Orange spots appearing on small bud-leafs during flowering.

[420ing]

Hi there im pretty much gonna copy and paste what i just wrote in my grow journal as it contains all the info i can give about my plant (Automaria #1) I really need some help by the looks of things.

The soil i started out with is 5 litres of "Van Egmond universele potgrond". On the bag it says its got all the nutes and trace elements for 4-6 weeks of growth and a PH between 5.0 and 6.5 + a EC value between 0.8 and 1.5. I started to get what looked like calcium deficiency wich i posted pics of near the start of the thread and then i repotted her in new soil in a 10 litre pot so i had to add 5 litres of the new soil at the bottom and around the rootball. I had not gave her any food at this point. The new soil is BioBizz all-mix. I started on 1/3rd strength of the hypro the first couple of times then half strength then full strength for the last watering and back to half again for the water i gave her this morning. I was worried it could be nute burn so i thought id play it safe and give her a smaller dose this time untill i can figure out what the problem most likely is.

Here are some pics of what im talking about sorry i couldnt do any better than this with the cam/lighting i have.




The leafs at the top of the main steam are more yellow the last few days than the rest of the plant and the lower leafs. I theres anything you need to know just ask and i will try my best to answer as accurately as possable. i do not own any temperature/humidity/PH equipment so i cant answer anything about that at this moment. Cheers!

 

[Muddy]

You've got so much going on at once it's hard to pinpoint the exact cause. First off, your original soil had quite a pH spread. If it was as low as 5.0 that is well below the level that the plant can properly up take most nutrients. The EC value of .8 to 1.5 is also too hot for auto seedlings, especially if it was on the upper end. Then you transplanted to the All Mix, which is a very hot soil. On top of that, you've fed them full strength nutrients. Given how much nutrients are already in the soil you probably didn't need more than 1/4 strength, if not just plain, pHed water with no nutrients. Most auto strains can't tolerate more than about 1/2 strength. In full flower, the yellow and purple colors on the new growth indicate a phosphorus deficiency. The red spots indicate a boron deficiency. I suspect you're experiencing nutrient lockout from your pH being off but without any pH test equipment, it's impossible to say for sure. A good pH meter is pretty much a must have. An aquarium test kit can serve in a pinch but I highly recommend you get a good pH meter. My recommendation would be to give the plant a thorough flush with plain water pHed to 6.5. Run 3 times the pot size through it. So if it's a 3 gallon pot, then 9 gallons of pH balanced water. That will remove some of the excess nutrients in your soil and help to balance the soil pH. I would also suggest you capture some of the run off water from the first gallon that you flush and test it as well. That will give an indication of the current soil pH. Then do the same with the last gallon you run through. That will give an indication of how effective the flush was.

 

[420ing]

OK Muddy thanks very much for the info! I will get a PH testing kit ASAP im going to have to ask my boss for a wage advance tomorrow...lol. Im glad i only gave it half strength now(it was actualy a bit lower than half maybe closet to 1/3rd) I only fed it the full strength one time. Hopefully i can catch it quick before it gets any worse only the very top seems to be effected and its reminding me of the trouble i had early on in the grow. I've learned alot from this most importantly to do my homework first and plan everything before hand + have the right testing equipment but this was only meant to be a experimental window grow that evolved into something bigger so im not really too bothered about it i know next time im going to do better and will be learning all my life! As soon as i can test the the PH i will get back to you here!

 

[420ing]

Hello again, i went to the grow shop near my work today and got a couple of things. I didnt have enough money to afford the electronic PH testing device he had so i have to wait to buy one of those but i got this little kit that has a colour chart with PH numbers below it and 2 little bottles of some liquid. I don't really know what to do with it i've not read the back of it yet (the writings a bit small) but i'll do that right now! I also got a bottle of "Plant Magic Plus, Magne-Cal+" just incase i ever need it. If you have any suggestions / tips about the PH testing kit i got id be glad to hear them i've never done anything like this since chemistry class about 15 years ago wich is half a lifetime ago to me and i don't have the greatest memory in the world for reasons more than just weed ma heads scrambled lol. I'll see if i can find a link for the kit i got...... http://www.nutriculture.co.uk/ph-test-kits-reagent.html i only have the bottle that says 6-7.6 on it i'll go back tomorrow and see if they have the one that goes from 4-10 incase my water or run-off is not within that range.

 

[420ing]

Hi i just tested my tap water there is looks like its PH is about 6.3. I'll test my run-off later tonight!

Forgot to mention she's looking good doesnt seem to be getting any worse and she's definetly looking fatter to me and the stink is alot more pungent than it already was! I'd already gave it 5 litres of plain water last night and she's in a 10 litre pot so that's nowhere near the 30 litres i need to put through the soil to flush it out.

The soil seems to drain very well i could hear it pouring through the pot and was getting alot of run-off should i just go ahead and start pumping more water through the soil tonight like you said Muddy or just put another 5 litres through and come back with the run-off PH result after that just incase? Im always paranoid about putting too much water in the soil but if its the right thing to do i'll do it!

 

[420ing]

Hello here's some more pics i put another 5 litres through it just to test the run-off from that and its showing up as 6.0 on the chart but thats the bottom end of the scale for this bottle of reagent i have it only goes from 6.0 to 7.6 so im thinking i need to get another kit with a broader spectrum to test it with? I have some pics of the plant from this morning after i did this i might just go ahead and put even more through it right now and get it over and done with and collect a sample at the end of it and keep it stored untill i can test it later i don't want to starve the roots of oxygen or cause root rot in hindsight i should have done EXACTLY as you said and just took a sample of the run-off from the start and at the end to compare PH levels once i had the appropriate kit. Just another 20 litres to go.....lol


From the pics i took this morning i can see the top leaves have got a little bit yellower but the orange on the small bud leaves doesnt seem to be any worse to me hopefully after finish the flush right now it will recover.

 

[420ing]

Finished flushing and the PH has risen to 6.2 on the chart! Gonna let her drip dry in the bathroom a little longer then go to work. Hope she doesnt hate me for this i felt bad putting so much water through the soil lol. Forgot to mention aswell when i first started to put water through the pot the colour of the water was an orangy/yellow colour and now it seems to have got much lighter just a slight yellow tinge to the runoff.

 

[Muddy]

Flushing can be a bit stressful on the plants and it's not something I recommend except in extreme cases. The plant may wilt a little bit from all the water but that's normal and not something to worry about. Run off of 6.2 is good. Did you pH your flush water to 6.5 as I suggested or just use your tap water at 6.3? I know it doesn't sound like much but it does make a difference.

 

[420ing]

Flushing can be a bit stressful on the plants and it's not something I recommend except in extreme cases. The plant may wilt a little bit from all the water but that's normal and not something to worry about. Run off of 6.2 is good. Did you pH your flush water to 6.5 as I suggested or just use your tap water at 6.3? I know it doesn't sound like much but it does make a difference.

Hi Muddy i didn't have anything at hand to increase the PH of the water i was putting tap water through it at 6.3. Can you use orange juice/ lemon juice to increase it? Thanks for the help bro i really appreciate it!

 

[Muddy]

No, they contain citric acid, the key word being acid. Low pH means the soil is acid so adding either of those would lower the pH. You can use baking soda to raise the pH.

6.3 in and 6.2 out is pretty good. Your actual soil pH is probably around 6.0 - 6.1. A bit low but within range. Next feeding raise the pH of your feeds to around 6.6 and check your run off again. You should be fine.