auto versions. So a difference in the phenos could account for some having the issue and others not.

The white matter on your soil isn't spider mites. They don't make their webs in soil, only on the buds. To be sure, check the underside of the leaves with a magnifying glass. It's more likely some mold that may have grown on the soil, especially if it's been constantly moist. Soils like that with high amounts of bark fines can be more prone to things like that. You may need to increase your internal air circulation a bit so the top layer of soil dries out a bit quicker. I would just remove that section of soil.

 

[Archer]

Solid advice, as always. I'm going to hold off on any further tinkering until I get my new pH meter tomorrow. Will report results hopefully tomorrow. As before, this will not be a feeding. Just plain tap water in and runoff out.

 

[Archer]

Brief update...

Yesterday I gave my plants a light foliar feeding of a very dilute Cal-Mag solution. I know it's a band-aid fix, but I felt it might help to feed the plants directly until I could resolve the pH/lockout issues. No idea if it's working or not, but the plants look kind of perky today, and (crossing my fingers), the brown spots have not migrated upward any further.

Tomorrow I am going to do a runoff test with my new pH meter. I've held off on adding any more lime or other soil amendments until I can do so. I was going to run the test today, but we had a moderate amount of rain last night, and I don't want to waterlog the soil.

 

[derek420colorado]

The fiburus stuff is as stated above most likely a mycilial growth(mold or fungus) due to the high amounts of wood pulp. Is the bad smell coming from the soil or the actual plant? I would like muddy said take off that layer of soil, the PH meter is super crucial I think as soon as you fix your PH issues they will perk right back up. I have found that usually pH issues once fixed tend to rebound pretty quickly and you will know once it is fixed. I have seen the most sicky looking plants rebound and turn out good. Now with autos stunting there growth can affect yeild but keep at it and don't chunk a female plant until she is dead in my opinion. Sending good vibes and great healthy thoughts your way

 

[Archer]

The fiburus stuff is as stated above most likely a mycilial growth(mold or fungus) due to the high amounts of wood pulp. Is the bad smell coming from the soil or the actual plant? I would like muddy said take off that layer of soil, the PH meter is super crucial I think as soon as you fix your PH issues they will perk right back up. I have found that usually pH issues once fixed tend to rebound pretty quickly and you will know once it is fixed. I have seen the most sicky looking plants rebound and turn out good. Now with autos stunting there growth can affect yeild but keep at it and don't chunk a female plant until she is dead in my opinion. Sending good vibes and great healthy thoughts your way

Thanks, man!

There's no bad smell coming from my plants or their soil. That was another poster, who experienced a similar issue while growing in the same soil I'm using.

The white fibrous stuff -- probably mold growth on the surface level, per Muddy's hypothesis -- has sort of died back and disappeared over the last few days. I think overwatering has been a consistent issue of mine, and I'm really trying to cut back on water. Doing so seems to have slowed down the fungus or mold, while not harming the plants all that much. Gives 'em some room to breathe.

Will let you know what the pH tests look like tomorrow. It's scheduled to be a feeding day, so I might go ahead and feed as scheduled. Nevertheless, I'll do the before and after pH tests. I'm probably going to use a slightly lighter dose of fish emulsion than usual this time, seeing as how I don't want to overdo it on the nitrogen. (The Cal-Mag I've been using provides supplemental nitrogen as it breaks down).

 

[derek420colorado]

Oh I got confused then sorry about that, good to know your plants don't stink lol I know Muddy feels the same way I do about PH, it is one of if not the most important thing to get right. Make sure your PH is right after you mix your nutes then test the runoff. Just to give you a little bit of extra encouragement, take a look at this thread 420ing is the prime example of AMAZING results after a temoultus(sp) start. Read the begining life of the plant and then take a look at how she sits today. I nominated her for the Bud of the Month for October. Here it is

 

[Happy Horticulturist]

The soil / medium / substrate that you use, along with the strains are the two most important decisions in my opinion when it comes to growing.

I will ONLY use either BioBizz, or Plagron soil / soiless mixes and I'll generally add a lot of perlite to the mix. Plagron Light Mix is very good especially for young plants (first 2 weeks).

 

[turtle360]

Brief update...

Yesterday I gave my plants a light foliar feeding of a very dilute Cal-Mag solution. I know it's a band-aid fix, but I felt it might help to feed the plants directly until I could resolve the pH/lockout issues. No idea if it's working or not, but the plants look kind of perky today, and (crossing my fingers), the brown spots have not migrated upward any further.

Tomorrow I am going to do a runoff test with my new pH meter. I've held off on adding any more lime or other soil amendments until I can do so. I was going to run the test today, but we had a moderate amount of rain last night, and I don't want to waterlog the soil.

There seems to be a small epidemic of this going round. My grow, too. Spots like your then worse. But not every plant. Spooky. What kind of lights you using and where'd you get the Dolomite Lime? I can't find it.

 

[Archer]

DAY 41 REPORT

Well, here we are at Day 41 on my first grow. Thank you guys for sticking with me! This is where we seem to be getting back on track, at least if the numbers are any indication.

I did a bloom-nute feeding today, which consisted of tap water, plus 2 tsp Miracle Gro bloom nutes + 1 tsp blackstrap molasses per gallon.

pH of water/nutes: 6.685
pH of runoff from plants: 6.185
------------------------------------
Delta (pH): 0.50

The spotting and cal-def symptoms seem to be slowing down, if not stopping altogether. I haven't noticed any new spots on the newer leaves. Furthermore, the plants have been on a real growth spurt over the last two weeks. They've made tremendous vertical gains. Even the "runt of the litter," one of my plants that had always been stunted relative to its sisters, has exploded back into healthy growth. It's now about the same size as the rest.

One of my plants is the giant of the litter. It's noticeably taller than the others, and it's putting out what must be half a dozen or more bud sites. It's a beast. I'm actually wondering if I should snip some of the lower buds, so as to provide maximum yield and resin to the main buds. Any thoughts there? I know this is commonly down with photos, but can autos handle the stress? (I'm a little concerned, because the main cola on the giant plant is considerably less smelly than the main colas on the other three plants).

The phenos are turning out to be interesting and quirky. Leaves started off thick-bladed and indica-like, before transitioning to thinner, longer blades with newer growth. Overall growth habit is sativa-like: a bit leggy, with noticeable internode length and a more tree-like than bushy appearance. (That said, I'm not ruling out the possibility that their appearance is the result of early stress).

Overall, the plants aren't very big. The largest is a little over 2 feet tall, and maybe 2 feet wide. I attribute their size to the pH problems and nute lockouts early in the grow. Vertical growth seems to have stopped at this point, which is why I switched to bloom nutes this week. But horizontal growth continues, at least a little bit.

Pics: