New Grower Whats wrong with my plants? Yellowing|curling|freckled leaves

[HerrKaleun]

Hi,

I have the following setup:

• 4x Fruit Automatic from Dinafem
• 150W HPS (Bloom)
• Medium: BioBiozz All-Mix since germination
• NO additional Fertilizer used as of yet
• Temperature is at 20°C, humidity is around 60%

My plants are on day 19 (approx.). They are showing some scary symptoms: on all plants the lower leaves are yellowed, starting at the tips. One plant has some spots on some leaves. Also on one plant some leaves are pretty curled up. Please refer to the attached pictures (excuse the bad quality, I do not have a better camera at the moment).

I am sure that someone knows what may be wrong with may plants? I have not watered them for 4-5 days because I thought I might have over watered. Symptoms did not improve and the soil is pretty dry now.

I send positive vibrations from Germany.
Kind regards,
HerrKaleun

 

[wg]

What're you watering them with? Any nutes or just straight up water? That's a lockout and or deficiency caused by underfeeding or pH imbalance, true to form the plants showed this around ~14 days I assume.

The increased yellow in the leaves signals poor Nitrogen uptake - so either what's in the soil is insufficient or you're not watering at the correct pH. Since the spectrum for the pH in soil nitrogen uptake is so broad (6.1-7.0) I find it hard to believe you're watering outside of that spectrum, although it is possible. Have you used any nitrogen nutes at all? What do the stems look like on the leaves that are no good, how is the NEWEST growth at the top? Realize that these problems will not rectify no matter if you start doing the right things or not, the leaves are permanently damaged but can show some improvement in curling, etc.

 

[The Squid]

Hello to both of you and welcome to the site. Head over to Introductions and tell us a bit about yourself/grow. :smokebuds:

He hasn't fed any nutes at all. Bio Bizz All Mix doesn't have a whole lot in it. Just that little bit of worm castings really. It is indeed possible at 19 days that it needs some juice. That's almost 3 weeks. BUT...your ph needs to be on point first and foremost.

What are your ph readings going in and coming out?

Also, 20C is a bit cool for optimum growth. Anyway you can get that up to 25-26C?

Edit: I do see it(BioBizz AllMix) has a bit more than I thought in it. Probably too hot for starting seeds.

Edit: Muddy just said that.

 

[Muddy]

Welcome to AFN. Most likely your pH is out of the proper range. If it's too high or low the plant can't take up the nutrients, causing what is called nutrient lockout. The best pH range for autos in soil is 6.3 - 6.5. If you don't already have one, you need a good digital pH meter. This can be used to adjust your feeds, as well as checking your soil pH by capturing some of the run off water when you feed them and testing it. Until you know your pH, and have it in balance, it's likely your plants will continue to suffer. Here's some charts showing what nutrients are available to the plants at given readings.



Also, BioBiz All Mix, because of the high amounts of worm castings and guano it contains can be a bit hot for auto seedlings. Next grow you would be better off starting them in Light Mix and transplanting to All Mix after they sex.

 

[namvet25]

You should raise your temps up to at least 78 farinheight your at 68.Make sure your PH is right and start giving them nutes that contain nitrogen,phosphuous, and potassium,along with micro nutes zink, iron, manganise,sulfur. also you should be using cal-mag to stabilize your PH. All these ingrediants should be only one half the reg dose.

 

[HerrKaleun]

I am watering them with straight up water. I've never given nutrients at all, except for a bit of the root enzyme stuff.
I do this since I learned that AFs are very sensitive to nutes and the soil is advertised as being pre-fertilized. I have in my possession BioBizz Grow+Bloom nutrients, you suggest that I should try them (little amounts at first, of course)?
The tap water here is high quality (it is actually regularly tested as being better than most bottled waters), drinkable and generally concerned soft so I think pH problems are improbable (I plan on testing it anyways).
The newest growth is looking quite healthy except for the spots on one plant (as pictured) and the curling of leaves.
I didn't realize that the leaves are permanently damaged, so I guess my waiting for improvement was in vain!
Be assured that I am very glad for any help. I am growing for the first time ever and looking to get a feel for the wonderful gift from nature that is cannabis

Edit: I will commence raising my temps at once. Also I think I am going to start using the Grow nutes, I'll see how the plants react.

 

[wg]

pH can still be out of swing even if the water is high quality - pH is the acidity of the water but I never had issues with pH until the plants started throwing blooms on any autoflowers.

Are you letting the water sit to let the chlorine evaporate before watering? 12-24 hours is usually best.

So the newest leaves are curling and showing spots as well? If so, then it's more than likely a pH lock out as those plants require far less nutrients and there's no way that AllMix is all used up at only 19 days. How do the stems look? The ones connecting the leaves to the stalk, are they purple or funny colored? As Muddy noted, BioBizz is a hot soil (rather low pH not suitable for marijuana without proper amendments).

A lot of people say to get a digital meter and that's all and well, but I've owned $8 meters and $200 meters and I've stored them in electrode solution and I've kept them clean but they still go out of whack and screw up eventually. Test strips are cheaper and a good way to get an idea of your pH. They're also easily attainable at pet stores and even Wal-Mart.

 

[virginia gent]

Welcome to AFN. Soil ph is very important and a good meter is a must. No mater what you feed the plants they can't use it unless the ph is right. A cheap liquid test kit is better than nothing but not much better. I was unable to keep my ph right with it but the soil stayed close enough to get me through. The water you use will be a major factor in the success of your grow. The drinking water from your tap may be great for you but not for your plants. Test the water for ph everytime, if you use tap water let it sit for 24 hrs to let chems evaporate. Get a cheap (5gal) fish tank air pump and air stones to areate your water. Use 1/4 of the recomended rate for nutes to start and feed less often than you think, maybe once per week with a plain watering mid week. My plants are 50 days old and I have only fed them about five times and will stop feeding this weekend. Don't give up! You will learn from every grow and this site is filled with good people and good advice. As for the spots, are you misting the plants? Sometimes the water on the plants will magnify the light and burn the leaves. Good luck and read Muddys' advice and listen to namvet25 they have helped me everytime. Look around the site, learn from others and keep it simple for the first few grows.

 

[HerrKaleun]

Okay, I will definitely get some pH strips (maybe a good digital meter when I'm smoother on cash). I haven't let the water sit, gonna do that also.
@whatsgoodie: I just checked and the stems you mentioned are pretty spot-on purple on most plants! Now what does that tell me?

 

[virginia gent]

I just got a Hanna 98103 meter ( under $40) but you will also need the calibrating liquid so budget between $60- $75 if that is your pick for a meter. Don't get a rapidtest or other cheap one, it is a waste of money, one tenth of a point makes a differance.