Yellowing in Flower?

[olegren]

Here are my details:

Problem: Mixed leaf yellowing that seems situated (mostly) towards the top of plant - 3-4 weeks into flower.

Medium/grow method: Organic soil - a mix of FFOF (60%), FFHF (25%), and BAS BAF for the remaining 15%. All mixed thoroughly with about 20% perlite. Plant was started in FFHF and transplanted around 10 days old

Feed: and supplements used: I have top dressed twice now (every 14 days since week 4) with ~4 cups BAF, 1/3 cup Grokashi, and 2/3 cup BAS Craft Blend. I top water these in with a light drench. Daily waterings are supplied via reservoir --the plant's in an Earthbox. I have also given a couple compost teas which were essentially just a couple top-watered cups of runoff from my worm bin. Yesterday I top dressed in 4 cups castings and watered them in a bit.

water source: Well water (~200ppm and around 7.2 pH from the tap - I bypass the softener).

Strain/age: Beaver Genetics Lil' Wild Lamb @ Day 56

light used: HLG 350R - Got it as high as it can go and have let the plants grow into it. ~15" from canopy at the moment.

Climate: Averages in 5x5 tent for past week are 76.0F & 56.1% RH

Additional info: There are two plants competing for resources in this EB. The gal I'm writing about was there first; transplanted on day 7. I dropped another seed directly into the EB 6 days later, on day 13. I figure this is a factor, but I'd really appreciate some insights from our experienced organic gardeners.



I thought this was going to be the grow where I brought a healthy plant to the finish line without issues, but alas...

Here's the plant on 11/2 - Day 49. Nice and green; but starting to show signs of what really seemed to take off this week.

On the whole, this plant has been a delight. No headaches, beautiful color and lovely aromas. She started putting on frost really early - about 2 weeks into flower - and continues to do pretty well. However, I'm noticing a concerted shift to yellow in her upper leaves which is mimicked by her neighbor.

I'm not getting leaves dying en masse or anything yet, but I worry it isn't far off - and breeder indicates this strain could go for another 3 weeks. This seems like something other than Fall colors, and her neighbor (13 days younger) is showing the same symptoms to a larger degree.

Having two plants in one EB was not ideal and in retrospect a pretty bad idea. The fact that the younger plant started showing similar issues earlier suggests to me that it is indeed some kind of a deficiency. That plant showed other issues though - yellowing at the bottom, general deficiencies competing with a plant that was well into flower by the time it showed sex. The onset of these issues in the larger (older) plant were definitely at the top and now seem to be working their way down rapidly ala immobile nutrients.

Thanks in advance for any insights or guidance!

 

[Virginiaponics]

Check for red root/ root rot

 

[olegren]

Check for red root/ root rot

I can’t see down there very well, but there are some roots in the res beneath the input pipe. They look white but tough to see. I’ll let it dry out and see if I can get a better glimpse. Im not getting any rot smells from there or the surface of soil, but I’ll keep investigating. Thanks.

 

[Virginiaponics]

yea, typically what happens here is youve fed it cal mag and flow of water isnt what it used to be, if id have to guess, this is why i make all my dwc pots, repot-able , to be able to constantly be in contact with roots if i need to hose it down or whatever.

 

[olegren]

yea, typically what happens here is youve fed it cal mag and flow of water isnt what it used to be, if id have to guess, this is why i make all my dwc pots, repot-able , to be able to constantly be in contact with roots if i need to hose it down or whatever.

My water is pretty hard, so wondering if you are onto something. Direct from well, it leaves a white crusty buildup that I bet is affecting the soil. I was using diluted well water split with RO for the first several weeks and got lazy in flower.

 

[olegren]

For what it's worth, I let the EB res dry out. (Takes about a day lol) I can actually see some roots down there, and they look healthy & white - but of course that doesn't rule out issues up in the soil. Not getting any funky smells.

I am noticing a lot more gnats flying around than there were a few weeks ago. I did one treatment with nematodes several weeks ago and am going to try another to see if maybe that is a factor.